In one of my first posts here on Y.F.N.C.G., I outlined the first first few things I plan on doing to get my computer business up and running.  Up to this week I had completed four of them:

Have a business plan
Come up with a name
Register the business name
Start finding ways to make money

And now, this week, I have reached another important milestone in the preparation of my business, opening a bank account for my business.  If you’re wondering why I think establishing a business bank account is necessary so early in the planning process, I’ve listed some of my reasons.
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I’ve recently finished the advertising plan for my part-time computer consulting business and I thought I’d share it with you.   It’s really quite simple.  I’ve identified 5 marketing strategies that I will implement, over the next 6 months or so, that should cost very little money, if any at all.  I think these are great strategies for those who are starting a business while still working full-time at a “day job” or for high school and college students looking to make some extra cash by moonlighting as their own neighborhood’s computer guy.
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I found an interesting thread on a forum the other day.  The thread begins with a young man nicknamed ”clutch” asking the forum members for their advice on the steps necessary to prepare for a new computer repair business.  He proudly lists some things he’s considered acquiring before he beings, things like spare parts, repair tools, boot disks.   Soon thereafter one of the seasoned vets of the forum, “Prime Suspect”, gives him this piece of advice:

“I hate to be so blunt about it, but discussing and planning and thinking and nailbiting doesn’t get a business to be successful. Every second that you spend planning it and asking for advice is wasted time. ”

You can read the full thread here.

A bit of a harsh statement, but it reaffirms something that I recently discovered.  I, too, had a lot in common with “clutch”, spending hours gathering information and formulating plans.  While I think some planning is necessary, and a new business is not the sort of thing to jump into blindly, too much preparation can also be a hindrance to forward progress.

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Business Name Blues is a 3-part series in which I talk about the experiences I had in naming my business and give tips based on lessons I’ve learned in the process. Part 1 explores choosing the business name. Part 2 looks into the online aspect of business naming. Part 3 closes with the legal and tax steps necessary to ensure your business name is protected. Also, as I go through each part, I will be updating the Resources page with a Business Naming section to assist you with resources and links to help you make the right moves when naming your business.

Don’t miss the end of this article where I summarize all I’ve learned with a list of 8 easy steps to naming your business!

Not Quite Done Yet

Come up with a good name for my business. Check!  Register my business website domain.  Check!  Time to start mailing fliers and knocking on doors right?  Not so fast! (more…)

Business Name Blues is a 3-part series in which I talk about the experiences I had in naming my business and give tips based on lessons I’ve learned in the process. Part 1 explores choosing the business name. Part 2 looks into the online aspect of business naming. Part 3 closes with the legal and tax steps necessary to ensure your business name is protected.  Also, as I go through each part, I will be updating the Resources page with a Business Naming section to assist you with resources and links to help you make the right moves when naming your business.

The Shady Underbelly

Proud of accomplishing the first task on the road to establishing my business by coming up with a good name, the next step I took was to register the domain name for my new company, Jiffy-PC.  In hind sight, I should have waited to do this until after I got the name registered with my State first (you’ll find out why in part 3), but I was excited to get my website registered because I had already had experience with domain name registration.  Finally,  something about starting a business that I knew how to do!  Not so fast!  As it turns out, this would be my first exposure to the shady underbelly of the domain name registration scene. I learned a lot during this process and at the end of this post, I’ll give you some tips that may help you if you ever run into this kind of situation.
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Business Name Blues is a 3-part series in which I talk about the experiences I had in naming my business and give tips based on lessons I’ve learned in the process. Part 1 will explore choosing the business name. Part 2 looks into the online aspect of business naming. Part 3 closes with the legal and tax steps necessary to ensure your business name is protected.  Also, as I go through each part, I will be updating the Resources page with a Business Naming section to assist you with resources and links to help you make the right moves when naming your business.
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I decided I’ve collected enough information over the past month or two to finally start fleshing out my Resources page over there in the yellow box to your right.  Since I’m still in the early stages of starting my computer consulting business, there isn’t a whole lot there, but that will change as I continually add links to resources I use.

The following is a break-down of how the page is currently organized. I have tried to organize it in a linear fashion starting with basic information at the top and drilling down to more specific and advanced services toward the bottom.
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With so much competition out there (I revealed in an earlier article that there are over 150 other computer support and repair companies in my county alone), I’ve started thinking about ways that I can stand out from the crowd.  One crazy idea that I’d like to suggest, as a way for the average computer consultant to find a niche and stand out from the hundreds of other companies out there, is by targeting consumer electronics. How many people do you know own an iPod or other MP3 player? How many people do you know that own one of the three major video games consoles?  These are hot items that are popping up all over the place.  (more…)

Yes, as of 9:01 PM EST, yesterday, September 11th, 2008, I am officially a business owner in the great state of Maryland!  That is the time that I received an email from LegalZoom stating that my DBA and Business License paperwork had been approved and received back at their offices.  It was a process three months in the making, and I’ll talk about why it took so long in my next article.
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In July, I published an article called Top 5 Reasons Why I’m Starting A Computer Support Business. Being the kind of person that likes to see things from all angles, I decided to take the opposite view and look at some reasons why starting a computer business may not be such a good idea for me. This exercise was difficult, since obviously I DO want to start a business, but I feel it’s good to weigh the pros and cons of any major decision in life.  Starting a business is not going to be all roses and cupcakes, so this list may be a good slap in the face to anyone, including me, who thinks they’ll be able to breeze through a life as a computer consultant.  Here’s my list of the top 5 reasons why I probably shouldn’t start a computer business:
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