20 Things NOT TO DO...!

1. Don’t quit your day job - Yet!

2. Don’t incorporate. Seventy five percent of all businesses are sole proprietorships, and they already make money

3. Don’t get a bank account. Your personal banking account will work just fine if someone wants to write you a check, or if you need to pay for something.

WRONG! - If you commingle funds, i.e., personal with business you will find a great many disallowances both in the IRS Code and with your asset protection plan.

4. Don’t rent an office. Work from home. It won’t require a first, last and security deposit. Plus, it’s tax deductible.

CORRECT! It's true you don't need an office, if you incorporate, you'll be using our address and one of our mailboxes. For a telephone, you should use a virtual office phone system. However, if you are planning to entertain "client's" at your home, you are walking down a DANGEROUS PATH! Your exposure to liability is ENORMOUS!

5. Don’t hire an attorney. What’s an attorney going to tell that you didn’t already know, or couldn’t figure out on Nolo or in a good bookstore? There are only two times to call an attorney: if you’re in jail, or if someone else’s attorney contacts you.

CORRECT! This is good advice and VERY, VERY TRUE. Attorney's have a tendancy to run up huge tabs on their "client's" for the most insignificant things, like "letter writing" as a rebuttal to an opinion, or for "UNNECESSARY" client & attorney conferences... I once had a client tell me that his attorney ran up a tab of 7,000.00 for just these two services and "she" lost his case ANYWAY!

6. Don’t hire an accountant. Quickbooks Simple Start will get you going, fast and easy. If it proves to be too much, overwhelming or you're intimidated by even the thought of it - contact us we'd be more then happy to assist you

GOOD ADVICE! Accountants are just as bad as attorney's. In a completely separate experience a client of our's had an accountant do the exact same thing as the above attorney did - run up a huge bill ($3000.00) to do a Corporate tax return! Mind you his bookkeeper had already done the data entry, but because is was old school, i.e., in hard copy, she ripped our client off....

7. Don’t get a loan. To get a loan from anyone, even your family, will require that you do too many items on this list. And besides, if you get a loan, you know work for the bank — not for yourself.

EXCELLENT ADVICE! Another horror story was when a client took out a HELOC loan at 8% interest, on a $20,000.00 loan. Against all advise, the client did it anyway and when the business failed, she had no one to blame but herself.

8. Don’t hire anyone. Don’t hire someone if you can do it yourself. For everything else, use contractors, independent contractor's or sub-contractor's and give them ALL 1099.

9. Don’t get a business license. I’m not advocating that anyone cheat the government. Once you can sell your product/service, go out immediately and get all of the necessary business licenses and permits in your jurisdiction.

If you incorporate, you won't have to give this one a second or third thought. You'll be licensed by the State of Nevada. If you don't you're asking for more trouble than any one business can tolerate from any one GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY - They will come after you, trust me!

10. Don’t try to patent anything. It takes 1.5 to 2.5 years to get a patent. Who knows what the market will look like then.

11. Don’t design a logo. You are your own brand, you don’t need a logo.

WRONG! - I don't agree with this one. If you have the talent to create your own, or have the money to buy a software package (and there are many inexpensive, easy to use ones you can buy right off the self of your local computer store. Try: Office Depot or Staples and of course Office Max REMEMBER, YOU BUILDING BRAND RECOGNITION and a catchy name with a well designed logo can go a long way with that goal.

12. Don’t waste time picking a business name. As a sole proprietor, you already have a business name: your own!

WRONG! For all the reasons we've outlined in the above discussions.

13. Don’t advertise. Advertising costs money, and takes time to perfect. Selling takes only you.

Wrong! Dead Wrong!If you don't advertise, how will your customers ever find you? Unless you are a totally referral based business, then I don't recommend NOT ADVERTISING. There are inexpensive ways to do this without BREAKING THE BANK

Try These...

• Magnetic Car Signs
• Lawn Signs
• PostCards

Carrier Route Saturation .02 cents per address!

• Outbound Telemarketing!

VoiceSHOT is ONLY .12 cents per call

Lists can be bought directly from their Vendors!

• Build a Website
• Get listed in online directories - FREE!
• Write Articles and submit them to trade websites - FREE!
• Write Press Releases and have them submitted to newspapers, etc.

14. Don’t buy office supplies. If you need a pencil, get one out of the kitchen or your son’s backpack. You are working from home, aren't you?

15. Don’t buy any equipment. Outsource everything. Fedex Kinkos can handle all of your printing, and instead of splurging on a postal meter head down the post office. Need something big? Rent it! If it’s not something you can rent by the day, maybe there’s another local business with one. Can you rent it during their off hours in the middle of the night?

16. Don’t try to find a partner. What do you need a parter for? Capital? Don’t take loans. Need someone with some sales experience? If you the inventor of your product/service can’t sell it — no one will be able or even willing to do so.

17. Don’t join the Chamber of Commerce. Chambers of Commerce have great mixers where you can meet and network with other local business people. Right now, you don’t need to network, you need to sell! Plus, you can always go as a visitor.

EXCELLENT ADVICE! Chambers of Commerce don't or won't do anything but passively promote your business and THAT WILL COST YOU MONEY... Money for membership, money in "mixer" giveaways, etc. If you become an "Ambassador" you wind up spending more of your time promoting the chambers business then you'll ever get in return for your own endeavor. In my opinion, chambers of commerce are unnecessary "money-pits" for the new or small business owner. They may even act as regretable detergents to your success!

18. Don’t tell all of your friends about the business that you’re going to start someday soon. Every minute that you spend telling someone you love about your future business is one less minute you have to either try to find someone to buy your product/service or to refine it. Plus, everyone knows an “entrepreneur” that is all talk and no action: don’t be one yourself.

19. Don’t write a business plan. Sure you need to know what you’re going to do and how you’re going to make money, but don’t waste time formatting it into a structured plan.

EXCELLENT ADVICE! Not only are they a waste of precious valuable time, but the FACT IS THAT most successful ventures start out without any formal and or elaborate business plans and most marketing plans can be written on one sheet of paper!

DANGEROUS! I don't agree with this entirely, your image will suffer and if your potential clients don't feel you are trustworthy and or suspect you are a "fly-by-nighter" working out of your home, YOU WON'T GET THEIR BUSINESS!

Here again, keep your cell phone, use it in tandem with your virtual office. You'll put forth a more confident image to your prospective clients and this will go a long way in solidifying your business as it instills confidence to all that attempt to call you for your services.

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