The complete idiot's guide to starting your own business

Part 1. Starting the Right Business for You

1. You Are Your New Business

Lifelong Employment Is a Myth

Cut Yourself Some Slack

Your Business Starts with You

Do You Have What It Takes?

What Makes a Great Entrepreneur?

What Are Your Strengths and Abilities?

What Are Your Needs?

Financial Needs and Goals

Family Motivations and Goals

What Are Your Spiritual Goals?

Escaping the Big House-Leaving Corporate America

What Is Your Personal Bottom Line?

2. Navigating the Critical Planning Process

Why Prepare a Business Plan?

Think of It as a Simulation

The Overall Plan-Writing Process

Being Honest

Getting Help

You'll Never Have All the Information You Need

The Minimum That Your Plan Must Cover

Dealing with a Bad Business Idea

Short- and Long-Term Planning

3. Your Recipe for a Professional Business Plan

Briefly Describing Your Business Idea

Your Mission: Why Does Your Company Exist?

The Pieces of Your Plan

Cover Sheet

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Business Description

Market and Industry Analysis

The Competition

Marketing Strategy

Operations Plan

The Management Team

Financial Overview and Funding Needs

Summary and Conclusions

Appendixes or Supplementary Materials

Ethics and Your Plan

4. Finding the Money You Will Need

Risk and Reward Are Intimately Linked

Investors Give Money to Get Something Back

The Greater the Perceived Risk, the Greater the Required Return

Don't Treat Investments Personally

Comparing Debt and Equity Funding

Company Stages and Funding

Seed Stage

Startup Stage

First Stage

Second Stage

Third Stage (Mezzanine)

Harvest Stage-Exit Strategy

Know How Much Money You Will Need

Will You Make Money?

How Much Can You Afford?

The Plan Estimates Your Money Needs

What's Your Potential?

Basic Types of Funding

Typical Funding Action Sequence

Funding Out of Your Own Pocket

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Family Funding

Venture Capital-May Not Be for Everybody

Agency Guaranteed Bank Funding

SBA and Governmental Program Realities

Stock Sales (Not an IPO...Sorry)

Seller Financing

Ethics and Funding

For Your Plan

5. Buying Experience with a Franchise

Franchises: Paying for Their Experience

Franchising in a Nutshell

Getting to Know the Franchiser

How Long Has the Franchiser Been in Business?

Key Personnel, Methodology, or Arrangements

What About the Competition?

For Your Plan

6. Buying an Existing Business

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Buying an Existing Business

Buying and Selling are Similar...but Different

Preparing to Buy

Finding the Candidate

Finding a Company to Buy

Plan to Buy in Stages

The Sales Meetings

Getting the Right Professional Help

For Your Plan

7. Should You Start a Corporation?

An Overview of the Various Business Structures

Sole Proprietorship: Going It Alone

Partnership: A Business Marriage

Corporations: Share the Wealth

Public or Private?

Subchapter S-Corporations: Protection with a Smaller Tax Bite

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Professional Corporations

State to State

Dealing With the Tax Man

For Your Plan

Part 2. Writing Your Successful Plan

8. Determining Your Market Opportunity

Understanding and Assessing the Market's Influence

Don't Create a Market Need

Determine Overall Market Characteristics

Is the Market Growing?

Who Are the Major Players in Your Market?

How Long Will This Opportunity Last?

Research Data Sources Are Everywhere

Researching Your Plan

For Your Plan

9. Learning on Your Competitors' Nickel

Is the Competition Real?

Accumulating Competitive Information

Comparing Yourself to Them

Price Wars Hurt Everyone

Are You a Specialty Store or a Superstore?

Using Market Segmentation to Your Advantage

Cooperation Versus Competition

For Your Plan

10. Focused Marketing That Makes Money

Marketing and Sales: Linked but Different

Know Who Is Most Likely to Buy Your Offering

Target Marketing: Finding Your Best Customers

Finding Your Right Price

The All-Important Life Cycle

Your Marketing Message and Positioning

Advertising: Balancing Push and Pull

Mail Order and Direct Mail

For Your Plan

11. Getting Sales: The Lifeblood of Your Business

Manipulating and Selling: Not the Same Thing

Getting Close to Closing the Sale

Everyone Has to Sell, but Not Everyone Closes

Is Your Offering a Special or Commodity Item?

Is Your Customer a Likely Buyer?

The Nine Stages of Selling

The Suspect Stage-Stage 1

The Prospect Stage-Stage 2

The Entree Stage-Stage 3

The Discovery Stage-Stage 4

The Proposal Stage-Stage 5

Trial Close Stage-Stage 6

The Budget Stage-Stage 7

The Close Stage-Stage 8

The Post-Sale Stage-Stage 9

A Commodity Sale Versus a Complex Sale

Your Sales Channels

Distributors as Sales Agents

Should You Use Your Own Sales Force?

Selling Services Instead of Products

For Your Plan

12. Production Plans That Produce Results

Production in Product and Service Environments

Are You a Mass Producer or a Job Shop?

Linking Purchasing, Production, and Marketing Forecasts

Create a Production Flow Chart

Successful Project Management

Maintaining Quality

For Your Plan

13. The Good and Bad News About Employees

When You're Successful, You'll Need Help

Good Help Isn't Hard to Find

Independent Contractors

Putting Retired Folk to Work

Take Your Employee for a Test Drive

When a Contractor Is Really an Employee

More Employees, More Restrictions

Medical Insurance

Sexual Harassment

Solicitation and Competition

Interviewing Techniques

For Your Plan

14. Properly Handling Payroll Taxes

Payroll Taxes: You Can't Avoid Them, So Learn How to Deal with Them

Payroll Tax Overview

Filing and Paying Payroll Taxes

Tax Deposits and IRS Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return

State and Federal Unemployment Taxes

Rules to Live (and Save Taxes) By

Using a Payroll Accounting Service

15. Accounting: How Business Keeps Score

Accounting 101

Accounting Periods

Sales and Costs

Cash or Accrual: Which Accounting Method Is Right for You?

The Cash Basis Accounting Method

The Accrual Accounting Method

Understanding Financial Statements

A Chart of Accounts

The Income Statement

The Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Analysis

For Your Plan

16. Reaping All Your Small Business Benefits

The Grim Truth

Are You Self-Employed or an Employee?

Differentiating Various Business Types and Taxes

You Still Need a Retirement Fund

The Standard IRA and Roth IRA

An SEP and SIMPLE Plan

Various Other Deductions

Home Office Deductions

Medical Benefits

A Final Word About Providing Benefits

Part 3. Running a Successful Business

17. Cash Is Like Air for Your Business

When You're Out of Cash, You're Out of Business (Usually)

How Success Can Kill Your Business

Factoring, Credit Terms, and Loans

Factoring Receivables

Using Credit Terms to Enhance Your Cash Position

Buying on Credit

Taking Out a Loan

Applying Break-Even Analysis to Determine Startup Cash Requirements

Knowing When Enough Is Enough

Projecting Startup Cash Requirements

For Your Plan

18. Properly Handling Credit Card Sales

The Way Credit Cards Work

The Costs of Credit

Terminal Fees

Monthly Fees

Covering Your Legal Bases

What to Do if a Charge Is Contested

19. Banking On Your Banker

What Does a Bank Bring to the Table?

The Loan Officer Is Your Friend. Really

Banks Will Give You Money Only When You Don't Need It

Bank Loans You Can Get

Sell Your Banker on Your Company

Commercial Checking Accounts: A Different Animal

Enter the Small Business Administration (SBA)

Big Banks, Small Banks

20. International Business-Did I Mention China?

International Business and the Internet

Taking and Processing Orders

Giving Product Information

Shipping and Handling

Pricing and Exchange Rates

Making Sure You Get Paid

Going International-All the Way

Working with China

Some Facts About China

The Importance of Relationship in Business

The Importance of Size

The Challenges

Appendixes

A. Business Buzzword Glossary

B. The Kwik Chek Auto Evaluation Example Business Plan

C. Resources

D. Bibliography

Index