Need help starting a small business

Here are my questions:
1) what do small businesses need to start?
2) what were the resources you've referred to to assist you in starting up?
3) what were some of the challenges/hardships you've endured?
4) looking back now, what would you have done differently?

Thank you so much for all the help!

SubXO

PS. I MAY have more questions.

1) Time, Money & Dedication
2) Google
3) Lack of business initially...Losing money without making any!
4) Advertised a lot more! Better business plan!

Originally Posted by SubXO

1) what do small businesses need to start?

A revelutionary idea!

You need capital. Get a Business loan. Investigate the demographic region where you would like to open. Find out the need in the market to prepare you statistically on how well you would do to pay off the loan/rent of an office space or what not. As long as there is a need, you will do ok if its situated in a high traffic area. What is it anyway?

If you would like to attract customers, have a grand opening with some free things and get e-mails from the people. Constantly send out e-mails to everyone on your list maybe once a week/month or whatnot on sales and etc.(whatever your business is)

1) An idea and a dream
2) local business groups
3) lack of sleep and too much going on at once
4) bigger advertising budget

Originally Posted by SubXO

Here are my questions:
1) what do small businesses need to start? *A PRODUCT, IDEA, SOMETHING TO OFFER*, then time, dedication and patience

2) what were the resources you've referred to to assist you in starting up? Search google, check out the legalese, business number, gst/pst, other small business resources from gov, as well as look for hosts, domain, shoping cart, cc processor if you are thinking of going online. VistaPrint is a good start for business cards, word of mouth is great for advertising, google is great for advertising but there is a learning curve. Check VentureOne as a possible shipping service

3) what were some of the challenges/hardships you've endured? spending money without profit, long hours of reading for a simple solution, making advertising work.
4) looking back now, what would you have done differently? more advertising, more comparison shopping when signing up for services

Thank you so much for all the help!

SubXO

PS. I MAY have more questions.

All of this is not to sacre you away, you'll never know until you try.

Starting a business is easy.

ADVERTISING is extremely difficult with little money!

CSBFA: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/inter...ec.nsf/en/Home

IIRC I tried to use that program or something very similiar through some government agency. Needed financing for inventory (inventory that was returnable for a full refund at any time) to expand a successful business in the US. Everything lines up, and you know what they came back with? I didn't have real estate as collateral, and the inventory was no good as collateral. In other words, the government programs made absolutely no difference. You're on your own.

It was a stressful 6 months with a second mortgage and all my credit cards maxed out in order to buy the inventory myself .

Originally Posted by SubXO

Here are my questions:
1) what do small businesses need to start?
2) what were the resources you've referred to to assist you in starting up?
3) what were some of the challenges/hardships you've endured?
4) looking back now, what would you have done differently?

Thank you so much for all the help!

SubXO

PS. I MAY have more questions.

I've started numerous small businesses, and sold a number of them for 6 figures +. So fwiw:
1) mostly your good idea, a market, and hard work/dedication
2) Business plans scratched out. Really not very much other than my ideas.
3) financing. poor sales, sales not going as fast as planned. Actually, that's not a challenge so much as a constant .
4) two things I now do differently. I ask questions from everybody. I'm in the process of starting a new business and I've had indepth conversations with an American in the business who gave me detailed stats/numbers, a canadian in the business to discuss the viability, and I just drove 10 hours return trip to interview someone who has a multi-million dollar business in order to get his reasoned response to my ideas. And if any of them had voiced concerns, I wouldn't be pursuing this business idea. (thankfully, they all gave me two thumbs up).
Secondly, more research and less risk taking. I now want some substantial confirmation of the size of the market and my ability to penetrate it, or sales, or something. "there's XX consumers and if I advertise I think I can get YY% at $dollars per sale' no longer cuts it for me. That's too risky. My current business I'm proceeding ahead as I already know how much my advertising will bring in in terms of clients.
(I actually had two business ideas, and the one I really wanted to pursue, well, my business friend suggested it would 'make a nice hobby'. So that's what it is going to be.)
In short - don't be shy. Go out and talk to people in the industry.