Making life better in disadvantaged communities - our thoughts on everything - from Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
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The best book I know on starting a small business is called Growing a Business. In it, one of the comments he makes is that he thinks that more small businesses fail because of too much capital rather than too little. His point is that people who have money spend it rather than doing things themselves or doing without.
Our Santa Monica office is run out of my home, with an office downstairs, an office upstairs, four desks, six computers and a LAN. It gets a bit crowded and I have thought many times about renting an office, but then I consider the extra overhead.
Along these lines, I think anyone starting a small business should look for the lowest cost or free resources wherever they can. I would highly recommend checking the SBA site. I also like Idea Cafe
http://www.businessownersideacafe.com/
and
the small business forum.
http://www.small-business-forum.com/index.php
Anyone else have resources that are particular favorites?
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Here is another one I liked. It is just a blog on starting a small business but so much of what is written here is true.
http://mylittleteashop.com/blog/
For example, there is the part about not borrowing money.
When Erich, April and I started I think we did what lots of people do - we ran up our credit cards, worked second jobs, and in April's case, gave her a percent of the business because we couldn't afford to pay an accountant. We did buy her out a year or so ago and she has moved up and on in life, first at the casino and now the housing office, so it is a good thing we can afford an accountant now. My point is, we bartered, did it ourselves or did without when we were starting up. I think that forced us to work hard and be creative. Never a bad thing.
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There are also some things I think have been just a life saver.
If you have a computer and it crashes, losing some of your data, or maybe your tax records for the past two years or whatever it is you really need to have, the one absolutely required piece of software everyone should have, I think, is
Disk Warrior
It can recreate data you thought was lost forever. Disk recovery services can cost you from hundreds to over a thousand dollars. Buy Disk Warrior for $99 and run it. Sometimes you have to run it for two days or more (I am not exaggerating), but if you have something on that computer you really need, it is worth it.
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I just recently purchased a Yahoo! Small Business account. I'm in the process of creating my website for my jewelry business. I'm not using Yahoo as a merchant instead I'm linking my page to a virtual mini mall because it cuts down on costs. Do you have any tips or resources that could help me make sure I am including all the information necessary before I publish my page?
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Kelly wrote:
I just recently purchased a Yahoo! Small Business account. I'm in the process of creating my website for my jewelry business. I'm not using Yahoo as a merchant instead I'm linking my page to a virtual mini mall because it cuts down on costs. Do you have any tips or resources that could help me make sure I am including all the information necessary before I publish my page?
Although these sound really basic, it is amazing how often people forget the most critical, simple things.
1. Have contact information. Have some place they can email you and a phone number. Then, make sure you respond to that email and those calls. Don't just have email. If they have a problem with their order, they want a person to yell at.
2. When you first set up your site, go through it and try to order something. See if the shopping cart works, check out process works, etc.
3. Take credit cards.
4. Have photos of what you are selling, preferably photos of every item for sale.
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I would say link your site with others. Also, use your contacts as referrals. Finally, e-mail all your family, friends, previous co-workers, and anyone you have a e-mail address to: include your website as a link and make your you ask them to send it on to others.
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