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sdilley14 · Feb 23, 2009, 04:04 PM

I'm looking into starting my own business. I won't go into too much detail about it as it is simply an idea at this point and I'm in the early stages of research for it.

I'm wondering if anyone on here has started a business. If so, what sort of business is it? What advice would you have for someone looking to start their own business. What things did you find made you successful (or unsuccessful)? What would you have done differently, if anything, when starting your business?

I'm mainly just trying to talk with business owners and get a feel for how to get things off the ground, what to watch out for, what to prepare for, things like that. I have a few very solid local business contacts that I'll be meeting with, and I know there is a lot of information about this online (sba.gov has proven to be very useful and informative), but I want to get feedback and information from every possible avenue.

Thanks!

SeSawaya · Feb 23, 2009, 04:12 PM

get a good accountant who understands your needs. This has been a HUGE help to me and my non knowing all the constantly changing tax codes mind.

besson3c · Feb 23, 2009, 04:45 PM

I would suggest buying the book "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki. Even if you're business isn't IT related, I think this book will really help you in your planning and conceptualization of your business. Focus is key, the many businesses that fail often fail because they lack that focus.

Doofy · Feb 23, 2009, 04:48 PM

• Avoid the death valley curve. Watch your cash flow.

• Don't put your eggs all in one basket. 1,000 small customers are better than 10 large ones.

Laminar · Feb 23, 2009, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I would suggest buying the book "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki. Even if you're business isn't IT related, I think this book will really help you in your planning and conceptualization of your business. Focus is key, the many businesses that fail often fail because they lack that focus.

One of my old professors really loved that book. He's started several companies of his own and teaches entrepreneurial classes.

besson3c · Feb 23, 2009, 04:54 PM

Laminar: mine too... What is the name of yours?

Laminar · Feb 23, 2009, 05:04 PM

Eliot something...I don't remember his last name, he wouldn't let us use it.

Andrew Stephens · Feb 23, 2009, 05:53 PM

I too can recommend the art of the start. It's very inspirational with easy to digest concepts, well explained. It's not a business book as such, it doesn't really explain the nuts and bolts but it's not about that.

I really liked the advice not to test, test launch, but rather test launch test. The current beta culture has really taken this to heart.

Other than that, plan for the worst because most likely it will happen. Half all your forecasts but be prepared not to meet them.

Andy8 · Feb 23, 2009, 07:46 PM

Start small to keep overheads down, work from home if you can. Test ideas before jumping in with both feet. Be prepared not to make any profits for at least a year or more, so have enough savings to support you during this start up phase. Write a business plan, again it does not have to be 100 pages long, just a few pages to give yourself some direction.

Love Calm Quiet · Feb 23, 2009, 09:40 PM

You might also want to start following venture capitalist Paul Graham's "Hacker News" site: http://news.ycombinator.com/news
...particularly if it's a tech / digital startup.

Best of luck

goMac · Feb 23, 2009, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by sdilley14

I'm wondering if anyone on here has started a business. If so, what sort of business is it? What advice would you have for someone looking to start their own business. What things did you find made you successful (or unsuccessful)? What would you have done differently, if anything, when starting your business?

Registered in November, have been doing quite well (iPhone/Mac OS X programming.)

• Register as an LLC (possibly a different type of corporation, but LLC makes the most sense for most people, and if you own the business by yourself, the taxes are much easier to file.) Here in Oregon there is no fee to do so, there might be one in your neck of the woods.
• Get an EIN from the IRS. You can use your social security number to do business things if you are the sole owner, but that's icky. An EIN is like a social security number for your business, and it's very easy to get.
• Get a business bank account. It's nice to keep the money separate, and for tax purposes it more clearly defines what is a business expense and what isn't.
• Avoid hiring employees as long as possible. Again, it makes taxes messy. I have people who do a lot of work for me, and I just hire them as hourly contractors. You have to walk a fine line when you do this but so far it hasn't been an issue.
• Don't spend 30-40% of what you make. You're going to have normal income taxes, plus you're going to be hit with employer taxes too. A particularly nasty one is the self employment tax. Basically you get to pay the ~7% of your social security that would normally come out of your paycheck, plus ~7% of the amount your employer (now yourself) pitches in. That's 15% right there, before even federal and state income tax!
• Look at deducting portions of your rent and that sort of thing, but don't go overboard.

sdilley14 · Feb 24, 2009, 12:43 AM

Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it!

The business I have in mind isn't IT related. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of overhead associated with what I have in mind, but I have a couple investors in mind who I feel will jump on board and help fund this in exchange for part ownership in the company (one of which is VERY wealthy and has started a couple very successful businesses of his own).

Time to put the nose to the grindstone and start researching, talking to owners of similar businesses, and work on getting a tight business plan drawn up.