Money, Debt and Taxes

Free Business Classes

There is more to starting a business than having a great idea. Just to get started you need to learn about marketing, taxes, and accounting. Then you will find you want to know more about developing a website, writing a business plan, and how to get federal grants. Hiring employees or contractors opens another can of worms! You could go to college and get your MBA which is expensive and time consuming. You could purchase countless books, and spend hours reading about moving cheese without finding what you need, or you can take advantage of a couple of resources available to anyone with an internet connection. The IRS and the SBA! Yes! Your tax dollars actually provide some useful services. Now is a good time to take advantage of these free business classes and feel like you are getting some benefit from the taxes you are paying.

The Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration is familiar to most people because of their small business loans. But they also have an excellent online education system. The Small Business Training Center is designed to “enrich, empower, and educate small businesses”. At first I thought this would be full of dry, government issued type courses, but it is not! While many of the courses are SBA courses, several are provided by private enterprises. My favorites are the mini courses provided by Trump University. Yes, you can learn from The Donald for FREE! Topics include “How to Write a Business Plan”, “How to Find Start-Up Funding” and even “How to Start a Business on a Shoestring Budget”.

Business Tax Classes at the Internal Revenue Service

Now that The Donald has filled your head with how to make money, now you need to go over to the IRS site and learn how to hold onto it! The IRS will teach you how to pay less tax. They have a number of different classes on taxation available at all levels. I recommend most business owners start with the Online Small Business Workshop. There you will learn everything you need to know about what taxes your business needs to pay and how to pay them. Then go to the Link and Learn section. This is where the IRS trains its volunteers and you have free access to the same information. There are all levels of tax instruction, plus special sections for military and overseas taxpayers.

Business Classes on TV at Small Business TV

Once the IRS has turned your brain to mush, you can watch news and information about business on SBTV. (Please note this is online TV and the audio starts right away. Be prepared to turn down your speakers!) SBTV has hundreds of videos on business how-tos, news, and business success stories. Today, April 7, 2008 they are featuring Jack Canfield on
7 Ways to Boost Your Business Just by Asking. SBTV also has a whole section on Tech Tactics, Making Technology Work For You After spending the weekend struggling with technology that is sounding like a very interesting topic to me!

Starting a new business is always fun and exciting! I should know. I have successfully launched 3 businesses and I am working on my fourth! But before you get carried away with the rush of starting a new venture, ask yourself a few questions.

#1. Is There a Market For My Product or Service?

Is there a market for your product? You may love it, but does anyone else? Can you convince people to part with their hard earned money? Check your competition. Is there lots of competition? Then how are you going to make your product stand out. No competition? That may be because you are the first, or it may be that there is no market for your product.

#2. Do I Have Enough Money to Get Me Through the First Year?

Do not expect to become an overnight success! It does happen, although it is rare. Starting a business can be very expensive. Just getting the word out about your product can burn through a lot of cash. Make a financial plan, assume almost no income for the first year, and make sure you have enough to cash to carry you through. Many businesses that fail, would have eventually succeeded if they had enough cash for their launch period.

#3. Do I Have a Plan?

Or maybe even two or three. You could have a marketing plan and a financial plan, but at the very least every business should have a business plan. It does not need to be complicated or long, it can be just a page or two, but it should be in writing. What are your goals for your business, and how do you expect to achieve those goals? How do you see your business one year from now, how about ten years from now?

#4. Who are my Advisers and Mentors?

Do not be a lone ranger and try to do everything yourself. Find a mentor who can give you good advice, and give a different perspective on your business. Find a tax adviser, someone who does more than just fill out tax forms. An excellent tax adviser will help you maximize the tax savings of your business, and will most likely save you more than their fees. Good legal advice will also save you money over the long term.

Answer these questions and you will be ahead of the game when it comes to starting a successful business.