That’s right folks. I’m going to show you how to start a business. It’s so simple, you wouldn’t believe it. I’m expecting that you already know what kind of business you want to start. If not, can’t help you there.
First step: Decide whether you want to be a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, Corp, or S Corp. There is no correct choice as it depends on your situation and business. For me, smaller businesses are usually sole proprietorship. For all intended purposes, the rest of this guide will be a “how to” on sole proprietorships.
Second Step: Most people would then go ahead and tell you to write a business plan. Now, while I’m not against business plans, I would have to say that almost nothing will go as you plan. The business plan is a nice road guide but it will become almost useless in the first few months. Instead, I say just let it flow and learn as you go. That’s how most people did it before and that’s how most people will continue doing it.
Third Step: Once you decide you’re going to wing it, you have to register a business name with your county clerk. Just Google your county and there should be a section on their website to register your business name. It cost about $50-$100 to register the name. You need a DBA - Doing Business As to proceed. Everything is online and takes only a few minutes.
Fourth Step: Once you get your sales tax id in the mail, you can open up a business banking account. I usually open it up with a couple thousand just to get it started. With the bank account setup and business registration set up, you’ll have to get a business license from you city. This usually runs about $100-$300 depending on your city. I believe in Chicago, I pay $250/year.
Your business is officially up and running! Here are some very helpful sites to make your business more professional.
www.craigslist.org - Great place to find a place to rent. You can run the business out of your house, rent a full space, or just rent a cubicle. It’s all available on craigslist.
www.loopnet.com - site that specializes in selling and leasing commercial properties. If you have the money, this is a great site.
www.grasshopper.com - This site will help your business look professional with toll free numbers and virtual phone systems at a low price.
www.shopify.com - Online website that will help you sell your products. This site is easier to use than Yahoo store. This is a great site to start selling products online. Combine it with grasshopper.com and you have yourself a full fledge e-commerce business.
That’s it folks. That’s who you start a business. I never promised to give you any ideas but if you follow these steps, your business will become a reality and it’ll only cost you a few hundred dollars. If by chance, you don’t want to start your own business and would prefer to just buy one:
www.buybizsell.com - Offering all types of business for sale. Probably the largest marketplace for businesses and you’re sure to find one that matches what you’re looking for here.
www.flippa.com - Marketplace for just web based businesses. The listings expire pretty often so there are always plenty of web based businesses for sale. I wouldn’t recommend buying a web based business until you know a bit more.
Hope you enjoyed this post and if you ever run a successful business because of me, don’t forget who got you started!
Posted under Chicago Entprepreneur
This post was written by Jay on August 17, 2010
