This feelin’ ….

Starting a business is one thing. Getting recognition and understanding from others is something completely different. You’re business is up and running and you spend every minute of your day on business related items. At this stage in developing your business you might ask the question:

Why does nobody seems to understand me? Why does nobody understand how important this is to me?

You have accomplished quite a bit so far and are well on your way developing your new business. Fact probably is – it may have begun consuming your life.

The impression you make to your friends and family might be, that you are losing interest in things outside of your business.. Things that seemed to be important to you now seem to be less important. You can’t join your friends going camping over the weekend because you need to monitor your servers and answer helpdesk tickets.

But you might be in a place with just a few others. Welcome to the Entrepreneurial Zone! This is a place where a few brave souls who started their own business understand what you are going through. This is a place full of energy, ideas and a lot of frustration. You are no longer using energy of your surroundings – you are creating energy. You are now going after something you believe in, something that has become part of your soul. Every moment of your life seems to be filled with thoughts about your business and what needs to be done next.

Maybe you explored and discovered your true self – the real you. It takes time to get used to the fact that you are self-employed. You are the boss. Some people eventually have fear about that and because of that they see you with different eyes. Remember – you are creating energy and not everyone understands that you are going through a transition.

To survive in the Entrepreneurial Zone, accept where you are and who you are. Do not apologize for being daring and trying to risk something. You have a goal. You will create your own space around these goals. Some people will understand, others will not. Life is like a book. Chapters come to an end, new ones start. Not everyone or everything fits into every chapter of life.

Mission Statement

Every organization or business has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being. The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the company’s purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the company, the public image, the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability. At the very least, your organization’s mission statement should answer three key questions:

- What principles or beliefs guide our work?
- What are the opportunities or needs that we exist to address?
- What are we doing to address these needs and opportunities?

A Mission Statement should be a one-sentence/two-sentence, clear, concise statement that says who the company is, what it does, for whom and where.

The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee/business representative who is evaluating any strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a very complex set of ideas.

A Mission Statement can be changed over time. It does not have to be static. It is actually good to revisit the Mission Statement over time and to adjust it to the different times in society, culture and business.

Here are some Mission Statements of other companies and organizations:

Mary Kay Cosmetics
“To give unlimited opportunity to women.”

Food & Drug Administration
“The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.”

North Carolina – Secretary of State
“To serve and protect citizens, the business community and governmental agencies by facilitating business activities, by providing accurate and timely information and by preserving documents and records.”

Sun Microsystems
“Solve complex network computing problems for governments, enterprises, and service providers”

Walt Disney
“To make people happy.”

So, from these different kind of Mission Statements you can see that most of the items mentioned above have been implemented in one way or the other. Make sure your business has a Mission Statement that you can identify yourself with. Make sure your employees know your Mission Statement and understand the purpose of it.

Funding & Financing

Even if a web hosting business can be started on a shoestring in some cases – proper financing gives you a better start and better chances to make it through the first 2 years. As you probably know – most startup businesses do fail within the first 2 years of their existence. You do not want to be one of them.

There are several ways for you to get financing or funds to start your business. The most common ones are

- Money from savings and your existing job income
- Bank loan
- Venture Capital

Often an entrepreneur uses existing funds to start a business. Money taken from savings accounts or from other financial sources of yours, are the best way to start your business. The only person you owe money, would be yourself. Nobody can require you to do this and that different from how you would like to do it. If you still have a job while starting your business – finance your business with the income from your job until you are ready to make the final step.

Startup businesses without a credit history will have a hard time to get a credit card or a loan from a bank. If you as a person have good credit, you might be able to get the loan as an individual. Keep in mind – in that case your personal assets are basically securing the loan. Depending on the amount of money – this can be risky. And as you know – banks are not hesitating to close the loan and hand it to a collection service if they feel their loan at risk because you are not making your payments. Not a good feeling. A bank loan also puts a higher pressure on you to succeed. While some people have no problem handling this additional pressure, others do have a problem with it. If you know that you are one of these individuals – do not take out a bank loan to start your web hosting venture.

Venture capital – Unless you are having really big plans, you will be locked out from receiving venture capital from one many venture capital providers out there. Don’t even try and waste your time. These people do not fund small businesses where the ROI would be minimal for them. But – there is venture capital out there, that will be available to you. Often even for less cost than what you would have to pay somewhere else. Family members, friends, coworkers and business partners are all potential sources of venture capital to help you start or to expand your existing small web hosting business. The key is approaching them the right way.

Draft the terms of your loan and review your payment schedule.

How much money do you need to borrow?
What fair interest rate would you be able to offer?
Instead of paying interest – can you offer a share (e.g. 5%) of the business? Or maybe you do not take a loan – you offer an investment opportunity?
When will you start repaying the loan, and over what period?

Identify potential lenders and investors.

Think about all people you know who might be in a position to lend you money or who might be interested in investing into your business. It could be a relative, friend, associate, just about anyone you know and trust. Prepare your proposal the same way you would if presenting your proposal to a bank or a real investor. You are asking for money – so, make sure your request looks legit and professional. Offer a fair deal and the necessary respect. Remember – in the moment you ask, you need to convince your family (just as an example) that you are not that 25-year-old college dropout, but a businessman/woman who was an exact idea of what he/she wants.

You can email your loan proposal to them along with a custom message. But – that should only be done if they live far away and you cannot drive over to the person you are asking. Also – do not surprise them just like this. Call upfront and make an ‘appointment’ where you would like to discuss something important with them and that you will email them some information before then. Be professional.

If the person you are going to ask for a loan or an investment lives in driving distance – drive out there. Bring enough time and do not start asking the moment the door opens. Be polite, be professional. Explain your idea, present your business plan, and explain why you are there. Explain every step and describe thoroughly what you will do to pay back the investment or loan. Be prepared and also explain what you will do in case of failure. How will you pay back the money if your business model does not work and you end up closing it down? Always put yourself into the position of the person being asked, too. It will help you cover questions and concerns.

The moment of truth – The lender responds to your loan proposal.

The person receiving your loan proposal can respond in one of three ways. He/She can:

Approve your proposed loan terms and accept all your terms. Congratulations – you did a great job explaining what your plan is.

Suggests alternative loan terms: your lender does like your plan, but is not accepting your terms. The lender/investor will make alternative suggestions for the terms of the investment/loan. It is up to you to respond. If you did your homework well, you already prepared a plan B with different terms (better terms for the investor/lender). Don’t feel offended, if being asked to provide different terms. You still did very well and you are almost there.

Rejection of your loan proposal: If this occurs, you should try to find out why they rejected the loan proposal. If it makes sense, you can present a modified proposal that contains different loan terms at a later time. But, to be honest – in 99% of the cases you are better off asking somebody else or to come up with a complete different idea of funding your business with venture capital.

As mentioned already at a different topic – the SBA is providing help and funding. Talk to them. It does not cost you anything to talk to somebody who is there to help.

Basic steps to start a laminate flooring business

While most people prefer other businesses, some people get into laminate flooring business. Like any other business in the world, if done right, it’s a quite profitable business. Laminate flooring has been successful since it was introduced on the market, first in Europe and then in the United States in 1996.

Here are some basic steps to follow before you start your laminate flooring business:

1. You should make specific short and long-term plans with clear goals and ways to evaluate them. Determine the resources needed such as the place from which you will work, people, money etc.

2. You should have a pretty good idea of what products and services you will sell and the benefits people who buy them will get.

3. Find important information about your competitors like their strengths and weaknesses because it helps you in setting a competitive bid. Always try to be unique.

4. Focus your promotions effectively by knowing who will buy your products/services. Think about the different promotion strategies and find out the best that suits your business. Focus your promotions in reaching the greatest number of customers.

5. Set up your laminate flooring business. Find out the start-up costs (gear, furniture, licenses etc.). Also find out how much you will have to pay to stay in business. These costs usually include rent, taxes, utilities, promotional expenses, etc.

6. Insurance is a must. There are several types of insurance that you must have like health and property insurance, for example. You may have to talk to an insurance agent to determine what suits your particular situation.

7. Take care of all the legal matters. You should contact your state’s department of commerce and industry and find out all the things you need to do in order to start your own laminate flooring business. In most cases you need to get a business license from your local municipality.

8. Start a business checking account and use it to perform any money related operation like depositing your income or pay your business related expenses. Setup a fairly simple bookkeeping system to record all your income and expenses in a way that makes tax preparation and monitoring your situation easier. Ask your tax advisor or accountant to make sure you do this right.

This list is far from a complete one so use it just to learn the basic steps to be taken when starting your own laminate flooring business. You should consult a business professional and do additional research to make sure your business will be successful.

About the author:

Laminate flooring enthusiasts unite! Installation, maintenance, selection, e.g., Harmonics, Pergo, Shaw, Mannington – you name it, we are talking about it. Join us at http://laminateflooring.oncloud8.com

Small Business Legal
Structures

One of the first decisions that you
will have to make as a business owner is what business structure you want to
use. Depending on your situation and financial funding, you should consult with
an accountant and attorney to help you select the form of ownership that is
right for you. If you do not have enough funding, you will need to do a lot more
thorough research to reduce the chance for error.

We’re here at
Webhostingreport.net will try to give you some basic understanding of what
options you have and which one might be right for you. Once you decide which
option eventually is the best for you, you are able to intensify your research
and to build a case.

Sole Proprietor

The majority of
small businesses starts out as a sole proprietor. These businesses are owned by
one person, usually the individual who has day-to-day responsibility for running
this business. Sole proprietors own the complete assets of the business -
including all the profits generated by the business. The owner (sole proprietor)
also assumes complete responsibility for any of its liabilities or debts. In the
eyes of the law and the public, the owner (Sole Proprietor) is one in the same
with the business entity. Unlike a LLC or a corporation, you don’t have to file
any special forms or pay any fees to start working as a sole proprietor. All you
have to do is declare your business to be a sole proprietorship when you
complete the general registration requirements that apply to all new businesses
in your state/local area.

Advantages of a Sole Proprietorship

-
Easy to organize
- Owner has complete control
- Owner gets all the
income

Disadvantages of a Sole Proprietorship

- Owner is liable
for every kind of debt from the business
- Benefits are not business
deductions
- Business and personal assets are at
risk

Corporation

A corporation is considered by law to be
a unique entity, completely separate and apart from those who own it. A
corporation can be taxed; it can be sued; it can enter into contractual
agreements – all by itself and therefore protecting the personal assets of the
owner(s). if the corporation gets sued and found liable, the personal assets of
the owner(s) cannot be touched under normal circumstances. The owners of a
corporation are its shareholders. The corporation has a life of its own and does
not end to exist when the ownership changes. To form a corporation, you must
file the “Article of Incorporation” with your state government or with the state
government where you want to have your business registered.

Advantages
of a Corporation

- Shareholders have only limited liability
- Can
raise funds through the sale of shares/stock
- Your business is very
profitable, so that you can save a significant amount of income tax by keeping
the profits in the corporation each year. This results in higher value per
share.

Disadvantages of a Corporation

- To incorporate requires
more time and money than starting a sole proprietorship
- Running a
corporation requires certain organizational duties that need to be met
(Shareholder meeting, reports, create corporate bylaws, must issue stock
certificates)
- Actual taxation might be higher

Limited Liability
Company (LLC)

A Limited Liability Company is designed to provide the
limited liability features of a corporation and the tax efficiencies and
operational flexibility of a sole proprietorship and partnership. The actual
formation is a little more complex and more formal than that of a sole
proprietorship and/or partnership. A LLC does have members but can also be
formed by just one person (=1 member). Basically – a LLC receives the
corporation’s protection from personal liability for business debts and the tax
structure of partnerships and sole proprietorships.

Advantages of a
Limited Liability Company (LLC)

- Members have limited liability
-
Actual taxation might be more beneficial for the members
- Business form
looks more professional than a sole proprietorship in many cases
- A LLC only
needs one member

Disadvantages of a Limited Liability Company
(LLC)

- A LLC cannot seek funding by offering shares to shareholders
-
The liability protection can be removed by a judge if it is obvious that the
members did not run the business as a LLC but as a partnership / sole
proprietorship
- Less laws that govern the LLC. This could be a problem in
complicated business situations

There are 2 additional business
forms that we do not cover this time. The partnership and the S-Corporation. We
do not consider the partnership a good business form as each partner can be held
liable for the debt created by the other partner. The S-Corporation is
eventually to complicated for most situations and requires more guidance by a
lawyer and accountant.