Opening a Store

GlassKisses

Okay...I've been thinking a lot, and, I really think I'd like to open a small business.
(Not going to specify which kind, because I've still got about 3 ideas going around in my head)
I probably won't be able to for a very long time, still....I have to work at more places in the field I want to go into to gain some experience, I need to build up my credit to get a loan, and many, MANY other things.
I was just wondering....does anyone here own their own business? If so, how'd you get started?
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at all the stuff I know I'll need to do...so, how'd you start? How did you know where to begin?
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated :flowerforyou:

GlassKisses

Okay...I've been thinking a lot, and, I really think I'd like to open a small business.
(Not going to specify which kind, because I've still got about 3 ideas going around in my head)
I probably won't be able to for a very long time, still....I have to work at more places in the field I want to go into to gain some experience, I need to build up my credit to get a loan, and many, MANY other things.
I was just wondering....does anyone here own their own business? If so, how'd you get started?
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at all the stuff I know I'll need to do...so, how'd you start? How did you know where to begin?
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated :flowerforyou:

CrystalBella

My mom and I opened a buisness. It was very overwhelming and can get REALLY time consuming. Right now it's going decent. At first we weren't making the money we though, but it's slowly starting to pull through. Since we are working it from out of our homes, it was a tad cheaper but then again not. Save up your money just in case it doesn't work out just as you expect at first! You gotta be prepared for anything that might come your way.

Good Luck!

banks1850

I did for 5 years, I owned my own small business computer and network services company. did pretty well, but in the end we came to that horrible catch 22, too much business to do on my own, not enough business to hire someone without worrying about money.

So it was (in 2004 when the economy was just starting to turn bad) either get a 150K loan and pray, or give it up, make a few bucks selling the name, and go get a sr network job. I was torn, but I could tell the wife was terrified of taking the leap, plus, it was really about 6 hours of work on computer stuff a day, and like 8 hours of paperwork, accounting, taxes, and just plain crap.

I'm very glad I did it, but I'm also glad I didn't jump into the huge loan, cuz knowing now, I doubt I would have made it. The economy really turned sour after that point. It was an AWESOME learning experience for me though, and I feel like I can talk to any level of business person now and not be outclassed, cuz now I understand P&L, COGS, Debits and Credits, JIT, Advertising lifecycles...etc I mean, I learned about all that stuff in College, but not REALLY learned it. There's nothing like getting smacked in the face with a huge bill that you weren't expecting, and having like 50 bucks in your business checking account and about 10,000.00 in outstanding accounts receivable to really throw a cold bucket of water on the whole thing.

tamifanny

I have 2 at home businesses...I wanted it this way so I could raise my kids & be here for them whenever I could. I run an interior decorating & balloon delivery business (from the smallest delivey to the biggest corporate events) . My business didn't take a lot of capital to start up. I hadn't ever worked in a party store either so I really had to sell the sale since none of my businesses have a physical store to visit.

I started small & then it just evolved into more & more & more. I like it that way - I pick my jobs & hours too. Some people want to start large at first ...that would be scarey for me. My husband is my sounding board since his is more factual & I'm more creative...he keeps me grounded when I go into orbit.:laugh:

My neighbor is a motivational speaker ...his often says: "Don't worry if you don't know how to fly....you'll learn on the way down". :bigsmile:

Here I am still doing the same 2 businesses 14 years later & still loving it

I wish you luck...do your homework & you'll do great:drinker:

Hope this helps in some small way:flowerforyou:

rheston

Beside our day jobs my wife and I registered our property as a producing orchard. The first thing we did was to come up with a name and then we registered it as a limited liability corporation (LLC) and with the state we live in. We then set aside some of our personal funds to open a bank account in the company's name. Everything we do that is even loosely related to the company is taken from that bank account and claimed on the taxes at the end of the year.

These are important steps to take before you step into making your final decision on the type of shop you will start up strictly from a tax perspective.

We also did our personal market research for the local area to see if it would be able to sustain the kind of business we were starting and then we looked at just what banks1850 experienced and that's the potential growth -- how much did we want to do and where did we cap it to be happy with what we had vice making it into a massive business.

I hope we all helped you a bit.

Good Luck!

GlassKisses

Thank you all for commenting on this! It helps a lot :happy: