how to start a business - short guide

Upload: lichking2

Post on 07-Mar-2016

224 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

How to start business - This book will teach you about the essentials when starting your business and what needs to be improved

TRANSCRIPT

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    1/30

    A Whizkins publication

    A Quick Guide to Starting and Running Your Own Creative Busines

    Topics Include:

    Business Plann

    34 Awesome Ways to Raise Mon

    Choosing a Legal En

    Whizkins

    And Mo

    How to Start a Busines

    MMillennial

    MadeTM

    100% Made by Millenn

    Version 3.0

    VERSION3

    Build Your Own Customer Prof

    Photo Credit: Andreas Praecke

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    2/30

    9 out o 10 business ailures in the United States are caused by lack o general managementskills and planning.

    Source: Small Business Development Center, roy State University.

    1 out o 2 businesses will go out o business within 4 years o opening.

    Source: Small Business Development Center, Bradley University, University o ennessee Research.

    Now, Think About These Stats...

    Over 75% o business ailures are caused by incompetence and a lack o managerial experience.Common causes:

    Lack o planning Emotional pricing Living to high or the business Nonpayment o taxes No knowledge o pricing No knowledge o financing

    No experience in record-keeping Poor credit granting practices Expansion too rapid

    Source: Small Business Development Center, Bradley University, University o ennessee Research.

    Quick Question:

    How do you see your lie and business in 5, 10 and 20 + years?

    by downloading this guide, you just took a giant step orward in ensuring youll be an exceptionto these statistics, and were proud o you. So congratulations, but you cant stop here.

    Theres a lot work ahead of you, but...

    Welcome to

    Whizkins

    Affordable Business Resources for Creative Entrepreneurs.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    3/30

    CONTENTS

    01Create a BusinessModel

    03Create a BusinessPlan

    04Customer Discovery

    & Validation

    07Financial

    Projections

    18

    Determining

    Financial Needs

    19Choose A BusinessName

    19Choose A Legal

    Entity

    20GetProtection

    21Permits, Licenses &More

    22SelectA Location

    23Acquire InsuranceCoverage

    24Hiring

    Employees

    25

    Manage Payroll

    Taxes

    26Acquire Record-

    keeping Tools

    26Conclusion

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

    Table of

    Were proud to be an avid supporter of

    creative entrepreneurs everywhere.

    4

    No part o this pubmay be reproducedorm without the written consent copyright owner.

    2014 Whizkins C

    Please send emails comments or sugge

    to whizards@whizk

    WhizkinHow to Start a Busi

    Proudsupporter

    of creativentreprene

    everywher

    MMillennia

    MadeTM

    100% Made by Mille

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    4/30

    So youre interested in starting a creative business? Tats awesome, and were super excited or you. Congratulationson taking the first steps towards turning your idea into a lucrative business venture (we hope) that will provideyour ans with plenty o smiles and you with comort and security or the rest o your lie.

    In this guide, well cover starting a business at a very high level, so we can touch more businesses. Tis way, youcan get the basics that will most likely apply to your business, regardless o what you may be doing individually.Youll then be able to add on specific tasks or your unique business at a later time. As you read, you can tweak

    comments and tips here and there to fit your plans. When youre ready, you can always find more affordableresources and proessionals on our website (whizkins.com) to help develop your business idea even more.

    Just one more small note to remember: starting a business is a marathon and not a sprint. Teres a lot omaterial here, so eel ree to take breaks, days off and naps, and remember to always ask questions. (You reallycant do it alone and without help.) No one expects you to know everything or to cross out your entire to-do listin one weekend.

    Now that we have all o that out the way, lets get started!!!

    Step 1 - Create a Business ModelLets create a business model. Sounds cool enough, but whats a business model, right? A business model, in thesimplest explanation, documents how you plan to create value, distribute that value and collect money or thatvalue and how to do all these things with consistency over time. Why would you need one o these? Preparinga business model is a great way to see i your idea has any legs, i.e. will be worth your time, effort and money.When you sit down to put together a business model, you might realize the resources you need are so expensive,the plan wont work because at the price youll have to charge you wont have the number o customers availablein your ideal market.

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    WELL,HELLOTHERE,YOU

    CREATIVE

    GENIUS.

    Whizkins.com

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    1

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    5/30

    The Business Model CanvasKEY PARNERS

    Who are your key partners? Who are your key suppliers? Which Key Resources must you acquire

    rom partners? Which Key Activities do partners

    perorm?

    Motivation or PartnershipAcquire key resources and activitiesOptimize businessReduce risk and uncertainty

    KEY ACIVIIES

    What Key Activities do your ValuePropositions require?

    Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships? Revenue Streams?

    CategoriesProductionProblem solvingPlatorm/network

    VALUE PROPOSIIONS

    What value do you deliver to cus-tomrs?

    Which one o your customers prob-lems are you helping to solve?

    What bundles o products and service

    are you offering to each CustomerSegments? Which customer needs are we satisy-

    ing?

    CharacteristicsPerormance, newness, design, price, costreduction, accessibility, convenience, brand,status.CUSOMER RELAIONSHIPS

    What type o relation does each Cus-tomer Segment expect you to establishand maintain with them?

    Which one have you established? How are they integrated with the rest o

    our business model? How costly are they?

    ExamplesPersonal assistanceDedicated personal assistanceSel-serviceAutomated servicesCommunities

    CUSOMER SEGMENS

    For whom are we creating value? Who are our most important custom-

    ers?

    Types

    Mass marketNiche marketSegmentedDiversifiedMulti-sided Platorm

    KEY RESOURCES

    What Key Resources do your ValuePropositions required?

    Your Distribution Channels? Your Customer Relationships? Your Reveue Streams?

    Types o ResourcesAcquire key resources and activitiesOptimize businessReduce risk and uncertainty

    CHANNELS

    Trough which Channels do your Cus-tomer Segments want to be reached?

    How are you reaching them now? How are your Channels integrated? Which Channels work the best? Which Channels are the most cost-

    efficient? How are we integrating them with

    customer routines?

    Channel Phases

    1. Awareness How do we raise awareness about us?

    2. Evaluation How do we help customers to evaluate our

    Value Propositions?3. Purchase

    How do we allow customer to purchasespecific products & services?

    4. Delivery

    How do we deliver our Value Proposition?5. Afer Sales

    How do we provide post-purchase support?

    COS SRUCURE

    What are the most important costsinherent in your business model?

    Which Key Resources are the mostexpensive?

    Which Key Activities are the mostexpensive?

    Is Your Business:Cost Driven? (lean cost structure, low price valueproposition, maximum automation, outsourcing)Value Driven? (ocused on value creation, pre-mium value proposition)

    Sample CharacteristicsFixed CostsVariable CostsEconomies o ScaleEconomies o Scope

    REVENUE SREAMS

    For what value are customers reallywilling to pay?

    For what do they currently pay? How are they currently paying? How would they preer to pay? How much does each Revenue Stream

    contribute to overall revenues.

    Types:Usage eeSubscription eeLicensingBrokerage eesAdvertisingAsset sale

    Dynamic Pricing:NegotiationYield managementReal-time Market

    Fixed Pricing:List priceProduct eature dependentCustomer segment dependeVolume dependent

    Tis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. o view a copy o this license,visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to

    Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, Caliornia 94105, USA.

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    6/30

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    Lets think about this scenario or a second. Wouldnt it be great to know an idea wont work beore you spendgobs o time, effort and money on your idea? Sure, a busted idea isnt un, but neither is filing or bankruptcywhen the money youve poured in your business rom your pockets, investors and ans disappears and you haveangry creditors waiting or payments. Finding your idea wont work doesnt necessarily mean your dream o be-ing a business owner is over. It just means you have to break out the drawing board again and find a way to makeit work, and i you stay persistent, you will make it work.

    So what goes into a business model? Te content can vary, but there are generally 9 areas youll want to cover inputting together a business model. On the previous page, you willfind a layout o the business model canvas describing the 9 areasand some o the questions you may need to answer.

    You can answer these questions in a separate Word or Excel docu-ment. o urther help with the business modeling, weve createda worksheet called Eureka!Completing a Eureka! worksheet willhelp you develop your business model too. Its an an instant idea-to-paper worksheet that fills the gap between oh, I have an ideaand actually working on your idea. Its ree, only 14 questions long

    and you can download a version o our Eureka!orm rom our on-line store at whizkins.com.

    So what does our Eureka! orm do or you? It helps you quicklyadd more details to your idea without getting you started on a ullbusiness plan. So i youre just flirting with an idea and want to seehow it could possibly look, you can examine it more closely with

    this orm. Once youre finished with the Eureka!or preparing your answers to your own Business Model Canvas(or both, i youre really adventurous), youll want to consider putting together your ull business plan.

    Step 2 - Create a Business PlanI youre on Step 2, great work on completing your Eureka!and/or completing your business model canvas. Sowhats next? We highly recommend creating a business plan. Yep, we said that word: plan. It wont be too bad,though, because we have a lot o resources available online to help you complete your plan.

    I youre searching or a business plan template, we have one available in our online store (and i youre a collegestudent, you can get one or ree) [click here or business plan]. You can find business plan templates online andat some university entrepreneurship programs. Some o these plans may be specifically catered to exactly whatyoure looking to create, such as a restaurant or art class, and a specific plan might make completing it go aster.

    So what does a business plan include? Here are a ew items your business plan should include:

    Executive Summary- Brie summary o everything youre doing.

    Organizational Plan- Description about your business model you just worked on, inormation about yourpurpose/mission and problems youre solving.

    Services/Products- Description about the products or services you will be offering to solve your customersproblems.

    Business Model Basics1. Key Partners2. Key Activities3. Key Resources4. Value Propositions5. Customer Relationships

    6. Customer Segments7. Channels8. Cost Structure9. Revenue Streams

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    Whizkins.com

    3

    https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/the-ultimate-business-plan/https://whizkins.com/store/the-ultimate-business-plan/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/store/eureka-idea-starter/https://whizkins.com/
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    7/30

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    Intellectual Property- Tese are intangible assets, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights.

    Strategic Plan- Description about your vision and how you plan to achieve it.

    Marketing Plan- Description about the goals you want to reach, such as sell 10,000 units, and a descriptionabout how you plan to achieve these goals.

    Financial Documents- Tis section might include budgets, financial projections and use o proceeds.

    oday, theres a slight push or skipping the business plan by some groups and going straight to the customers.We believe you have to do both, so you can have a business plan to document and detail how exactly youllapproach your targeted customers and what youll be sharing with your targeted customers, especially sincetheyre going to have questions, and youll want to have thorough answers. How can you know what youre goingto talk to your customers about i you dont spend some time developing a well-thought out plan about solvingtheir problems? Remember, as our ounder says, winging it is not a business plan.

    Plus, business planning is critical or small businesses because it helps you think about various aspects o your

    business in ways that might not have previously crossed your mind. Failure to plan is one o the leading causeso why small businesses buckle (1 out o 2 small businesses ail within 4 years), and the act youre reading thissays youre already on the road to success, and youll be different rom all those other small businesses.

    Teres a good chance that once you finish your business plan, you might change it many times afer you completeit. Tats OK! Tats good because it means youre being flexible, and youre doing whatever it takes to succeed.

    Step 3 - Customer Discovery

    & ValidationTese two items (customer discovery and validation) orm the coreo whats considered the lean start-up (yes, youre a start-up too). Itsa great way to evaluate your market potential beore you start spend-ing a lot o your time and hard earned money.

    With customer discovery and validation, your business plan willcome into play, especially i youve included a buyer persona in yourbusiness plan. (A buyer persona details your ideal customer. Its verysimilar to a profile, except you might include specific details about

    habits. Well touch basis on this in a second.)

    With your business plan in hand, youll have a great understanding o the people who have the problem, theproblem youre solving and how you plan to solve it. With this inormation, you can talk to potential customers(discover them) and try your idea out and change it as you go on until its a an avorite (validation). [As a smallnote, be sure to check the category below called Step 8 - Get Protection to learn a little about patents. In somecases, you may need to file an application beore publicly disclosing your idea with potential customers.]

    As part o your customer discovery and validation process, you might also want to go ahead and build aprototype, i you have a product youve created that might need to be manuactured. Not sure how youll make

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    8/30

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    your prototype? Weve got you covered. On Whizkins, we have a ew business proessionals who offer affordableservices or obtaining patents or your prototypes, and weve also located a couple o acilities or building yourprototype or almost pennies.

    I youre interested in learning more about Customer Discovery and Validation, check out Steve Blanks book,Te Startup Owners Manual: Te Step-by-Step Guide or Building a Great Company.

    As promised, we said we would chat about the buyer persona. Lets go into what a buyer persona is and why youneed one.

    I youre selling anything, you have (hopeully) already thought about your ideal customer/client. Youve donethis, right? So you probably have a good idea o this perect customer/client in your head right now. Tinkingabout your ideal customer/client is one thing, but actually putting this description down on paper is another,and creating a documented picture o your customer/client can work wonders and help in your marketing e-orts. We promise. How is this possible, you ask. Keep reading.

    When you create a well-documented picture o your ideal customer/client, you orce yoursel to ocus on exactlythese people and only these people, reducing your time significantly rom being distracted by all the prospects

    out there who might be looking with no intent to buy or arent even interested at all. o get you started, we aregoing to share with you the buyer persona template we created and still use or Whizkins (see next page).

    Beore you go on some tear about how you dont need a buyer persona or your creative business (weve heard itall), let us be quick to explain to you that you should know your customers exceptionally well - no matter whatyoure selling. So i youre wondering i you should really spend time researching the heck out o your prospects,the answers is a definite yes, (we relentlessly research ours). In summary, know your customers well.

    Google, Facebook and the other tech giants know exactly what youre up to online (yes, even with all the nifyprivate browsing) and probably offline. Whilethe level o detail you get on your customersmay not be as granular as what theyre extract-ing, you can still accumulate valuable inorma-tion rom prospects to help you create a buyerpersona.

    o get answers or your own persona, youcan use a mixture o surveys, such as the onesprovided by SurveyMonkeyand SurveyGizmo,or personal interviews with people. Sometimesyou can find reports, such as those regularly

    prepared by all the U.S. agencies, out on theweb that might have some o the inorma-tion available. Just depends on your product/service. Sure, theres a slight time commit-ment or this, but youll make it up on the timesaved rom what you would be doing in thealternative: taking a shot in the dark on yourmarketing.

    While we know money doesnt drive a lot o

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    5

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984999302/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwsteveblank-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0984999302http://surveymonkey.com/http://www.surveygizmo.com/http://www.surveygizmo.com/http://surveymonkey.com/https://whizkins.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984999302/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwsteveblank-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0984999302
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    9/30

    Your Dream Customer

    D I:Age:

    Income:

    Level o education:

    Relationship status:Family size:

    Location:

    Vacation spots:

    Hangouts & watering holes:

    Leisure activities:

    Prior employers:

    Preerred orm o communication:

    H/H HY S:

    ( ):At desk:Online:On mobile device:Shopping:Sleeping:Exercising:Eating:Socializing:Managing emails:

    Working:With customers:With amily:

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    C O Y S:

    G C: I S:

    Company:Industry:Role:

    V:

    Biggest Challenges:

    Success means:

    P S M:

    C S:

    Solutio

    D CE:

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    10/30

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    creative entrepreneurs, you will need to be cognizant o your time and develop an idea o how you want to livenow, 5 - 20 years rom now and in retirement. Decisions today wil affect your business later.

    Tinking this ar ahead sounds like a stretch or a creative, but unless you plan to work or someone one day andearn a steady pay check and lose your independence, you have to start actively thinking about your finances.

    o get you started, youll need to complete some financial projections to get an idea o how your creative busi-

    ness might do financially. So, lets talk about financial projections now.

    Step 4 - Financial Projections

    We know talking about numbers isnt a popular subject area, and spreadsheets (see example in picture below)are probably about as likeable as preparing a tax return, but we have to talk about numbers or a bit. Using yourEureka! orm (or some other type o business model worksheet) and business plan you can make a list o theitems you will need to get started, such as materials and supplies, employees (i any), equipment, inventory,marketing expenses, office space and any other key resources.

    Lets talk about estimating revenue or a ew minutes, as youll need this estimate or preparing financialprojections.

    Prices

    Estimating your revenue can be a littletricky. Your revenue is directly related tovolume and price (price per unit timesnumber o units sold equals sales reve-nue). A good starting point or establish-ing a price is to check out your directlycompetitive products and services. Tisinormation will be available in catalogsand websites. I there are no directly competitive products and services available,you can use these methods to establish price:

    Compute sales prices at a standard markup percentage above cost or astandard return on your investment.

    Set your prices intuitively to reflect availability and value. Set prices based on competitive prices in a similar market.

    Volume

    Determining volume is a little trickier than determining price, especially itheres no historical data or you to make an estimate. In determining thereasonableness o your estimate on volume, you will need to evaluate marketdemand or the product, the effect o existing products in the market alreadyand your ability to produce the estimated volume. Industry statistics and de-mographic data, such as the type made available by the U.S. Bureau o Laboror U.S. Census Bureau, can also help you make an assessment on your tar-

    Whizkins ipo keep operating expenseslow, create a workspace inyour home or apartment.I you restrict this space toonly your business, youllalso get a deduction or thishome office area.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    Above: Excel Worksheets area great tool or planning &analyzing your financials.

    7Continued on Page 18

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    11/30

    1. Crowdfunding

    Historically, Crowdunding has always been popular in nonprofitarenas, but now that its mainstream, you can use it or pretty muchanything these days, such as financing or your new creative business.

    Tere are countless crowdunding applications or almost anything you can think up. While you undoubtedlyknow the big names, there might be a ew that might be better or what youre trying to do. Research never hurts.Heres several other you might find worth your time. 20+ Crowdunding Websites [click here or list].

    2. Personal Sources

    Yep, this means going into your own piggy bank, i.e.

    savings accounts, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts,mortgages on residences, personal lines o creditand loans against the cash value o lie insurance.Tip:I youre looking to take someone elses money,its good to show them that youve ponied up someo your own dough. In act, they might even requireit, so be prepared.

    3. Partners

    I youre already in partnership, you can always askor additional contributions rom other partners. Te consequence o asking, however, might reduce your own-ership share, and you might be put through a wringer about why you need the extra cash.

    4. Stockholders

    Well talk more about stockholders later, but i you already have some investors on board with your idea, youmight want to consider issuing more stock to boost your cash reserves. Depending on the amount, you mayalso have to go through your pony show to get the additional cash. When you turn back to your shareholders,dont orget that you may end up giving up some o your control and diluting your ownership in the process o

    issuing more stock.

    5. Employees

    While asking employees or money may sound out o the ordinary, it happens all the time, most noticeably withreductions in compensation. You may also offer stock to your employees and allow them to buy a slice o thepie too. Letting your employees purchase stock is a great way to get employees more involved with the growth othe company. I you plan to give stock to employees, plan to spend time on preparing your financial statementsthat youll need to share with your employee-shareholders.

    34Awesome Ways to Raise Moneyfor Your Creative Business

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    https://whizkins.com/businesses/search/listings/subcategory_crowdfunding-platforms/https://whizkins.com/businesses/search/listings/subcategory_crowdfunding-platforms/
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    12/30

    6. Social and Family Connections

    Have a ew riends and amily members with a little extra spending money? Tey might be willing to donate orprovide you with a low interest loan. Be careul with these arrangements, however, as they can quickly turn sourwith misunderstandings and possible tax issues regarding interest. One way to prevent relationships rom beingdisrupted is to document the terms o the financing in a ormal agreement. Te agreement will help partiesunderstand the terms o the arrangement and any limitations.

    7. Vendors

    I you have been a loyal customer, a vendor may go over and above by providing you with a loan to help keep youafloat during a temporary cash shortage so you can keep buying their products. Vendors can also offer productsor services on credit or with terms that are avorable. (Vendor financing is a great cash management tool!)

    8. Customers

    Wouldnt it be great to have a product in developmentthat is so awesome, customers are willing to throwmoney at you or it beore youve even built it? A lot ocrowdunding campaigns have experienced the benefit othis phenomenon: advance payments. Advance paymentstypically come in the orm o down payments but can alsobe ull purchases. Advance payments give entrepreneurs agreat way to prove validation o products and collect cashto build the products.

    NOE: Its IMPORAN to have your pricing near perect because it will be extremely difficult, i not impos-

    sible, to go back to your customers to ask or more money because you ailed to price your product correctly.

    9. Lines of Credit

    A line o credit is an agreement where the bank agrees to lend you up to a specific amount o money. As a bor-rower, you only pay interest on the amount you actually borrow. Tere are 3 main types o lines o credit: sea-sonal, revolving and non-revolving.

    S

    Popular with seasonal businesses, such as retailers and arms. Tese businesses may need additional cash to buylarge amounts o resources during their peak seasons.

    R

    You may be amiliar with how revolving lines o credit work i youve taken out a home equity line. Tese aregreat or businesses with antastic track records and a lot o growth opportunity with uncertainty about howmuch cash they will need in the uture. As you use unds rom a line o credit, you pay back principal and inter-est over a periodic basis, typically on a monthly basis.

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    13/30

    N-

    A non-revolving line o credit will allow you to draw down on your line, but once you pay it back, you cannotdraw it down again without approval. Non-revolving lines o credit are popular with construction contracts andlarge asset purchases, such as equipment and machinery.

    10. Demand note

    A demand note is a loan without a definite term, which means the loan can be called at anytime by the lender.Your rates may also float to allow the lender to take advantage o prevailing rates or however long your loan maybe outstanding. I youre unding a company, you can also lend money to your company through a demand note.

    11. Advances Against Receivables

    While you may be able to find individuals to advance cash or your accounts receivable, commercial financingcompanies typically make these advances. In a nutshell, these companies give you money upront money thatyou expect to receive rom your customers. Tis type o financing arrangement will require you to pledge your

    accounts receivable as collateral or the loan. Advances can be given on a notification or non-notification basis.

    N B

    Your customers will be required to remit payments directly to your lender. I your bank is a lender, yourcustomers may not suspect cash flow issues, but i theyre sending their payments to Cash Now Financing Co.,they might start to wonder how business is doing. So be wary o this possibility o notiying your customersabout your cash situation.

    N- B

    Your customers are not inormed o your potential financing arrangement with your lender, and as a result, theywill send payments to you, and you would make payments directly to the lender.

    Under either basis, the the borrower is on the hook or uncollectible accounts and may be required to remitinvoices and A/R aging schedules to the lender on a periodic basis.

    12. Factoring

    Factoring is the process o selling your accounts receivable at a discount to a bank or financing company (the

    bank or financing company is called a actor in this arrangement). Once sold, you create a base o value that youcan borrow against. Generally, accounts receivable are sold without recourse, which means the bank or financ-ing company will be responsible or uncollectible accounts (this is different rom the advance against receivablesabove where you still own the accounts receivable, and it will be up to you to make sure you collect payements).

    Occasionally, accounts receivable are sold with recourse, which means you, the borrower, will be on the hook oruncollectible accounts. I you sell with recourse, you may receive a lower discount rom the actor, which meansyou get a higher value attached to the amount you sell.

    Factoring can be a great option or startups without a strong track record because the actor analyzes the

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    14/30

    creditworthiness o the customers instead o the borrower. Factoring is also good or companies that are

    expanding so quickly that accounts receivable grow at a aster rate than cash collection.

    13. Credit cards

    Te use o credit cards in this instance is different rom what you might be used to hearing (i.e. you just buy allyour stuff on your personal or business credit cards). In this financing arrangement, you can receive financingrom the banks that have issued credit cards to your customers. For example, i you have a large customer basethat uses cards issued by Bank A, you may be able to obtain financing rom Bank A by discounting the amountsowed to you rom Bank As customers. In other words, i the bank will ultimately end up paying you (as anexample) $15,000.00 in credit sales, and you borrowed $10,000.00, theyll only need to return $5,000.00 to you.

    14. Inventory Financing

    Similar to accounts receivable, some banks and finance companies will provide financing based upon yourinventory. I youre wondering what the heck inventory financing is, Ill share some example in a ew seconds.

    Tere are 3 common ways inventory financing takes place: (1) public warehouse, (2) floor planning and (3) fieldwarehousing.

    Special Section

    Whizkins.com

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    As an entrepreneur, youve probably had one o these days...

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    15/30

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    16/30

    as invoices or carrier inormation. When the third party delivers as required, the bank will release the unds andthe borrower/buyer will be on the hook or repaying the bank.

    19. Equipment Financing

    Equipment and machinery financing is a popular way to manage cash flow. Some suppliers/manuacturers willsell their equipment and machinery with extended payment terms. Tis way, you can obtain the equipment and

    machinery you need to continue producing inventory or sales and the supplier/manuacturer ensures a sale otheir own inventory by offering avorable payment terms.

    20. Leasing

    Te alternative to purchasing your equipment or machinery is leasing. Leasing is popular because it can reducethe costs o maintaining and repairing equipment and machinery.

    Some o the benefits o leasing include cash conservation, small down payments, ewer obligations andresponsibilities and protection again obsolescence. Computers are great examples o equipment where you want

    to have some protection against obsolescence, so ofen times, computers and other high-tech equipment areleased.

    21. Sale and Leaseback

    I you have ully-depreciated equipment thats in good condition, you may be able to sell this equipment to a newbuyer and lease it back. In this scenario, the buyer gets the benefit o depreciation and you would get to maintainthe use o the equipment and receive an influx o cash.

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    Im so cool I dont even need oven mitts.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    17/30

    22. Term Loan

    erm loans are loans that are paid in installments overan agreed upon period o time. erms loans are typicallysecured by collateral, such as equipment or machinery.Payments are made monthly or quarterly.

    23. Mezzanine Financing

    Weve included mezzanine financing, and theres a slimchance you will ever encounter it. Knowing mezzaninefinancing may be good to know in case youre on Jeopardyone day. In a mezzanine financing arrangement, thelender usually offers an unsecured and subordinated debtin exchange or a higher interest rates and possibly equity in the orm o warrants, preerred stock or debtconversion privileges. Mezzanine financing is popular with companies that are highly leveraged or seekingfinancing to acquiring a business. Te typical term or a loan in a mezzanine financing arrangement is 5 to 7

    years.

    24. SBA Loans

    Te Small Business Administration offers a variety o loans or small businesses or a variety o purposes, e.g.working capital, equipment and machinery and real estate. Te Small Business Administration guarantees theseloans made by banks.

    25. Other Government Agencies

    Outside the SBA, there are other governmental agencies that may offer financing or businesses that help theseagencies ulfill their purpose. For example, you may be able to obtain financing rom the Department o Energyor a business that develops a more efficient way or using solar energy to supply homes with power.

    26. Long-term Financing

    Long-term financing is a difficult road or entrepreneurs to ride. Most banks do not offer long-term financingoutside o mortgages or real property. For banks, there is too much risk to provide a long-term loan toentrepreneurs when the uture is unpredictable.

    27. Equity

    Equity is a much more affordable way to obtain capital when compared to long-term financing. Equity financinginvolves issuing shares o your stock to private investors or other companies. Te key benefits are no interestcosts and no principal to be repaid. Giving up equity, however, means more hands will be stirring pot, whichcan lead to power struggles and conflicts in vision. Issue shares also dilute the ownership o existing holders.

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    I you look right here, this is where we can takeeverything.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    18/30

    28. ESOPs

    ESOPs, or employee stock option plans, allow employees to own some o the company in which they are work-ing. Te share o ownership allows employees to eel directly responsible or the appreciation o their stock value.

    29. Venture Capital

    Venture capitalists (VCs) typically invest in companies with great ideas but have a lot o risk. VCs buy stock withan expectation to cash out their positions within 3 to 7 years rom date o investment. VC firms can cash out inseveral ways:

    Sell stock to other shareholders in thecompany.

    Sell stock an acquiring company. ake company public. Set up additional financing rom another

    source to buy out their stock.

    Advantages or VCs

    VCs may be more willing to contribute toan opportunity than any other potentialsources.

    VCs are less risk averse. VCs may require a lower, initial out-o-

    pocket costs or obtaining unds. VCs usually come with a strong network o

    contacts.

    Disadvantages or VCs

    VCs may require a large stake in yourcompany beore investing.

    VCs may require you to give up control overmanagement decisions.

    Valuing your company or the purposeo obtaining venture capital is a difficultprocess.

    VC firms typically invest in the ollowing types oindustries:

    Hardware & Sofware Electronics elecommunications Biotechnology Healthcare Pharmaceuticals

    Special Section

    Whizkins.com

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    19/30

    Inormation echnology

    30. Angel Investors

    An angel investor is an individual, or group o individuals, who provides startup capital (seed money) to earlystage companies with the hopes o earning a high return. Angels also enjoy helping entrepreneurs in a newventure.

    ypical characteristics o an angel:

    Successul businessperson Earns over $200,000 per year Has a net worth in excess o $1,000,000.00 Preers to invest locally Preers high-growth ventures

    How angels differ rom VCs:

    Considers seed or early stage companies Investment is typically $25,000 to $500,000 Less extensive due diligence ypical time to close deal is 2.5 months (VCs average 4.5

    months) Expects cashing out between 5 10 years (VCs preer 3-5

    years) Investment unds are rom personal assets rather than a

    und with multiple investors

    31. Public Offerings

    Public offerings occur when shares o stock are made available to the general public or purchase. Whilepublicly offering shares can provide a company with more capital and liquidity or shareholders, publicly tradedshares dilute ownership and increase reporting requirements or the public company, and when there are morereporting requirements, you know there will be more proessional ees.

    32. Mortgage Loans

    Mortgage loans are loans based upon the value o property and potential income streams rom the property.Loans can range anywhere between 15 to 30 years.

    33. Private Placement Loans

    Private placement loans are long-term loans made by large institutional buyers, such as banks or insurancecompanies. Generally, these loans are only available to large corporations.

    Special Section

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    20/30

    34. Layered Financing

    Sometimes you may need to obtain your financing rom various sources, which is called layered financing. Alayered financing arrangement uses several different sources to cover your financial needs. For example, a bankmay only cover a small percentage o your needs. In such a case, you may be able to obtain the difference romcrowdunding, angel investors and amily members.

    Beore you begin rounding up parties or your layered financing arrangement, it is good practice to do a thor-ough analysis o the potential financing sources and prepare a financing proposal or each prospective investoror lender, disclosing your plans to obtain financing rom various sources and who they sources might be.

    Special Section

    Your Face Here!

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    21/30

    geted market.

    With your estimated expenses (collected rom business plan and business model) and revenue (what you justcalculated), you can create a prospective profit/loss statement to help you visualize how your business mightdo when operating. When youre done with these projections, you will have a tool to help you determine i thepotential market youre trying to capture will make your venture worthwhile. Plus, youll also get an idea abouthow much startup and pre-operating costs might run.

    We have some financial templates available to get you going on your financial projections, and as a Whizkinsmember, you are always ree to ask a proessional online or advice or tips about putting together your projections.Feel ree to share your projections with a proessional member online and receive eedback.

    Step 5 - Determining Financial Needs

    Once youve gotten a projection togeth-er o what your expected expenses andrevenue might look like over the next

    year or two, you can begin to look intohow you might und your venture.

    With your financial projection, you canfigure out the amount needed to getstarted and begin operations and sub-tract rom amount needed what you al-ready have or might be willing to con-tribute, and the remaining amount iswhat you need to get unded.

    Tere are several routes you can go tofind additional financing or your ven-ture: partners, shareholders, employees,social and amily connections, vendorfinancing, customers, angel investors,venture capital firms, banks andmicrolenders.

    For more inormation on whichfinancing alternative might be best or

    your business, you can search our articles, blogs, documents, orums, proessionals and business directory orpotential options, or check out the Special Section included in this guide.

    Congratulations

    I you have made it this ar and completed Steps 1 - 5, good job! So what do you think o the picture so ar? Youhave your business model, a business plan, customers discovered and validated and a set o financial projections.

    Once youre done reviewing your work, you might be ready to rock and roll towards the next steps or you mightbe thinking, hmmm, I dont know about this just right now, which is fine. Dont stop just yet. Find out what has

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    22/30

    Sole Proprietors

    Partnership

    LLC

    C-Corporation

    S-Corporation

    Unlimited LiabilityIncome axable to Propri

    Unlimited Liability (GPLimited Liability (LP)

    Income axable to Partn

    Limited to Corporate AssIncome axable to Memb

    Limited to Corporate AssIncome axable to

    Corporation

    Limited to Corporate AssIncome axable to

    Shareholder

    Learn Moreabout Lega

    Entities by

    Signing Up f

    Whizkins!

    you rethinking the idea, and take a ew minutes to go back over all o your hard work, and see i you can tweakit just a little. Need some help on ideas? We know o a website that can help. (whizkins.com, duh!)

    Step 6 - Choose a Business

    Name

    So heres a un part o this whole startup process: picking a business name. Iyou already have a name picked out, great! I not, thats OK too. Here are aew tips to get you started:

    Choose a name that clearly communicates the product or service oryour business.

    ry to avoid using your name in the title i you think you might sellyour business. For example, a potential purchaser named Dave mightnot want to own Bobs Bicycles.

    Check with state and ederal trademark registries first because we

    would eel bad i you ound an awesome name, filed your documents,ordered shirts and cool promotional products and then ound out thename is protected rom use by law.

    Feel ree to have a business name different rom what you plan toname a legal entity, i you decide to choose one. For example, Bobs Bi-cycles might actually be the business name or Robert International,LLC. I you do this, search or fictitious business name and [yourcounty] on your avorite search engine.

    o protect your awesome business name, learn more about trademarks below(or in our articles, blogs and documents). For even more tips and ideas onchoosing a business name, here are a couple o blogs weve written:

    20 Tips for Picking a Kickass Business Name [Link]How to Pick and Protect an Awesome Business Name [Link]

    Step 7 - Choose a Legal Entity

    Now that you have your idea locked and loaded and ready to go. Its time tothink about how you will structure your business rom a legal point o view.

    rying to choose a legal entity can be conusing, which makes sense becausethere are several to choose rom, and all o them have their own crazy dos anddonts, but well break it down or you. Heres one short blog weve prepared:

    A Description of Legal Entities in Under 5 Minutes [Link]

    Want more interaction and conversation? As a member, you are alwayswelcomed to chat with a proessional to find out which entity suits youbest and have them work with you on filing your legal documents with theappropriate state government office.

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    Whizkins.com

    9

    https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/blog/48/20-tips-for-picking-a-kickass-business-name/https://whizkins.com/blog/21/how-to-pick-and-protect-an-awesome-business-name/https://whizkins.com/blog/124/a-description-of-legal-entities-in-under-5-minutes/https://whizkins.com/blog/124/a-description-of-legal-entities-in-under-5-minutes/https://whizkins.com/blog/21/how-to-pick-and-protect-an-awesome-business-name/https://whizkins.com/blog/48/20-tips-for-picking-a-kickass-business-name/https://whizkins.com/
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    23/30

    Te choice o entity is important because each provides various benefits (such as the ew we listed to the right)that might be beneficial or the type o business you might want to run. Tere are 5 basic options:

    Sole Proprietorship Partnership Limited Liability Company (LLC)

    C-Corporation S-Corporation

    Its not that one legal entity is better than the other, generally speaking. Some are better suited or differentpurposes. For example, i you want to have a large company with global growth, you might need a lotshareholders or capital demands, and a C-Corporation might be the best option. Te more complicated thelegal entity, such as a C-Corporation, the more ees that will be required to maintain that legal entity status. Asan example, Caliornia as a minimum ranchise tax o $800.00 (yikes!) or Corporations and LLCs. Tis is a taxregardless o how much money you make.

    With a C-Corporation, you will also have board meetings, board minutes and incorporation ees that are gener-

    ally higher than the ees or other entities.

    Tere are also certain tax implications involved with selecting a legal entity. So while youre thinking aboutwhich type might work best or you, please eel ree to check with some o our legal proessional members onlinewho can help you set up your legal entity.

    Once you decide on a legal entity, check out your respective states corporation division or filing the right or-ganizational or incorporation paperwork. You might, however, have to file a fictitious business name statement.As an example, Bobs Bicycle might be a fictitious business name, or trade name, or Robert Smith, a sole propri-etor o a bike shop. Registration o the trade name Bobs Bicycle will let customers and local government knowwho is behind the business.

    Afer registering your legal entity, you may consider filing a Form SS-4,Application for Employer IdentificationNumber, or tax filing purposes. T employer identification number (EIN) acts in a very similar manner asyour social security number and will be used or communicating with the IRS and certain other public agen-cies. Whats great is that now you can file your Form SS-4 or FREE on the IRSs website (so you dont have topay other services to get this number.) Click the ollowing link to learn more about Form SS-4, filing it andthe requirements or obtaining a new EIN. [http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Sel-Employed/Apply-or-an-Employer-Identification-Number-(EIN)-Online]

    Step 8 - Get Protectionrademarks, copyrights and patents are legal devices or protecting your efforts. Navigating the waters with theUnited States rademark and Patent Office and Copyright Office can be tricky, but there are a lot o resourcesand people available on Whizkins to help you, such as attorneys and patent agents. rademarks, copyrights andpatents can work together to protect brands, written and film works, products, processes and designs.

    Youll need these orms o intellectual property to keep your competitive advantage against competitors. Intel-lectual property can help set up barriers o entry, which will make it more difficult or competitors to close inon your market. Just think o how great it would be to have a product that no one else can build without your

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

    http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Onlinehttp://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Onlinehttp://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    24/30

    permission and everyone on the planet wants to buy it. Awesome,right?

    Trademarks/Servicemarks

    rademarks and servicemarks are used to identiy a good or servicerom a particular origin. Te value in these marks come rom the

    goodwill associated with them. For example, think about Nike andwherever you see its name or Swoosh logo. What type o image doesit portray in your mind? Wouldnt you like your name or logo asso-ciated with a particular value in your customers minds? When youget that value, youll want to protect it rom others who will try tomake money off all o your hard work in building that brand name.rademarks and service marks help protect you rom inringingpeople and companies.

    Patents

    Patents are rights granted by the ederal government to an inventor. For a specific number o years (20 yearsto be exact), the ederal government permits you to have a monopoly over your invention, giving you permis-sion to license it or to not license and take legal action against anyone who makes, uses or sells your patentedinvention during the patents lietime without your consent. In short, to get a patent, it must be novel, useuland unobvious.

    Copyright

    Copyrights protect creative works that are literary, dramatic, musical or artistic, such as poetry, novels, movies,

    songs, sofware and architecture. Copyright law protects creative works by preventing other rom reproducing,reprinting or copying the creative works without permission o the author. Copyright protection is granted assoon as you put your work in a tangible medium o expression, which is ancy talk or putting your work onpaper, canvas, disk or hard drive. the author puts the works into a tangible orm. For added protection, we sug-gest you file an application with the U.S. Register o Copyrights - see blue box above. Here are some commonquestions weve gotten about copyrights.

    Q: W

    A: Your work is protected as soon as it is created and placed in a tangible orm that can be easily seen or readby a machine.

    Q: I I .

    D

    A: Tis is reerred to as the poor mans copyright. Copyright law does not address this practice whatsoever, andit isnt a substitute or a ormal copyright registration.

    Q: D I

    A: Nope, but it is in your interest do register your work. A copyright exists the moment you create it and place it

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    Whizkins.com

    U.S. Copyright Office101 Independence Avenue, S.E.Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

    202.707.3000www.copyright.gov

    U.S. Patent &rademark Office

    P.O. Box 1450Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

    800.786.9199www.uspto.gov

    https://www.copyright.gov/http://www.uspto.gov/https://www.copyright.gov/http://www.uspto.gov/
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    25/30

    in a tangible orm as described above. I you plan to litigate against any inringers, you will need to register yourwork with the Copyright Office. (As o the date o this publication, online registration or a single application is$35.00 and a standard application is $55.00. I you want to register by mail, the ee is $85.00.)

    Q: W I

    A: Copyright inringement is a strict liability tort, which is ancy lawyerspeak or you can nail someones ass

    quite easily or inringing your work. You can only have this power IF you register. Plus, registered work may beeligible or statutory damages and attorneys ees in successul litigation. So not only could you easily sue them,but you can also collect the ees your attorney will unquestionably charge you.

    Step 9 - Permits, Licenses & More

    Depending on the type o business you plan to operate, you might have to register or fire permits, business per-mits and special other licenses to operate. Te easiest way to find out about the permits, licenses and certificatesyoull need beore you open your doors is to take a ew hours out o your day and go down to your city hall withyour checkbook. Sounds like a nasty time commitment, but its best to get this stuff out o the way all at once.

    Staff wont be able to dodge your questions and all the orms youll need will be printed and available or you.I you really dont have the time available, you can check your states, countys and citys websites or finding theright applications or you can ask some o our proessional members on our website.

    Please be mindul however, that your state and, sometimes, ederal governments might be responsible or issuingpermits, licenses and certificates beore you can operate. For example, a CPA license is issued by a state boardversus a local office. Additionally, states generally issue sales tax certificates, and or some states, they might beresponsible or collecting county and local sales and use taxes too, but be sure to check to see i the county and/or local offices dont administer their own sales and use taxes.

    As an employer, you will most likely have to register or a state employer identification number with yourstate department o labor and/or department o revenue. Tis number will be used or communicating withrespective state offices or purposes o filing inormation and remitting certain payments. Lets take a look atsome o the common ederal agencies and offices that might want to hear rom you.

    I R S

    We mentioned these guys earlier when discussing your employer identification number. In additional to incometaxes, youll need to file payroll taxes with the Federal government as well. Click here, to find your local taxoffice. [http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1]

    U.S. D C - I T/U.S. C S

    I youre looking to become a global player, youll need to learn more about international sales, requirementsand restriction. Te U.S. Dept. o Commerce is a great resource. You can find your local office by clicking here.[http://www.commerce.gov/about-commerce/services]

    U.S. C B P

    Te U.S. Customs & Border Protection are responsible or enorcing hundreds o laws regulating what and who

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

    http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1http://www.commerce.gov/about-commerce/serviceshttp://www.commerce.gov/about-commerce/serviceshttp://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    26/30

    can and cannot enter the U.S. borders. I you plan to import and export goods, you can expect to also commu-nicate regularly with this agency. For their contact inormation, click here. [http://www.cbp.gov/contact]

    U.S. F D A

    Tis agency is responsible or ensuring the saety o ood or human and animal consumption; drugs, vaccines,other biological products and medical devices; cosmetics and dietary supplments and assuring these products

    are honestly, accurately and inormatively represented to the public. [http://www.da.gov/AboutFDA/ContactF-DA/FindanOfficeorStaffMember/]

    Step 10 - Select A Location

    Depending on the nature o the business, you may or may not need a place o business away rom your home.A home studio or workspace can work perectly well or our creative business.

    Beore you make a final decision on a home office versus another location outside your home, you should con-sider proximity to your targeted market, availability o labor, traffic flow and possibility or congestion, availabil-

    ity o signage, presence rom the street, proximity to competition, zoning and building restrictions, compliancewith various ederal laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, governmental restrictions and proximityto mass transit hubs. As you can imagine, these are only a ew items to consider. Here are a ew other tips toconsider when looking or space or your business:

    So once youve figured out a location (yay!), there are some other items you might want to review about yourlocation:

    Will it accommodate expansion? Does the layout work with your business? Will the acility meet your utility demands? Does it comply with the Americans with Disability Act? I it does not conorm with ADA, will you have to make the changes? Is there adequate parking? How close will you be located to police and fire protection services? Who manages waste?

    While researching your awesome location to make sure its perect or you, your business, prospective customers

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    3

    Retailers Services Manufacturers Visibility raffic Flow Proximity to popular stores,

    such as anchor stores, i.e. big

    department stores Proximity to competitors Proximity to complementary

    stores, such as locating an activewear store next to a gym

    Proximity to customers Accessibility to properly skilled

    labor Image the location gives Availability o storage capacity Proximity to transportation

    networks, such as interstates,rails or waterways

    Accessibility to properly skilledlabor

    Accessibility to raw materials Proximity to transportation net-

    works, such as interstates, railsor waters

    Capacity Affordable land or space

    http://www.cbp.gov/contacthttp://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/FindanOfficeorStaffMember/http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/FindanOfficeorStaffMember/http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/FindanOfficeorStaffMember/http://www.cbp.gov/contact
  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    27/30

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    and employees, here are a ew over items to pay special attention to while youre evaluating your options:

    Potential lease term, i leasing otal cost (annual and monthly) Actual rentable square ootage ax responsibility Maintenance responsibility

    Insurance responsibility Flexibility Exposure to risk Require insurances, permits and certificates

    Step 11 - Acquire Insurance Coverage

    A must have in any business is insurance. Insurance not only protects the assets o your business, but it alsoprotects your customers rom any unortunate accidents. Te key is to get enough insurance, which can be a bittricky. You dont want to underinsure, which will expose you to risk o paying out o pocket or what your insur-

    ance does not cover, and you dont want to overinsure where you are paying more in premiums than you needto pay. Tere are are several types o insurance (not all are required) that you might encounter:

    General liability Workers compensation (mandatory with employees) Business interruption Product liability or malpractice Car insurance Key person insurance Health insurance Disability insurance Fidelity

    With Whizkins, our website will help you avoid one o the major pitalls that accompany obtaining insurance:the ailure to shop around or the best insurance value. Send us an email, and we can find a way to help you findaffordable insurance.

    Another common pitall to watch out or is spreading yoursel across several carriers. Many insurance providersoffer price discounts or carrying all o your insurance needs with them. Plus, having one or two, instead o ouror five, insurance providers helps reduce the risk you are purchasing insurance coverage that overlaps. Having

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    28/30

    only a couple insurance carriers mean you wont be paying twice or the same coverage.

    Evaluating your risk can be a tough task or an entrepreneur, but no need to ear! Here are a ew things to keepin mind:

    Identiy your exposures. Determine the magnitude or each exposure.

    Identiy the coverage you will need or each exposure. ry to lump coverages together by similar events, or example, general liability and automobile

    property might be one carrier and business interruption and property might be or another. Tis willmake the claim process easier.

    Evaluate deductibles and premiums with potential insurance providers that might cover your exposure. Evaluate the prices and stability o the insurance providers. Make sure the exposure with the largest risk o loss is covered first.

    Step 12 - Hiring Employees

    Once you move rom non-employer to an employer, the business game changes a bit in terms o responsbilitiesand legal requirements (drastically change). Here are a ew items you might need to keep in mind as you startyour hiring process:

    Preparing job descriptions Advertising available jobs Reviewing applications Interviewing prospects Checking with reerences Complying with the American Disability Act and citizenship requirements Inorming new hires o personnel policies Inorming state government o new hires Budgeting costs o new hires (including training, equipment, etc.)

    Fortunately, we have a lot o resources on the Whizkins platorm to help you manage the hiring process. Wehave personnel policies, such as Drug and Alcohol Policies, Equal Employment Opportunity, Vacation Policies, Disciplinary Policies and more. Beore you begin saying you wont need any o these, i you plan to grow yourbusiness and hire people (even riends), you definitely will.

    Hiring can be a un and exciting process, but youll have to handle it with care because a lot o laws (stated andederal) cover the process o hiring and working with employees.

    So with employees the game changes. Te game also changes with contractors. Fortunately, i you take a ewprecautions upront you can protect yoursel and your business when working independent contractors. Eitheryou or your independent contractors should have some sort o independent contractor or service agreementthat explicitly lists out responsibilities and obligations o your agreement to receive services. Contractors are lesso an administrative burden, but you generally will not have much control over how they go about doing yourwork. I you do control how they work, you might accidentally categorize them as employees.

    As a creative entrepreneur, when working with contractors, you always have to keep in the back o your mindwho is going to own any works o art at the end o the projects. Its best to discuss these items at the very

    Copyright 2014 Whizkins Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    5

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    29/30

    beginning beore money exchanges hands so there is absolutely no question at the end o your arrangement whoretains or owns rights to whatever work is created.

    With hired help, contractors or employees, you know youre going to need to shell out some money. So lets getstraight to that headache known as payroll.

    Step 13 - Manage Payroll TaxesOk, we will admit it: payroll taxes arent the most un part o the operating process. Guess what though! Tereare plenty o payroll processing companies that take out all the headaches o withholding state and ederalpayroll taxes and filing the respective returns on time.

    I youre going to try to manage payroll taxes on your own, we salute you! Fortunately, there are a lot o web ap-plications out there on the web that can help you with the payroll process (see the next section, Step 14- AcquireRecordkeeping Tools, to learn how you can find out about some o these helpul web applications).

    Tere is a significant amount o inormation about withholding and filing returns out there. Weve tried to

    condense some o that inormation on our platorm with our articles, blogs, documents and orums, i yourereally serious about trying to tackle payroll solo. Here are the items youll need to know:

    Quarterly Returns

    Form 941 (employers quarterly payroll tax return) State and local quarterly payroll tax returns (check to see i

    you are required to file monthly) State unemployment returns. Note: some states have other tax requirements, such as em-

    ployment development and training taxes.

    Annual Returns

    Form 940 (employers annual ederal unemployment taxreturn)

    Form 944 (employers annual payroll tax return) Forms W-2 (employment wage and tax statement) Form W-3 (transmittal orm) Forms 1099 (these orms are required or specific types

    o payments above certain minimum amounts, e.g. above600.00 or contractors)

    Form 1096 (transmittal orm) State and local annual payroll tax returns State annual unemployment tax returns.

    Quite a bit to keep in mind, right? Plus, there is an assortment o penalties or filing late or not filing yourrequired returns on time. Consistent ailure can easily land you in jail. Yikes! So you definitely dont want toneglect payroll taxes.

    How to Start a Business Whizkins

  • 7/21/2019 How to Start a Business - Short Guide

    30/30

    How to Start a BusinessWhizkins

    Disclaimer: Our solutions are designed to provide you with quick, reliable and affordable inormation in regard to accounting, financelaw, management, marketing, tax, technology and other business areas. We are neither a public accounting firm nor law firm and, as suchwe are prohibited rom providing both public accounting services and legal advice. I the services o a public accounting or attorney arerequired, please seek the assistance o a licensed CPA or CPA firm or attorney, respectively. Some inormation provided on our websitemay originate rom third parties. Such inormation is not guaranteed by the owners, operators, administrators or otherwise o this site tobe accurate, complete and compliant with statutes, guidance, best practices, rulings or any other orm o regulation. Content provided onthis site shall not be deemed to be tax, legal, financial or other advice and we encourage you to confirm the accuracy o the content. By

    hi i d d h b d d d h i F i i

    If Youve Enjoyed this Free Guide. Get More

    Awesome Goodies at Whizkins.com

    Whizkins

    whizkins.com

    Step 14 - Acquire Recordkeeping Tools

    For all that work youve done and will do, youll want to make sure you keep up with the revenue youll begenerating rom it, the assets you use to generate that revenue and, o course, the expenses. Tere are a variety oprograms available to help you keep track o recordkeeping, such as an accounting sofware. Heres a ree guideor finding accounting applications: 14 Accounting Applications + Prices [click here or accounting app guide].

    Beore you start operating, youll also want to have in place procedures and policies surrounding inventory,other assets, cash and other assets that are critical to your operations. Tese are key resources that will needprotection.

    Tis recordkeeping may seem like a total pain, and at times, it is, but to measure the return youre earning onyour efforts and to keep the tax man off your back, youll want to make sure youre keeping track o everytimeyou sell a cupcake, album, cool new toy, design or whatever!

    Conclusion

    As you can see rom this guide, there is a long list o requirements and tasks that have to be done to successullystart and operate your business. Tese items are in addition to your regular day-to-day operations and the ac-tivities you enjoy doing. Its so easy to run your business on hope, or by winging it, but its an extremely danger-ous way to operate, especially considering all those statistics we talked about at the very beginning. Running abusiness is hard work, and we want you to be successul.

    Now, knowing the amount o work thats required to be an entrepreneur, we specifically built Whizkins to helplighten your workload by providing an assortment o shortcuts, tips, resources, guides and proessionals - allwithin a ew clicks o the mouse.

    https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/store/14-accounting-applications-prices/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/https://whizkins.com/store/14-accounting-applications-prices/