Starting a small side business... HELP!

[dj_patm]

So I've got a great idea for a side service business with essentially no start up costs or investment needed besides my time which I'm really excited to get off the ground.

The problem is I really don't know where to begin my research. My plan is to start small and just take on a couple projects and feel out how it all goes (I've only done it for one client so far) before really heavily jumping into a structured business plan, incorporating, really flushing out a website, speaking to lawyers, advertising...etc.

My question to you is what are somethings I must consider before really jumping into this? Like I said, besides the costs of incorporating, speaking to a lawyer (I'll need contracts and to figure out my liability for the service I'm offering and also eventually need to file a trademark but that can wait a bit I think) and hosting a website (plan on developing it myself for now), I don't see any extra costs so I'm worried about overlooking some generic things that would be good to get ahead of before they become pressing.

Mainly I'm wondering if any small business owners can share their experience of trying to get everything off the ground and if there are any do's and don'ts I should be aware of?

[ExtraSlow]

Lock down the website domain ASAP, it's easy and can be done in under an hour. If you are going to end up hosting your own site, easiest to do it thought your host.

It's really hard to give advice without knowing the business. But may as well set yourself up with two classes of shares (at least) and give your wife a different class than yourself.

the incorporation paperwork is easy. If it's a named company, doing a name search is a good place to start. Nice to know if your name i taken before you buy the website.

[CompletelyNumb]

Figure out some company names. Run them through Namechk https://namechk.com/

Find one that has a .com available, and the major social channels.

Do a NUANS search for the names you found. If you get a green light, go buy the domain and register all the social profiles. NameCheap is the best I've used for domains.

File incorporation paperwork. Make sure the share structure is good. Some lawyers have cheap packages (LawShop on 6th, I think it was 800 for everything).

Open corp bank account. Deposit start up funds as a loan to the company. Pay for everything else out of that and write it off.

[dj_patm]

Holy fuck is it hard to find a free .com

I thought using a made up word would make that easy but even that is taken.

(found one, finally)

[A790]

Get the .com, .ca (if a regional business), .net, and .org. Will save yourself headaches later

[Xtrema]

Next up is great user name (hopefully the same for all platforms)

- Twitter
- Instagram
- Facebook
- Snapchat

Of course, if you are not serving millennials, it may not be as important.

[ormhelmanuel]

Instead of trying to bust out a 25 - page business plan right off the bat. I would recommend reading up on the Lean StartUp. A lot can change about your business really quickly and I feel like a 25 - page business plan won't reflect that.

Here is a link if you're interested in checking it out:
http://theleanstartup.com/principles

[RX_EVOLV]

I would actually recommend writing a business plan now. The true value of a business plan is not the plan itself, but the process of writing it. It forces you to think about all aspects of the business opportunity ( operations, financials, competitions, profit/operating margins, initial target markets, channels to market, etc...) so you can anticipate risks and mitigate accordingly, and put into perspective everything you do as you are starting out.

My suggestions:

1) Download a template (so you have a list of different business aspects) and try to write a first draft. Do NOT outsource this.

2) You won't be able to address everything, which is fine. After all you don't know what you don't know. You should however get someone to look it over and ask them to identify any gaps.

3) Be as critical as possible. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

4) Revisit it often as you learn more about your business. Especially in the beginning. A business plan is outdated as soon as you stop working it.

5) Use it as a road map, so if you do get lost along the way, or forced to take detour, you will at least know what's the next checkpoint/milestone that you need to get to to get back on track.

6) Maybe even try to work backward. Set your future goal first and then determine what you need to go to get there. For example, you want to net 50 clients and $1M Revenue in 5 years. Working backwards, you probably need to invest and secure at least 5 clients in 2018 at $XXX/client to trend towards that goal.

[HiTempguy1]

All great info so far.

BDC and Futurpreneur Canada have been pretty helpful.

I know a lot of people will disagree with this advice, but you also just have to go do your business. Everything might not be perfect, and you might screw up here or there, especially if you are doing something that thousands of people don't already do. But you need to start. And the sooner you start, the better as somebody else might come up with your idea.

It amazes me how close minded and unhelpful a lot of "business" people can be. If it isn't in their wheelhouse, they'll typically write you off pretty quickly. At the end of the day, your business is your business and nobody else can tell you how it should or shouldn't be ran.

One final thing; don't share your business until its gotten rolling and you are actively attracting clients/bringing money in. Everybody and their mother will try to scoop you. Just the way business is

I wouldn't incorporate unless your liability/risk concerns are high. As you mentioned, low startup costs/not a lot of capital required means you can get away with sole prop. Also, corporate tax accountants start at about $2500-$3000 (quotes I received) for tax returns, versus sole prop (about $300-$500). Consider your after tax profits and determine whether it makes sense to go incorporated right off the bat or to wait and see. You'll also get a better tax rate if you do. For me, it doesn't make sense until gross profit margin hits ~$70k before going incorporated.

Most business fail within 5 years of startup, I'm of the opinion that everything should be done to minimize costs so that you don't bankrupt yourself, and that the company runs lean from the start to help keep things from going sideways.

I WOULD ABSOLUTELY DO A BUSINESS PLAN. Helps focus on what the company is, what you intend to do, where you want to see things go.

[A790]

I paid $1,100 for my corp tax return this year.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1
It amazes me how close minded and unhelpful a lot of "business" people can be. If it isn't in their wheelhouse, they'll typically write you off pretty quickly. At the end of the day, your business is your business and nobody else can tell you how it should or shouldn't be ran.

Iv'e had the opposite experience. Have had literally hundreds of people tell me how great my idea is and how I'm going to be so crazy busy with it. They are very wrong.

[revelations]

Originally posted by A790
I paid $1,100 for my corp tax return this year.

Is your accountant taking clients? Are they good?

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by A790
I paid $1,100 for my corp tax return this year.

Went and got 10-15 quotes, consulted other small business owners, asked around.$2k to $3k was pretty typical as a baseline. $3k is a lot of coin for a small or part time startup.

I'm not saying its not possible. Just saying thats my experience

As for you extraslow, thats because your business is directly tied to something lots of people know. That's kind of my point, if its a field that everybody and their mother is involved in in one form or another, you get a lot of positive feedback.

For stuff that is a bit more "out there", not so much.

Also, both a790 and yourself are essentially service providers. There is more to this world than services

[ExtraSlow]

Absolutely. I'm 100% service the way I run right now.