I Quit and I Am Starting My Own Business!

Author: Ed Sullivan

You wake up one morning, get dressed, eat breakfast and drive into work. You have this feeling in your stomach that is telling you to turn around, you just cant work for someone anymore, not for another 20 years, and in that same thought your thinking will this company be around in twenty years? What you really want is to start your own company, you want to be the boss, you have an idea that has been burning a hole in you since you thought of it and today is the day you decided enough is enough, I’m doing it! Well that’s all fine and dandy, but now what? Where do you go from here? You have worked for someone since you could remember and they always had the plan. I’m here to tell you (and not scare you out of your dream) it’s not easy, there are so many things you have to think of. Number one thought you should have is, do you have a plan? What’s it going to take to do this and can I really do this? You can do this, and you can be successful, but it is time consuming and takes a lot of work and sacrifice and sometimes more work and more sacrifice then you would have imagined. So you have an idea for a business and now what do you do? The first thing your going to have to do is make a business plan, why do you need a business plan? It’s simple with out a plan you have no direction and you are running around piece meal your business together, and that is not going to work, you may skate by at first but eventually you are going to run into situations where you will need a plan. Your business plan is going to guide you in a direction for your business and the best resource I found for this was the SBA small business association, they have the tools you will need to accomplish this task. http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html What kind of plan should you use? I suggest two plans, and I will tell you why. Your first business plan should be a simple. A business plan that will include a summary of your business a mission statement what it will take for your business to be a success in other words keys to your success,this plan should also have a market analysis, and an analysis on what it will take to break even. With this plan in place you should ba able to see if this business is even worth the time and effort. The second business plan you make should be a standard business plan, one that you will use to present to investors, banks or corporate managers. It should start with an executive summary. It should describe the company and its background and history, what the business sells, what kind of market your product is for, its financial projections and the management you have in your business. There are thousands of companies out there that will help you write your Business plan and thousands of companies that can write it for you, my suggestion is try to do it yourself, no-ones going to know your business ideas and directions better than you, utilize the internets wide variety of sources and don’t be afraid to ask questions, this will help you decide which plan is best for you and your business.