Owning a successful business is one of the most rewarding things that you can do.  However, getting it to be successful can be difficult but there is more to running a business than just figuring out what you want to do and getting clients.

Starting a business is not something you can do overnight.  It takes several weeks or even months to get it to the point where you are ready to open for business. You need to do research and I’m not talking just market research but other research as well.

In order to be sure that you are operating your business legally, you need to check into local, state, and federal laws regarding your industry.  If you want to run your business out of your home, you need to check with the local laws regarding whether or not this is allowed. Some questions to ask are:

1. If you want to run this business out of your house, are you legally allowed to?  If your neighborhood is zoned residential, you may not be able to.
2. Do you need any kind of permit for your business? i.e. zoning permit
3. Do you need any type of special license for your business? In Pennsylvania, they were trying to pass a law that if you sell items on consignment on Ebay, you need an auctioneers license (don’t know if it passed or not)
4. Are you allowed to post a sign outside of your house and if so what are the size restrictions?
5. If you sell services/products online, where do you need to collect sales tax from?  For example, if I am doing work for somebody in PA, I have to collect sales tax however if I do work for somebody in Kansas, I don’t have to collect sales tax.
6. What type of business entity are you going to run under? i.e. sole proprietor, limited liability, corporation, partnership, etc
7. What taxes do you need to pay both locally, state and federally?

Insurance

1. Is your business something that if something is done incorrectly you can cause injury to somebody or something? i.e. Dog walking: If you walk a dog and it gets loose and it bites somebody or causes an accident, you can be held liable because you did not have control of that animal. Also if the dog gets loose and is hit by a car the dog owner can also hold you liable.  Do you have measures in place so that you do not loose everything should you get sued?
2. Is your business something that can cause emotional or monetary damage if something is done incorrectly? i.e. Giving some wrong information on a person to a collection agency so they start contacting the wrong person to get payments for delinquent accounts.  The wrong person can sue the collection agency and the collection agency will then, in turn, sue you.
3. Do you need to be bonded?

Market research

1. Is there a market for your type of business?
2. How do you measure up to the competition?  How are you different from the competition?
3. What is your ideal market? Age, gender, income, etc
4. Where does your ideal market hang out?
5. If you use statistical data to analyze need and demand, remember, statistics can only tell you what HAS BEEN. It cannot tell you what WILL BE. If you do business differently, better, etc, than the competition, you may be able to succeed even in a crowded market. It only gives you a guideline as to how creative you will need to be to succeed.

Marketing Research

1. How do you plan on reaching out to your ideal market?
2. Can you make your own brochures, letterhead, and business cards or are you going to purchase them?
3. Are you going to market locally, regionally, or nationally?
4. What do you need to do to market to that locale?
5. Are you going to have a website?  Can you create the website on your own or are you going to have to hire somebody?

Pricing/Forms

1. How much do you want to make monthly or yearly?
2. How much do you need to make to be sustainable?
3. How much is your competition charging? Is it higher or lower?  You can’t always base your prices on this but it can give you an idea
4. What forms do you need for your clients to understand your policies?
5. What policies are you going to implement and can you stick to them?
6. What forms do you need to protect yourself and your company?

While running a business can be a great opportunity there is a lot that needs to be done and taken into consideration before you can even open your doors and start welcoming clients.  Even after you open your doors, it takes time to get clients and you have to continue to work at it.

Running a business is not as simple as waking up one morning and saying I’m going to open a business so that I can control my own destiny. You MUST do your due diligence!

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