Included on these pages are a step by step guide on starting a new business.
Starting a new business venture can be very exciting.
It can also be confusing, time consuming and may turn your hair gray.
Each page will give you links to resources that can help you with the
successful implementation of these steps and your new business.
Remember, whoever said starting a business is easy... never started a business of their own.
Have a plan, be prepared, understand the resources available and success can be yours.
Step 1. The Business Plan
A business person that doesn't plan rarely succeeds. The business plan is your single most usefull tool for starting your own business. It will serve two of the most important tasks of starting your business:
Ensure that you have thouroughly researched and thought through the start up of your business venture.
Prepare you for finding venture capital to help make your business a success.
You don't want any unpleasant surprises after you have invested thousands or even tens of thousands of your own dollars just to find out that your idea will fail because there isn't a market for it or the market is already saturated. The use of a solid business plan will help you state your business objectives, find out how much money it will take to get going and keep going, research your market and find any otherwise hidden hurdles to overcome.
If your plan is going to be presented to a venture capitalist to help with start up costs or if your are going to try to get a loan, the business plan is what they will expect you to have for them to decide if your new business is worth their time. REMEMBER, the business plan itself will NOT get you any money. Most new business owners have to rely on their own savings to get a new business started.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA has a free Small Business Planner that will help your plan, start and manage your business. Check out the resource on Writing a Business Plan which includes detailed step by step instructions on how to write a plan, sample plans, and an online workshop to help start and improve your business plan.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a Business Startup Toolkit with a link to Business Plan Basics sponsored by AllBusiness.com which includes comprehensive video training, business guides, checklists, and forms to help you get started on the road to owning your own business.
A site developed by the Wall Street Journal this link will get you started on your way to creating a free mini business plan sponsored by Palo Alto Software, Inc. You can also check out samples of many different business plans that will give you an idea of whats required to complete an extensive business plan. The samples were created using software developed by Palo Alto Software, Inc. This is not an endorsement or paid advertisement of Palo Alto Software, Inc.
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