The First Steps of Starting a Business

August 26, 2016

Most people go to college with the end goal of landing a job in their field. They may dream of working for a successful business, becoming a teacher in a large school system, or caring for patients in a well-known hospital. These are vastly different careers, but they have one thing in common – they all involve working for someone else. Often, the idea of starting a new business does not occur to college students and young professionals. The notion of being one’s own boss may sound a little far-fetched to students who, due to the recent recession, are aiming for more practical jobs. However, your younger years may be the prime time to start a business. In your early to mid-twenties, you likely have no mortgage, no children, and more free time to dedicate to your blooming business. If starting a business at your age is feasible, and you desire to pursue a great idea and be your own boss, what is stopping you? Follow the steps below to learn how to begin the process of starting your own business:

Come Up with an Idea

The first step in setting up your own business is to determine how you will generate revenue. Is your business built on products or services? Is your idea unique or will you be entering a highly competitive market? If the idea falls into the latter category, what will be your competitive advantage? Having a solid idea is the first step to building a successful and profitable business.

Develop a Business Plan

The next step is creating a business plan. A business plan is essentially a plan for your business, and it outlines your goals for the future of your business and how you plan to achieve those goals. It is comprised of many topics including your basic concept, funding, mission, values, target market, competitor analyses, strategy, and financial projections. A strong business plan is crucial for the next major step in the business development process — receiving funding.

Prepare Yourself Financially

Different businesses have different financial needs, but even the simplest of businesses may be costly to establish. Your business plan will help you assess where you stand financially and figure out an estimate of how much money your business requires. There are two actions you can take to start your business on the right foot — saving money and earning money.

Saving money is an often-overlooked element of setting your business up for success. Many successful entrepreneurs started from scratch and had to make personal financial sacrifices to keep their business afloat. Creating a budget and cutting back on expenses is an effective way to set more money aside for your business. If you are in the process of repaying education loans, consider refinancing and consolidating in order to get a lower interest rate. For more money-saving tips, check out this post. There are so many creative ways to cut back on spending and allocate more money to your business.

Earning money for your business can be difficult and time-consuming, depending on the amount of money you need. If you do not have the required amount at first (and most people do not), there are several ways to earn it. You can work part-time, while developing your business, to yield some extra cash. You can ask for financial support from your friends and family or set up a page on a crowdfunding site such as Kickstarter. Another option is getting in touch with investors that may give you financial support in exchange for stock in the company. You can also take out a loan from a bank or government agencies such as The Small Business Administration, which lends money to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Although these three steps are not the only elements in creating a business, they are the hardest and most important. Along with ideas, business plans, financial and legal factors, marketing, and more, starting a business requires risk-taking, passion, and hard work. It is not easy, but it is exciting, dynamic, and often worth the risk.

Research and Planning

Before you begin investing your time and energy into a business, understand if and where there is a need for it. Where is there a lack of pizza places? Once you’ve determined a good area where there will be demand for the product look at your competitors. Look specifically at, prices, marketing, branding, and style. Now take a look at the median income for the neighborhood and surrounding towns that your pizza place would be located in. Is it a lower-income neighborhood or a higher-income neighborhood? Understand the area and price your product accordingly. Now that you have a better understanding of what you’ll need to start your pizza place create a business plan. If you’re in need of additional funding for your business this business plan will be of the utmost importance. There are different formats available for business plans, some more traditional while others are fairly brief. Be sure to check online for samples.

The Cost of Business

Know what your expenses will be. Identify what those expenses are. The SBA has a list of expenses for starting businesses. These expenses include office space, equipment, supplies, utilities, licenses, permits, inventory, lawyer, salaries, marketing costs, and website costs. Once you have a list of your expenses, estimate out how much you’ll need to spend on each. Check out this handy worksheet that illustrates the starting costs for a pizza place. The SBA expense calculator provides an estimation of $18,975 as the starting costs for a business. The estimation includes one-time expenses like equipment, security deposits, and legal fees and monthly expenses like rent, insurance, and advertising. Every business is different, but typically there is some type of investment that must be made upfront. Now don’t forget that if you’re looking to start a business you can use some “startup costs’ as tax deductions. Tax deductions* per the SBA site include costs to get your business operation ready and costs of investigating the creation of a business. Once you have an idea of your expenses and what is tax deductible, you’re onto step two.

FUN-ds

Here is the “fun” part where many young entrepreneurs get caught up - getting the funds. Not only do younger entrepreneurs not have the dollars but, they owe thousands in debt. That thousand dollar debt is likely due to student loans. According to a recent survey, nearly half of Americans considering starting a business said that student loans were a major barrier to entrepreneurship. Refinancing student loans can help. When refinancing you may get a lower rate or change the terms of the loan. It can help lower your monthly payments, sometimes significantly, giving you more cash in your pocket. Once your personal finances are in order (decreased student loan debt) figure out how much capital you can put towards your business. For this particular step, we’d recommend working with a financial advisor. By self-funding your business you will take on all the risk of the business, not to mention taking funds from all your accounts resulting in penalties. Instead of self-funding the capital fully, try crowdsourcing, small business loans which you’ll want to research heavily to assure you’re receiving the best rate or finding investors willing to provide capital. If you take money from an investor for your pizza place, it’s a venture capital investment. This type of investment is usually offered in return for a share in the company and some sort of power position within the company. Therefore, if you do take on venture capital investments understand that the business is no longer just yours.

Naming

Once you’ve gained the funds you’re well on your way! Next, you’ll set up the internal structure for your business, register the name for your pizza place, set up your Tax IDS, and get the appropriate licenses. Licenses are usually industry, location, and state-specific so be sure you’re working with a legal team to meet all appropriate criteria or it could end up costing you. All decisions will have an impact on how your company functions, so be sure that you’re taking every necessary precaution and good luck in your journey. Refinancing may not be the solution to all of your money problems, but it’s a step in the right direction. When you’re starting out, all it takes is to get going on the right path to continue moving forward. Don’t forget to open up a business bank account to help organize your business funds from your personal funds. Similarly to refinancing you’ll want to choose a bank with transparency, credibility, and great service.

Facts About Student Loans That Will Save You Money

*Please note Education Loan Finance is not a registered tax professional.

2018-10-12

What happens when an FDIC insured bank fails?

When a bank becomes insolvent, the FDIC essentially takes over the bank. Almost no matter what, the bank will still have some deposits and assets. The FDIC will try to sell the bank’s deposits and loans to another member bank. In this case, you the customer will find their deposits at a new bank. If for some reason the FDIC cannot successfully sell the bank, they will issue a check to the depositor directly.

It’s not the 1920s anymore, why should I care?

Sure, the Roaring 20s and all its banking peril are long in the past, but you might be old enough to remember the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s or the financial collapse of 2008. These were both significant events that wreaked havoc on the banking industry. Banks can still have problems and sometimes big problems. In fact, from 2008 to 2012, 465 banks completely failed. While most everyone felt the effects of the financial collapse in some way, bank depositors were spared significant loss thanks to the FDIC. This is why you absolutely want to make sure your bank is a member of the FDIC.

What else does the FDIC do?

Member banks are subject to strict overview of the FDIC. They monitor debts and assets and help to ensure banks have enough cash on hand for safe and responsible operation. They aren’t just guaranteeing your money, they are actively working to make sure the bank is healthy. Additionally, they work to make sure banks are compliant with the latest consumer and banking regulations.

Are there protections for borrowers as well?

Yes. The FDIC isn’t only focused on depositors, they protect borrowers as well. So if you are in the market for a home loan or you are looking to refinance those student loans, it’s important to pay attention to which lenders are FDIC members. Member lenders are under scrutiny to make sure the debt to income ratios for borrowers aren’t outside what borrowers can afford to realistically pay. You want to work with a member bank to ensure an upfront and transparent process.

Are all financial institutions FDIC insured?

No, not all financial institutions are FDIC members. The FDIC examines and supervises approximately 4,000 banking institutions in the United States.

Tips for Finding the Perfect Lender

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bank_failures_in_the_United_States_(2008-present) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBOFiDpmESI

2018-10-10

Top 5 Barriers to Homeownership for Millennials

Most millennials rent their living spaces and don’t purchase them. Ever wonder why that has become such a common stereotype of the millennial generation? Well according to some research done by Urban Institute it isn’t just a stereotype. It dives deep into this issue to explain the main barriers to homeownership for millennials and how to address them. Here are five of those barriers:

Location-

Millennials are moving to the biggest cities in the country in larger numbers than any generation before. In these cities (like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco), housing prices are extremely high and the actual housing supply for purchasing is low. You can save money in a major city by using mass transit instead of driving or taking cabs.

Starting a family-

In the past, getting married and having children were the life steps that often led to home ownership. Now, we’re getting married and starting families later in life (or not at all), causing a delay in the need to buy a home. If you are wanting to buy a house, don’t let your marital or family status stand in your way. You can save for a down payment now to speed up the process.

Student debt-

The total amount of student loan debt in the United States is at a historical high, and more students are taking out loans than ever before. Many people who are trying to pay off their student loans feel as if they cannot save for a down payment and do not want to add a mortgage on top of their existing debt. Also, a high debt-to-income ratio can make it more difficult to obtain a mortgage. Refinancing your student loan can help you reduce your rate, allowing you to pay off your principal faster and lower that ratio.

Renting-

Typically before taking the step to owning a home, you will rent a place for a few years. Rental rates have continuously risen for years, which is not allowing people to save as much money for their future down payment. This delays reaching that next step by at least a couple of years. You do not have to let this stop you from saving for a down payment if you are hoping to buy a home soon.

Poor credit-

Low credit scores are plaguing many millennials. The average credit score for this generation is 640, which is lower than both gen x and baby boomers as well as the median credit score for obtaining a mortgage loan. Whether those low scores are from lack of credit, high credit card debt, missing payments, or any other reason, there are plenty of ways to bring that score up.

Consider These Factors before Buying Your First House