Anyone here own/start their own business?

[bbhaag]

I own a small greenhouse/garden center in Illinois. One of the best and most informative things I did was go to a 2-3 hour workshop at a local university. It covered some of the basics like how you should structure your business. Like the pros and cons of forming a sole/duel proprietorship, LLC, or an INC., how to register your business name, how quarterly taxes are payed, where to get a tax id number(IEN), and a lot more.

They have some tools online that might help get you started in the right direction or answer some basic questions you might have. Here is the link Business Planning Resources.

Perhaps there is a local university in your area that provides a similar website for your state. If there is and they offer a workshop I would recommend going.

 

[highland145]

finance? i always thought you ran a hardware store or cleaned septic tanks or something like that!

Yeah, pipe wrenches and dealing with other people's shit...sounds about right.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Who the hell kept bringing up 'business degree' to start a biz?

That's the last thing you need.

I don't think you need a business degree - but you do need a certain mindset that is often correlated with "business" type people.

It's not a lightswitch you can magically turn on either, you can be book smart on business but fail miserably at executing it.


2 quick points I would make on why some people fail at starting their business:

1) Knowing when to execute or make a decision. Plenty of people are just overall bad at execution - such as knowing when to cut off a loss. You know people that fall victim to pyramid schemes? They keep telling themselves something they want to believe - but the numbers on the paper told you to stop 6 months ago.

2) More often than not you really need to also put yourself in the shoes of the consumer you are targeting. Analyze how big your market is - what type of person are you aiming for? Is that type of person looking for your product? Do they know about your product? OR does your product just suck and even you wouldn't buy it?

 

[Stg-Flame]

Have you or your friend ever dealt with employees? If you haven't you may want to partner with or hire someone who has.

I started a business with two other people shortly out of college. We topped out at 6 employees. I am glad AF I didn't have to deal with that aspect of it.

I've been a Foreman, supervisor, shift lead, safety coordinator, and a manager in the past. I've managed multiple employees and also handled the hiring and firing process. The employee aspect won't be an issue for me.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Some financing, a good idea or public service and a big set of balls with grit and determination should get er done..

 

[Red Squirrel]

If it counts, I started a small computer repair/building business as a teenager. Made a bit of money to save up for college, and my goal was to try to eventually just live off the business if it does well. Would have opened an internet cafe type store where I fix and build computers and overall sell parts and what not. Once I hit college I had absolutely zero time for the business so I shut it down though. Of course now days such a business would not do very well.

Always toyed with the idea of getting into web hosting though, it seems like it would be easy enough once you have a platform properly setup, it more or less runs itself to some extent. It's super cut throat though, like most of the big companies are offering unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth for like a few dollars per month. Can't compete with that.

 

[squirrel dog]

Rite Fas Towin and Flat Tire Repair . 1 800 fastown . Hell Yes .