Getting Started...The Hard Part

At Helping You and Helping Others we can give and take advice. This is a place to find new ideas, encouragement, friends, and just plain vent.

What path did you take when you started your business?

Starting a business can be overwhelming. There are so many questions to be answered before starting, during the process and of course after you are up and running. What equipment do I need to get started? How do I do everything on a small budget? How do I market? What do I need to include in my business plan? And of course how much money am I going to need?

The first thing you need is a business plan. Design a plan that outlines the business goals and start up costs for a specific marked time frame. Include a marketing plan and an exit strategy. A business plan shows how you expect to succeed and details how you will measure that success.
One web sight that is of great help is www.Dell.com/Business or www.ehow.com. The guru of information is www.about.com. This sight is always a click away for most any information you need for business from paperclips to faxes to virtual phones that go with you anywhere.

There are many other free sources to help you write your plan. The government gives great business advice. Believe it or not, the government is not just for taking and bailing large companies and banks out. Take advantage of services you have already paid for with your taxes. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program is a great sight to check out and gain a plethora of information. Most of these services are free, and women business owners will find additional resources with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Women'sBusiness Center Program. The SBDCs and WBCs provide extensive information about many things connected to running a small business. SCORE is another great resource to find information. It is run by retired businessmen and women. Be sure to go to your state's web sight to find out what is required for businesses in your state.

Here are other helpful web sight links to help you get started:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

Entrepreneur.com is great for downloading free forms such as time sheets, employee handbooks, mission statements, accounting worksheets and much more.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/humanresourcesforms.html

Just keep in mind that there are lots of inexpensive ways to incorporate items your business needs like faxing, phone, backups off sight. Backing up your business is a crucial detail that should not be looked over. Remember that if you have a fire, even if your business is backed up, what good is it? A good off sight back up resource to use that is very inexpensive is http://www.carbonite.com/. They offer a great package for unlimited downloads and it is very easy to use.

Make sure you invest in a great accountant. They are not very expensive and well worth the money and time saved. In the beginning it is important to hire an attorney as well to help you decide how to set up your company. Your business may need to be an Inc., LLC, or an S Corp, depending on how you file your taxes and protect your assets be it personal or professional. For an accounting firm I personally use Anchor Accounting and Financial Services,
925 North Washington Street,Tullahoma, in TN. They are also licensed in several other states besides Tennessee. Their web sight is http://www.anchorafs.com/new/anchorafs/default.asp.

Scott Byrum has helped us out so much and saved us money by teaching us how to invest, what we can claim and things not to overlook when running a business or just filing a personal standard tax form.

Please feel free to share any knowledge you have with members of Helping You & Helping Others, be it in business or life. To quote Keith Ferrazzi from Greenlight Community from Ning.com, "We believe that giving begets more GIVING so, be generous and join us."

Good luck on your adventure.

Sharon Taylor