We’ve got a long holiday weekend coming up here in the U.S. and if you’re looking for a project, I thought I’d share with you how I got my business up and running fast and inexpensively.
First, I get a ton of support at home. I’m lucky to be able to be a dependent on Maria’s health, dental and vision insurance, and lucky that she supports my efforts. I don’t recommend launching a business without the support you need at home.
Second, I have a team of people that I can count on to do the things that I’m no good doing or just plain hate to do. I really don’t recommend doing all of this yourself when there are talented, capable people who love what they do and will do it for you at a reasonable price.
12 Steps to Start a New Consulting Business
- I got the business registered as a LLC and licensed in the state and county. I outsourced this to Christine at CKR Financial Services. She is also doing my books. This is one of those areas I get the hives doing, so I’m thrilled that Christine was available to help. Talk to Christine if you need help with any of these services. She’s fast, keeps you informed every step of the way, and her services are reasonably priced.
- Christine pointed me to a banker who got me setup with an account and got me a business credit card. Very quick and easy. I bet your bank would be happy to help you too.
- Got a Google Apps business account. $5 per month per user. Email, calendaring, documents, document storage etc.
- Expensify to track expenses, miles, and billable hours, and it integrates directly with Google. I really don’t know why people use any other expense tracking method. I actually don’t hate doing my expenses on Expensify – this is really high praise for anything financial related for me.
- UberConference – free conference calling. It notifies people to join the call and even has decent hold music.
- PayPal – you gotta get paid and they have multiple ways to get you paid including offering your customers 6 months same as cash. You get paid right away and your customers can pay over time. As a small business you need the cash flow. You can even invoice from PayPal if you like.
- Moo business cards. I got the Luxe cards and everyone I’ve given them to notices the difference and comments on how nice the cards are.
- Moo thank you cards with photos by my friend Thom Gould at Thomas Gould Photography. I love Thom’s photographs and I bet you will too. These cards are very nice and people love the photos. I hope they collect all 10 – I’d be doing very well indeed if they do.
- Web hosting from Hostgator. I also got a free 800 number with my hosting.
- Web theme found on Theme Forest and a theme from On Top of The World. I went to a web designer first, but I couldn’t afford them. I think my site turned out alright and I’m happy to have the difference in my pocket right now.
- Logos and design services from Heather at HAZ Design. Heather is talented and turned around designs quickly so I could get my business cards fast and get my website published. Her prices are also reasonable and I highly recommend her.
- Proposals from Bidsketch. These are done online using templates and can be signed online. Faster to the client and easy for them to accept makes for more sales.
Total cost: about $2,500 + insurance, which varies by what you need and what services you provide.
Total monthly cost: less than $150
Total time: less than 3 weeks
Lessons Learned
I spent more in time and money on the website than I originally thought, but still paid considerably less than if I had hired the design firm I looked at. I also had a specific look and quality I wanted for my site, but you can save some money if that doesn’t matter to you. I don’t have any regrets, but it’s something you may want to look at closely if you’re thinking of starting your own business. I was fortunate that I could debug some problems with the theme and that that theme author was responsive when I needed some help, but not everyone has that ability.
Starting a business takes a bit longer that 4-5 days, but you can get a good start on it this weekend. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and please reach out to Christine, Heather or Thom if you need the services they offer.
Good luck!
Now I can get back to working on my cloud lab
becki on Google+
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