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Starting A Small Business
So, you want to start your own small business, but you aren't sure where to begin. Maybe, running your own company has been something you've thought about for many years, but now you've decided to take the plunge. Or, maybe, you've been laid off and have decided you no longer want to work for anyone else.
The first thing you need to do is learn the basics of recordkeeping and small business taxation. No matter what kind of business you run, you'll need to deal with records and taxes. Two great books are Small Time Operator and Keeping the Books: Basic Recordkeeping and Accounting for the Successful Small Business (Keeping the Books).
You might also want to buy a computerized accounting system and become familiar with it. Two choices are QuickBooks Pro 2002 and MYOB Plus 11. MYOB makes use of double-entry accounting which is a better type of accounting than single-entry accounting which is discussed in the above two books. But, double-entry accounting also takes a bit more work to learn.
One good book to learn double-entry accounting is The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Accounting Course, Third Edition (McGraw-Hill 36 - Hour Course S.). Because accounting is so important, but not that exciting, you might want to take a basic accounting class at your local university or community college.
Accounting is very important to you as a business owner because without proper accounting, you won't know how well your business is doing. It's impossible to make good business decisions without adequate records and analysis. You might also want to get a copy of The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Finance for Nonfinancial Managers by Robert A. Cooke which will give you a solid introduction to financial planning for a small business.
Next, you'll want to make a whole bunch of decisions about your business structure. Do you want to do business as a sole proprietor or as a corporation or as a limited liability company? The best place to start to decide is often with your state government which can provide many free publications about starting and running a business.
Contact your state Department of Commerce or comparable agency and ask for more information. I have a list of state-by-state resources on my site, www.thinkinglike.com. Often, the IRS and state governments team up to host free classes dealing with the taxation of small business. Ask about registering for those.
The key factor about accounting, recordkeeping, and taxes is that it isn't difficult, but it must be done. Once you've learned that then you must address the heart and soul of business: How will you generate sales? Marketing and sales are crucial to success. Many businesses fail because they fail to generate business.
Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World by Shel Horowitz is a solid introduction to the many facets of marketing. Another fun book is Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra.
Ultimately, many small business owners find advertising very expensive and they lean more heavily upon generating word-of-mouth attention or publicity. Often, press releases are the first contact a small business has with the press. Trash Proof News Releases by Paul J. Krupin is a good book about writing effective press releases. Krupin is the founder of a press release service that serves small businesses.
Networking is often the key to generating business for certain businesses, especially professional services. If you're starting a professional service, I recommend Networking With the Affluent and Their Advisors by Thomas Stanley. Stanley is author of the bestselling The Millionaire Next Door and has devoted his career to studying the habits of the rich in their natural environment. The key to networking is to become a valuable resource to those people with whom you want to network.
The master networker of all is probably Harvey Mackay. For more about networking and sales, his book Pushing the Envelope All the Way to the Top is a great read. If you fear making sales calls, you might want to read Starting from No: Ten Strategies to Overcome Your Fear of Rejection and Succeed in Business by Azriela Jaffe.
Next up, you might have employees, and management becomes important. First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman is a good book about the need to manage each person based upon their uniqueness. Cookie-cutter management doesn't usually work. And, not all people find that they are suited to managing others. Your state resources will provide you with information on the legalities and tax issues of having employees.
If you've mastered the above areas, you're pretty much set. You've learned about taxes and regulations from the IRS and state authorities. You've learned the basics of bookkeeping. You know a bit about marketing and sales. You have a handle on the basics of management.
If you want to read more about entrepreneurship, there are many great books out there. I especially like Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker and What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs (What No One Ever Tells You About...) by Jan Norman. Norman's book is especially good because it gives you a peek into many different types of businesses. I'm also partial to my own book, Thinking Like An Entrepreneur: How To Make Intelligent Business Decisions That Will Lead To Success In Building And Growing Your Own Company . In my book, I help people new to business think more like successful entrepreneurs.
My book is also available in softcover: Thinking Like an Entrepreneur: How to Make Intelligent Business Decisions That Will Lead to Success in Building and Growing Your Own Company. To help entrepreneurs who form S-corporations, I've written How To Start And Run Your Own Corporation: S-Corporations For Small Business Owners
All you need to learn might seem intimidating at first. But, once you jump in and learn it, you'll eventually find it easy and routine. Good luck with your new business venture! Peter Products mentioned include:
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