First Step Marketing

A surprisingly large number of entrepreneurs raise at least part of the capital for start-up and operating expenses by asking friends and family and previous business colleagues to lend a monetary hand. Though some may ask for partial ownership in your fledgling firm, most will be satisfied by your personal guarantee of a payback date— usually with interest. Though you may be the most enthusiastic person in the world when it comes to your business, many people will want to know about your own financial commitment before they invest anything. To some it may not matter; but most people will want to know that you’re willing to risk some of your own assets before they will provide your business with the capital you desperately need. Read the rest of this entry »

Money is the oil that greases the often squeaky wheel of American businesses, large and small. While the primary ingredient of small-business success is hard work and lots of it, money is still essential to launch and then maintain the often-spotty first year of a small-business’s existence.

Now that you have a good idea of how much money you need to start your business, and how much you’ll need to generate to pay the bills every month, where are you going to find it? It’s a sign of a true entrepreneur to believe that your talents and energy levels are so wide-reaching that the cash will start pouring in—and never let up—from the first week your business is open. Read the rest of this entry »

Cash Flow Statement

Cash flow is the lifeblood of a business, since it symbolizes the steady movement of cash in and out of a company. With a cash flow statement, you’ll be able to keep tabs on when you expect to receive revenue, or money owed you by customers, and then manage this money so it is available when you need it to pay your bills. Getting the numbers down in writing will help you to figure which months you should stockpile extra cash, perhaps by postponing that renovation project you had planned, and which months you’ll have enough revenue flowing into your checking account to reschedule it. Or you can plan to hold a special sale for the months when you believe you’ll have more money going out than coming in; the discount you provide to your customers is worth it if your cash flow is positive instead of negative. Read the rest of this entry »

Once you start to run your own business, you’re more likely to be able to negotiate favorable terms with clients and convince a banker that you need a loan by using terms that everyone understands.

The information in your operating budget contains everything you will need to draw up the documents that are essential to the growth of your business. They are: Read the rest of this entry »