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Like many others, you?ve always dreamt of starting your own business, being your own boss and doing something that you love. Whether that career path means customer service, administrative work, sales or support, there are a few steps you need to take before you can jump into the virtual business world.While your first thoughts might be on inventory or staff and profits, Kelly Poelker and Diana Ennen authors of Virtual Assistant, The Series have come up with 5 first steps to take when starting your VA business. I have simplified that list here:
- Business Name ? Seems kind of obvious, I know, but this might just be the single most important thing you do for your business. The name you choose for your business will be the first thing people know about you and should be a reflection of what it is that your business offers. Be smart about the name you choose as it should be specific enough to attract your target customers but won?t limit you should you choose to expand your scope of work.
- Entity- Now we get into the legal stuff. When you decide to start your business, you will need to decide whether you will run your business as an LLC, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership or Corporation. The majority of small businesses are run as Sole Proprietorships due to their simplicity and because they seem to allow business owners more control and less legal hoops to jump through. Partnerships, Corporations and LLC?s involve more legalities, taxation complications and paperwork. Still, sometimes a business is just too big or requires more protection than a Sole Proprietorship offers. Do your research and make sure you make the right choice for your business.
- Licensing and Registration- Depending on the nature of your business and the location of it (as laws vary from state to state and even from town to town) you will need to register your business and obtain a license to run that business. It is something that has to be renewed yearly and requires a nominal fee (compared to what you could be fined for operating without a license/ registration). Check with your town hall for details.
- Insurance- While this might not sound like something you need to concern yourself with as a virtual business owner, I assure you it is in your best interest to protect yourself. Insurance is not intended strictly to protect business owners from someone getting injured on their property, it is meant to protect against fire and flood damage. You know that expensive equipment you use? Just like it cost money to buy it, it would cost money to replace it. Keep this in mind when insuring your business. Also, consider medical insurance as well. Being self-employed doesn?t exactly offer a medical benefits package and if you get sick or hurt, your profits could take a hit.
- Back-up Plan/ Emergency Plan- An often overlooked, but vital, aspect of setting up a new business is having a Disaster Recovery Plan. One of the first things to make sure you do is use off site data storage. Online storage is a growing and incredibly effective way to make sure that you have backed up important documents and data. For important physical items (documents, insurance cards, software disks, etc.) consider a bank safe deposit box or water/ fire proof lock box.
Remember, as you start your business, these steps are not only intended to protect your and your business but your clients as well. Lost work, down time and missing documents affect the success of their business, too.? A little time spent planning ahead and setting things up the right way can (and will) save you time and frustration in the future.
Related posts:
- 10 Steps to make it work when working from home.
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