I searched and didn't see a thread like this. I thought it would be nice for those who own their own businesses to give advice and tips on how they started etc


A few questions to get the convo going.

What type of business do you own?
What prompted you to start your own business?
How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used)
What are the important documents/licenses that you need yo have?
How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business"
Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space?
Do you have employees?
Have much did it cost to start your own business?
How soon did you start making a profit?
Would you recommend to others to follow this path?

A few questions to get the convo going.

What type of business do you own? A multi services LLC...covers anything I need to get pizzaid for.

What prompted you to start your own business? No reason not to plus the tax benefits. Plus I can put others to work if they need a hand.

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used) SBA site and state SBA site and anything I could get my hands on pertaining to an LLC.

What are the important documents/licenses that you need to have? Apply with secretary of state, county if need be. That is all. $100. Done online in 5 mins.

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business". See above.

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space? Home office for taxation purposes & UPS box for state filings that require a "physical" address. I can use the UPS street address and call my mailbox "Suite 123"

Do you have employees? Sometimes, only people whom I am close to like family & friends. People can do shady shit with employer ID numbers.

Have much did it cost to start your own business? See above and all expenses are deductible. I even sold my car to my LLC and deduct my car insurance payments, lol.

How soon did you start making a profit? Whenever the people I work for pay me. I don't sell shit, I provide a service.

Would you recommend to others to follow this path? ALL minorities should own a business. It only cost less than the price of a year's worth of weave, weed, designer gear and rims.

Originally Posted by GoneWDaWindFab

A few questions to get the convo going.

What type of business do you own? A multi services LLC...covers anything I need to get pizzaid for.

What prompted you to start your own business? No reason not to plus the tax benefits. Plus I can put others to work if they need a hand.

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used) SBA site and state SBA site and anything I could get my hands on pertaining to an LLC.

What are the important documents/licenses that you need to have? Apply with secretary of state, county if need be. That is all. $100. Done online in 5 mins.

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business". See above.

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space? Home office for taxation purposes & UPS box for state filings that require a "physical" address. I can use the UPS street address and call my mailbox "Suite 123"

Do you have employees? Sometimes, only people whom I am close to like family & friends. People can do shady shit with employer ID numbers.

Have much did it cost to start your own business? See above and all expenses are deductible. I even sold my car to my LLC and deduct my car insurance payments, lol.

How soon did you start making a profit? Whenever the people I work for pay me. I don't sell shit, I provide a service.

Would you recommend to others to follow this path? ALL minorities should own a business. It only cost less than the price of a year's worth of weave, weed, designer gear and rims.

Nice

What type of business do you own? A multi services LLC...covers anything I need to get pizzaid for.

Can you explain further? What type of services do you provide?

Originally Posted by GoneWDaWindFab

A few questions to get the convo going.

What type of business do you own? A multi services LLC...covers anything I need to get pizzaid for.

What prompted you to start your own business? No reason not to plus the tax benefits. Plus I can put others to work if they need a hand.

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used) SBA site and state SBA site and anything I could get my hands on pertaining to an LLC.

What are the important documents/licenses that you need to have? Apply with secretary of state, county if need be. That is all. $100. Done online in 5 mins.

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business". See above.

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space? Home office for taxation purposes & UPS box for state filings that require a "physical" address. I can use the UPS street address and call my mailbox "Suite 123"

Do you have employees? Sometimes, only people whom I am close to like family & friends. People can do shady shit with employer ID numbers.

Have much did it cost to start your own business? See above and all expenses are deductible. I even sold my car to my LLC and deduct my car insurance payments, lol.

How soon did you start making a profit? Whenever the people I work for pay me. I don't sell shit, I provide a service.

Would you recommend to others to follow this path? ALL minorities should own a business. It only cost less than the price of a year's worth of weave, weed, designer gear and rims.

That surprised me. Good for you.

Sigh I'm trying to make a lil side money with kitsy lane but no one wants to buy the jewelry lmfao

Great thread. I am just getting started.

What type of business do you own?

I do several things. LOL.

What prompted you to start your own business?

My desire to never have to beg someone else for a job. To always have a secondary source of income.

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used)

I got someone to help me write a business plan (this was ten years ago) and I registered a domain. Later, I filed official paperwork with the courthouse and got a permit to operate a business from my place of residence. I'm mostly self-taught, although some of the stuff I used in grad school comes in handy.

What are the important documents/licenses that you need yo have?

A permit was really the only thing necessary.

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business"

Immediately.

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space?

I've always had a home office. Previously it was a spare bedroom. Currently it's a multipurpose loft that also serves as my studio.

Do you have employees?

Nope! I have "partners" though...

Have much did it cost to start your own business?

The guy who wrote my business plan was sweet on me, so that was free. The permit was less than $50 if I remember correctly. The domain wasn't that expensive, and I already had other necessities like office equipment (computer, printer, fax machine--this was ten years ago, LOL).

How soon did you start making a profit?

Within a couple of weeks.

Would you recommend to others to follow this path?

Sure!

I do admit that since I relocated to TX, I haven't been "officially" in business, but I have been doing stuff "on the side."

it's a shame . how empty these threads get

What type of business do you own?
Day Spa
What prompted you to start your own business?
Rare medical disorder i have, makes it hard for me to work for people in my field, because i need to be able to rest if necessary and pace myself. Plus ppl in my field without their own business are severely underpaid but overworked

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used)
created a business plan, what i needed, my parents helped and i took out a loan. I registered the business first, because most facial beauty manufacturers and stores want to see a tax id or business registration

What are the important documents/licenses that you need yo have?
registration certificate, tax id

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business"
it took 7-8 months

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space?
my mom owns an office building, so i've got my own space there

Do you have employees?
had 1 but she has neglected work for about 2 weeks now...so fired

Have much did it cost to start your own business?
approximately 80 000TTD which is about 13K

How soon did you start making a profit?
in my 3rd month of operation now, I would say in the 2nd month

Would you recommend to others to follow this path?
nothing is more liberating than opening your own business! I would advise anyone with a good head on their shoulders and the means to , to go ahead
__________________

Originally Posted by CALVIN CANDIE.

it's a shame . how empty these threads get

Yes, especially since I see some many fonts call themselves reading someone and the first thing out of their mouth is "I have my own business!" I wonder where all those "entrepreneurs" are now?

Originally Posted by GoneWDaWindFab

Would you recommend to others to follow this path?ALL minorities should own a business. It only cost less than the price of a year's worth of weave, weed, designer gear and rims.

Praise Jesus
you ain't nevah lied.

Originally Posted by Hot Sugar

Sigh I'm trying to make a lil side money with kitsy lane but no one wants to buy the jewelry lmfao

Try Etsy

What type of business do you own? Value-Added-Reseller of Medical Billing, EMR/EHR Solutions for Hospitals and Physician Offices and more recently I've obtained a contract to facilitate Student, Finance, and Human Resources Administrative Software for K-12 School Districts.

What prompted you to start your own business? I worked in IT in both environments (Hospitals and Schools) and felt the integration of the two could prove very lucrative. I have not been disappointed.

How did you go about starting your business?(resources you used) I was blessed to have proceeds from a settlement that I used as "seed money".

What are the important documents/licenses that you need yo have? I was set up as a Value-Added-Reseller (VAR) thru a corporation I formerly worked for. Licensing was industry standard.

How long did the process take before you were actually "open for business"? Less than 6 months.

Do you work from home or have a studio/store/office space? I work from my home office and travel to client sites.

Do you have employees? Yes. 5 Consultants and a team of 8 Hardware Field Service contractors that handle Network Server Installations and Server Migrations.

Have much did it cost to start your own business? I'd rather not say.

How soon did you start making a profit? Profit margins increased significantly in my 2nd year.

Would you recommend to others to follow this path? Only if they have significant experience within the industry, and are blessed with a shitload of money at their disposal that they can parlay into a successful venture.

Love. This. Thread!!!!!!

Subscribing the shit out of it

Sorry I won't be able to type much because I'm on my phone & please let's not be negative in this thread, I'm already not feeling spectacular as things aren't progressing as quickly as I would like.
Anyway I make Shea butter. I'm bootstrapping it so far. I'm at an absolute standstill at the moment because my 9-5 is driving me round the bend. profit isn't a part of my vocabulary yet because I'm still approaching this too much like it's my baby.

Getting the regular state licence to do business, etc

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