How to start a small business?

Question

I am more and more frustrating with unrewarding salary paid jobs and I wanna try out something else.. But obviously i am not sure where to start. Could anyone with experience help me guide?
First of all how to choose a business?
How to get the financial support?
How to eliminate as much risk as possible?

Answer 1

Starting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck.

Some things you need to consider:
- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?"
- "What are my abilities?"
- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?"
- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?"

In terms of choosing the business, the best business will depend on what you want, how you define to be interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than take care of dogs.

The key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources.

Dan Ramsey in his book "101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:

1. List 5 things you do best
2. List how others would benefit from what you do best
3. Find out how to give people what they want
4. Learn the value of your services to others
5. Find out who else offers similar services
6. Learn from the successes of others
7. Learn from the failures of others
8. Plan your own success
9. Make low cost mistakes
10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it

He then made suggestions on the best home businesses according to type. Here are a few of them:

Best Businesses Using Craft or Physical Skills
- antique restoration
- auto detail service
- carpet cleaning business
- errand/delivery service
- housecleaning business

Best Service Businesses
- bed and breakfast operator
- caregiver
- catering service
- senior day care center
- tutoring service

Best Professional Businesses
- desktop publisher
- magazine writer
- import/export service
- income tax preparation service
- event planner

Some other home business ideas:

Top 10 Home Businesses with Rapid Break-Even Time http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol33/breakeven.htm
10 Profitable “Go-Out" Home Businesses http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol31/goout.htm
Low Cost Startup Businesses http://www.entrepreneur.com/lowcostbusinesses/0,6617,,00.html
6 Hottest Businesses on the Web http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/web.htm

You can also check out the following books:

Turn Your Talents into Profits: 100+ Terrific Ideas for Starting Your Own Home-Based Microbusiness
The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century
121 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home
The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start
101 Ways to Make Money at Home

It may help you if you could talk with a small business expert or free mentors to give you ideas on how to make your dream of starting a business come true even without money. Here are some places where you can find a mentor:

- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_roundtables.html
- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs
- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs/globallinks.html , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org
- Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.html
- Industry and trade associations
- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce
- Local chapters of business groups

There is so much to learn about starting a business that it is hard to put everything here. I suggest that you to check out the following websites and learn from their content:

Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com
Inc.com http://www.inc.com
SBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/...

Answer 2

Think of all your interests & ask yourself if any of those could be expanded into a business. Just keep in mind...what's your expertise? What are your interests? What could you imagine yourself doing?

By researching the prospect of starting your own business -- what it entails, what you need to know, helpful hints, etc -- you'll feel better prepared to take that plunge.

I found some book titles that are relevant to your specific question:

* 101 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home by Susan Sweeney
* The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul Edwards
* Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant by Jim Carroll
* I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher
* I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work by Julie Jansen
* The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start by Marian Betancourt
* The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to Internet Start-Ups by Robert Spiegel
* Making a Living Without a Job : Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter

I also posted some article links in the source box.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

go for the internet business which requires less of your time and the one that will not make you feel headache with web designing, or which require IT knowledge. Second, choose the internet based company which offer you the opportunity and at the same time giving you the convenience to start the business. Third, choose the business, which does not require big money to start it.

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Answer 4

You may first decide on the nature of business you would like to start. If you have technical qualifications or on-the job experience you could start an industry for manufacturing the product.If you intend starting trading business you may have to decide on two key factors to begin with---the product you wish to sell and the location of the shop.and study your competitors' ways.You may also assess the total capital requirement and see how much finance you may require to supplement your own savings or capital . You may have to prepare a detailed project report setting out your business plan and giving projections of production and of sales at least for next five years . You may also set out your schedule of repayment of the loan capital in this report .You can then approach a bank or relevant financial institutrion for meeting the finacial requirement of your proposed business. If you find this too diffficult, better engage a technical consultant. Alternatively you can start selling on e-bay by registering yourself on their site.Wish you good luck. Please remember that with a positive frame of mind and ongoing efforts in the right direction even a school drop-out has over the yers risen to become the world's richest business magnate.

Answer 5

I have my own small business that i am still in the startup process of doing.. Its an at home business, im not sure if that is the type of thing you are looking for.. but you can have your own hours and your own salary is dependent on how much you do.

www.clicksmc.com
also, you can check out the type of business that i have. its an online gift shop with many items coming soon!! you are basically selling these items at awesome prices and the company pays you for what you sell.. at home businesses are not for everyone, but check it out..

www.tinasboutique.vstore.ca

Answer 6

You have first step to start a small business is planning. And the find-out the customers responsibility about that product. And then collect the resources for your business. and then find the substitute products.provide advertisment

Answer 7

Well, I can understand your situation. Nowadays, everyone fed-up with their daily routines or working status so they want to start their own business. First of all, for starting a new business, you should keep basic things and ideas in your mind. A good and proper plan with complete dedication is very important for any business you want to start.

Answer 8

if you guys have yahoo messenger add me @charklife89 im interestedin new ideas for starting a business

Answer 9

Think BIG, Act small.
Forget Support, Risk it all.

Answer 10

spend a year learning in the library b4 wasting a dime.