How much money to start a biz

[cherrydrpepper]

You know just a normal business like a yogurt shop or a video games and movies store? I was thinking 20K plus a line of credit but what do you guys think?

[songdog]

I would talk to Razr if I was you.But I would want a good chunk put away after all was payed to get it up and running.

[Razor]

It all depends on what type of business. A yogurt shop is a equipement/retail based customer business. Lots of money for these type because Real Estate is expensive and so is equipment to produce the yogurt / you need fro yo machine, reefers/ cash registers/ tables/chairs food etc etc.

[awms]

There is no standard set up cost for any business it really depends on what you are opening but people often think its much less then it really is! I started my own business this year which is doing well but its small and I run it from my house.

$4000 equipment
$300 insurance
$Web site $1000
$ flyer's $500
$ over head cost such $1000
$ travel cost $2500
$ education costs (yes its a cost because im always taking courses to increase my knowledge and resume) $5000

when its all said and done my business will have cost me about 20 grand this year and next year it will be about half unless I grow and need employee's then I need to move it out of my house and everything then goes up! but then again I make more money. IMO you should have about 20-30 grand put away to live off of because the first 6 months to a year you wont make much and another 20-30 grand to run your business.

[awms]

p.s my business is doing well but the first 4 months were slow and once all my debt is paid off I will be lucky to take home 5 grand! your first year or two everything you make will go back into the business! you time and your money lol next year should be much better for me profit wise!

Think of it this way. If you have a muffin business and your muffin business cost you $60, 000 start up and $20, 000 over head that is $80 000 correct? so you take out a business loan to pay for the business and now owe the bank 80 grand with interest. In you first year you make a profit of $30 000 but is it really a profit? no because it's going to the bank to pay off the 80 grand you owe them....so what do you live on?

What if you have a bad month and cant afford to pay the bank that month? you better have a pool of money sitting which you can tap into or your business wont stay open long!

[awms]

Another thing people don't take into account is time. what is your time worth to you? you don't want to be the bargain shop or you wont make any money but you don't want to over charge so you need to value your self correctly. For example I am a strength and conditioning coach and at the moment my top rate is $75 an hour which seem like a lot but Im not just charging for the hour I train Im charging for the hours I have to put into program design along with the hours I put into studying for the courses along with the cost of the courses I take which in the end will help my clients. For every hour I put in with a client on average I spend an extra hour on program design and another hour studying so they are really paying for 3 hours. Also my courses range from about $500 all the way up to $2500 each so I must at that in as well. Soon my cost will have to go up as I get more clients...il have to charge $100.

One of the biggest mistakes I see trainers make is under valuing them self and charging a low fee because they think they will get more business which is so wrong. This does a few thing 1# high end clients (pro athletes and college athletes) dont want a deal they want results and if your cheap they will assume you are not a good trainer, 2# you have to work like a dog trying to make money to survive, 3# You will be to tired to give your clients what they need to get results. I have a friend who does the same job as my self but only charged $30 a session and guess what? he just went out of business...he worked like a dog! and burnt him self out and couldnt afford to keep his business going...the sad thing is he was a really good trainer!

[Times Roman]

Plus you need working capital so that you can withstand low (startup) sales in the beginning, and meet payroll, keep paying the rent, utilities....

[JJ78]

My girl works for a company called Seed Capital.

If you have good credit and dont want to put up collateral for a bank loan, even if you could get one, the get you multiple 0% interest rate credit cards. Some of them are Business Credit cards, that you will need for your business establishing a good business credit ratiing. They also have 0% cash options for a peroid of time. They work with a lot of Franchises. Its the deal if you are smart with the credit and focus on paying them back before the 0% peroid is up. Usually 6-18 months.

Not trying to advertise for them, but they have a lot of happy clients.

[Honkey_Kong]

One of the things that always gets lost in the thought of running a business is you need to have a realistic forecast of the market you're trying to enter. How much money is there in your specific market to be made and how much do you realistically think you can draw in. You could have all the money in the world to get started, but if you're entering an already over-saturated market or one where there is no demand for the product/service you provide, the business is doomed to fail. Also, it's helpful to get money from banks and what not if you have a potential forecast of what your business is realistically expected to do. They're more inclined to lend money if they have a good idea that you're business is going to be profitable.

[cherrydrpepper]

Guys followup to my original thread topic

I need a website maker and maintainer. I will consider the friend you know who lives in his mommas basement but prefer a larger more corporate style company. Specifically I need someone who can design the site, update it, and set it up to receive credit card and paypal payments. I was a big nerd as a kid and theres a chance I might be able to do this stuff myself. If you think I might could please speak up otherwise i'll have to hire someone. I also need to know any pitfalls I could fall in with hiring someone to do the site. I dont want someone stealing money, or hiding some bullshit in the contract about them being part owner of the site, none of that shit.

[jasc]

You can make a basic site pretty easily.. one of those where you use a template and add all your own sh*t and design it how you want.. I'd imagine it's not too hard. Once the company takes off, then hire some pro.

I personally have not done this but I'm sure someone on here knows this stuff..

Cal's in IT.. if your lookin to set up a gay porn site he might even do it for free.. j/k cal.. lol..

[spywizard]

retail.. brick and mortar..hmmmm

godaddy.com has great templates...

and you can set up a shopping cart/merchant account with them..

hope you like living at the shop, otherwise...

there are just so much that goes into a retail shop.. if you are counting on walkin traffic, you need the location location location..

good luck..

[calgarian]

You can make a basic site pretty easily.. one of those where you use a template and add all your own sh*t and design it how you want.. I'd imagine it's not too hard. Once the company takes off, then hire some pro.

I personally have not done this but I'm sure someone on here knows this stuff..

Cal's in IT.. if your lookin to set up a gay porn site he might even do it for free.. j/k cal.. lol..

As long as I m not in it.....AND if i have to make site for fatties as well.

[calgarian]

Guys followup to my original thread topic

I need a website maker and maintainer. I will consider the friend you know who lives in his mommas basement but prefer a larger more corporate style company. Specifically I need someone who can design the site, update it, and set it up to receive credit card and paypal payments. I was a big nerd as a kid and theres a chance I might be able to do this stuff myself. If you think I might could please speak up otherwise i'll have to hire someone. I also need to know any pitfalls I could fall in with hiring someone to do the site. I dont want someone stealing money, or hiding some bullshit in the contract about them being part owner of the site, none of that shit.

I do this for living PM me if you like

[Coolhand5599]

First thing you need to do is find something you love, something our passionate about. Then look at staying power. How many mom and pop video game stores or yogurt stores stay in business longer than five years? Not many. Thier is a reason for that. IMHO video is a very bad idea. Yogurt, you better have the best product around with great customer service when you are not at the store. Clean,clean,clean corner to corner. Then you may have a chance to make it. Subway is one of he best and cheapest to get into. Find someone who is failing and buy at a discount. But you would really need four locations to make any money.