Problem with IT is your competition will be Geek Squad and other computer places that most people will go to get their stuff fixed.

Before you do anything you will need a plan. A very very good plan. You will want to know the industry (of whatever your starting) VERY well. Look at your competitors. How well do they do? If the competition is making a ton of money then what can you do to take a piece of that? If the competition is not making any money and they are good at what they do then pick another industry.

I agree with Todd. What type of personality are you? Business owners need to have some serious balls and be able to manage/motivate people. If business is slow you need to be motivated to go out and find business. You will also need either a rather large amount of cash set aside to keep you going while your starting out or be able to rely on your wife or some other sort of income to pay the bills. Do not rely on the business making money right off the bat as this rarely ever happens. When you do finally start making money don't go out and splurge. Use it to pay down the business debt and save some in case you ever have a machine break, etc.

Decide what you want to do, research it endlessly, and make a plan. The SBA will need that plan if you try to get a loan through them.

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...sinesses-fail/
http://www.woopidoo.com/articles/kin...ss-success.htm

I'm subbing this thread. I've been interested in starting my own business for a while, and I've done it before (wasn't a registered business), but could not keep up with it (I tried to start it while in High School, wasn't smart). Hopefully some more good advice in this thread.

I think one major key to success is keeping your overhead as low as possible especially in the beginning. Save as much as you can and spend wisely. You will certainly learn how to manage money and if you dont, get ready to shut down fast.

Sales and making the money is the easy part, especially if your a good talker or are personable (IE people like you) it's servicing the customers, dealing with problems, and sometimes losing money doing that which can be hard.

And also I'll second what others have said, lots of time, many long days and very stressful, but certainly rewarding most of the time :lol:

FYI I am in Furniture retail. Retail can be tough as you have to advertise and wait for people to come to you, outside sales are definatley geared towards aggressive salesmen. IE you can chase the work rather that waiting for customers to come to you.

I'm in a very specialized IT function, not home computers, etc... that geek squad services. Interesting blogs I will have to read them in more detail.

Sage advice once given:

Pick your 2nd favorite thing to do, and make that your career.

The number one failure of small businesses is the lack of capital to capitalize on their own success... and the usual "figures lie and liars figure" when calculating on paper how things are going to go.

Costs tend to be far higher and unanticipated - and sales lower - or margins lower than "figured". When money gets tight - then you can't "capitalize" on opportunities such as advertising etc to grow the business.

Happiness - BTW - Is making lots of money - not "loving" what you do. You'll love what you do if you're making lots of money - and you'll hate what you do if you're failing. This is a very broad statement... but trust me on this.

Generally where people fail is that they underestimate the profit and the taxes and the sales needed to fund themselves (pay wages). Look at your paycheck and see how much tax is withheld. Now add to that what your employer pays - they match your SS withholding -- and now being self employed YOU have to come up with all of that - and that of your employees (figure this cost to be 35 to 40% OVER what you're paying - in other words to make 100K - will cost the business 140K). Then if you're making a profit -- the BUSINESS has to pay taxes as well! Most people never factor this kind of overhead in - then they're robbing Peter to pay Paul... and you know what happens next.

Having said all that -- if you are HONEST with the figures -- and truly honest with what it's going to take to get started - and how long you need to go without a paycheck of any kind... and are truly willing to work for nothing and work twice as hard as you are now... then go for it.

Most small business people will tell you they work more and work for less than they used to make working for someone else -- but they wouldn't go back. So obviously there is a plus in all of this.

I owned an import business with 29 employees - a 50,000 square foot warehouse - and offices on Fifth Ave in New York City.... and I loved it. It was never simple - it was never easy - it was always a blast.

:cheers:

That's as simple and realistic as I've ever heard :thumbsup:

Accurate summary.........without the shock and awe. :D

I've never heard anyone say it like that but it seems very true.

I don't agree with that. I've met a bunch of lower income people that are happy as a pig in **** and rich people that would pull the trigger with a gun in their hand.

Celebrities are a perfect example of the latter.

My two cents worth. What ever you decide to do, go to the library and get some books on business plans and how to write them. Then, write your own. If you do not have the follow thru to write a business plan, do not get involved in starting a business. Plain and simple.

I am self employed, started three successful companies and sold 2 of them. (I still own my current company) All of them I wrote business plans for.

Darren