To begin with, take some time with your idea to figure out what you want out of it. Are you looking to get into a new field? Are you trying to expand on something you’ve been doing for a while? Determine how you want to approach your business, who you want to target, why what you’re doing is special and unique. Once you have a good idea of what it is you want to do and how, do an analysis of your competition to understand pricing, products, promotion, service, distribution, and quality. Then find ways to improve on most or all of these. Once you’ve gotten all of that information, you can start working on a business plan, which is basically an outline of what you believe your company will do from the initial setup phase to future expansion, this is where you should start.

That really depends on your business. But to start, I am sure your brother, the lawyer, could help you find someone in his field to use besides himself, i.e. “my friend could help, he practices …” There are all sorts of different types of lawyers and their specialties are specific, such as patent, corporate, and structural. If you’re planning on trying to get a patent, for example, you will need a patent lawyer. Generally you can find legal help online for reasonable prices these days. It’s no longer necessary to keep one on retainer like it used to be.

If your business plan is a mess, I am assuming you’re talking about the outline needing work. This could be as simple as going online and searching for “Business plans.” There will be plenty of examples that you can use as an outline for what you want. Pick the structure that works best for the type of business you’re starting. If all else fails, you can visit our Parent Corp’s website http://emadvisorycorp.com/business-plans.html and contact us directly.

There are several ways to do this. The easiest way is to get a patent on the invention in question, but this is a lengthy and expensive process, often taking months and thousands of dollars. You can fill out a Provisional Patent Application (PPA) which will cost you approx. $75 and a few hours of your time, and will allow you to have protection on your ideas for 12 months, affording you all of the legal protection that entails and giving you a year to show off your ideas and find the investors you need to make it stick. Watch the time clock closely regarding your 12 months.

We do not tell fortunes here. This is one of the hardest questions that only you can answer; your success depends on you. All businesses are different, and there’s no way to predict whether it will succeed or not. However, realize that so much of your success depends on you. The work that you put into your business translates into success, so be aware that no matter what you’re doing, it won’t necessarily be easy. Visit the Services Section at www.EM-Advisory.com to get a few more ideas for yourself, and always think out of the box.

Yes and no. Grants exist in almost every government department, but you need to know how to write grants to get them. Colleges and universities generally get these because they write the grants for themselves; it’s a skill set they have perfected. However, if you’re wondering if the government can give you a “reasonably easy to get loan” with a favorable interest rate, then yes, it’s true. The US Small Business Administration has what’s called a guaranteed loan program that, if you prepare a proposal correctly, can provide you with a loan to get yourself started.

Sure there are! nBanks are not the only place you can find money these days. You might want to look for private investors, people with enough money that they’ll be able to help. In fact, there is a website specifically for that opening in the end of April, 2009 called www.BC-OnDemand.com . You also might want to consider talking to the US Small Business Administration who can provide loans to start-ups and are usually easier to deal with than the banks.

There are several options for accounting software that can help you out. QuickBooks is by far the most popular, well-known application for this, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best for your needs. How many different reports do you need? Do you have a payroll at all? How important is tracking inventory like art supplies? Do you own a computer? Consider what you need and then look for software that meets those needs. Looking at websites that compare various applications like www.toptenreviews.com can give you a good idea of what each application has to offer and how much it’ll cost. You might also look for software that offers free demos so you can see if it’ll work for you. Further, there are online services that can track all of this for you so you don’t have to worry as much about the record keeping.

Great question, but nowadays banks choose people not the other way around unless you have a minimum of 6 to 7 figures to give them. Banks are all about collateral, yours, if its large enough they will talk to you. There are several things you should consider. First of all, do your homework and make sure you know everything about your business, your history, and anything else a bank might want to know. Will this bank be in business tomorrow? Besides financing you, what do you want to get out of a bank? Find a banker you’re comfortable working with, and line up a couple of other people at the bank that are familiar with your business in case one person leaves. Find somebody who’s willing to send business your way since they do have a vested interest in making sure you do well. Also, make sure you can be honest with your bank about good news and bad. Finally, think about potential growth. If you’re approaching a bank’s lending limit, then they won’t nbe able to help you expand in the future. Always try new options in your search, think out of the box. Visit www.EM-Advisory.com a little self promo never hurts.

This will require a little trial and error after you’ve discovered what your competition charges. You’ll find that as you would begin your business and place bids on properties to service, you’ll learn quickly what you can charge to beat your competitors while offering additional services your competitors don’t. Keep supply and demand in mind and always check out your competition to see what they’re doing, both in terms of pricing and services offered.

Your best options as an entrepreneur is to focus on your own strengths first, you’ll discover your use of time, after you’ve identified your strengths. Then identify one by one people in business you can separately learn from who are experts in the specific areas that you are not for your project, this takes a little time, I’m still learning after 30 years and hope to never stop. Focus on the things necessary to get your project up and running, do not be afraid to ask lots of questions to everyone you can. When you’ve got yourself organized enough to move forward, step by step, then find your way to hire the people who you can help with your project. I wish I could tell you step by step 1 – 100 do this and you’ll succeed, but that’s not the answer, hard work and smart work is. Read through our website www.EM-Advisory.com and more of the questions and answers supplied through this site to help you identify more questions for yourself to answer.

If you’re website is reselling something directly to consumers, then the best way to value it would be membership and purchase history’s, followed by the rate of new members monthly and about a dozen others factors besides the sites ranking in the world against its closest competitor. If you are engaging in a sale currently, please contact us directly at EM Advisory Corp, to many times company owners leave too much off the negotiating table.

In most cases, it doesn’t really matter. Most small businesses use the calendar year for simplicity. However, it can be useful to use a fiscal year if your business has a busy season at a particular time. For example, this adviser was previously in the toy business working at a toy manufacturer. We made the bulk of our sales to retailers in the last quarter of the calendar year for the holiday season. We got paid for these sales January through March. In this situation, we ended our fiscal year in March and started the new year April 1. That is an example of when a fiscal year makes sense. Tourist businesses may also benefit from a fiscal year

We would urge you to speak with your accountant regarding your particular new business.

WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK WITH YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL TAX ADVISOR PLEASE

That largely depends on what business you’re in, but the trick with tax and record keeping programs is to take the time to figure out your needs. Do you collect sales tax at the register? Look for software such as Trustfile that supports e-filing for sales and use tax (required in certain states). Do you buy a lot of equipment that’s deductible? Look for business-friendly features, such as a comprehensive Schedule C section for managing deductions (available in TurboTax Premier, but not the less expensive versions). Do you have a sole proprietorship and work at home? If so, you’ll need help in navigating tricky subjects such as the home-office deduction, which TaxCut Premium and TurboTax Premier support. Do you have employees or run a corporation? In this case, look at higher-end products, such as TurboTax Business.

Once you figure out what you need, do some research to compare the various products out there. Sites like www.toptenreviews.com are great for providing side-by-side comparisons of the features available to various programs. When you know what you need done, it’ll be easy to whittle down the options to the one that best fits your needs.

WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK WITH YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL TAX ADVISOR PLEASE

Depending on what kind of business you’re starting, there are several all over the internet. Take a moment and ask yourself some questions: How much do I need? What sort of loan might I be looking for? Should I be structuring my business plan for private investors, or go with well-established financial firms who are not in financial trouble themselves?nnOne good place that you will want to start with will be www.BC-OnDemand.com , but not until the first of June. It’s a site which is currently being built for all business needs and the business resources to exchange and communicate privately without large outlays of capital.

Actually, now is a great time for entrepreneurship for exactly the reason you said. The bigger companies are floundering, so there is more of an opportunity to get into markets that were previously dominated by them. Part of what is changing in the markets is that there is a noted lack of faith developing in the larger companies. The perception of large companies these days are as untrustworthy, uninterested, and generally not in tune with their customers.

This isn’t to say that new industry titans will rise out of the ashes of global economic meltdown, but rather that it’s making a little space for new companies as the current titans don’t have the resources to focus on competing with smaller entities. More to the point, smaller, local shops are more likely to be able to win the trust and comfort of their customer bases again. This is a time when knowledge of a product, passion for the purchase and production of something, can go a long way. Doing something well at a local level makes it more likely that a small business can be successful, especially when you would add today’s technology and communication advantages for the small business owner.

Also keep in mind that in economic hard times, new and clever business models emerge. People are losing jobs, and they have been so corporatized that it’s sometimes hard to conceive of doing something on one’s own. However, there are needs out there to be filled, and clever people can be the ones to fill those needs. Finding a new way to produce, market, package, or present an already established product or service in a cheaper, faster, or more efficient manner changes the playing field from that point forward and is better both for companies and consumers.

Your biggest consideration is going to be local zoning laws. New Jersey is famous (or possibly infamous) for its stringent, varied, and unpredictable zoning laws. As late as last month a company in Hammonton was forced to scrap plans for a solar array on their property because of zoning regulations. That you’re putting them on the roof of your plant will help as it side-step a lot of impervious coverage laws (which are designed to limit the amount you can build on a lot that will prevent rainwater from soaking into the soil), but there are still a labyrinth of zoning laws you need to consider. Try going to your local municipal building to find out what sorts of laws you’re dealing with. Often the local government will also be able to inform you of county or state regulations you’ll need to follow.

Beyond that, consider how much power the panels will provide and what you can use them for. How much do you currently spend on electricity and how much would solar power cost you? Assume that it’ll take a year or more to recoup your investment and determine if that matches your plans. You will definitely want to find out about tax deductions that are probably available for moving to green technology. Also, find out if all your excess energy can or will be bought by the local utility company. The most important thing to consider, and what all of these questions boil down to, is “Will this help me make my business more successful and my product or service better?”

There are specific laws dealing with how internet radio pays for the use of licensed music, originally outlined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) passed in 1998. It established rules and guidelines for how much internet radio has to pay. However, at the time that amount was really restrictive. There has been an ongoing debate about it since then, and only as recently as September 2008 did the US Congress pass a law stating that the amount of royalties an internet radio broadcaster has to pay would be based on a percentage of revenue, and January 2009 when that was accepted as official by the US Copyright Royalty Board.

WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK WITH YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL TAX ADVISOR PLEASEnnSome tax related time frames, such as your tax return filing deadline or the due date to pay the IRS estimated tax payments, are clear-cut. But when it comes to tax records and how long to keep tax records, the answer is far from simple. nnTax records such as receipts, canceled checks, and other documents that prove to the IRS an item of income or a tax deduction appearing on your tax return should be kept until the statute of limitations expires for that tax return. Usually this is three years from the date the tax return was due or tax return was filed with the IRS, or two years from the date the tax was paid to the IRS, whichever is later. This is the time period in which the IRS can question your tax return – typically three years after it is filed. There is no statute of limitations when a tax return is false or fraudulent or when no tax return is filed with the IRS. You should keep some tax records indefinitely, such as tax records relating to property, since you may need those tax records to prove to the IRS the amount of gain or loss if the property is sold. nnWE RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK WITH YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL TAX ADVISOR PLEASE

This is an excellent question because it applies to so many business owners that simply don’t know what business they’re in. I don’t mean to sound insulting, but take a moment to actually look at your business and ask yourself what you do. Are you a laptop salesman? Or are you a laptop repairman? It sounds to me more like you’re in the repair business than the retail business. So scale back your retail operation and focus instead on the repair work where you’re making the most profit. There’s nothing wrong with cutting off parts of your business that are unprofitable, and when you realize what business you’re really in, you’ll find it’s also much easier to do that work and give you a better sense of where you want to go in the future.

There’s no formula for business success. No math will help you except the math on your balance sheet, so don’t look for one. There are some things that can help you, though. Sound management practices, technical support, experience in whatever industry you’re in, and the ability to plan will help you make the decisions you need in order to create a successful company. Remember, though, that even with all of these elements, there’s no guarantee that you’ll do well. It will still take a lot of hard work , a realistic outlook, and any number of other factors that you can’t necessarily control.

That’s an excellent question. While I can’t speak for all such offers, especially independent ones, there are actually a lot of grants that the US government offers for minority-owned businesses. For a strong list of these, try looking at the first section here: http://bcondemand.com/government_resources.php

For now, I would suggest finding another potential business. While e-cigarettes are currently sold nationwide in over 4000 retail outlets, the FDA’s findings show that they contain nitrosamines (which are the carcinogens found in regular cigarettes anyway) and diethylene glycol, the poisonous part of antifreeze. While it’s by no means a sure thing, odds are that the FDA will either heavily regulate them (as they are considered now a “drug delivery device”) or, more likely, ban them like was done in Australia. While you may be able to take advantage of the hype temporarily, it’s not a business with much of a future.

That depends entirely on what state you’re in. Some states require that you incorporate, while some just require that you register with the department of state. The best thing to do is to look at Business.gov’s website and search for your area to find out what permits you need to run a business there. The address is http://www.business.gov/register/licenses-and-permits/ . You can put in your zip code and business type and it will give you a list of everything you’ll need to be licensed in your area.

First, let me suggest that you work very closely with your financial adviser and accountant when making any decisions regarding the financial health of your business.

That being said, what you’ll need as far as start-up capital begins with equipment and building needs such as lease, equipment rental and purchase, and upkeep on all of it for a year. Next you’ll need enough for both fixed and variable operating costs, which include your salary as an owner, telecommunications (internet service, phone service), and money to repay your loans in the interim, among other things, again for at least a year.

Make sure when you’re writing your business plan to work these costs out and talk with your accountant to help provide accurate estimates of what the variable costs will run.

There are three things any loan officer is going to want to know: what you’ll use the loan for, how much you want, and how will you repay it. These three things comprise the big question “Why should we give you money?”nnBe ready with a smart, well organized business plan that outlines projected financial statements, as well as the name, location, and production facilities of the company. You’ll also want to have in there your legal structure, marketing structure, business organization, and your qualifications to run this type of business, as well as the qualifications of key people in your prospective company.

A well-written business plan is a good beginning when it comes to looking for start-up capital. If you need help writing one, you can find an almost limitless number of templates online or hire somebody like the people at our sister site EM Advisory Corp to help you write it.

That’s not an easy question to answer. It depends on what your business is, how long you’ve been running it, where it is now, what the demand is, and several other factors. The advantage to leasing, of course, is that you aren’t sinking as much money into the location right now, but it leave you with no resale or salvage value.nnTake some time to do a detailed cost analysis, especially with your financial planner. This is not an easy decision to make, and your best bet is to learn as much as you can about your specific situation before moving forward.

The first place you should look is a good local library, usually a major city or a university one. They’ll have a wealth of information about local business, free for you to find.

Next, find a good business consultant. We would like to humbly suggest speaking to the good people at EM Advisory Corp.

Finally, make an appointment to speak to the people at the local US Small Business Administration. They’ll be able to help get you on the right track.

These are not mutually exclusive propositions. To begin with, you should always be learning. Business continues to evolve and you need to know what direction it’s going in and what direction you want to go in to parallel with it while adding your own twist for new directions. That being said, you shouldn’t be afraid to implement the things you’ve learned. The trick is to ask yourself: “Is this appropriate to my business?” Every company is different, and while something may work for one, it might not really apply to another. You should implement your new knowledge as soon as you can, providing that it’s a good fit for what you do. If not, then keep learning while you evolve the new knowledge in to your own structure.

This will require a little trial and error after you’ve discovered what your competition charges. You’ll find that as you would begin your business and place bids on properties to service, you’ll learn quickly what you can charge to beat your competitors while offering additional services your competitors don’t. Keep supply and demand in mind and always check out your competition to see what they’re doing, both in terms of pricing and services offered.