Before Going Into Business

There are many steps to take when you are considering starting your own business. You should start by assessing your risk tolerance and understanding the three major types of businesses: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. Know the tax implications for each type before making a decision about which will best suit your business needs. Next look at the legal aspects of starting a business in terms of licenses, permits, and insurance. Estimate the costs required to get started before you begin: startup costs, ongoing operational costs, and contingency funds. It can be difficult deciding whether or not to start your own business so it is important that you research all aspects before investing time or money in anything regarding the process.

Posted by Barbara at 10:05 AM

Thank you very much for this article. It really helped me to understand more about business strategy, especially as it relates to running my own small business. I am taking a look at this site to read more articles like this one.

Posted by ____________ at 02:09 PM

This is a fascinating article and highly recommend it for any new entrepreneurs out there! I have just started my own business and already have been struggling with the concept of keeping records since I don't electronically record most of my notes in my journal; however, if you are looking at starting from scratch, these tips will help keep things organized.

Posted by _______________ at 05:55 PM

I started my own company as an entrepreneur and I just started my own business and to be honest I didn't understand the business plan. Now I can start preparing for my own business.

Posted by Barbara at 11:38 AM

I am about to start my own business and it is a bit of a challenge and I am glad that you put this up here for me to read as it is giving me some ideas as well as informing me. I will be looking into some other posts on your site in the near future. Thanks again!

Posted by ___________________ at 06:33 PM

I have been doing my own small business for the last two years now and these are really helpful tips because it helps you to understand the whole picture of owning your own biz. Now I am not so scared about how to run things or what to do first. Great resource!

Posted by __________ at 10:37 AM

2 stars for late, but I love that this is a one-day event for the entire city. One thing I've learned about speakers is when in doubt, do what everyone else does. That's why so many industries use off-the-shelf presentations. Companies and sales reps have been doing these for years; why should you be any different? Here are a few things to consider (or avoid) when you're putting together your presentation day: - Beware of overuse of slides (20 or more). It's a little disconcerting to watch someone with a clicker click slide after slide. Too many speakers try to "wow" the audience with how clever or creative they are with their slides. The most effective PowerPoint designers let the speaker do their job by not including more than 20 slides, leaving time for interaction and audience questions. - Beware of graphics for the sake of graphics; simpler is better. It's all about clarity and effectiveness. - Use simple layouts . A busy background can distract from any message, so keep it simple: clean, no more than two colors (black and one other). - Go easy on the music. You're trying to communicate, not entertain. - Lastly, remember the golden rule of presentations : let the audience do the talking. The most effective presentation is one in which the speaker leaves room for participation and questions at every turn; a true discussion that is not directed by a podium or clicker. - Share your knowledge, teach them what you know, but never tell them what they should think or believe. - Those are just a few things to consider when you're thinking about your own presentation materials. I wish you the best of luck with your presentation!

Posted by ___________________ at 03:35 PM

I would be interested in seeing one of the presentations given by this partnership and the title or perhaps a synopsis of the presentations. I am very interested in what they had to say and how they did it. It is not often that you have an opportunity to attend a lecture on such a wide range of topics presented by experts so I would love to see what they had to say.

Posted by John at 10:59 AM

1. You are absolutely right, we don't want people who are going to throw the ball back to us like tennis players do. They are entitled to their opinion and they are entitled to express it as long as they keep it civil. 2. We also want them to understand that we want different opinions, that is how we get better at what we do and gives us more ideas. 3. These two comments came in via the same IP address (87.96.0.20) within minutes of each other so I believe they came from the same person or persons, who have some sort of agenda, possibly against other presenters or maybe against the event itself (unlikely). 4. There may be a possibility that someone read John's comment and took it personally because his/their name was mentioned in the post (which happens a lot). 5. We are sorry that some people take it personal when others post comments. We try to separate the two groups as much as we can but it is harder than you would think, so we can't promise that everybody will be happy. 1. Peace and Love

Posted by John at 10:50 AM

I read your article on starting a business and found it very informative. I believe that there needs to be more articles like this blog about starting your own business. I realized that there were many things i didnt know about starting my own business, which motivated me to start my own small business with the help of this tutorial. Thank you for all your help and advice in creating this article.

Conclusion

The comments on this post are not necessarily reflective of the opinions of the author. The comments are open to all members of the community, regardless of age, gender, religion, or education. If you would like to comment on this post or other content posted on MakeUseOf, you can do so anonymously.

We encourage you to submit a new post at any time. If your post is published and you wish for it to remain private please remove it so that others can find it.

To contact us about being a guest blogger please contact either Jeremy King or Michael Jang via email at [email protected] . Copyright © 2012 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved.