Starting Your New Business

Most of the people I spoke to who are or were thinking about starting a business of their own, already had on their mind what they wanted to do. Some more sophisticated than others, but knew what kind of business they wanted to be involved with.

During our first interview, I usually begin my consulting with an opening question. Something like this: When did you start thinking about your business? This gives me an idea on how long the person(s) considered the idea of starting the business. From there I continue with my follow up question: Please tell me a little bit about your experience and those involved (if any) in the business concept? I want to gauge the knowledge of everyone involved in the project, to recommend a course of action, if any needs to be taken to offset any weak area of expertise. It's an Open Market and as such, you better be prepared for your competition, because sooner or later you'll have to face it. And my last question is: Can you tell me more about what you want to do? In here I will find out their strengths and weaknesses, and which areas we should be concentrated on. This whole process takes approximately an hour, more or less.

Generally speaking, most people consider to be their own boss after gaining experience where they work (on the job training), others by achieving academic degrees through higher education, or becoming certified professionals through trade schools, or through an apprenticeship program. On either one, they needed to spend time and sometimes money to learn their trade or profession. They now have knowledge, will, and drive to pursue their dream. They start asking their friends and family members for advise about their business concept, as they value the opinions of those close to them on how "they" can get the concept started. Most of often, the advise sought comes from inexperienced relatives and friends that could lead to disastrous results, not ill intended, but by simply giving wrong advise. And finally, most newbies lack capital and technical expertise in piecing the business plan together in a way that it would serve as a road map to a successful and meaningful business path for years to come. But don't get discourage, there's hope out there. Just keep on reading.

What I will attempt do in this article is to focus on some basic business principles needed to help you in the process of putting your business together. Bear in mind there are lots of free assistance available at your fingertips from your friendly SBA, MBDA, SCORE, USDA Rural Development, and other local, state, and federal agencies. If I can lead you into the right path to build a strong business plan, then you will benefit by avoiding most pitfalls that occur in the real business world, and you and your love ones will enjoy a healthy business for years to come. Always remember that for profit businesses are all about minimizing risk while maximizing profit with the least amount of investment, and that's where the trick lies in an open competitive market.

First - Gather all your thoughts and research, put them in paper, and organize them in an orderly manner that would make sense to you and those who will be presenting your idea. Seek professional free advise from your banker, lawyer, and accountant. Remember, your banker, lawyer, and accountant would love to have you as their new business client when you open the doors of your business. You don't have to decide immediately which legal structure you want to be registered as, be that Sole Proprietorship, Corporation, or Partnership. However, I strongly suggest you talk to your attorney and accountant which legal structure suits your business concept best, from a legal and tax perspective. You will need to hire a CPA and a lawyer on either retainer or pay as you need them basis. Their advise is invaluable in preventing pitfalls or getting you out of one. Be selective on who you hire. They should have experience with clients in your concept, otherwise it could become a hair raising experience seeking advise from someone who hasn't work with clients that are in your line of business and expect the advise to be reliable. You don't seek advise from a cardiologist if you are experiencing kidney problems. Both are doctors, but with different areas of expertise.

Second - Invest in your business by purchasing a computer, printer, and a good business plan software. There are several good ones out there, but my favorite one, which I've been using over 15 years, is BizPlan. You can login into my website http://cbag.net to find the link, as well as free business planning advise from different sources. I find BizPlan to be the most comprehensive software in the market and very user friendly. You can start with a Basic Concept Plan and add different modules, as your needs grow. It has modules for investors, bankers, and SBA. Computers and software are very inexpensive these days, and you don't have to get a new one either. Most people have computers, printers, and basic word processing, spreadsheet, and data base software. You can get even download free office software for your computer from http://www.openoffice.org/. I strongly suggest to have high speed internet, since you will be doing research online and probably posting your business plan on the Internet for investors to review.

Third - Be prepared to invest your most valuable asset, your time, by spending lots of it learning and preparing your Business Plan. After all, this will be your road map to success. The more knowledge you gain about your business, the lower your risk in failing and greater probability of obtaining financing (if needed). It's not as hard as it seems. You will gain confidence, therefore you will impress those whom you'll be presenting your concept to. Use all free resources available to you. Especially family members or partners (if any), or close friends. Be extremely cautious in selecting who you'll be trusting with proprietary information (patents, trademarks, formulas, etc...). Register any trade secrets with the appropriate agencies before sharing it. There are persons out there seeking new concepts everyday for free to re-sell them as if it was theirs. Don't fall on their trap. BizPlan offers you advise on what to do every step of the way.

When in doubt, I'm only an email away from you. Feel free to contact me at arielbenitez47@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

Back In The Days

When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, my grandfather on my dad's side owned one of a few grocery stores in a small town called Cayey, Puerto Rico. I used to go visit him with my parents and help him out at the store every now and then. My grandfather never graduated from High School, yet some of his children did and went on to own businesses of their own, like myself. So I learned early on that in order to succeed in the business world, you don't need a college degree, nor a high school diploma. Instead, I learned by observing my grandfather that if you watch what people need, that there might be a business opportunity. You just have to apply some common sense, test the market or idea, treat people with respect and dignity, ask for feedback, and you just might create a "nitch" in your area. I don't ever recall my grandfather talking about going to meet with his accountant (cause he kept his own records on a notebook and the money at his house and bank later on). Nor did I ever heard him talking about consulting with any attorney to buy a property of expanding any of them.

Of course you'll have some peaks and valleys on the course of testing your idea, but the whole business concept is to minimize the risk while maximizing your profit. And, that's where more advance knowledge come in place. Back then, you didn't have so much government intervention (not that is bad), meaning restrictions that could impede the launch of a great business opportunity. This is where, sometimes, it can get complicated. We can't ignore that our population has grown exponentially, as well as technology.

Back in the days, there were no phones, or computers to keep us in "contact" with the "world". We relied on word of mouth, radio, or local print media to advertise. We watched the news at the theater in "black and white" just before the movie started. Almost everyone new each other in the neighborhood, since transportation was limited to the more fortunate. Competition was limited to the local market, since most of your shopping was done within walking distance. You new what your competitor was doing, because your customers told you. So you made adjustments to your price in order to be more competitive. Now days, just about everyone goes to the Internet for information, forcing today's business owners to be aware of market trends and analysis. I agree, it's a lot tougher to make it in the business world now days, than back then. Yet, I still say, nothing or no one can stop you from putting together a plan (your ideas in a written form) to be launched at the precise time. And, who knows, you may be the next millionaire. But, it must be done right.

Back in the days life was much simpler than today. We complicated the way we think about business. So much for the stock market and others. But, there's hope. Believe it or not, there are still business opportunities you can jump on with little equipment or money. Ask anyone that was born broke and made millions of dollars by working hard and applying above simple rules. There are thousands of those examples, and you could be the next one.

We will be covering basic and intermediate business tools needed to be a successful business owner by doing things right, minimizing your risk, and maximizing your profit margin by utilizing your God given talents and common sense, on my following postings. You can't eat an elephant all at once, only bits of pieces at a time. Stay in touch until then, and please let me know what you think of this posting and the many to come, as well as what you would like me to cover next. Until then, may God bless you.