Aight Sista,
I ain't here to bust your bubble or anything. I just wanna express my opinion and maybe give you some tips.
You can take it however you want or you can leave it alone.
But trust me this is no personal attack on you.
I hear this a lot... I prolly did it to when I was younger and wanted to make money.... Think my ideas are the best, and all I need is a break and I'l be rich doing this..... It used to be that simple... but not anymore.
Not in a real long time. Ain't too much new shit going on........ Now if you really think you got a lock on some new shit go for it..... We need more Black inventors anyway... We haven't invented too much in the last 50 years.... We can't fall off... but I digress
You say you were a business major... did you get the degree?
You can write business plans in your sleep... but your text here leads me to believe it wouldn't be complete
Then you say you think you need 5k to start..... only if you only want to sell like 5 or 10 cards a week.
Then while your raising the funds you are going to get your verbage and designs together.
you gonna apply for a business grant.....
Then you thinking you gonna sell out your bag....
Then after a little research.... you are feeling overwhelmed.
Sista, like I said this is not a direct attack on you... but I want to use your example as a guide. I hope that you will see beyond what I am pointing out and get the point I am trying to make.
First of all, I don't know everything, don't even know alot about a little or a little about a lot. I just know what I know is what I know.. NahImean?
Yes, I own my own business, have owned both successes and failures. I don't know if that qualifies me
to speak on it officially, but I want to at least attempt to share what I know with you. I currently run 3 successful businesses, sit on the board of another 1, and am partnered with 2 other good businesses.
I've been sharing my info about Vending Machines in another thread on here... so you can check that out if you want.
I know, you prolly like... just get to it.
1st of all, this is exactly what you should not do. Don't start 2 business at the same time... especially 2 totally different businesses. Lots of people think their idea is the most unique and that everyone wants it... so all they gotta do is bring a piece of it with them and everyone will just start throwing money at them.... doesn't work that way....
2nd of all get the concept of the business together first, do research on the need, do more research on the costs. In today's economy 5k can not be enough. One thing we all do is think we can run our own business better than everyone else... and we wind up doing all the work to the point of hating the business.
Are you the creator, owner, salesperson, stocker, accounts payables and receiving? Are you the marketing director, accountant, and shipping dept?
Or is it that you don't believe in your dream enough to think you will need any of those departments or people.
Being a business major, you should know that you want your financial statement to show operating costs for a least 2 years with the 1st year not even showing a profit.
If you really believe in your concept.. put more into it... scope out a store front, calculate hiring salespeople
maybe other designers, someone to do shipping.. if finances are not your strong point... hire out a firm or hire a good bookkeeper. add in power, phone, internet, eccommerce, cleaning, marketing, R&D since you have to create the cards... it will trial and error for a minute... get all those costs together multiply it by 12 and then 24 and that's the amount you start trying to get...
One thing I know... you approach a potential investor and all you have is an idea.... well you can forget it and then hope they don't turn right around and do it... but if you show how you plan to make the business work, how you going to grow the business and how you plan to deal with adversity.... well then you will see how easy it is to get that money...
Note... an investment is not a loan... They are buying into the business. If the business fails... they get nothing back... if the business succeeds.. they get a percentage of the profits. And that percentage is determine by you and outlined in your contract/shares.
3rd get your designs and verbage done. This might even be the precursor to #1.... have at least 2 or 3 different designs that cover the major holidays. Don't be so unique that you pigeon hole yourself to a small clientele.
4th. Business grants are great... especially if you know how to get them... but you will find yourself knee deep in paperwork.. or redtape as bureaucrats like to call it, that you will be neglecting the business side.
5th, unless you don't plan on ever getting serious about your cards.. the last thing you want to do is
try selling them out of your bag.... Don't get me wrong, you can make money doing that, but you also
limit your capabilities by doing it that way. It's not like you start there and then you get signed and now
you got a whole team and money to take your game to the next level... nah that's reserved for the music
biz..... This is your baby, so you gotta raise it.
6th, Never let it get to you.... overwhelmed... just by the information you found out you needed to have in order to even be considered a business. Sista, if you thinks that's a lot...wait until you start trying to nudge your way into the real business part.... getting lease aggreements on your terms, dealing with various suppliers for paper and all the craft stuff you'll prolly need.... shipping times... payment terms... tax deadlines...
If you hire..... reliability, tracking hours, payroll, pay bills, do you have a life? well there's that too...
7th, Decide on what is the best business structure for you, Sole Prop... is the old way to go....
It could work for you in start up mode... but once you start approaching investors.. you are going to have
to be a full Corp or an LLC. It's the only way to be able to sell shares.
Plus there are more tax bennies in them. And forget about the being taxed twice stories that are out there...
think of your Business as a separate entity. Here in the US if you make money you gotta pay taxes... so if your business makes money it has to pay also...... but it can write off more things than you can as an individual.
Tha's it really, there is much more to it... but I was trying to give you a quick synopsis... like I said... not to
throw any hate or detour you from your dream... I'm hoping to give you some insight on the game.
Yeah, it's going to be a lot of work and you may not be able to get a good break for the 1st year, but if you are successful and you love what you doing... you'll enjoy every minute of it.
Does Anyone Own Their Own Business Here? <hr style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> Yo, I am just on a roll this year. I am starting 2 ventures... the first being my own blog site. The second being my greeting card business. 2008 is the year of the hustle for me... and starting my own business is crazy interesting... I am just diving in head first. I was a business major so I can write business plans in my sleep... I've done the research and now I just need a little start up cash. I think I need like 5k to start. While I'm raising the funds I am getting my verbage and designs together.
Also I am thinking about applying for a business grant?! We will see how that goes... I just know I don't wanna do a loan.
Anyways for those who have their own businesses... any tips?!
I was thinking about just doing it the unofficial way first selling greeting cards out my bookbag lmaooooo
But I m thinking of the possible tax advantages if I apply for a sole proprietorship?!
Anyways let me know yalls thoughts...
Ok so I did a little research and I found out I need:
1. DBA
2. Fed Tax ID
3. Sellers Permit
4. Business License
*sigh* now I am starting to feel overwhelmed and this is just the beginning. I will keep yall posted...
