A friend recently asked me for advice on starting a small business (a small retail shop)
This is the initial guidance I offered...
Step-0: Initialize
Register to obtain a business tax id with the IRS
Starting a Business
Step-1: Legitimize
Register a Doing-Business-As (DBA) with your the State's Department of Commerce
Step-2: Publicize
Setup a web site you can create a very nice looking (and free) web site via http:sites.google.com you can also create a free gmail account Alternatively you could pay for a domain name - and get an email account setup with your domain name. Yahoo hosting and professional email are what I use - about $12.95/month for the hosting, and $19.95 for the professional email service.
Step-3: Electrify
Register with one or more Crowdsourcing Fund Raising Services: A few possibilities:
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://33needs.com/
https://www.profounder.com/
https://www.microplace.com/
http://www.dreambank.org/
http://www.advertactivist.com/
Step-4: Internalize
Schedule an appoint with a SCORE counselor http://www.score.org/
There are many aspects to running a business - SCORE counselor's can help provide much needed wisdom.
Step-5: Monetize
Setup Bank Accounts - look for a bank that offers a no fee checking account
https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/no_fee_checking_main
Other possibilities include local credit unions
- there's a good argument for setting up a business checking account.... - as soon as you have the account, ask them about setting-up a line of credit - or - obtaining a business credit card. This will allow you to start building the credit history for your company tax id.
http://www.inc.com/financing-a-small-business
Inc.com article: An Easier Way to Apply for Loans
[see: http://www.boefly.com/]
Step-6: Stabilize
Identify merchandise supply channels:
- http://www.craigslist.org - http://www.ebay.com
- local thrift shops Identify some low-cost high-margin mark-up items to sell in your own shop...
Step-7: Energize
Setup Referral Revenue Streams Identify other merchants with whom you can create referral agreements For example, someone comes into your shop and needs some help painting their house, fixing a plumbing problem, etc. You should have already established relationships with a list of merchants and service providers (who would be willing to pay you a referral fee)
Create a Facebook page for your business
Create a LinkedIn profile for yourself [search out the various LinkedIn groups that may be aligned with your business interests]
Find or create a local meetup.com group that is focused on your business interests (collecting antiques? trading merchandize? etc)
Step-8: Quantify
Assess Your Market visit other consignment shops visit thrift shops visit auctions and flea markets ask questions find out what products sell fastest find out what sells slowest find out what has the best mark-up / margins find out what can go wrong with your business model
Step-9: Organize
Setup a Customer Relationship Management service account Once you actually have sales, You can probably use something like SalesForce.com or SugarCRM.com to manage email marketing campaigns and managing customer contact info https://www.sugarcrm.com/sugarshop/product/professional http://www.salesforce.com/crm/editions-pricing.jsp?d=70130000000s0AL&internal=true
If you don't already have Microsoft Office, you can download the free Open Source Open Office suite of tools
If you need a good email client, Mozilla Thunderbird is an excellent choice.
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