opening my own business?

Question

hello there, my mom and I want to open up our own business selling cell phones, perfumes, jewelry, other accessories, and other such gadgets. we also want to open this in a polish neighborhood so we can offer services like translations, filling out forms for those who dont speak english, and other things like that.. how can i get started on doing this? i have never worked for myself so i know nothing at all about this, what are my first steps? what do I need? please help me, especially, if you've started out like me, and became successful.. all advice is appreciated!

Answer 1

Starting a business is governed by governed by laws in your state. Yor state's web-site may have a section on this. Also search in your area for a SCORE or Small Business Development Center office. These groups are funded by the Small Business Administration and offer the assistance you are looking for at no charge. Good luck!

Answer 2

like Charles B's answer, he knows what it is like. We opened up 3 machine shops, 2 in S. Calif.1 in New Mexico i also opened up my own small beauty salon in New Mexico. We over reached ourselves as it was very hard to open 2 businesses up at the same time in different fields. I closed my shop and tried to help out at the machine shop, bigger money overall if it works out. We learned you can have a passion for something, be good at it and still fail if the right circumstances and events don't come together before you run out of funds to support the business. Business know how, luck,knowing when there is an opportunity and when it is time to pack it up are essential. Sometimes just wanting something is not enough to carry you through the hard time. The thing with having your own business is you can and do work all the time, worry and aggravation are part of it. If things work out,great but the stress is not for everyone. We had partners with our first 2 shops, they were more hassle then help, going it alone is hard too, you can't share the pressures. We knew people who had machine shops, many did very well, became multi-millionairs with huge shops and many employees, other like us just had bad timing or not enough luck to meet the right people at the right time. The more you make, the more you spend on the business to make it grow, it's like a baby always growing or it dies.

Answer 3

The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.

I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

Starting a Business Specific:

* How to Really Start Your Own Business, Fourth Edition by David E. Gumpert
* How to Really Create a Successful Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide by David E. Gumpert
* What No One Ever Tells You about Starting Your Own Business: Real-Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs (What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business) by Jan Norman
* Business Start-Up Kit by Steven D. Strauss
* Start Your Own Business (Entrepreneur Magazine's Start Up) by Rieva Lesonsky

Retail Specific:

* Start and Run a Profitable Retail Business by Jim Dion, Ted Topping
* Retail Business Kit for Dummies by Rick Segel
* Specialty Shop Retailing: How to Run Your Own Store Revised by Carol L. Schroeder
* So You Want To Own The Store: Secrets to Running a Successful Retail Operation by Mort Brown

Translation Specific:

* Becoming a Translator by D. Robinson
* In Other Words by Mona Baker
* The Translator's Handbook, Fifth Revised Edition by Morry Sofer

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

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

Answer 4

First of all I wish you good luck.
Second, don’t expand your products from the beginning,
If you don't know what to start with, then start from the place, choose the place, then see what is not available in this place, then you start with one thing, ether mobiles, or accessories and perfumes, or services as you said, but not all together from the beginning, then gradually you can increase your products and services…
But keep in mind, you have to be patient, don’t expect the success from the first day,
Also you have to work hard, especially in the beginning you have to pay too much attention to your business.
And before you start, let us say you decided to start mobile shop, go and visit all the mobile shops in your aria, see what they are doing, take the advantages and don’t do there mistakes.
After you start your business, the most important is how to behave with your customer; customer service is the key to success.

Answer 5

Go to http://www.score.org/ to find the nearest SCORE chapter. Contact them to arrange for a free one on one meeting with a SCORE counselor.

SCORE is a nonprofit organization. They provide a public service by offering small business advice and training. .

SCORE's 10,500 volunteers have more than 600 business skills. Volunteers share their wisdom and lessons learned in business. The volunteers are working/retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders.