GaryA said:
Who here has and how did you take the plunge? Any resources I can go to, to learn about loans and the proper way to go about it. I would like to start a home based business for extra money and if it really took off then who knows.
Any advice on business loans would be greatly appreciated as well.
I use to do a ton of sidework with family, and that work is no longer available so I am trying to find a way to generate the income on my own. The catch is I no longer want to be away from home the amount of hours I was before.
I have an idea and I think it will work I guess I am just looking for courage through others and inside information on how they were able to get the funds to start the business.
What type of business are you looking at? Internet, contracting, retail, consulting, etc. Depending on the type of business, there's various things you need to register with or not.
For instance if it's retail, is it online or do you have a set location? Do you need inventory or are you selling other people's items.
I'm 24 and have owned my own company for a year. It started as people sending me their lacrosse sticks and I would string them. Then it branched to purchasing sticks on ebay, cleaning them up and restringing, then reselling. It was near impossible to get any contracts with major manufacturers because I 1) didn't have a store front and 2) the amount of volume I sold wouldn't necessarily be cost effective for them.
I've since moved to general sports contracting. I have a gig where I travel with ESPN events providing tech services for their wireless cameras and mics.
Tax wise it gets a little crazy. You need to document everything and keep every receipt to take advantage of the deductions. On top of that, you need to pay both yours and the 'employer' side of social security.
But the minimum you need are a trade name, a business license and an IRS Tax ID number. Look up where to register a trade name in Oregon. The business license for me was done at the State Court House in Maryland and the Tax ID can be filled out at
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
It does need to be in that order however.
As per business loans, it is tough as a small business because it's likely the amount of interest they would collect wouldn't be that much. My best advice would be to start saving as much as you can.
My first year's profit was $7. This year I'm closer to $10,000 after all the deductions.
It's a tough lifestyle but it can obviously be very rewarding. If you tell me what line of business maybe I can help you out some more. My best advice however would be to hire a very good Tax Accountant to handle your first year's taxes.