How to Start a Small Business

By an eHow Contributor

Start a Small Business

One great thing about the United States is that virtually anybody can go out and start a small business. All it takes is some know how and some hard work. While having a lot of money helps, you can start a business with little or no starting capital.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Calculate how much available capital you'll use to start your small business. The more money you have, the wider your options for the type of small business you can start. Consider getting a business loan at a local bank if you have the credit and the means to pay it back. As always, don't dedicate money to the small business that you can't afford to lose in regards to your household budget.
   • 2
     Select the type of small business you want to open. The possibilities are virtually endless. If you want ideas or advice, visit Entrepreneur.com. You can also research at your local library to find a small business idea that piques your interest.
   • 3
     Research the field completely. After you selected the type of small business you want to start, examine that field thoroughly. Find competitors, and see how they conduct their business. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Look for areas that you can improve on and think of unique ways you can market your small business. Business.com is a great resource for business information about start-ups.
   • 4
     Construct a total plan of action. Write out in detail each step that stands between you and the ultimate goal of having a functioning small business. No detail is too small to list. By making a plan of action, you can go down the list and accomplish each step before moving on. It'll also make the overall task less daunting.
   • 5
     Decide on what type of business structure you will use and file the appropriate forms. Choose between a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or LLC. Each type of structure has different rules and liabilities. For more information on the different business structures, refer to Allbusiness.com.
   • 6
     Get your business license. For certain types of businesses, you must file for a license. The Small Business Administration website can tell you if you need a business license for your chosen type of business. Once you are licensed, you can begin conducting business.

 

 

Surviving Small

Think business is a big dog eats little dog world? Think again. Small business, despite big box trends and a harrowing economy, continues to hold its esteemed place of honor in local communities. John Warrilow of Inc. shared a list of six reasons, in fact, that you ought to love being a small business owner. I’ve reworked some of them here, as a formula toward gaining what you might personally define as success.
Do something that you love. Repeat often.
Do you love what your business is doing, and what you do as a part of it? After all, you likely first considered going on your own in the business world because you wanted to do something that mattered, and because you believed in your keen business sense. Well, you’ve arrived, and is it what you’d hoped it would be?
If the answer is not quite (or a resounding no), stop and sit down soon. Get out pencil and paper (or your tablet computer) and figure out what your small business would’ve looked like today, had all of your best-laid plans come to fruition. What would you be doing on a daily basis? How many employees would you have, and what would their roles have been? What level of service would your business be providing, and how would you have felt about it?
Small businesses enjoy the ability to rapidly adapt the way they do, well, business. “What we love about small businesses is their resiliency,” said Hartford Senior Executive Ray Sprague. “They are looking for ways to … refresh business plans. They are very much focused on how they define success, making a good living for themselves and taking care of their employees.” The Hartford studied 2,000 small business owners, and discovered that most felt successful, despite economic pressures, in part due to their ability to change when needed. Enjoy the fact that, unlike your larger counterparts, your small business can morph at will.
Be realistic, knowing that you’ve likely made compromises along the way, and you’ll have to make more in the future. But allow yourself to dream a little.
Setting simple, within reach goals.
Does your business have goals, and do you review them periodically? Are they clearly defined for your employees — the people who believe in you and also want your small business to succeed? By knowing where the company needs to go, you can clearly see (and share) the direction the company is heading toward, and celebrate when goals are met.
Fast Company lists six achievable goals you might want to consider when evaluating change within your small business, including making your meetings more productive, aligning your company with charitable causes, and obtaining customer feedback for loyalty goals.
If you’ve had to re-evaluate where you are based on the previous suggestion, this would be a good time to break down the steps needed to move in a better direction. Remember, take baby steps and consider how you will measure success along the way.
Staff your business with people you care about.
Because you’re small, you get to handpick your employees, rather than delegate the task to an HR department. You get to meet them face-to-face, shake their hand, pat them on the back and steer them in the right direction. Because of your proximity, your employees are far more likely to embrace the positive and helpful principles you yourself have had when dealing with clientele.
Jennifer Overstreet of the National Retail Federation interviewed small business owners about the keys to their success. Amanda Kinsella of Logan Services, a Dayton, Ohio based HVAC Services company, said this of her smaller employee base: “You can learn something from every person you work with because each person brings something new to the table. That keeps our thoughts fresh and our job fun.”
Love your customers.
Want to know what true small business success sounds like? It’s not necessarily the sound of your register drawer. Team up with community non-profits and find ways to help them support those less fortunate. Follow through on sales by contacting your past clients to see how your products are holding up.
It’s the little things that matter to those who will cherish their personal relationship with your business. Learn your customers’ names, and talk with them. Find out if there are items or specialized services you could bring on board to serve them, like the family that runs Rhynas Jewelers in Ottumwa, Ohio. "We greet most of our customers by name," said co-owner Judy Rhynas. "We know about their lives."
The world is your business network.
Create a social network both on and off-line. Absolutely, developing your social networking presence pays dividends, but don’t forget about networking in real life. Visit with nearby businesses (yes, even your competition), and ask if they’d like to create partnerships that would serve both of you. There may be items you both purchase and use that could be bought cheaper if in larger bulk. Maybe there are service gaps each of you has that could be resolved by mutually referring customers. Perhaps your combined employee-ship would garner discounts on training sessions.
“My business is all about partnering with other small business in the community to see how we can joint-market,” said Lynette Martin, owner of Evanston, Illinois based Bottle and Bottega Evanston. Martin jointly markets her mobile party business with area small businesses. “I’m bringing in clients who may not otherwise know about them. This is truly a partnership that I create with different businesses.”
Take time off for what matters.
Because you have staffed your small business with people you trust and have personally trained, you have the luxury to focus on what truly matters in your life - your family. You can take a Thursday afternoon off to watch your kids’ T-ball game. Or take your husband out to lunch. Or run a personal errand, or see the dentist.
Because there are no layers of bureaucracy between you and the great outdoors, your time away from the business is within reach, and ought to be taken advantage of. You envisioned this dream, and are living it. Why not take the time to enjoy your success?

You can rescue your business

Mar 19 2013 20:20

Cape Town - The key reason why companies go into debt is because they are not being paid on time, but you can buck this trend with Business Rescue.

Business Rescue gives companies breathing space during tough economic times and the chance to turn around their operations.
In the last 11 months, over 400 financially distressed companies applied for rehabilitation, according to an overview of the Business Rescue landscape by BR specialists Webber Wentzel.
Webber Wentzel listed the top five reasons why companies go into debt as:

• Not being paid on time
• Recession and poor market conditions
• Industrial strike action
• Increases in costs and overheads
• Regulatory issues

Out of the total 401 businesses that applied for Business Rescue since April last year, 175 came from the investment sector, 114 from the wholesale and retail sector, 74 from manufacturing and 38 from the services sector.
In terms of the Companies Act, 2008 the Business Rescue procedure broadly involves the temporary supervision of the company and a temporary moratorium on the rights of claimants against the company or against property in the company’s possession while a plan to rehabilitate the company is approved and implemented.

SA must up its entrepreneurial game

Mar 15 2013 13:19 Neville Lennox

Johannesburg – South Africa is lagging sub-Saharan Africa by far when it comes to entrepreneurship and should learn from its neighbours, said project manager of the Sanlam/Business Partners of the Year competition Nimo Naidoo.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the top performing regions in the world when it comes to entrepreneurial skill, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2012 Global Report.

Naidoo believes that South Africa should aspire to instil a positive entrepreneurial culture similar to those of neighbouring African countries.

The report shows that people in Sub-Saharan countries have strong, positive attitudes and perceptions towards entrepreneurship.

According to the report, 70% of the respondents believe that good entrepreneurial opportunities exist for them over the next six months. Naidoo said South Africa displays contrasting characteristics.

"South Africa recorded a 7% total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) level in 2012, which is a 2% decrease from 9% in 2011.

"While South Africa is better off than it was in 2004 when the TEA level was at 5.4%, the country is a large margin short of other African countries such as Zambia and Ghana, who have TEA levels of 41% and 37% respectively.”

Naidoo conceded that the majority of the Sub-Saharan countries differ economically, which she said could be a reason why South Africa seems to be so far behind.

“Most of the Sub-Saharan countries that participated in the GEM survey are factor-driven economies, and according to the research, these economic models tend to have relatively higher levels of entrepreneurial activity than efficiency-driven economies such as South Africa.

“Namibia, however, which is also an efficiency driven economy, in comparison to South Africa, has a TEA level of 18%, which is approximately what we should strive towards.”

She said it is essential that all major stakeholders, in both the private and public domain, work together to develop a positive entrepreneurial culture that supports and encourages local entrepreneurs.

South Africa can realise its developmental goals by drawing on the energies of its people and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society, according to the government’s National Development Plan (NDP).

The NDP states that improving the quality of education, skills, development and innovation will play an important role in attaining this goal and that business, labour, communities and government must work together to achieve faster economic growth.

The NDP’s ideals are supported by Paarl Media through its bolstered and re-accredited Academy of Print training, the group said this week.

“South Africa has unique challenges in terms of growing an inclusive economy and becoming globally competitive.

“To overcome these challenges, crucial skills transfer and developing highly skilled employees should be a high priority across every sector,” said Nico Grobbelaar, executive director of human resources at the Paarl Media.

Paarl Media seeks to harness future leaders of the printing industry through the academy, which offers management and leadership development, as well as technical and non-technical training, he said.