20 Keys To Small Business Owner Success
Persistence and Tenacity!
Drive required to succeed and work on your plan!
Write a business, marketing, and social media strategy plan!
Pick your business name, get your EIN from the IRS, and then pick your business type, Sole Proprietor, LLC, Inc, or S-Corp. Research those in your home state at the Division of Corporations. Remember, with picking sole proprietor, you take on all liability, that's why you use a corporation type above as a shield.
Money, SBA, alternative business loans, use personal or business credit cards, find angel investors, find venture capitalists, borrow from friends and family, and use tools online like crowdfunding.
Niche is so important - Mine is Small Business Owners
Provide a Great Product, Service, or informational guide.
Do Your industry market Research.
Keep Things Organized.
Detailed Record Keeping.
Keep Focus & Have Patience.
Be Prepared to Make Tough Decisions. Fail, get up again and learn from it, and move forward.
Keep Your Overhead to a Minimum.
Know the Operational Needs.
Hire the Right People and Treat Them Well.
Understand price and margins to make sure you cover your business and personal bills.
Always Look to Improve!
Website and Social media development for advertising and pick a domain name with seven letters or less.
More on funding:
Funding Stage Definitions
Pre-Seed
Under $150,000 for an idea or concept by raising funds from friends and family. Known as “Bootstrapping,” or merely surviving off of the generosity of friends, family, and the depth of their own pocketbooks. You will also sell to make money and then invest back into the business to grow it to the next level. Plus, work a paid gig like Home Depot part-time.
Seed
$150,000 to $1,000,000 Product testing, prototype development.
Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital on a startup company in exchange for an equity stake in the company. Seed money options include friends and family funding, angel funding, and crowdfunding.
Series A
$1,000,000 to $3,000,000
Serious A round is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchange for their investment.
Series B
$3,000,000 to $8,000,000
Series B rounds are all about taking businesses to the next level, past the development. Investors help startups get there by expanding their market reach. There’s already a big pie that’s been cooking up in Seed and Series A rounds. In Series B, venture capitalists have more of a vision around what the pie will look like, and how big of a slice they hope to obtain.
Series C
$8,000,000 - $12,000,000 As the operation gets less risky, more investors come to play. In Series C, groups such as hedge funds, investment banks, private equity firms, and big secondary market groups accompany the type of investors mentioned above.
What to Look For in a Startup Business Loan.
In order to decide on the best loan for your business, you’ll need to consider a number of the loan’s features, like:
How much money does it give you?
When will the money fund (hit your bank account)?
How long do you get to repay the loan?
What is the repayment schedule?
What are the interest rates for the loan? Do they increase?
What are the fees for the loan? Any hidden?
What are the requirements with regard to collateral?
What did I miss?
Small Business Advisor
Recent Comments
2
Some more nicely laid out information here, my friend!
Jeff
thank you.
You're very welcome!