According to Albert Einstein, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” At EA Schensky, we believe information-gathering is the key ingredient in preparation; and you can quote us on that!
To be able to make effective decisions, today’s business owner needs easy access to resources that can provide the information needed quickly and efficiently; and, it better be right!
At this moment, EA Schensky & Associates (EAS) is ready to help you with the process of finding the information you need to succeed. It might be through direct resources or we may tap into trusted sources outside of our organization.
First, we’d like to introduce you to the major areas of our expertise, discussed below. Then we’d like to invite you to contact us for more information on whatever is on your list of business-related questions. Unfortunately, we don’t know the secret to eternal youth!
Thinking of Starting a Business?
There are many steps to the process of owning your own business and making it a success.
You have an amazing idea for a product or service. You’ve even got some capital. You’re energized, dedicated and ready to start a business. Leave it to the accountants to blink the red light! “The E Myth Revisited” is a terrific little book on our recommended reading list. Michael E. Gerber revisits his basic contention that just being good at something and having the desire to open up shop to the public can be a recipe for failure… unless you are prepared! Gerber’s promise appears on the cover of his book: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It! The Entrepreneurial Myth, E-Myth for short, wants to knock the wind out of your sails so your sales don’t get lost at sea!
One of the first questions to answer on your way to starting a business: Is there enough of a need for your produce/service to make it a worthwhile investment of your dreams, time, energy, and, of course, money? Research is the key to this piece of the pie.
- Use the library.
- Google. Google..Google. In other words, scour the internet.
- Visit professional organization sites. Attend a networking meeting of the industry you want to enter. Members love to share their advice and lessons learned with a guest.
- Utilize the free services of SCORE, a part of the U.S.Small Business Administration. SCORE members are trained to serve as counselors, advisors and mentors to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners.
- Contact local universities to volunteer your vision for a class project for marketing or business students.
- Build professional relationships, choosing trusted advisors within and without your selected product/service area. EA Schensky welcomes the opportunity to earn a place on your trusted advisor list.
So you have decided to move forward.
You need to get your business registered. Consider it a business birth certificate. Instead of a boy or a girl, you have to make an entity choice. Will your business be a corporation, a DBA, a partnership, an LLC, an LC, a Ltd. Co, an LLLP, LLP, LP, PLLC, PC ? or a sole proprietorship? How do you make the best choice for your business structure??
Here the questions revolve around liability protection… benefit write-offs…
maximizing benefits from losses that may occur on starting up… tax saving strategies that are appropriate for your start-up or growing organization… to mention just a few.
Off you can go to the internet and Legal Zoom.com or to your local county or state. We encourage you to look to trusted professionals for support, such as lawyers, accountants–where EAS excels, insurance brokers, bankers and anyone else who might have productive input to help in your decision-making. Can you be perfectly forthright? Transparency is the name of the game when working with your chosen professional advisors. Ultimately, as the business owner, it is your call?
So decision made as to entity? and off you go to produce your product/service.
What’s next? Whether your venture is big or small, good record-keeping is a must. Look yourself in the mirror at the onset to decide what kind of a record keeper you would be. If you LOVE keeping track of everything, your choices are myriad… an excel spread sheet… a paper check register… computer programs abound? online software systems. Simply using your debit card and checkbook can be a system!
Again, talk to an advisor like EAS who can help you to direct your recordkeeping process to capture all that you are entitled to use to offset your income.
However, if you HATE keeping track of financial things… are not good at the process… or are simply too busy to do so, then you need to get help…quickly. Record-keeping does not have to be part of your job description. Remember, you write the job description.
Back to the information-gathering. Assistance can be an initial consultation with a firm like EAS in order to set up a basic process that your company can utilize as you get started. You might develop a system of record-keeping so that you do part of the work and an accounting firm like EAS does the other part. Once again, turn to a resource such as SCORE or Techtown in Detroit to establish the process you will use.
The truth of the matter is that you need a bookkeeping system in place from the Get-Go. Whether your business makes money or loses money, your financial records will preserve or undermine those numbers. The end result: using those numbers will gain or lose your tax advantage. So you want to be able to define your loss in a manner that you are able to utilize to your advantage on your tax return OR have minimized your profit by capturing all of your expenses as you have gone along through this start-up process.
Remember Einstein’s prediction: “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
If you would like to speak with us more about our business startup consultation please contact us here.