Starting your own business

If you don't need financing, it's probably a good idea to do a business plan anyway, to get you to think about all those things. I'm sure you can find an example on the internet or at the library.

1/ KEEP YOUR OUTGOINGS DOWN!!! I cannot stress this one too highly. Do not buy a van, unless you REALLY need it. If you do need a vehicle, buy as cheaply as possible, like don't buy a new Mercedes van, buy a used Ford. Anything "for show", "to make you look good", to make you look like a "success" or whatever, that is something that can quite easily PUT YOU OUT OF BUSINESS when times are quiet, and you need money to pay bills.

2/ PAY YOUR BILLS QUICKLY. ANY supplier you deal with will offer a discount for quick payment. ALWAYS pay up quickly and take advantage of this discount. Say you have yearly outgoings of $25,000, and the average quick settlement disc. is 3%, then that's 750 quid at the end of the year, FOR NOTHING. Doesn't sound like much? It'll seem like a lot when you hit quiet times, and there are bills to pay. Also, suppliers nearly always give some degree of preferential service to quick payers.

3/ AVOID OVERDRAFTS if possible. Having a bank balance hovering around zero is liveable with. Having a bank balance hovering around -£3000 is not. Again, quiet times come, and guess what? The bank ALWAYS wants its interest. Many, many busiensses sink b/c of bank interest payments.

(more to follow)

chorlton - no way

5/ DO NOT BLOW YOUR WAD ON ADVERTISING. EVERY FUCKING DAY you will get phonecalls from people wanting to sell you ad space here or there NEVER give these people a penny of your money, you might as well pitch it in the bin. Very little advertising is effective in my experience. The only things that have ever been cost-effective foir us have been small (small = lineage, not 1/4 page) in the local press, or the yellow pages.

6/ DO NOT FUCK OVER THE TAXMAN they WILL find out sooner or later, and you will be fucked there and then.

7/ By all means take advantage of any start-up grants available, but for god's sake do not rely on this money, it is finite.

US Small Business Administration
California Business Portal

9/ Avoid employing people if possible. If you need help, family always - S.O. sibling, parent. You know if you can trust them or not, I hope. Plus, employing someone is really expensive, you aren't just paying their wages remember.

Like hell it wouldn't...there are hundreds of undergrads taking Latin RIGHT NOW that would gladly pay money to get their translations done.

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/startingup

Agreed, but, however, if you are totally clueless when it comes to bookkeeping & accounting then maybe having someone to help you with tax deductions etc will be well worth the money...

Take anything a "business adviser" says w/a massive pinch of salt. If any of these people knew their shit, they'd be in business themselves.

If you hit on something that pays well do not tell anyone about it, especially not people from other businesses. you can guarantee they will rip your thing off. Guaranteed, every time.

Or they are, and their thriving business is business advising! :-)

If you're unemployed and under 30, you can get assistance and possible financial advice from the Princes Trust. There are also training courses available in some areas (if you're unemployed), and you should look at support groups where you can get in touch with other people and share ideas.

well, 2 words & a 'postrophe (& a comma) (+ conditional clause (& 3 dots)!:
don't + (, if you can help it) (...)!

i am strongly considering doing this -- i've had more than enough of working for The Man. have any other ILXors done this (not just nowadays, but at any other point)?

what type of business are you considering?

a law firm. doing wills, trusts, probate & estate litigation work -- may also take some tax and employee benefits work.

I do tax prep/bookkeeping - freelance - for about 1/3 of my income, but I have a part-time job as well, which makes things easier in terms of regular cash flow/income taxes/benefits (I get about half my health insurance paid for through the job).

If you already have clients, or know of clients that would be yours if you struck out on your own, then you'd be in a good spot. Would you be on your own, or is there another lawyer/CPA/professional that you would be working with? Maybe rent office space with other lawyers. I think the first step is generally having/finding clients/work and starting small, then getting more through referrals from others in your field or through word of mouth from other clients.

i am strongly considering doing this -- i've had more than enough of working for The Man. have any other ILXors done this (not just nowadays, but at any other point)?

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a law firm. doing wills, trusts, probate & estate litigation work -- may also take some tax and employee benefits work.

Good for you! I'm sure you'll do very well. I worked for The Man for a few years, too. It was okay (and I had great friends in my practice area), but you had to like a particular big-firm atmosphere to really enjoy the experience. I moved to a small firm where I'm now an equity owner. I was terrified at first, but now I'm thrilled with my decision.

thanks for the suggestions and kind works -- as i said, i am only thinking about it right now.

I have a controls systems engineering/scada software consultancy - started with a solid client base and have kept very busy with it fulltime for 2 years in this iteration. I had a year of freelance consulting 7 years ago, then went back to being an employee for awhile (while still taking on side projects when I could). Starting with just enough work and a good network of contacts, doing the right thing w/ business bank account to prevent comingled funds, keeping up with whatever taxes/licenses/etc, registering as a small business - all good things.

Are you in the US, Eisbaer?

jaq: yes, i am in the USA.

The biggest drawbacks I've found, and the main reasons I would gladly consider being an employee again, are the cost of private healthcare coverage, workman's comp (if you are an owner you have to pay for a special policy), and no 401K possibility. But I'm also in a field where I have to do dangerous stuff and occasionally have been injured on the job. If I were covered under Mr. Jaq's benefits, it wouldn't be as much of a concern, but he is a benefitless temp.

As a lawyer, do you have to have malpractice insurance?

i will add the aspect of never really being able to assume you will be able to pay yourself on the regular, so you better love it and be willing to sacrifice the good life much of the time

that being said, i wouldn't want it any other way

As a lawyer, do you have to have malpractice insurance?

i'm not sure (one of the things i have to find out), but it is highly advisable and if i open my own shop i would get it whether or not it's required.

How are all of you self-employed folks doing these days?

I now run a huge multi-national conglomerate specialising in the manufacture of fossil-based fuels and weapons of mass destruction via the exploitation of dead war-children's faces. Thanks, this thread.

Do you remember what it was that you were thinking of doing in this thread? (I'm assuming that you didn't do it, apologies if I'm wrong.)

nope! can't remember...

is it easier now to start a record label now that you don't have to actually make records or promote or anything? I mean, it seems impossible to make money with it, but with lower overhead, you'd be less likely to lose money, too?

I'm going to grad school so that I can do non-profit, maybe someday have my own foundation. My family always talked about having a bar because we had one as children...but one of us has to finish business school. I would get a bachelor's in business or an MBA first.

I'd love to start a record label too, if only for fun rather than profit of course

My wife and I are getting ready to start a side business with a friend. Cocktail catering, which there isn't much of here in our fair town. Wondering if anyone else has experience starting/running a business with a spouse and/or a friend. We're all relatively even-keeled and we're starting with reasonable expectations -- nobody is quitting their day job. Just looking for do's/don'ts/etc. Especially helpful if you have great success stories illustrating what a fantastic idea this is!