Access to Answers small business advice program

6-12 months operations capital managed in a written biz plan.

Plans involve sales projections, cash flow projection, team backgrounds, marketing plan etc.

In general, you should open with twice as much cash as it took to open the biz. 

i.e. $50,000 to open the doors and $100K for operations 

the business that is being started does not have the repetition that "sm biz question" and "Startup money and business plan" has in this post.  If that is the case, it will not matter how much is borrowed because it would be eaten up in duplicate inventory and loss of productivity (repeating the same process over and over again). 

Having said that:  First, check with the U.S. Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/). 

The site has information on writing a Business Plan, finding a Mentor; Finance Start-Up, Licenses and Permits, protecting your Ideas, picking a location, leasing equipment and other information you will need before you start.

Before starting the process, do your research.  Make sure the type of business you want to open is viable.  That other similar businesses in your area have not recently closed do to the economy.  After you've done your homework, and only then, that is when you can start to take your entrepreneurial ideas to the table

Well, it's a double-edged sword. When you start the business, you will most likely be wearing multiple hats: you'll be the president, operations manager, salesperson, human relations manager, controller, and you probably started the business because you knew and/or liked the product or service that you provide, so you'll be doing some of that as well.  Even more to the point, you probably will need to describe how to develop the product or service and train anyone that you hire to be able to do it the way you want it done.

As you can see, you'll be responsible for many different activities in the business and that means that you'll most likely be burning the midnight oil when you get started.

The key to keep from going crazy and getting overloaded is to commit to delegating each of these tasks, one at a time, so that you can stop doing everything. And that means that you will have to define how it gets done -- what we call "business process definition" -- so that other folks can do the same job. 

Only after that happens and you get down to one or two "hats" will you be able to back off. So... owning your own business is challenging and rewarding... and it's a lot of hard work, so be prepared for that. 

Thanks to all your comment, I've learned a lot!!

Cheers,

Henry from hauptstadtreisen.com

hELLO THERE, A LITTLE TIP FROM SOMEONE WHO GOT SCREWED FROM A SMALL BUSNIESS.