Can someone please give me advice for starting a new business?

I had an awesome dream which turned into an idea for a plus size business. I have the idea completed laid (and written) out, but it turns out that the cost of the vision in Huge! For example: I鈥檓 not sure if I should buy a large office building, or have it built. I鈥檓 a full time employed single mother so I鈥檓 on a budget, and the startup costs are overwhelming, but I鈥檓 determined to become a successful entrepreneur! Someone suggested that I get sponsors, especially from plus size female celebrities. Someone also said to do a poor man鈥檚 copywrite, but I鈥檓 totally clueless as to where to go from there. Can someone tell me what I need to do legally? I have the idea on paper, now how do I get it off the ground on underway?? Any advice would be highly appreciated! Thanks.Can someone please give me advice for starting a new business?
okay. I was just here a few months ago, so here's some tips i have to offer.





First off, take a deep breath, this is going to be one of the hardest things you'll ever do in your life. I haven't had a full nights sleep since i was in that ';okay lets do this'; stage. Just a warning... people make it look glamorous, but this is seriously a pull your hair out kind of thing.





Now for the real advice. Start with a business plan. Having the idea on paper is one thing, having a well written, fully detailed business plan is another. Don't forget to include the ';what ifs?'; the things you don't want to think about, but NEED to. What if your or your child gets sick? What if you end up not making enough money and have to close? What if you get sued? Etc. Stressful to think about, but it's things that need to be in the business plan so if anything ever happens, you are prepared.





Once you have a business plan, find your local Small Business Development Center and call for a meeting with them. Some require you take a class before talking to you... it's worth the $30 or whatever the charge (some are free, so i hope you get lucky!). They offer 4 classes: Business Plans, Finances, Advertising and Getting Started... TAKE THEM ALL. They are the best resource for getting started without going and taking a class at a college. The more you know, the better you'll be in the end.





Have a sit down with them. They offer one on one counseling, and you can have them read your business plan, help you assess your risk, help you find funds for your particular business, etc.





Next: estimate your costs (for real.. everything from the space to chairs for people to sit and a register... EVERY thing needs to be considered, you won't believe how fast things add up... and i have a home depot card bill to prove it...). At score.org there is a forms page and in it is all the forms you'll ever need to look at. Print them out and sit and fill them in. It'll help, i promise.





Okay... the building.. why do you have to buy or build? I highly recommend renting, it'll be a HUGE burden relieved. I pay a fixed rate for the 3 years I'm in a lease, and if i decide i don't want the space after 3 years, i can leave, no dealing with selling it... just a thought....





Asking for sponsers is a good idea, but be prepared to send hundreds and hundreds of letters. Not just to celebrities, but to local businesses (not your competition though) who might want to support you. You can go into those for a better impression, but this will take a lot of time. The SBDC might be able to point you in the direction of grants and stuff too.





The other source for money is getting a loan from the bank. That's where the rock sturdy business plan comes in. It has be easy to read and convince them that you will suceed, and how you'll do that. They want to know they'll get their money back. That being said, how much will you need? I live in Cali and was told $50,000-$100,000. Now i didn't start with that. i started with $15,000, and i have never been more stressed. They tell you to have 6 months rent in the bank, because your store will not be an overnight success. It might take a year to break even. In that year.. how are you going to feed your kids? Yourself? Pay for home bills and rent, not just your store? That's where my stress comes in.... yeah.... I'm scraping by the skin of my teeth.





Now what to do legally. Start with an EIN. You just look it up, call that 1800 number, it's free and easy. Next get a resale license, you'll have to look up where on the internet or call your court house. Then get the business license, as it will require you to provide your resale license number. Once you have a name, you'll need to get a fictitious business name. This takes 4 weeks of running in the paper so the sooner the better. You'll have to renew it every 1-3 years, depending on your state. Once you have all that, you'll be getting paperwork up the wazoo. I file a prepay tax form every month and they automatically send it to me from my resale license paperwork.





I should add... have a place in mind for renting/owning, because you can't do anything until you have that place. All the above mentioned paperwork requires a physical address for your store. So it's one of those once you're ready, be prepared for the longest (and shortest) few weeks of your life. It'll need to be bam bam bam with getting it all done, or you'll lose your space/be paying for a space without being able to open your store.





PHEW! You think reading this is a lot of work, wait till you have to do it all....





Once you have all the legal paperwork, your licensed and have a space, you can legally open. So start looking now for racks. Mine were all second hand (works since i own a second hand clothing store) so i bought them for $20 a pop instead of the normal $150 each. Yeah. They say it will cost something like $10,000 just to open your doors, and i didn't even pay for my merchandise, it was donations.... you're will be huge.





Once your ready to open (and ideally before) advertise advertise advertise! Get it in a paper, on the radio, put a stand in your farmers market that will have samples of what you'll sell, etc. You need to get the word out there. I';m in month 2 and people still have no idea i'm here, and i am advertising!





Don't forget about insurance, you'll need that too. Call at least 3 places to get quotes so you know you're getting a good deal. You'll spend about 10 minutes getting one quote, and they'll be able to tell you what you need for your store.





I don't mean to scare you, and this is a lot to take in, but it's also a lot of work. Be prepared. This is one of the biggest risks you'll take. Is it worth it? Do you have support to help you with your kids? My first 2 weeks i was at my store 6am-12am. Be prepared for anything. If it could go wrong, it might. I started planning last July and worked 2 jobs to pay for my start up and business (i'm young and don't have much credit/bank history, so i couldn't get the loan or grants... no one wanted to take the risk on a 22 year old) so i did it all by myself. I finally opened my doors the first week of April.





I wish you the best of luck. Once again, SBDC is your best bet. Get a booklet and write down everything that comes to mind, from what you'll need to things to do. GOOD LUCK!Can someone please give me advice for starting a new business?
Bless your heart, I wish you all the best!





Here's a free resource of business people and former business people who can help you tremendously. They can look at your plans, help you forecast with a business case if you haven't done so already, help you work on getting investors or a loan, etc. Just plug in your zip code and get started: http://www.score.org/index.html





Good luck!
Don't forget that your local Small Business Development Center can help, advise and even be a source of startup money.
go in for some advertisement of your idea online and if you get some promoters for this idea investment would be no problem....best of luck
Starting a business is not as simple as writing your idea out. You have to spend a considerable amount of time (weeks, even months) planning every single detail of the opening. You need to develop a business plan that includes your goals, target market and analysis, marketing plan, management plan, operation plan (including location, facilities, equipment, human resources, etc). Most importantly you need the financial plan with details on funding you plan to borrow, where you will borrow it from (investors, banks, loans, cards, etc). You need to project sales, have a break-even analysis (how much you need to sell to compensate for the startup costs), and many, many more details.





Once you get the ball rolling on that, you need to register your business and go around presenting your business plan and getting the loan.





Good luck
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