Start me up!

Got a call from an old friend of mine today who wants to start their own business, but told me they are a bit scared to get started. I listened for a while and then suggested that they just jump in and launch their Pet Store in Ashville, NC. Here are some things I told them:

- make sure you have a local support group of small businesses to bounce ideas off of
- make sure you cultivate a relationship with the loan officer at the bank
- make sure you start simple -- and not take on too much inventory
- make sure you keep costs down at first -- with a few magazine subscriptions, low phone bills (maybe use skype), simple internet access, etc.
- make sure to hire college students cause they have great enthusiasm and are hungry to learn the business
- make sure you find a good accountant (maybe even check out QuickBooksGroup.com to find one : )
- make sure you ask a lot of questions (a little curiosity goes a long way)
- make sure you have a business plan -- or at least some revenue goals

so what did i leave out? i am sure i could have given my friends some more tips

Comments

[Steve]

Great comments, all of them. Especially about hiring college students, that's worked very well for us.

I've talked with dozens of people (maybe hundreds) that have either created their own start-ups or are now ready to go out on their own.

Two things that I have seen in those that are successful include:

1) A good working knowledge of that particular industry/market. You don't have to know the most, but you have to know more than the basics. You can even learn an industry quickly if you have good business skills.

2) Realistic goal setting. This is probably part of the business plan, but it's important. Very few companies make tens of millions in their second year (some do, I've seen it), but a lot get buy with a good profit level that allow owners/workers to be comfortable while going to work ... without getting rich.

Above all, have fun!