by kittyeatzjdubs 8 Replies latest jw friends
The more me and matt go to work at our respective jobs, the more we seem to fantasize about having our own business. How hard is it exactly to get started? And what are good businesses to run from home? He's good as far as art goes, and I'm pretty computer savvy. Neither one of us have a college degree, but I don't see why that should stop us.
Any ideas? Help? Advice?
luv, jojo
Because you are still young you should look into business loans and grants designed to support young woman going into business. Depending on what resources you have in your area, there might be seminars and workshops as well as counsellors to help you out, regarding business plans etcs.
Dams
Well, as a general principle, if you like lots of work and no pay, then owning your own business is for you. Actually, it has its ups and downs - there can be a lot more pressure and stress, especially if you are depending on the income. On the other hand, you also get to keep the fruits of your labour and be your own boss, which means that everyone is your boss. My wife owns a model and talent agency. It's a lot of fun, but she works a lot harder than I do, for a fraction of the income.
If either of you have talent that you think you could turn into a business, that's a start. Take a trip to the bookstore and check out the magazine section there are a few great ones on the market for people looking to start their own business. One helps people figure out what kinds of start ups there are out there. Beware for pyramid scams though.
I think this a pretty good time to start your own business. Good luck!!!
Are either of you artistic, or technical wise? When you see yourself owning a business, what kind of a business do you see yourself owning? Do you want to work from home? Or would you rather have an office that you go back and forth to?
mmm that's all I can think of for now
Meagan
Kitty...,
I am in business for myself. I have owned and operated a few businesses, both while employed, and totally self-employed.
The easiest, least costly, and most promising are franchise businesses. For example, I am a Realtor with Century 21. I list, sell, and manage both commercial and residential properties. The advantages is that the company provides lost cost start up, a recognized name and advertizing. The new agent needs a license, and some money to live on while building up business. Realtors can make very good income. Real estate offices have to allow agents to work from home and cannot control your time, as this would be a violation of their IRS 1099 relationship.
You may wish to avoid insurance sales, as that industry is the most difficult of all the agent-licensee type of businesses. Insurance agents work their asses off, get lots of rejection (like JWs) and their commissions suck compared to real estate. The only advantage is that after 3 to 5-years (if the agent is successful) the renewal income can be very good. Insurance has between 70% and 90% turnover in the first year for new agents, whereas real estate has about 50% first year turnover for new agents.
There are also small food chain franchises, such as Subway, Quiznos, various Pizza stores, etc. These can be very low cost to start, but they also take a lot of work. Some of my retail plazas have such franchise chains, and they do make money. Restaurant work, however, is very hard, and demand more energy than regular employment. You have to love food and to feed people, to do it.
Other franchises can work well. For example, you can look into PIP (printing), or other such businesses. These also require hard work, and the start-up costs can be high. You may want to get a book on franchises from your local book store, like Barns and Noble, etc.
A college business course or basic business degree would greatly help you in starting and planning your new business ... and the cost is a tax write-off for you. Student loans are low interest, and easy to pay.
I strongly recommend that only one of you try your own business while the other remains employed. This will help you hedge against first-year failure. And if successful, then perhaps both of you can get into the business together, and be a strong support for one another. I know of many Realtors who are husband-wife teams, and they do very well financially. Most do not have a degree, and many have never been to college.
There are also good books on start-up costs. The following is a list of things I had to consider when starting my own business:
Savings to live on for one-year.
Cost of essential equipment (computer, signs, lock-boxes, printer, car, etc.)
Cost of suppplies (mostly office supplies)
Fees and Licenses (there are State, sometimes federal, county, and municipal fees and licenses)
Association membership cost (join the Chamber of commerce - rub shoulders with major business and political leaders, and loads of networking opportunity) Recently, because of Lions clubs involvement, I was able to perform a task for a major newspaper owner ... these activities lead to excellent business and political connections. After I received help on a major renovation project, I attended and donated money to a Democratice Alderman (Chicago) fund-raisers (even though I am not a Democrat). However, I also later on I received a lot of good assistance on the same project. Leads called in to my office which were likely a result of having good connections.
Set aside Tax and Social Security money: One of the biggest mistakes is that many new business owners forget about taxes. While you have tax write-offs, which help reduce your burden, you also pay DOUBLE Social Security over those who are employed ... because you are now paying the employer's share ... because you are now the employer.
Get linked up to a good business and tax attorney and accountant: Don't completely trust your own skills in this regard. Turbo Tax is good, but not good enough. Regulatory rules that affect the way you do business also need to be known and applied. Otherwise, you can end up with huge fines or jail time. The laws change too frequently and are often complex enough that hiring good professional assistance is the best insurance you can buy.
Insurance: You need various kinds of insurance, such as liability, possibility product liability, in addition to health, auto, life, homeowner, etc.
Legal status: I cannot recommend strongly enough the importance of incorporating ... get your personal assets out of your business life. A lawsuit can wipe you out and cost you your home. Agents, such as Realtors, as well as lawyers, etc. become P.C.s (Professional Corporations) but in other cases, you may want a LLC (Limited Liability Corp) or other types depending on how your attorney advises you.
Business Plan: KNOW YOUR NUMBERS! The biggest reason Realtors, Insurance agents, restaurants, etc. fail is that they fail to do initial market research and they do not know how to set-up a good business plan. A Realtor for example, need to know the "Law of Large Numbers" so that he/she knows how many mailings, calls, personal face-toface visits, etc. are needed each day, week, and month to generate a certain business volume. They must know how many contacts lead to appointments, and how many appointments lead to contracts, and how many contracts will turn into sales and close with commissions at the end. If you do not work out a plan, and do not work the plan, you are really planning to fail.
I could go on and on ... but, I thnk you have some ideas above to help you on your journey to self-employment. Keep us posted.
Jim W.
thanks for the suggestions guys! i'll have to look over them all when i get home. i've been covering for 3 people for the past 3 weeks....i don't even have time to scratch my arse. gives you an idea of why i want to work from home...
luv, jojo
Try this out: Here's seven simple steps to take
1) Decide what 5-10 informational products you would be interested in selling (Free)
2) Do a little research on the number of people interested in that information (Free)
3) Find quality informational products in that catagory (Free)
4) Contact owners and Authors by email or phone (Free)
5) Contract with information providers. (Free or small Fee)
6) Get your paypal payment system set-up (Free)
7) Contact emarketprofessionals to or another service to set up your site ( Under $300. per site) or create your own.
Hope it works out for you.
I am a business owner, I will not tell you what type of business because the Borg could track me if I posted my business. My biggest advice do not listen to the naysayers. The naysayers cannot stand someone getting ahead in life, they will be negative, do not let them get to you!!!. I worked at my old Job for two years during started up. My wife ran the business and I helped her after work and on the weekends. Now I run the business.
Service businesses are the best and most profitable. For example house cleaning, cleaning after fire and crime scenes. You can make over $100,00 an hour doing this and there is lots of work. Clean up repo property's, not only can you make over $100.00 per hour you get to keep what is on the property, sometimes this can be worth more than the $ per hour. Window cleaning; small start up big profits. Lawn Care; medium start up huge profits. You get the idea, if you start a service business you will make it, but you will work your ass off. You will get rich if you manage the business properly.
My biggest advice don't both of you quit your jobs. One of you start up the business and the other help out. There is huge advantages for the woman to own the business, get your Dunn's number, Federal Idea number, County and State registration all under the wifes name. This allows you to get loans and government jobs.
Work hard I do not understand why, with all the money out there for the taking anyone works for someone else making them rich.
Great advice everyone ... thanks for starting the thread kitty - I too am interested in starting my own business. There are some great suggestions here. I echo Skyman - put everything under your name, because women are in the minority, we do have access to certain grants and loans. A business degree can help tremendously, I'm in my senior year earning a business management and marketing degree. It's helped me tremendously. Contact the local Womens Business Association as well as the Small Business Administration when you're ready to start up. In the meantime, there are free business plan templates on the web, google it.
Best wishes to ya!
sweet tee
