Kevin Devine - The Pocket Small Business Owners Guide to Building Your Business

The Pocket

Small Business
Owners Guide to

Building Your
Business

Kevin Devine

Copyright 2012 by Kevin Devine

All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

The names of products and companies appear herein for illustrative purposes only and are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective holders.

While the information in this book concerns legal issues, it is not legal advice. Moreover, due to the rapidly changing nature of the law and the reliance on information provided by outside sources, no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability of the contents of this book is made.

Allworth Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Allworth Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

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Published by Allworth Press

An imprint of Skyhorse Publishing

307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Allworth Press is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

www.allworth.com

Cover design by Brian Peterson

ISBN: 978-1-58115-902-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Printed in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to Eunice and Jo, two women who showed me that being able to help others is the highest honor.

Table of Contents

Introduction

HOW THIS BOOK CAN HELP YOU

For years I have helped people from all walks of life to improve their lives through self-employment. Many of these folks had been laid off or had barriers that prevented them from working full time. Some others were just interested in starting a business and were curious about what they needed to know.

Teaching these program participants, and helping former participants who went on to start businesses, I learned all the little details that business owners need to know. Time and again participants told me, I didnt know there was so much to know! There is a lot to know, and this book contains much of it. Reading this book will give you a tremendous leg up on getting your business started the right way.

However, this book is not designed to make you an expert in every task youll need to accomplish to successfully run your business. As well see, you should be an expert in two things: what it is your business does and how to provide

excellent customer service. Most of the other things you do not need to know in detail, but you should still be familiar with.

Its like owning and driving a car; you should have an idea of how it works, or at least the good sense to know who to call if something is wrong. You certainly dont need to know how to change the spark plugs; you can pay someone else to do that.

In the same way, this book presents the basic information you need to know to run a business, describes how to find and use other resources, and helps you to have the common sense to know when things are going wrong.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is designed to be a learning tool. Read it carefully and completely. It would be best if you read it from start to finish, as the later chapters assume you know what is in the earlier ones, but this is not essential.

Keeping Track of Your Progress

This book is written so that the information is presented in about the same order as youll need to know it as you start your business. For example, we discuss legal business entities near the front, because you should decide that before going much further. You can also pick and choose chapters to get just the information you need.

There is a brief checklist on page 236 of the steps that nearly all businesses will have to complete as they start. Note that you will be in a much better position to complete these tasks after you have completed this book.

Each chapter ends with a section called Nail It Down! This section has practical points you should know, and steps you should take, to start a successful business. Also included are references to additional resources to help you learn more.

Be sure to go through this section carefully when you have finished a chapter to make sure you have a thorough understanding of the topic.

NAIL IT DOWN!

Use the Nail It Down! section to keep track of your progress, or as a review for what you learned in each chapter. To get the most out of this book, follow these suggestions:

Set aside some time each day to use this book.

Seek out other resources such as the Small Business Development Center for classes and assistance.

Track your progress by checking off the steps in the Nail It Down! section.

Chapter One

KNOW YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS

N ot everyone is cut out to be self-employed. If running a business was easy, we would all do it! But the fact is that most people who can work choose to work for someone else. About 90 percent of the workforce is employed by a business owned by someone else. Less than

To know whether or not you can be successful in your own business, it pays to have a good handle on why you want to be in business, what your strengths are, and what your business is all about. That way, you will be in a better position to decide whether or not starting a business is right for you.

WHY BE IN BUSINESS?

Why do you want to start a business? Take a second and write down the three main reasons.

In the years Ive taught classes to people like you who want to start solo businesses (what I call business run by one, maybe two, people), here are the most common reasons I have heard for wanting to start a business:

More free time

Financial independence

Be my own boss

Im guessing that at least two of the three reasons you gave match these three. It is true that if you want to be really rich, with the opportunity to have lots of free time and make your own decisions, owning a business is one of the best ways to accomplish these goals.

But because this book is about the things that you need to know before you start a business, here are some things to keep in mind:

Most people who own a business work many more hours than those who work for someone else.

Many small business owners earn less, sometimes much less, than those who work for someone else. Some will lose so much they declare bankruptcy.