When starting a small business you have to be practical, too. You have to plan and be realistic about whether you can afford to start it.

QUESTION.
I am planning on starting a law office focusing on immigration law.  I am in the process of writing a business plan that should be finished by the end of the week.  I have 9 years of marketing experience gained before I went to law school, and three years of immigration experience since I entered law school.  I just passed my bar exam and recently was sworn in to the bar.  I guess what I’m looking for is advice in terms of reviewing my business plan in order to obtain a small business loan to get my venture going. Is this the proper place to receive that kind of advice?

ANSWER.
SCORE specializes in helping entrepreneurs formalize their business plans so they will be sound and helpful in starting and running a small business. From what you tell me you are a recent law school grad who has passed a bar exam. If you are getting sworn in now, that tells me that you took the bar exam last winter. That tells me you have probably been out of school a year now. Am I correct?
 
Do you have student loans to pay back? Do you have any capital to put up for security for a small business loan? I doubt it. In any event, putting together a business plan is not going to help you extract money from a bank for a small business loan if you don’t have collateral and you are already heavily in debt.
 
If I am off-base with my assumptions about you, then let me know and I will change my tune.
 
You still need to put together a business plan. But you should devise it so you have minimal capital expenditure in getting your “legal consulting” practice off the ground. Consider taking a look at Listmania List #6 at www.jlippin.com/listmania.html.

I recommend you try to find temp work as a docment review attorney to help make ends meet while you get your practice up and running. You may also want to learn the ropes of how to hand municipal court matters like DUI and other traffic offenses. You can hang out at the court in the evenings and pick up chump change representing people who show up unrepresented but the judge would like to have represented. Charge $100 to lead and bleed them and 4 of those a night and you walk away with $400.
 
Maybe you can put together a great business plan that makes sense? I recommend you give it your best shot and then call your local SCORE chapter and schedule a 1-hour face-to-face session with two SCORE volunteers. See www.score.org/findscore/chapter_maps.html and type your home zip code in the appropriate space in order to find the local chapter. The counseling is free.
 
Immigration law is one of those areas that can be done online pretty well and profitably if done correctly. Your client base will be from all over the world rather than just from the area in which you live. I’ve tried to provide helpful comments. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
 
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Web site selling crafts must collect sales tax for sales made to residents of state where Web site has its headquarters.

QUESTION.
When operating an Internet business in Philadelphia, PA. I know there are no occupancy laws and I am aware of the need to register with the state to charge sales tax. If I decide to attend craft shows in Pennsylvania and other states, what other laws would pertain to my business?

ANSWER.
Many Internet businesses don’t bother registering with the state so they can pay sales tax. The only sales they have to collect tax on is sales made to residents of the state in which they are headquartered. If your offices are in Pennsylvania, then you should collect sales tax on sales to Pennsylvania residents. Therefore you really should register with Pennsylvania to charge sales tax. If your company has a physical presence in a state other than Pennsylvania, then you would be expected to collect sales tax in that state for sales made to its residents. And you’d need to register with that state, too.
 
Regarding your Internet business, I recommend you get and read “The eBay Entrepreneur” by Chris Spencer (ISBN: 141958328X). This book covers most of what you need to know in running an Internet business. This is true even if you are not interested in selling on eBay. Also, read my book review for the book I’ve posted at Amazon.
 
With regard to selling at craft shows, it is unlikely that anyone would consider you having a physical presence in the state where the craft show is situated. Unless of course, that craft show is in Pennsylvania. Technically you are present in the state when you make the sale at the craft show there and you really should be collecting sales tax on those sales for the state where you make the sale. However, from a practical standpoint, it is very hard for the state to regulate such sales. And you don’t have a mailing address in the state anyway when outside of Pennsylania. So don’t worry about collecting sales tax at the craft shows outside of Pennsylvania unless you attend a lot of them in one particular state. The states where you do a lot of business through craft shows are ones you probably should register with in order to pay sales tax to them.
 
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
 
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Online retail seller wants to know how to set up his business so it will be profitable. He’s going to have to do some homework!

QUESTION.
I have a few questions I hope you can assist with. Let me summarize the business first: I am reselling unusual luxury items (virtual butler, custom perfume, etc.) online.

1–How do you suggest I create credibility–or the illusion of it–when I have no formal experience working online or with luxury? Credibility towards hopeful affiliates, I mean.

2–I will be working from home and I believe my business license must list that address. However, I want the public and partners to see another, more professional address. How do I formally change my address to that of a business building or similar? I know its possible, but I’m not sure exactly how to do it.

3–When I make a sale, I will be billing my partner’s consumers upfront, discounting my portion and forwarding the rest of the money. I want partners to feel secure about that and so I would like to obtain some sort of insurance that covers partners in case of nonpayment, deceit, etc. I feel this is necessary as our relationships are new and large amounts of money will be handled. Do you know what kind of insurance I’m seeking?

ANSWER.
Books 7 and 8 on the following list may be of help to you? See PAY-PER-CLICK AND AFFILIATE MARKETING.
 1. You get credibility by knowing what you are doing. You also get credibility by getting testimonials and posting those testimonials on your Web site.
 
2. When you work online you don’t need a storefront. Nobody is going to visit your address. Go ahead on use your home address. Just don’t market your business as one that does “offline” work.
 
3. It costs a little bit of change to set up a Web site with an affiliate sales system. I studied it once upon a time. But determined it wasn’t worth my time or effort. There just aren’t enough vendors out there that get traffic who are willing to become affiliates. And it is equally hard figuring out if a site gets enough traffic to warrant you accepting them as an affiliate. Your partners will feel secure if you set up an open and clear system for them to work within.
 
I recommend you find the SCORE chapter closest to you and schedule an appointment to meet with two SCORE volunteers face-to-face for an hour to discuss your idea for a business. You need to write a sound business plan. If you can, then you will have no problem starting your business. I expect you won’t be able to write one, though. Affiliate marketing online is hyped. It’s not worth the effort. At least that is my opinion. I believe your efforts will be better spend starting something else.
 
A close cousin to affiliate marketing is network marketing. Some of those systems work well for some people. Maybe you should look into that?
 
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Just about every small business needs a computer and a copy of Microsoft Office.

QUESTION.
I’m nearing retirement age and my daughter is around 30. She wants me to help her start a business with her. She says the company she wants to start will need a computer and we’d have to buy Microsoft Office for it. What do we need Microsoft Office for?

ANSWER.
Microsoft Office has a suite of computer programs (applications) that most businesses use to write memos, letters, datatables, presentations, etc.

The five original applications included in the office package were:

1. WORD. A wordprocessing program. Helps one write letters, memos, etc.
2. EXCEL. A spreadsheet program. Helps one make calculations, work with numbers, and create data tables.
3. POWERPOINT. A presentations program. Helps one create digital slide shows that can be used during talks.
4. ACCESS. A relational database program. Enables one to create a database of information.
5. OUTLOOK. An email program and also and organizer.

Two other programs that seem to be bundled with Office these days:

6. PUBLISHER. A page layout program. Enables one to create newsletters, booklets, and books.
7. FRONTPAGE. A WYSIWYG Web page editor. Enables one to code HTML pages with ease.

About the only thing missing from the Office suite that one might need is a good graphics program. A simple one is included, but don’t waste time learning it if you need a graphics program. Get yourself Adobe Photoshop for that purpose.

I usually recommend to my SCORE clients to get a copy of Adobe Acrobat Writer. That program makes it possible to make and modify PDF files with ease.

I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Staff accountant wants to quit his job, in order to start his own public accounting firm. What should he do before he quits?

QUESTION.
I’m currently employed as a staff accountant for a very large public accounting firm. I want to quit and start my own CPA firm. What are some things I need to do before I quit my job? I’m itching to become self-employed and be my own boss.

ANSWER.
You sound like how I was 20+ years ago. I hated public accounting, and I saw no future in it where I was. I was working for the world’s largest public accounting firm, and the partnership track went from 9 years to 16 years while I was there. I got out, but I didn’t get out the way I’m going to recommend to you.

Before you quit your job you need to determine what kind of practice you want to have, and where you can reasonably expect to build it. Once you get a good idea of these two things, then it is time for you to prepare a business plan. And when I say a business plan, I mean a 25 to 35 page typed plan that includes industry analysis, market analysis, financial projections, identification of a viable business model, and a sound marketing plan. There are many books out there to help you write your plan. Study three of them, and then dig into creating your plan.

As a CPA you probably are not too swift when it comes to self-promotion. You need to become expert on self promotion before you quit your job. You need to learn how to build a Web site. You need to write 20 to 30 articles that you can post on your Web site and post on other Web sites on the Net. You may want to write a book? You definitely should put together a few 1-2 hour seminars or workshops you can and will give.

You will want to identify professional associations and groups to join so you can network and gain credibility in the community in which you plan to practice. I recommend you find a Toastmasters club and do public talks there and help run the club to gain leadership skill. I also recommend you contact your local SCORE chapter and meet with SCORE volunteers in a face-to-face setting to help you create a stellar business plan.

I’ve given you a few things to think about. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Web site design and construction requires a little knowledge about search engine optimization (SEO).

QUESTION.
I am in the process of learning about how to build a good Web site for my small business. I think I have the design issues under control. And I see what content I am going to pull from business plan and marketing plan and drop into my site. But I am not sure how I am going to get my site ranked somewhat high in the search engine rankings. Can you provide me some pointers? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER.
The question you have posed is no so easy to answer. Search engine ranking is a relative term because you may rank high on some keywords, but on the ones that count you don’t rank so well. Generally speaking you want to be ranked pretty high when it comes to your business’ name, address and phone number. And any other keywords that you rank high with are great to have. For example, if you are a small law office that emphasizes bankruptcy work, then people should be able to find your office’s site when they type your name. Chances are they will be able to find you office’s site if they have part of your name and use the keyword bankruptcy. But I doubt they will find your firm if all they do is type bankruptcy.

You should not be worried about failing to rank high for the term bankruptcy. I say this because it takes too much effort to get a handle on that or other very popular keywords. You should be focusing your marketing efforts offline to push for people to access your site by knowing the URL for your site. That’s where most of your traffic will come from.

Now when enough people find your site worth bookmarking, then some of them will add a link to their Web site which will link to your site. It’s those kinds of links that bump you up in the search engine rankings significantly. But those links take a bit of time to get. And the sites that have relevance to bankruptcy that link to you will boost you the most. For more on this subject consider taking a look at the following books. See SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.

I don’t want you to believe that you can read the books and you will be well on your way to high rankings. The rules change all the time. So the rules that existed when the books were written may not be applicable today. But after reading a book or two you will understand the theory behind getting ranked well and you can tinker until you get somewhere on the engine rankings that you are happy with.

I hope my comments are helpful. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Wanta-be entrepreneur makes a smart move to learn about Web page and Web site design. It’s quite a valuable skill for the small business owner to have.

QUESTION.
I am thinking about starting a small business. I have heard that every small business should have its own Web site. I don’t now much about Web sites, how to design them, or how to build them. But I would like to learn the basics and maybe build my own for my small business. Can you provide me with some pointers? Thanks.

ANSWER.
I’m not a guru on building Web sites. However, I can do an adequate job putting one together. I signed up for a number of free Web hosting services back in 1998 and played with 10 of them. Some I used the page building tools they provided online. Some I just used as hosting services for pages I built on my PC using Frontpage 98.

If you want to play the way I did, then I recommend you visit www.50megs.com and sign up for the free hosting service they offer. They have a free Web page building tool you can use to build a simple site. You get 50 megabytes of free Web space to house your site. The free service requires that you allow ads to be posted on your pages. Don’t worry about the ads while you build your first site.

The easiest way to design your site’s layout is to copy the layout of sites that already exist on the Web that you like. Consider taking a look at the following link for some books on the subject. See WEB PAGE AND WEB SITE DESIGN.

Don’t build a site that is merely pretty. You want to site to serve a purpose in your small business’ marketing efforts. And you will only be able to make this happen if you prepare a business plan and marketing plan BEFORE your build your Web site. If you prepare a great business plan (that includes a great marketing plan), then much of the content in your Web site will be cut and pasted from your plans. Without those plans your site will probably not serve you well.

Although I use Frontpage 98 to build most of my Web pages, I suggest you consider getting a copy of Dreamweaver. Don’t buy a cheap Web page building program because you will ultimately want a program like Dreamweaver that has most if not all the building features available. Consider getting an inexpensive copy by searching eBay. You will need to get good with graphics software. Even though Adobe Photoshop is pricey, it still is the way to go if you are serious about building Web sites. It will take a little time to learn, but you will have a valuable skill if you in fact learn it. Visit eBay to get a slightly out of date version of Photoshop at a reasonable price.

I hope my comments are helpful. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

There’s more to a Web site’s name than just picking a name. One thing to consider is what extension to have at the end of the name.

QUESTION.
I am planning to create a Web site for my small business. I’m not sure how to name my site. I’ve seen extensions on Web site names like COM, NET, ORG, and EDU. I’ve also seen one like BIZ. What extension to you recommend I select and use?

ANSWER.
I recommend a COM extension. The original three extensions that I am aware of are COM, ORG and EDU. COM stands for commercial site. ORG stands for most nonprofit sites. And EDU stands for educational institutions like colleges and universities. NET is a good extension, but most people figure a Web site name ends in COM. If you choose a NET extension for your site’s name you may lose some visitors because they don’t know your site’s address. They will probably assume your site’s name has a COM ending. I never recommend a BIZ extension.

I hope my comments are helpful. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

Small businesses with a Web site should seriously consider blogging to help boost traffic to their site. This is true unless you are an online retail business.

QUESTION.
My small business has its own Web site. It has proven to be a pretty good marketing tool. I’ve been reading lately that blogging can be a big help to promoting a small business Web site. Is this true? How do I get started blogging?

ANSWER.
Yes, blogging can be a big help to promoting your Web site. See my book review for Ted Demopoulos’ book entitled What No One Ever Tells YOu about Blogging and Podcasting. See also, LEARN ABOUT BLOGGING AS A WAY TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS.

I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff

Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com

A novice at starting a business had to start somewhere. Usually that means doing a lot of research and studying in order to write a business plan.

You sound like a novice regarding all this. Nothing wrong with that. But you need to do a little studying. Consider getting the following book. See
 
http://www.amazon.com/Start-Business-California-Smartstart-Entrepreneur/dp/1932156402/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5/104-0464878-4267910
 
Make sure to read the book review I wrote for the above book. After you study the book and do some Internet searches regarding topics in the book, then contact your local SCORE chapter in California to discuss your business plans. See http://www.score.org/findscore/chapter_maps.html and type your home zip code in the appropriate spot.
 
I think you will benefit greatly by getting the following book to help you put together your Web site. See
 
http://www.amazon.com/Web-Savvy-Writer-Promotion-High-Tech-Twist/dp/0977830403/ref=cm_syf_dtl_pl_35/104-0464878-4267910/104-0464878-4267910
 
I think you will get a lot of good information from the following book, too. See
 
http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Building-Profitable-Coaching-Practice/dp/0595296602/ref=cm_cr-mr-title/104-0464878-4267910
 
And then there are the following links to examine. See LINK 1

LINK 2

LINK 3

LINK 4
 
Please see my comments in red caps below in response to your specific questions.
 
1.  Do I have to register this as a business? If so, how do I do that?

NO. YOU CAN OPERATE AS A SOLE PROPRIETOR AND JUST START DOING BUSINESS UNDER YOUR OWN NAME. IF YOU PLAN TO CREATE A NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS, THEN YOU WILL NEED TO FILE A “DOING BUSINESS AS” REGISTRATION AT YOUR COUNTY COURTHOUSE OR POSSIBLY THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE IN YOUR STATE. YOU COULD FORM A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC) OR A CORPORATION. TO DO THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO FILE THE APPROPRIATE FORMS AT THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE IN YOUR STATE.

2.  Do I have to pay taxes on my income? If so, at what level of income and how does that work?

YOU HAVE TO PAY INCOME TAXES ON YOUR NET INCOME FROM YOUR BUSINESS. IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS SIMPLE PRINCIPLE, THEN YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS TRYING TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS. YOU NEED TO RESEARCH THE BASICS FOR ANY BUSINESS BEFORE YOU TRY TO PUT TOGETHER A WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN AND MARKETING PLAN. IF YOU SELL EBOOKS OR OTHER INFORMATION PRODUCTS (RATHER THAN SERVICES), THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO COLLECT SALES TAX ON ALL SALES MADE TO CUSTOMERS THAT RESIDE IN YOUR HOME STATE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO COLLECT SALES TAX FOR SALES MADE TO CUSTOMERS THAT RESIDE OUTSIDE YOUR HOME STATE.

3.  Are there licensing or permits, etc that I need?

FOR THE BUSINESS YOU WANT TO START I DON’T THINK THERE ARE ANY LICENSES OR PERMITS REQUIRED.

4.  How does the currency work when someone from another country wants to pay the fee.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE PAYPAL, THEN ALL PAYMENTS WILL HAVE TO BE MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH PAYPAL’S REQUIREMENTS. YOU WILL ONLY NEED TO PUT YOUR FEES IN US DOLLARS AND IT WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FOREIGN CUSTOMER TO PAY WHAT IT OWES. PAYPAL WILL CONVERT THE PAYMENT INTO TERMS OF US DOLLARS FOR YOU. 

I hope my comments are helpful. Feel free to send me follow-on questions via email. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
 
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com