Many of us have worked for somebody else, and that’s the way it goes. People learn a skill while on the job, and many wonder, could I start my own business? It takes determination, sweat and tears to succeed when becoming self employed.
Here’s a list of a few things you ought to know if you’re considering starting your own business:
Know your Market
Study the competition and choose your market share. It’s a worthy idea to scout the terrain before jumping straight into it.
Determine your Prices
Find out how much the competition charges and determine if you can compete with them.
Invest in Assets
If your trade will require tools and you don’t have them, plan on spending at least a few hundred dollars in purchasing equipment to urge your business.
Open a PO Box and Phone Number
Go to your local Post Office and apply for a PO Box. This will attend you keep your personal and business mail separate. Also you don’t want clients or vendors sending inquiries directly to your home. Do the same with your phone service; keep your personal home number private and get another line to be stale strictly by your business. If you have cable internet or DSL at your home, consider getting a VoIP (State Over IP) service (www.vonage.com), which offers great sound quality, your own phone number, unlimited national calling, caller ID and all the other good stuff at a fixed $25.
Find a Trade Name
Having a good business trade name is extremely necessary, whether you choose to file as a DBA (Doing Business As), a Corporation or a Non-Profit. Make sure that your name is easy to remember, easy to sell and easy to write.
Design a Logo
Logos is how businesses present themselves to the public. Our brains are wired in such a way where we can identify a service provider by simply looking at their logo. If you don’t have a flair for design, google the term “logo design” and hire somebody to design your logo (don’t worry, it’s not expensive).
File your Trade Name
Go to your local Registrar’s Office and register your name (if you’re doing a DBA) or file for a Corporation of a Non-Profit through an online service (www.legalzoom.com, www.incorporate.com, www.incfile.com, etc.).
Open a Bank Account
After your DBA or Corporation is legally recorded with the government, you’ll get a document that you’ll be able to use to open a business checking yarn with any bank. Create certain you select a bank that offers you peace of mind.
Business Cards
A valuable tool; customers will use them, others will pass them to their friends and relatives. Create simple to read yet concise business cards. Don’t clutter the space. Do sure to include your logo. You can find cheap business card companies on the web (google “business cards”) that offer hastily turn-around and quality products; or you can purchase business card kits at your local office supplier and print them at home.
Domain and Website
Find yourself a domain (preferably a .com) and purchase a short domain that includes your entire trade name (www.yourtradename.com). If you don’t know anything about web design, you can purchase web templates (google: web templates) which are easy to fill with your information (logo, general description of your business, contact info, pictures, etc.). You’ll need to acquire a hosting chronicle (www.godaddy.com, webhosting.yahoo.com, www.bluehosting.com, etc.) where you’ll upload your website. If you don’t have the time or the energy to create a website, you can glean really good web designers (www.odesk.com, www.xemion.com, www.freelancedesigners.com, etc.) to help you with your website.
Having your own business is for sure a lot of work, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Imagine working for yourself, being your own boss, having more time for your family, etc.
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Filed under Vonage Business Solutions by on Oct 20th, 2010. Comment. 
- GrandCentral and Skype saves money by eliminating the need for a business line.
- eFax saves money by eliminating the need for a fax line, or faxing fees over a residential line.
- Google Docs and Spreadsheets is a free and powerful desktop publishing application.
Funding a startup business isn’t easy. There are a high number of expenses that have to be dealt with when starting a business. Hopefully, some of these tools will help retract a load off the financial headache that comes along entrepreneurship. These ideas may not save you a fortune, but you will save enough so that you can use your money in ways that may benefit your business more.
1. Big Central – http://www.grandcentral.com – Got a cell phone or existing phone line? Great. Forget getting a costly business phone line. Grand Central is a currently completely FREE tool that allows you to link all of your phones to one central phone number. When someone calls your assigned Huge Central number, by default, ALL of the phones you have added to your account will ring. Grand Central will alert you when the caller has dialed your Grand Central number, so you will be able to differentiate between people dialing your existing phone line, and the forwarded call from Tall Central. Grand Central also comes with online voicemail that you can listen to over the internet by logging in at GrandCentral.Com. You can also place filters on your Grand Central record so that certain calls go to certain phones. It’s a very stout service, and for the moment it’s completely free!
2. Skype – http://www.skype.com – Skype also addresses the phone line expense. Skype allows you to talk over your existing internet connection. Simply load their software, grab a microphone and get ready for unlimited outgoing calls to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada for around 29.99/year. To receive calls from non-Skype members (meaning anyone can dial you), you’ll have to get SkypeIn, which runs around $40/year and comes with free voicemail. It’s a great alternative to a monthly business line which usually doesn’t include long distance. Skype does. For around 69.99/year, you can have all the free phone calls to anywhere within the U.S. and Canada that you want.
3. eFax – http://www.efax.com – eFax.Com is a leading email based faxing provider. You are given a fax number, and when someone faxes you something, it is delivered to your e-mail box. When you wish to send a fax, you simply e-mail the address given to you by e-fax, and they will convert your file and send it to your recipient. Most eFax packages come with point and click management software also. There are different subscription levels, each costing a different amount. The prices start around 16.95/month, worthy cheaper than having a secondary phone for just faxes. If you’re using one of the solutions above and you already have a phone line, check and scrutinize if your local phone company will activate the sending of faxes over it and how grand it’ll cost. Some phone companies don’t allow a residential line to send or receive faxes, or they charge a fee for each fax.
4. Google Docs and Spreadsheets – http://docs.google.com – No extra money for Microsoft Office? Use Google Docs and Spreadsheets, an internet based desktop publishing application. It will allow you to create and edit basic documents, and then share them amongst employees or other users. Google Docs and Spreadsheets supports most popular file types including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, etc. Even if your files have existing data and formulas, Google Docs will be able to import the data intact. One key feature is the ability to store documents online, meaning you can access them ANYWHERE you go and there’s no fear of power outages and hard drive failures deleting your data. You can also publish your data online easily to show as web based presentations or the such.
These solutions should attend you save a bit of money by not having to opt for the more expensive routes. Most should be used temporarily until your business grows and has more capital to spend on more costly solutions. For example, a con to using Skype is that there is no ability to dial 911 services. Hopefully you’ll have a cellular phone that you can use in that situation. Also when using eFax, you’ll have to scan in documents that aren’t on your computer to when you want to send a fax, adding in an extra step. While the costs are significantly lower, there may be an extra step or to that wouldn’t normally be in a more expensive route, so you have to ask yourself if the lower cost justifies the extra work. Good luck on your business endeavours!
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Filed under Vonage Business Solutions by on Sep 3rd, 2010. Comment.