1. Talk with your local SBA, they have tons of information on all kinds of things, not just loans, that may help you.
2. Make a business plan, very first thing after your SBA visit. You will be shocked when you realize all the things you haven't thought about yet.
3. If you are doing this as a business, and not a hobby, you need to think about what type of corp you want to set up, for legal reasons you should choose carefully between S-Corp, C-Corp, LLC, etc.
4. I used to set up corps and give them a credit history by connecting them to a shell corp, for customers when I was doing business development and planning. This allowed them to take on the good credit of the shell corp within about 6 months time. You can no longer do this sort of thing, and Duns-Bradstreet has since changed the way they report credit. But there are still a few tricks you can use. If you know anyone who has a business that is doing well, and has credit, you can ask them to put you, as a signitore on an unsecured credit line, if that have one. This will elevate your non existent credit, not like it once may have, but still it's better than not. If they have a Duns and Bradstreet, see if they will allow you to ride their coat tails. It will never reflect negatively on their Duns and Bradstreet profile, but it will elevate your own. Duns and Bradstreet is regularly referred to as D&B.
http://www.dnb.com/
5. TALK TALK TALK, get a feel for what's going on in your area. The reason why I have so many good contacts right now is that I went around, in person and in some cases made appointments with the clear intent of getting advice, and information. People will go out of their way if they believe you are really trying, and really want their advice. I went to a couple gold buyers, a few scrap yards, etc. Some only had discouraging words, others were not only very helpful, but gave me contacts to talk with other people. Having a business card at this point would have been beneficial, but when I was first starting, I didn't have a business name, or even a clear intent on what exactly I was going to do. Talking with all these people clarified my intent, I ended up added a lot to my business plan. There is nothing in this world like getting good solid advice from people who know.
6. The way I talked about business cards before did not do them fair justice, nor the website. They are both powerful tools. After I get my new set up going, that's exactly what I will be doing. You not only need a business name, but a slogan. Mine is "when the best isn't good enough". You can use that if you would like, but I would encourage you to think of your own, that way it reflects your own intent, and how you want your business to be perceived.
7. Choose an accounting program, or an accountant, and record everything, collect receipts. Even if you do your own accounting, it would be a good idea to sit in on a free consultation with an actual accountant. In the 15-30 min your appointment will take, you can absorb 2-3 years worth of information just on tax pointers.
8. You are going to want to do some market research, find suppliers, buyers, etc. You are also going to want to size up your competition, check your local county hall of records to find other businesses doing what you are, potential suppliers and customers. Now is when you want to put your website together, it's a great way to advertise. Look into SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so that you score and rank higher on GOOGLE searches, etc. Be careful though, there are a lot of companies out there that will promise you the world, but will not get you ranked higher on GOOGLE. GOOGLE changes the way web pages are ranked so often, that you need a company that has been doing SEO for awhile, has customers you can call as reference, etc. If you find a good entity to handle your SEO, then it could mean a great deal to you, business wise. Marketing does not have to be expensive, so make sure you do it on the cheap. Most business burn through their available cash because someone told them, and rightfully so, that they need to advertise. But they end up spending way too much money on it. Remember this also, people in marketing are so because they can SELL. When you talk with them, they are selling you on their company and ideas. See my point? They sound great because that's how they sell. It would be good experience talking with a few, you could learn a lot.
9. You need to calculate your estimated profit margin, gross margin, labor percentages if you have payed employees. Also you need to find out about workman's comp if you have employees, that might end up being your most cumbersome expense. I used to be in the grocery business, as an investor. I didn't have a lot to do with the day to day operations after a couple years time. I got out because of workman's comp. We had 28 employees, and our workman's comp when from about $8,000 a year, to almost $100,000 a year. Two factors ended up being the reason for this. First, workman's comp jumped up in cost by about 5 times the amount it was, this was because the laws were changed. Second factor was that we had an employee claim a back injury, and before we purchased the business there was already an accident on the books. In future businesses, I made sure my employees had health insurance. And if they were injured on the job, I immediately sent them to the hospital and took care of them. I don't want any injuries on my conscience, but I also don't want to pay hefty workman's comp payments either.
10. Set up an office, even if it's just a desk in your bedroom, and dedicate it only for your business. If you do not, important papers will end up in the trash, blowing in the wind, being used for scrap paper, you name it, it will happen. If you have a dedicated area that everyone knows not to touch, it will serve you well.
There is a lot more. Again talk with your SBA. They probably have a brochure sitting in the waiting room with more information on it than I have given you here. Some of the things I have talked about you might not even need to concern yourself with, but it's all good information for later use.
And again I don't want to understate the value of business cards or a web page, they are both very important if you want to be a success. However, there are many other things you might want to consider before doing either of these.
Scott
