New Business Checklist
New Business Start Up Checklist
Starting a new business?
Starting a new business can be a difficult and scary proposition but it is manageable if you have an organized plan. Our Baltimore small business accountants have come up with this check list to help you get started.
No plan is foolproof and we cannot guarantee that you will succeed, but this plan will go a long way to help you achieve your business goals.
1.Create a Business Plan
A business plan is the blueprint for your business and will help to organize the details about everything you need to do to accomplish your business goals
2.Know your market
Before you decide a on a product line, or how much to charge, you need to know who your market is and where you will set up shop. Is a brick and mortar shop in your city the way to go or should you use the World Wide Web? Is your target customer wealthy or blue collar?
3.What are you selling?
Once you know who your market will be you can begin to decide what you can offer them. Whether you are a service based organization or a product based one, you will have to figure out what you are capable of delivering once the open sign is flipped on.
In order to do this, you will have to determine how much it is going to cost to obtain the things you need to sell as well as pay for the overhead required to make the items (i.e. utilities; rent of space; employees). You will also have to figure out how much to charge in order to make a profit and also the maximum amount your customers are likely to pay so that you can maximize said profits.
4.Contact your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) (Follow this link to the National Association of SBDC organizations to find a local one in your area)
The SBDC will help you with free counseling and low cost classes on everything from marketing to developing a business plan. They are a great resource for shoring up the areas that you are weak in, because when you are first starting out you need all the help you can.
5.Choose the proper legal formation for your business.
Businesses can take multiple forms depending on the preferences of the owners; from a simple Sole Proprietorship or Partnership up to a Corporation. Once you have met with the SBDC you will have to decide what formation is best for you. Our firm recommends a Limited Liability Company (LLC) for most companies as it gives you all the advantages of a corporation in terms of liability from lawsuit with the flexibility of a sole proprietorship or partnership. Nowakowski Accounting and Business Services formed its LLC using Legal Zoom.
6.Once you have set up your LLC, you will need to set up your financial records.
First you will need to buy accounting software, of course before you do that you have to decide what software is best for your company. Will QuickBooks work or do you need something more hi-tech? Then you have to decide what categories to work and where to put each entry (what types of equipment are depreciable assets versus what can be entered as a direct expense).
While it can be confusing, an easy solution would be to pay someone else to take care of your books for you so that you can concentrate on your business. Nowakowski Accounting and Business Services, LLC has a team of Baltimore small business accountants that can be instrumental in the set up and financial execution of your business.
For more information on outsourcing to a Baltimore small business accountant, click here or call Nowakowski Accounting and Business Services, LLC at 443-520-5225.
