Starting a Business

[military_irish]

First and foremost has anyone ever started their own business? My self and a partner of mine are in the process (very early) of starting one.

I am currently writing the business plan to shop it around. We would like for it to eventually grow into a non-profit organization and would ideally like it to run stricly off of donations from various charities. It is to help individuals with special needs and disabilities.

My first question, and I guess the post can lead to other things, where do I start?
Who should I contact first? We wanted to try and apply for a grant but were convinced to open it as a business first and work off the donations rather than getting a grant.

I would assume the reasoning is a loan is easier to get approved for over a grant.

The business plan is easy to write, although a lot of research is required. I just want to know who do I need to contact for everything else? There are just so many thoughts floating in my head I just need something to slow the thinking process down and knock one thing off at a time.

Thank you in advance!

 

[kmoose]

It is to help individuals with special needs and disabilities.

My first question, and I guess the post can lead to other things, where do I start?

With irishpat, maybe?



Have you talked to the local SBA (Small Business Administration) about a mentoring program? They used to have a SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) program, that paired retired execs with young start ups, on a volunteer basis. Kind of like a Big Brothers/Sisters for business.

 

[MNIrishman]

First and foremost has anyone ever started their own business? My self and a partner of mine are in the process (very early) of starting one.

I am currently writing the business plan to shop it around. We would like for it to eventually grow into a non-profit organization and would ideally like it to run stricly off of donations from various charities. It is to help individuals with special needs and disabilities.

My first question, and I guess the post can lead to other things, where do I start?
Who should I contact first? We wanted to try and apply for a grant but were convinced to open it as a business first and work off the donations rather than getting a grant.

I would assume the reasoning is a loan is easier to get approved for over a grant.

The business plan is easy to write, although a lot of research is required. I just want to know who do I need to contact for everything else? There are just so many thoughts floating in my head I just need something to slow the thinking process down and knock one thing off at a time.

Thank you in advance!

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grow into a nonprofit organization.' Are you planning on turning a 'for profit' into a nonprofit? I don't think that's even possible.


I've got a business and we're getting ready to launch our first product (a novel entry in the pet supplements market). It sounds like you've got the passion, which is important. I'd be willing to read your plan if you want to PM me.

 

[military_irish]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grow into a nonprofit organization.' Are you planning on turning a 'for profit' into a nonprofit? I don't think that's even possible.


I've got a business and we're getting ready to launch our first product (a novel entry in the pet supplements market). It sounds like you've got the passion, which is important. I'd be willing to read your plan if you want to PM me.

I guess I use the term non-profit because you actually have to meet certain criteria to fall under that category. I believe non-profits are tax exempt but you must first be an organization, trust, or corporation, if memory serves me correct. We will be none of those starting out unless obviously I may be missing something. That's why I came here to try to get advice. I have used numerous different outlets just to pick up information here and there.

We are still in early, early stages but the information we gather we have absorbed and have been trying to put everything in order but obviously it can become overwhelming and stressful at times but its enjoyable in the same aspect.

 

[military_irish]

With irishpat, maybe?



Have you talked to the local SBA (Small Business Administration) about a mentoring program? They used to have a SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) program, that paired retired execs with young start ups, on a volunteer basis. Kind of like a Big Brothers/Sisters for business.

That is definately something I never thought of. I will have to look into that.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

Have you established if you are going to go the LLC route?

 

[GoldenDome]

First and foremost has anyone ever started their own business? My self and a partner of mine are in the process (very early) of starting one.

I am currently writing the business plan to shop it around. We would like for it to eventually grow into a non-profit organization and would ideally like it to run stricly off of donations from various charities. It is to help individuals with special needs and disabilities.

My first question, and I guess the post can lead to other things, where do I start?
Who should I contact first? We wanted to try and apply for a grant but were convinced to open it as a business first and work off the donations rather than getting a grant.

I would assume the reasoning is a loan is easier to get approved for over a grant.

The business plan is easy to write, although a lot of research is required. I just want to know who do I need to contact for everything else? There are just so many thoughts floating in my head I just need something to slow the thinking process down and knock one thing off at a time.

Thank you in advance!

Have you read Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows? That would be a good start. And also read some books on effectuation.

I would not get a loan unless I absolutely needed it. You need to work within your means. Find resources through networking. Don't worry about money right now, if you have a good business plan, money should not be an issue.

 

[military_irish]

Have you established if you are going to go the LLC route?

That's the part I need to talk to my partner about. Everything has been her idea, she just never knew where to start. I believe the idea is amazing and have always wanted to do something similar to this. That is the reason I hopped on board but she said this has been her dream and passion since she was younger. Anything that happens I run by her because its her dream.

As I was writing this I was muli-tasking and reading about LLC. It said if a business plans to provided medical service it would not qualify but may apply for a PLLC.

We are planning on having trained individuals there to help and actually "treat" the individuals that come into our facility. But this is another good piece of information that I can write in my notes to research and learn more about. Thank you.

 

[military_irish]

Have you read Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows? That would be a good start. And also read some books on effectuation.

I would not get a loan unless I absolutely needed it. You need to work within your means. Find resources through networking. Don't worry about money right now, if you have a good business plan, money should not be an issue.

Thank you, our goal is to work eclusively off from donations if possible. That will take a lot of leg work to get within seperate charities and help them see the vision but that is the joy in starting something like this.

The main reason we look for a loan is to construct the best barrier free facility as possible.

 

[MNIrishman]

Thank you, our goal is to work eclusively off from donations if possible. That will take a lot of leg work to get within seperate charities and help them see the vision but that is the joy in starting something like this.

The main reason we look for a loan is to construct the best barrier free facility as possible.

Aside from donations, how do you plan to make money? What's your real target market?

 

[military_irish]

Aside from donations, how do you plan to make money? What's your real target market?

We don't want to make money. We will be offering a service to the special needs and disability community. We will have paid employees but also would stronger pursue volunteers.

Our aim right now will be to only be open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Possibly some weekdays if they are requested.

Camp for All this organization is built similar as to what we would aim for but we offer a completely different service.

 

[Irish#1]

When you write your business plan, you need to be able to show ten years of sustainable revenue and where it's coming from.

 

[military_irish]

When you write your business plan, you need to be able to show ten years of sustainable revenue and where it's coming from.

Yeah I have been researching that. That is why I thought a grant would be a nice idea but she didn't want to move in that direction so I am looking for a way to come up with money from other means.

It is a task but I don't plan for things to really take off for another year or so, I have to be realistic even though I am trying to move as if we open next week. When I say take off I don't mean a grand opening either but more of having things fall into place.

 

[greyhammer90]

Shield yourself from all personal liability. If the business fails or you get sued, make sure you keep your house.

Obvioisly get an attorney.

 

[military_irish]

Shield yourself from all personal liability. If the business fails or you get sued, make sure you keep your house.

Obvioisly get an attorney.

That is someone I want to contact but at the same time I wasn't sure the specific type of attorney to contact that specializes in business related issues.

 

[BGIF]

Veteran Entrepreneur Portal - Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization

 

[BobD]

Have a great accountant and a better attorney. The little research I've done makes me feel that a non-profit is much more complicated than a for profit business. I started to look into getting my wife's animal rescue operation turned into a non-profit because it's costing me a fortune and I'd like to at least get some tax breaks for the money we put out.

 

[MNIrishman]

Have a great accountant and a better attorney. The little research I've done makes me feel that a non-profit is much more complicated than a for profit business. I started to look into getting my wife's animal rescue operation turned into a non-profit because it's costing me a fortune and I'd like to at least get some tax breaks for the money we put out.

I'm of the opinion that lean startup methodology is best. That being the case, I don't believe in hiring expensive people like that until it's absolutely necessary. My strategy is to read enough to do the structuring on my own without a bloodsucking lawyer, get good insurance (shopped around for months before I found a policy that covers what I need for a reasonable price), and use QuickBooks for finances with an accountant to review entries and file taxes as needed. Of course it all depends on what skills you bring to the party (and you really need to have something special about you to make it work, whether that's a special association with your target market, experience in your field, expertise with your product, financial skills, legal expertise, etc.). Does your military experience come into play?

 

[military_irish]

I'm of the opinion that lean startup methodology is best. That being the case, I don't believe in hiring expensive people like that until it's absolutely necessary. My strategy is to read enough to do the structuring on my own without a bloodsucking lawyer, get good insurance (shopped around for months before I found a policy that covers what I need for a reasonable price), and use QuickBooks for finances with an accountant to review entries and file taxes as needed. Of course it all depends on what skills you bring to the party (and you really need to have something special about you to make it work, whether that's a special association with your target market, experience in your field, expertise with your product, financial skills, legal expertise, etc.). Does your military experience come into play?

Honestly when it comes to this specific field I know only the basics. My partner she is very knowledgable when it comes to this field though. I hopped on board as more of the legistics person. I am trying to get everything in order, write up the business plan, and do research on organizations to try and get involved with. The more research I do, I am getting more and more confident with my knowledge and understanding.

I am on the realistic side of things though and understand we are in the infancy stages. But since I have started I literally wake up in the middle of the night with ideas and write them down. I really hope it works but all good things start from somewhere and normally take time.

 

[BobD]

I'm of the opinion that lean startup methodology is best. That being the case, I don't believe in hiring expensive people like that until it's absolutely necessary. My strategy is to read enough to do the structuring on my own without a bloodsucking lawyer, get good insurance (shopped around for months before I found a policy that covers what I need for a reasonable price), and use QuickBooks for finances with an accountant to review entries and file taxes as needed. Of course it all depends on what skills you bring to the party (and you really need to have something special about you to make it work, whether that's a special association with your target market, experience in your field, expertise with your product, financial skills, legal expertise, etc.). Does your military experience come into play?

I don't disagree, but any great accountant or lawyer understands they profit when you profit. They'll represent your interests like their own. The key is who you hire. A rabid lawyer and good accountant on your side are worth their weight in gold. They're only blood sucking scum when they represent the other guy.

My accountant has saved me a million times more than I've ever paid her.

 

[MNIrishman]

Honestly when it comes to this specific field I know only the basics. My partner she is very knowledgable when it comes to this field though. I hopped on board as more of the legistics person. I am trying to get everything in order, write up the business plan, and do research on organizations to try and get involved with. The more research I do, I am getting more and more confident with my knowledge and understanding.

I am on the realistic side of things though and understand we are in the infancy stages. But since I have started I literally wake up in the middle of the night with ideas and write them down. I really hope it works but all good things start from somewhere and normally take time.

It sounds like your military experience is being utilized since logistics, communication, and planning are your responsibilities.

A newco is a lot like a relationship. It starts off like absolute infatuation in the idea stage. Just make sure you have the desire to see it through when those charities don't return your calls, no one wants what you're selling, and it feels like it's not getting any better. There will be a period of time when it feels like it's going nowhere and the time for ideas has passed. Successful entrepreneurs make it out of the valley, but there's always a lot more failure than success. What's gotten be through those stages has been the knowledge that everyone struggles like that, even if we only see the successful side of things.

Get someone who doesn't know you to read your business plan and tear it apart. Trust me on that. You can even enter a business plan competition. Just don't have family read it, because people who know you don't want to piss on your dreams. When you're getting feedback, make sure it's honest and neutral.

 

[greyhammer90]

I don't disagree, but any great accountant or lawyer understands they profit when you profit. They'll represent your interests like their own. The key is who you hire. A rabid lawyer and good accountant on your side are worth their weight in gold. They're only blood sucking scum when they represent the other guy.

My accountant has saved me a million times more than I've ever paid her.

As a guy who's spent the last three years reading cases where corporations thought they'd save a few pennies by writing their by laws and charters themselves, this man speaks the truth. I worked a case awhile ago where a construction company had thought they were eligible for huge tax cuts, and as a result had been paying millions less. Well, they get audited and it's determined that they didn't fill out the original form correctly because they did it themselves and basically had no idea what they were doing. Don't skimp out on the basics.

 

[MNIrishman]

As a guy who's spent the last three years reading cases where corporations thought they'd save a few pennies by writing their by laws and charters themselves, this man speaks the truth. I worked a case awhile ago where a construction company had thought they were eligible for huge tax cuts, and as a result had been paying millions less. Well, they get audited and it's determined that they didn't fill out the original form correctly because they did it themselves and basically had no idea what they were doing. Don't skimp out on the basics.

My opinion is that you should be careful when to bring them into the picture, do your best to grasp the challenges yourself, and make the process as efficient as possible by minimizing their use for trivial things that you could handle yourself. I know there are reasons people have accountants and lawyers, and it's not because they like wasting money. Just be smart about it. I'm going to hire an accountant eventually, but I partnered with an MBA and I'm taking an accounting mooc in the evenings to boost my own ability. That doesn't mean I'm going to handle my own taxes, but I'd like to think I can make the accountant's job easier when the time comes for them to do their thing.

Only lawyer job we've had so far was drafting an operating agreement.

 

[tko]

I just formed my own soccer club for my daughter, but given the nonsense at other local clubs, I could see this turning into something more than a 1 or 2 team travel club. We will be live for Fall of 2015. I have a good accountant and a good attorney and plenty of help around me. I'll need some website expertise and logo design ideas, but we're way early in the process. I've secured our home field along with getting onto the database of the league we're entering. Instead of forming a nonprofit i created a LLC.

 

[military_irish]

I know our fan base if in turmoil but on a selfish note. What is a realistic timeline to start any type of business? Currently like days previously we are only a month in. I am estimating a year or more. Anything sooner is a blessing to us. I also want to thank everyone for their input it's actually helped a tremendous amount!

 

[yankeehater]

It sounds like you want to form a partnership. Make sure you protect yourself legally not only from the business, but from your partner and their family.

On a personal note, a partnership is like a marriage. Make sure your goals are the same for the business and what you both want to achieve personally and financially. My partner and I thought we did, but when it came down to it we had completely different views. We also realized we worked better inside a company that was not our own and when our own money was not on the line. I would also make sure your partner is financially stable so they do not try to suck money out of the business that is not agreed upon.

Good luck! I wish mine would have worked out, but it is still my most proud business achievement.

 

[GoldenDome]

I know our fan base if in turmoil but on a selfish note. What is a realistic timeline to start any type of business? Currently like days previously we are only a month in. I am estimating a year or more. Anything sooner is a blessing to us. I also want to thank everyone for their input it's actually helped a tremendous amount!

It really depends on how much you dedicate each day. You really need to become an expert in the field you are going into. I would say a really good business plan takes about 3-5 years to create. There is also the route of jumping right in and transforming your business on the fly. Many companies started a business and transformed their business into something totally different than the original idea, simply because the new idea filled a problem better. I believe Stacy's pita chips used to be a restaurant or something and gave out pita chips to customers while waiting in line. The pita chips got so popular that they dumped the restaurant and made pita chips full time.

something to think about:

Is your idea something people really need? Not a hunch, but maybe test this theory on actual people.
Is this problem large enough that their will be a steady inflow of people with this problem?
What reinforcing loops will add or take away from the problem?
Are their a steady supply of resources?

After this, you can research more and test. Interview people who may have this problem and find out what routines they have, what problems are most irritating to them. Find out what the problem really is, there may be an underlying problem that can be filled.

Then you can begin the design phase of your business.

 

[military_irish]

Tomorrow I want to do some preliminary leg work and talk to charities to see if they would be interesting in making donations or if it's an idea they would be willing to support it. How do I approach them with this idea though? I like to have a detailed plan and prepared so I don't looked amateurish. I understand I can Google it but I just came here first to get a idea

 

[ND NYC]

I'm in the "ready, fire, aim!" camp.

don't get caught up in too much paralysis by analysis...you'll know when your ready-no need to put arbitrary timelines/start dates on things...let the passion of your growing business fuel your growth.

no business will ever be perfectly ready "at launch". they are all works in progress.

hopefully you are young enough to where even if it doesn't work out, it wont crush you and what you will have learned will serve you throughout your life in other endeavors.

p.s. i do agree on getting a good accountant and lawyer. not easy to find-but priceless IMO. call people you know and trust and who are themselves small biz owners for references-you'd be shocked how much people are willing to help and they may have ideas to share.

 

[military_irish]

I am pretty excited I contacted a local camp that is very well established within this special community of individuals and I actually received an email back from the CEO of the organization saying she is willing to sit down and answer any questions I have about getting into a business that works almost solely off of donations and partnerships.

I've come to the point that I set a daily or weekly goal. Then go full steam towards that because so much needs to be done that if I look at it as a whole, it'll become overwhelming. In order to walk a mile you must take one step at a time but eventually you'll make it.

Thanks again for all the input from everyone.