Starting a business? Maybe. Tips?

[usmccharles]

Does your town have a small business office or anything that you could talk to to learn about regulations on cleaning businesses?

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I am in the process of contacting some people of a small business development center in the area and seeing what all they offer. Lots of research to do. My financial state will make this process much slower but from what im reading the start up cost for such isnt that much so thats a plus

[Ortizer]

I am in the process of contacting some people of a small business development center in the area and seeing what all they offer. Lots of research to do. My financial state will make this process much slower but from what im reading the start up cost for such isnt that much so thats a plus

Any idea what kind of startup costs you're looking at?

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[JAB1985]

Not sure its any help, but we had a cleaning service for a few years. 80$ for the whole house. which I thought was based on the house size, but it was just a flat rate, as I added an addition that more than doubled the size and they kept charging the same amount. I like the idea of having a list of services and set prices, but I think consultations may be helpful for both you and the customer. maybe you can work that into a "first time" price, clean what you can, while figuring out what itll actually cost to keep doing it. Good luck.

[usmccharles]

Any idea what kind of startup costs you're looking at?

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Not much at all. Filing for an LLC here is only 50$ but I'm sure there will be a bunch of little things added in, business cards, flyers, cleaning supplies, etc but I haven't priced those things yet. Maybe a grand or two if that, which will still take me a bit. The move here and not working much depleted my savings

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[DitkasSausage]

Not much at all. Filing for an LLC here is only 50$ but I'm sure there will be a bunch of little things added in, business cards, flyers, cleaning supplies, etc but I haven't priced those things yet. Maybe a grand or two if that, which will still take me a bit. The move here and not working much depleted my savings

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I started my own business... you can always take out a 5 year personal loan if it is just a matter of needs a couple grand. I'd take out enough for start up estimates, and then 4 months of paying yourself honestly, which could be about $7g. Marketing is not as expensive as you think... social media is king these days.... I'd find someone that can put you on the right track on Facebook and Instagram... both HUGE for SMB. Spend more on items that depreciate so that they last longer, and do thorough research on EVERYTHING you buy. If you need payroll... go through ADP and tell your rep, the first time you meet them, to take 45% off your bill... they can do it. Set up payroll BEFORE it becomes an emergency and don't let anyone tell you to "just do it yourself"... that is insane. You WILL get audited in your first year on payroll if you don't use ADP. Get Quickbooks online... not the desktop version. Hire a bookkeeper to show you how to enter EVERY THING before you even start your LLC. Every single dime needs to be accounted for.

[HotInHere]

Yea thats going to be something i really need to work on as social media is something i never really use. This and Twitter is where i spend most of my time, i dont even have facebook at the moment, but i know doing this i will definitely need to.

Have any of you guys used legalzoom for any business type stuff? From what im reading, you can do the LLC yourself and save money, but when when you go through legalzoom im wondering if all the extra cost is just fee bs they add in. Another thing to research for me

Sorry I’m late to the party; just saw this thread. Congrats to you sir! This is really great. Happy for you taking this step.

I don’t know how much you need to do with social media. Your business is going to be strictly local, where as FB, Instagram, Twitter, etc are global.

You should be able to set up an LLC yourself. Legalzoom is fine for that. There are also other sites. It’s pretty basic. You will have to pay some fees no matter how you do it.

Locally focused free advertising is a no-brainer: Craigslist is good. We have NextDoor.com in Baltimore; check for them in your area. It’s a neighborhood-focused forum. I can’t tell you how many threads I have seen on Nextdoor of people asking for recommendations for house cleaners. If you don’t have Nextdoor, look for other community-based discussion sites. Referrals will be the best starting point. Doing friends for cheap/free to get started will help you streamline your process, define what supplies you need, and estimate time. Also, you can get honest feedback from them. ALWAYS ask for a referral.

Speaking of referrals, I used to work with a group called BNI (Business Network International.) They are all over the country, and there are other similar networking groups. The idea is that non-competing professionals provide leads to each other. So one guy is selling insurance, maybe another person is a lawyer, etc. And you share your client base with each other. It can work very well if you are in a group with the right people. You walk away with a couple warm leads every week.

Lastly, check the Small Business Administration (sba.gov.) LOTS of great free tools and help, and often there are professionals who do pro bono work with the SBA. With your veteran status, you should be able to get a loan if you need one, just to cover some early working capital while you get going. Don’t know if the VA is of any use, but that would be worth investigating.

Really seriously happy for you. Best of luck!

[usmccharles]

I started my own business... you can always take out a 5 year personal loan if it is just a matter of needs a couple grand. I'd take out enough for start up estimates, and then 4 months of paying yourself honestly, which could be about $7g. Marketing is not as expensive as you think... social media is king these days.... I'd find someone that can put you on the right track on Facebook and Instagram... both HUGE for SMB. Spend more on items that depreciate so that they last longer, and do thorough research on EVERYTHING you buy. If you need payroll... go through ADP and tell your rep, the first time you meet them, to take 45% off your bill... they can do it. Set up payroll BEFORE it becomes an emergency and don't let anyone tell you to "just do it yourself"... that is insane. You WILL get audited in your first year on payroll if you don't use ADP. Get Quickbooks online... not the desktop version. Hire a bookkeeper to show you how to enter EVERY THING before you even start your LLC. Every single dime needs to be accounted for.

What's ADP?

Getting a loan could prove difficult as I don't have collateral nor the credit that would be needed.

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[NCRAVEN]

What's ADP?

Getting a loan could prove difficult as I don't have collateral nor the credit that would be needed.

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A payroll company.

[BPF2]

What's ADP?

Getting a loan could prove difficult as I don't have collateral nor the credit that would be needed.

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ADP processes payroll, which is a lot more involved than most think. They stay on top of changes to the tax codes, ensure they have proper documentation for the employees, handle tax withholding and remittances. And they take all the risk of errors. Paychex is another provider.

[DitkasSausage]

What's ADP?

Getting a loan could prove difficult as I don't have collateral nor the credit that would be needed.

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Others answered the ADP question... it is to handle payroll if you hire any employees.

As for financing... You are going to need money and capital... Local Business groups is who you could look to if credit is an issue. See if you can talk to someone at your local Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, or Rotary Club. A lot of the time, they will let you present during one of their meetings asking for local investors. The problem with local investors though is that they are gonna want WAY higher returns than possible, but if were talking about $2k here..... you can certainly make it work. Don't do any stupid "Shark Tank" stuff and offer them a % in the company... that is ridiculous. Everyone on that show that offers services is getting scammed even being on it.

Getting a path to money and filling out local/federal paperwork are your first steps. I actually used LegalZoom to set up my LLC and it was fine. Talking to others that own similar businesses but not in your direct area is most helpful. Insurance is a need sooner than later. IT infrastructure is later on, but highly important... you will need a laptop, and you will need Quickbooks... I'd suggest getting both sooner than later so you can start recording money and start keeping track of documents you are getting. You will be AMAZED at how much memory of that first laptop you use and how quickly. Within 8 months, we bought a desktop PC and server for the memory... it is linked to the laptop docs so we can move files back and forth and have fillable forms that we can move back and forth as well.

Here is the deal... it is SCARY AS F! It is... and as good of a plan as you put together, you are going to run into problems, roadblocks, issues, things that cost more than you thought... things that you definitely didn't even think of. It is seriously emotional at times because it is your everything. if you don't get emotional during the process, then you might want to step back and see how passionate you are about this. My business is my everything... my persona... it is a living extension of me as much as having a child, and takes about the same amount of time....... if you want it to be successful. Outside of developing the next greatest/latest in IT... most business owners work their ever loving ASS off man... but like my metaphor above that it's like "having a kid'... you will also love it so much and be so happy you did it.