I am trying to start a fish tank cleaning service. What do I have to know about starting my own business?
546547
I had the same business about 30 years ago, while I was in college. Its unlikely that your customers will ask about insurance and bonding for this business type. It might be better to start operating the business and if anyone ever ask for insurance and bonding, decide then if that account is worth the expense. If your business is setup as a corporation or LLC, you would be protected from most liability yourself anyway. Make sure that your contract holds the doctors office or restaurant where the aquariums are located responsible for any damages that may occur. Their employees and customers are more likely to damage the aquarium and spill the water than you are. Try to keep the business small enough to handle the accounts yourself. Having employees is where most of your business troubles will start. More help available if you need it.\n\nI recently retired from the real estate business in Central Florida after 27 years. For the past two years I have been offering free business mentoring services to young entrepreneurs. I can offer a variety of small business ideas depending on your personal interest and abilities. I will also make myself available for consultations by email or phone. I do not charge for these services.\n\nIf you want to know more, please feel free to write to Bruce at boatclub@go.com . I will help if I can.
240228
First I think you need to get a licence to sell it. Then open a fish market.
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You may want to read the article "Most Common Questions Asked When Starting a Business" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol45/questions.htm for information on getting tax number, business registration, etc.\n\nStarting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck. \n\nSome things you need to consider:\n- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?" \n- "What are my abilities?" \n- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?" \n- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?" \n\nYou may want to read the article "How to Start a New Business Successfully" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol51/launch.htm , which lists six steps to launch a new business successfully:\n\n1. Provide a benefit.\n2. Determine the fit with your market.\n3. Right timing is everything\n4. Be ready to support your business\n5. Develop a blueprint for success (your business plan)\n6. Market, market, market\n\nYou may want to read the article "10 Things You Need to Know When Starting Your Own Home Business"  \nhttp://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/startingbiz.htm\n\nI recommend that you read the following books:\n\n- What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business : Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs \n- Starting From Scratch: How To Start A Business When You Don't Have Money \n- If You're Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More \n- On the Move : How to Succeed and Survive As an Entrepreneur \n- How to Make 1000 Mistakes in Business and Still Succeed\n\nAs for getting professional help (lawyers, accountants), they are great but not really necessary. If you are willing to do what they can do and want to save the money especially if you have a shoestring budget, then you can do the tasks yourself. But they are very helpful in terms of allowing you to focus on what you do best, while they take care of important things for you. Read the article "How to Select the Right Professional Help for Your Business" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol83/professional.htm to help you choose the best outside experts to help you in your business\n\nYou may want to consider getting a mentor to help you steer your business to success. There are several places where you may be able to find a mentor: \n\n- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_roundtables.html \n\n- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org  which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs \n\n- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs/globallinks.html  , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/  , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org \n\n- Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.html \n\n- Industry and trade associations \n- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce \n- Local chapters of business groups
751586
Best Start a Home Based Business Based on YOUR Know-How\n\nFind the type of business on the link below that best describes what it is that YOU do (or want to do). Then see how to truly use the Net to make your specific business (or business idea) thrive.  http://www.wotsnext.com
73985
start your own business...
184819
I have written a 173-page ebook called "Checklist for Starting a Small Business" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/Index/checklist.htm that is meant to be a guide for those starting their own businesses. It starts with determining if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur to financing your business to managing its growth.\n\nYou may also want to check the following websites:\n\nEntrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com\nInc.com http://www.inc.com\nSBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/\nPowerHomeBiz.com http://www.powerhomebiz.com\n\nYou may also want to check the following books:\n\n- What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574101129/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid \n- If You're Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574100939/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid \n- Start Your Own Business : The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891984217/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid \n- Steps to Small Business Start-Up : Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Idea into a Successful Business http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574101323/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid
272124
START YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!
93385
I don't know what industry you were in but from my experience after I was "downsized" I have not been able to come even close to what I was making in a "job. However, now that I started my own business, I am getting closer. \n\nI started my own cleaning service and things are looking good. It's easy to start and you can too. A job is just a job. The owner is the one that keeps most of the profits.\n\nIf you would like to work part time and make some really good cash, you owe it to yourself to at least check this out. If you don't, what will you be leaving unanswered?\n\nTo your success.
325535
The best home business that you can start will depend on what you want, how you define to be interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than take care of dogs. \n\nThe key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources.\n\nDan Ramsey in his book "101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:\n\n1. List 5 things you do best\n2. List how others would benefit from what you do best\n3. Find out how to give people what they want\n4. Learn the value of your services to others\n5. Find out who else offers similar services\n6. Learn from the successes of others\n7. Learn from the failures of others\n8. Plan your own success\n9. Make low cost mistakes\n10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it\n\nHe then made suggestions on the best home businesses according to type. Here are a few of them:\n\nBest Businesses Using Craft or Physical Skills\n- antique restoration\n- auto detail service\n- carpet cleaning business\n- errand/delivery service\n- housecleaning business\n\nBest Service Businesses \n- bed and breakfast operator\n- caregiver\n- catering service\n- senior day care center\n- tutoring service\n\nBest Professional Businesses\n- desktop publisher\n- magazine writer\n- import/export service\n- income tax preparation service\n- event planner\n\nSome other home business ideas:\n\nTop 10 Home Businesses with Rapid Break-Even Time http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol33/breakeven.htm\n10 Profitable “Go-Out" Home Businesses http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol31/goout.htm\nLow Cost Startup Businesses http://www.entrepreneur.com/lowcostbusinesses/0,6617,,00.html\n\nYou can also check out the following books:\n\nTurn Your Talents into Profits: 100+ Terrific Ideas for Starting Your Own Home-Based Microbusiness \n The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century \n 121 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home \n The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start \n 101 Ways to Make Money at Home\n\nhttp://www.powerhomebiz.com/BizIdeas/bizideas.htm
988811
The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.\n\nI recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.\n\nAssociations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links. \n\nResearch, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:\n\n* Commercial and Residential Cleaning Services: A Resource Guide to Developing and Maintaining Your Own Janitorial or Home Cleaning Business by Walter Fenix\n* Start and Run a Home Cleaning Business by Susan Bewsey\n* Start Your Own Cleaning Service (Entrepreneur Magazine's Start Ups) by Jacquelyn Lynn\n* How to Start a Home-Based Housecleaning Business, 2nd (Home-Based Business Series) by Laura Jorstad\n\nThere are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
1110511
The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.\n\nI recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.\n\nAn association may be a good avenue to explore as well. It will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for the link.\n\nResearch, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:\n\n* Flea Market America: The Complete Guide to Flea Enterprise by Cree McCree "\n* The Official Directory to U.S. Flea Markets Eighth Edition by Kitty Werner\n\nThere are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.\n\nHope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
522103
You will have to have some yardworking equipment, start off small.  Push lawnmower, string trimmer if possible, and a blower.  A broom will work in place of a blower if necessary.\nIf you want to keep your startup costs down, aquire used equipment from pawn shops and/or yard sales. Work you way up to equipment that will help you work faster, with better results.  But unless you have several thousand dollars into it from the beginning, you'll need to start small.\n\nStart small, work your way up.  Use a portion of your earnings to buy better equipment. Let your good work build your business. Let customers brag about your work to their friends and aquaintences.  One of the best things about yardwork is your "business card" is in front of every house you do.  It is also one of the worst things, if your performance is bad.\n\nMost people want to get rich quick, not willing to do the work necessary to build a long lasting business. HONESTY with ALL the people you deal with, customers, suppliers, accountant, and especially yourself. This is the ONLY way to build a longlasting, profitable business.  Take pride in your work, knowing that a customer can go elsewhere to get their yard done.  Admit your mistakes, take responsibility for them and you'll see profit down the road.
38677
Start with something you or someone you know already own. \n\nI started a business making leather goods with only $300 investment. I already had most of the tools and supplies but I needed a wider range of leather. My first time selling netted $700 profit and I still had 3/4 of my supplies left. I turned it into a $80G a year business in two years.\n\nOne important factor in creating a business is passion. You have to love what you do.\n\nFrom a cleaning service (everyone has enough supplies to do at least the first house or two..then you reinvest your money to grow), to house painting (more supplies but can be bought at dollar stores for the first house), and the list goes on.\n\nI have built and sold 7 businesses in my life and am on business 8. Don't feel that once you start, thats where your stuck forever. Feel free to learn and grow with life. Get the book "Who moved my cheese" to help you learn how to move through tech changes.\n\nTake a piece of paper and draw a page sized T on it. The right side is cons the left is pros. Write your abilities down on the pro side then pencil in the cons to having a business doing that ability. You will find one or two strengths to work on.\n\nOnce you find what you want to do, find someone who is doing it and ask some questions. You will need to know how long it took to become established. Does the business support them and or their family. Do they like what they do. If not, why.\n\n2 out of three privately owned businesses fail the first year. They tend to work best when you have another job the first year or even two so you can reinvest your money to build the business. Its hard work but worth it if it makes you happy.
249537
nah, that doesnt sound like a business that would flourish. but just a few minutes ago i answered a question to some guy looking for someone to assist him in building a fish farm in sri lanka...that would be something for you!!!
282017
Check out the Small Business Administration web page at http://sba.gov/starting_business/index.html - they have a huge listing of resources for starting any kind of business.\n\nAs well, FirstGov for nonprofits site at http://www.firstgov.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml has some resources you might find useful.\n\nFinally, there are a number of relevant articles at About.com here: http://nonprofit.about.com/od/nonprofitstartup/\n\nGood luck in your venture!
1096214
I own my own commercial cleaning service and yes, there is great money in it, let alone you are your own boss. I got started with an ebook that you can find on this site under the service business. It helped me with bidding jobs, how to secure a contract, some great cleaning tips and lots more. It may be what would help you. \n\nI went from cleaning one office once per week to now, cleaning them as well as an industrial account or two, every night of the week and sometimes on the weekend.\n\nCongratulations on making a decision to start your own business.
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One good way is to print out flyers and take them to potential clients where they work and/or live.  Identify exactly what you have to offer and perhaps even provide a discount for the first cleaning.\n\nIt works for many businesses.