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Secrets to Starting your own
Business
A dream for many people is to come up with an
idea, start a business, and become rich from your own efforts. Based upon this
motivation, thousands of businesses fail each year, due primarily to not being
familiar with the basics involved in running a business.
This report will enlighten you, and give you a
number of suggestions you can use to better guarantee your chances for success.
This report is written with the warning that any and every business venture
contains certain inherent risks, and any number of alternatives. We do not
espouse that any one way is the right way or that our suggestions are the only
way. On the contrary, we advise that before investing any money in a business
venture, you seek advice from a qualified accountant.
Just about the first thing you should consider
before deciding to start or purchase a business is the legal form you'll be
operating under. There are basically three choices: sole trader; partnership;
and limited company.
Each has a number of advantages and disadvantages.
We'll try to enumerate some of them for you.
As much as anything else, for many people starting
a business is a form of ego gratification, and they form a company for some
sort of prestige gain - just to say "I own a company".
With just a little bit of observation, you'll find
that one of the major causes of business failures is due to the founder wasting
start-up capital on frills, such as an impressive store front office, expensive
furnishings, and other wastes.
Unless you have a partnership and start your
business as such, the only real advantage to forming a limited company would be
to protect your personal property and items if you went into liquidation or
bankruptcy.
As a sole proprietor or partner of a business,
you'll be paying taxes on your overall earnings, much the same as if you were
holding down a salaried or hourly paid job. Whether you do or don't take out
money as a salary will have no bearing on the earnings of your business and tax
returns.
Selecting a name for your business is quite
important to you, and particularly relative to advertising. Your business name
should describe the product or services you offer. Fancy names such as, Linda's
Clipping Service will lose potential "walk in and passing" customers to the
beauty shop across the street that calls itself, Patti's Beauty Salon or Jane's
Hair Styling Shop.
Should you buy, lease or rent space for your
business? Think twice before you make any decision along these lines. Most
businesses tend to grow quickly or they never get off the ground. There are a
few exceptions, but only a very few, that tend to grow at a modified rate.
So, buying a piece of property and setting up your
business on or within that property, obligates you to ownership regardless of
what happens to your business.
Leases are almost always very strong contracts
written by solicitors to the advantage of the property owner. When you sign an
agreement to pay someone for the use of their space over any length of time,
you're "nailed in" to paying for that space regardless of what happens to your
business.
In the beginning, it's wise to either get the
shortest-term lease possible, or arrange to rent with an option to lease at a
later date. This does not apply to a retail business, unless your particular
business happens to be an untried one.
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