Synopses & Reviews
Start your business with confidence using the best step-by-step guide available!
Many people dream of running a business of their own -- but often don't know how or where to start.
User-friendly and loaded with tips, The Small Business Start-Up Kit shows you how to launch a business quickly, easily and with confidence. It explains in plain English how to:
- choose the best business structure
- write an effective business plan
- file the right forms in the right place
- price, bid, and bill your projects
- draft and use contracts, online and off
- manage your finances
- be prepared for, and file, required taxes
- reach customers online
This edition of The Small Business Start-Up Kit has been fully updated to reflect the latest changes to the law and includes all the updated forms, business planning spreadsheets, and the instructions you need to fill them out. Plus, read expanded discussions on using technology to manage bookkeeping, how social media can be used to promote your business, and employing the latest techniques in search engine optimization to drive traffic to your website.
Are you a California resident? Check out The Small Business Start-Up Kit for California.
Review
“Answers important questions, including whether to incorporate and how to price merchandise.” Real Simple Magazine
“Covers a wide range of topics, from selecting a marketable name to small business laws, taxes and contracts.” Miami Herald
“Step-by-step legal guide that covers a wide range of topics...” Kansas City Star
""Very strongly recommended... simply outstanding business instructional guide... "" The Bookwatch
Synopsis
Every entrepreneur needs
The Small Business Start-Up Kit. Want to start a business? Don't know where to begin? Start here.
The Small Business Start-Up Kit shows you how to set up a small business in your state, quickly and efficiently clearing state and local bureaucratic hurdles along the way.
We'll show you how to:
choose between an LLC and other business structures
write an effective business plan
pick a winning business name and protect it
hire and manage staff
comply with legal and tax issues affecting home businesses
price, bid and bill your projects
manage finances and taxes
get your website up and running
market your business effectively, online and off The 8th edition is completely updated, with new material on emerging business structures, such as benefit corporations, and how to raise money online through crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter.
About the Author
Peri Pakroo is a business and communications consultant, specializing in legal and start-up issues for businesses and nonprofits. She has started, participated in, and consulted with start-up businesses for 20 years. She owns and runs P-Brain Media (www.pbrainmedia.com), a strategic consulting and communications firm that develops information-rich media for web, print, video and other formats. Peri received her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1995. She is the author of The Women's Small Business Start-Up Kit, The Small Business Start-Up Kit (national and California editions) and Starting and Building a Nonprofit ( all from Nolo), and has been featured in numerous national publications including Entrepreneur, Real Simple, Investors Business Daily, and BusinessWeek. Peri teaches adult education courses at WESST (www.wesst.org) in Albuquerque, a nonprofit whose mission is to facilitate entrepreneurship among women and minorities in the state of New Mexico. She is active in supporting local, independent businesses and is a co-founder of the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance. Visit Peri's blog at www.peripakroo.com.
Table of Contents
1. Choosing a Legal Structure
2. Picking a Winning Business Name
3. Choosing a Business Location
4. Drafting an Effective Business Plan
5. Pricing, Bidding, and Billing Projects
6. Federal, State, and Local Start-Up Requirements
7. Risk Management
8. Paying Your Taxes
9. Laws, Taxes, and Other Issues for Home Businesses
10. Entering Into Contracts and Agreements
11. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Financial Management
12. Small Business Marketing 101
13. E-Business: Selling and Marketing Online
14. Planning for Changes in Ownership
15. Building Your Business and Hiring Workers
16. Getting Professional Help
Appendixes
A. Small Business Resources and State-by-State
B. How to Use the Interactive Forms
C. Interactive Forms
Index