Posts

How to Start a Used Car Business

StrategyDriven Business Startup Article|Business Skills|How to Start a Used Car BusinessFor some people, starting an independent used car business is the perfect combination of a love of cars and great business skills. Or, at the very least, a desire to develop great business skills. However, building a used car business from the ground up is not as simple as finding cars and selling them on. It’s not even enough just to know everything about cars and their features; you also need to have a sound understanding of business finances, licensing and legal requirements in terms of permits and taxes. To run a successful business, you also need to get to grips with marketing strategy, techniques and advertising standards you need to comply with.

A big decision you’ll be faced with early on is the choice between starting a car dealership franchise or your own independent used car business. Franchises often require a larger investment upfront to purchase the franchise rights and will be a bigger operation in general. Independent businesses are often the less costly option and can source their vehicle inventory from several places, but this option is by no means an easy one.

Create a Business Plan

A business plan is crucial and should be created before you make any financial or legal commitments. You need to research and analyze the used vehicle industry, including your competitors. The plan should include your projected budget and foreseeable costs. The process of writing your business plan will highlight any potential pitfalls or problems in the business model.

Finance Your Business

Most new business owners need help when financing a start-up. You can do this by finding an investor or taking out a business loan. Your personal credit score and history will be considered when you apply, so make sure everything is in a positive state before you do. This is where your business plan comes in again, as lenders and investors will want to know when your business should start returning a profit.

To establish your business, you will need to form a corporation, partnership or LLC. This is a process which incurs legal fees and applies for a business license. In addition, you need a vehicle dealer’s license from your state’s Motor Vehicle Administration by demonstrating you meet all the necessary criteria. This includes the size of your premises, the location, your opening hours and any signage you will be using. Your license will enable you to sell certain types of vehicle such as used or new, car, truck, RV or motorcycle. You will also need to get a surety bond which means your customers are financially protected when buying from you, should you fail to meet your obligations. Both your license and surety bond will cost money, but this varies from state to state. You’ll also need to pay for Business Liability Insurance on an ongoing basis.

Every new business has start-up costs to consider from renting your premises and finding your inventory to outfitting your office with equipment and paying the wages of any employees. The rent you pay will usually be calculated by square feet and prices will vary depending on where you choose to locate the business. Don’t forget to budget for your marketing and advertising activities as these will be key in getting your business off the ground. Each vehicle you sell will also need dealer plates; the cost of this will vary from state to state.

Get Your Sales Tax Permit

You need to contact the Controller of Public Accounts in your state to get your sales tax permit. Each state will have its own process and schedule for collecting the tax on each vehicle you sell.

Get the Best Location

It’s likely that you’ll be leasing your premises rather than buying in the early stages. The premises you choose should be easily accessible and have adequate space to accommodate both the vehicles you’re selling and the vehicles of your customers. Visibility is key to increase the awareness of your business in the local area.

Recruit Staff

Depending on the size of your business, you’ll need staff to help you sell vehicles and to help with the general running of the business. Your salespeople should be friendly and outgoing with experience in selling either vehicles or other high-priced items. You should also consider hiring someone who can carry out vital maintenance on the vehicles, so they are ready for sale.

Build Your Inventory

A big step in setting up your business if finding vehicles to sell. This can be done by advertising in trade publications, online trade websites or local papers, placing signage outside your dealership that you’re looking to purchase vehicles, or you can proactively approach people who may wish to sell. Your family and friends may well have contacts or colleagues looking to sell a vehicle. You could also respond to private adverts or attend vehicle auctions where you can buy vehicles in good condition.

Of course, you don’t have to stick to local vehicles when building your inventory. You could bring in vehicles from all over the country, but you may need to consider vehicle transport services to ensure they arrive at your premises safely and without adding mileage. You can learn about car shipping in more detail on the Freedom Auto Transport website.

Devise a Marketing Strategy

Once your business is open, you’ll need to find some customers. You should have a website, be active on social media platforms and consider online advertising as well as print advertising in magazines and newspapers. If you don’t have experience in marketing, you may want to contact a specialist marketing firm which can help you build your brand. Eventually, you may be able to employ a dedicated marketing professional in your team. Here is a guide to start-up marketing to get you started.

Organize a Launch Celebration

A great way to kickstart your business in the local community is to organize an event to celebrate your opening. The attractive you can make the event the better so consider serving food or refreshments and some entertainment. It’s a great opportunity to not only invite local people and other businesses to do some networking and hand out literature, but also to invite the local press. A new business launching in the local area is always newsworthy, especially if you can make the event as eye-catching as possible.

Why Having a Mentor Makes a Difference

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleStarting your own business can be a very complicated and involved endeavor. While you may have a lot of excellent ideas about the nature of your company and what it is going to offer the public, you also might not have the first idea about how to get your plan off the ground. Of course, it is important to remember to know that you don’t have to figure it all out alone. Finding a mentor might be one of the most practical decisions you make for the future of your business.

A mentor can bring about some positive changes when it comes to your business. Take a moment to look over these reasons to consider getting involved with a mentor and learn about how you can get your business ideas up and running in the most efficient ways possible.

Knowledge is Power

Often, getting started with a particular idea can be tricky from the start. If you have a very specific kind of idea for what you would like your business to be like, you might have very specific questions you need to be answered. When you are speaking to other professionals, you might not be able to get the exact answers you require. A mentor, on the other hand, is someone who has a vested interest in you and your future. He or she is going to want to help answer any and all questions you might have.

Acquiring knowledge from a mentor can help to get your business journey started in a productive manner. You will be able to turn to your mentor for everything from initial budgetary concerns to foundations you should lay early to make future expansions possible. This type of transformational leadership can make a huge difference in the direction a business heads. Asking the right questions of the right people can help you avoid serious mistakes, and a mentor can be the ideal person to turn to for assistance.

A Personal Connection

When it comes to seeking the right advice, a business mentor stands above others due to the personal connection you can forge. Your mentor is going to take a bit of time to get to know you. He or she will figure out how you operate and how you tend to make decisions of varying sizes. Your mentor is also likely to want to get to know your hobbies, interests, and anything else that might play into the way you think. This will help your mentor form a bond with you and provide insight based on your own specific needs.

The bond you form with a mentor can also provide you with a certain degree of comfort. The more your mentor gets to know you, the more you get to know your mentor. When you feel comfortable talking to this person, you are more likely to trust in the advice you are being offered. Building this trust with a professional who understands business can help you feel like you aren’t so alone on your business journey.

Play Around With Ideas

A mentor also helps you explore ideas that come to your mind about your business. It isn’t always easy to get honest feedback from people, especially those closest to you like family members or friends. When you need a sounding board, your mentor can listen to any and all ideas you might have and provide you with honest input. This can help you make the best possible decisions for your business while avoiding serious flubs.

Working with a business mentor can help put you on the right path for the future of your company. Take your time to find the right mentor for your needs and see how it can shape your plans for the best.

Starting Up Your Small Healthcare Clinic

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleIncreasing numbers of people are growing tired of working for someone else. Sure, employed life has its perks. Your employer takes responsibility over your safety and well-being in the workplace, they have to guarantee contracted hours (ensuring you always take home a livable pay packet), and you benefit from paid annual leave, sick leave, and parental leave. But it does grow tiresome building someone else’s dream on their behalf and only getting paid a portion of what they are gaining for your hard work. It’s not all too surprising that many people are turning to setting up their own businesses. Huge numbers of employees are becoming self-employed and heading to the world of E-commerce. This is a good idea – selling consumer products online can be extremely profitable and is a relatively simple path to pursue, as long as you have an innovative product concept. But it’s important to remember that this isn’t the only option out there. There are plenty of other paths you can follow when it comes to setting up a small business. One idea that you could undertake is setting up a small healthcare clinic. Here are a few of the basics you’d need to follow to do this!

Hire a Consultant

It is highly recommended that you hire a consultant who has dealt with opening medical practices before. There are numerous pitfalls that could get in your way during the startup process, so it’s a good idea to have someone on your side who can warn you of different steps that you need to take to be granted permission to open and operate your business.

Invest in High-Quality Equipment

One of the most expensive steps of setting up a private medical practice or clinic is purchasing the equipment necessary to treat patients safely. This will range from medical supplies such as needles, syringes, intravenous lines and solutions to furniture that can organise these supplies like Medical Supply Carts with Drawers.

Invest in Software

You will also have to invest in software such as electronic health record systems, practice management systems, medical billing systems, medical transcription software, background check systems, and credit card processors. This will all allow your staff to monitor patients’ conditions, keep records, and process payments.

Taking On Staff

You need to be extremely vigilant when taking on staff of any kind to work in your clinic. Medical staff must be fully educated, trained, and qualified to practice – you will require proof of this. Administrative staff must understand patient confidentiality and data protection law.

Marketing

You will have to market your small practice a lot in order to draw customers away from their current service provider. It’s generally best to collaborate with professional marketing services who can conduct market research and find the best way to reach out to your target demographic.

These are just a few brief steps that you should bear in mind when getting started on this journey. While setting up a small healthcare clinic isn’t the easiest of tasks, it can make you a whole lot of profit in the long run!

Setting Up a Corporation

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article

If you’re at the point in your business where you are wanting to set up a more formal structure, there are many things to consider and this can be quite a serious business challenge, in terms of deciding which legal entity is going to be best.

After all, one size does not fit all when it comes to corporate structures, particularly when it comes to working with other people, and whilst it might feel more respectable to set yourself up as an s corp or a limited liability partnership, it might be more appropriate and tax efficient to remain as a sole trader that works in partnership with another sole trader – rather than setting up a joint venture together.

In the sense of making your business feel more credible, there are many different options to consider when it comes to your legal status; the main options in the US are;

1. Sole Proprietorship
2. Partnership
3. Business Corporation

In this article, we’re going to look at each of these options and weigh up the pros and cons.

1. Sole Proprietorship

This is the simplest form of business set-up and is the default to most people setting up a business, in that it reflects the fact there is one person owning and controlling the business – meaning they are personally responsible for all liabilities but also benefit from all the profits (in that they don’t legally need to be shared with anyone else).

PROS
A sole proprietorship is very inexpensive to form, easy to dissolve (which means to stop trading), and there are very few formalities other than basic bookkeeping and reporting your earnings to the relevant authorities. This type of business is ideal for people that are selling a service, such as personal training or beauty therapy, though it’s just as relevant for consultants – however, some companies will only do business with other registered corporations.

CONS
The business ceases to exist upon your death, meaning it’s not willable or can continue in perpetuity after you die. You are personally liable for the debt and any legal issues that arise from your business operations. It has less credibility when trying to win business with large companies.

In a nutshell, this is the simplest business to form and operate, as it’s simply an individual using a trade name to operate under – yet, the owner has full liability for the obligations of the business, which, if you consider the possibility of being sued or owing substantial debt can feel much more onerous than if you are a director of a company.

2. Partnership

A partnership is simply an association of two or more components, which include people, corporations, other partnerships, trusts and so on. The parties within the partnership are responsible for the business.

In simple terms, the people enter into a partnership make an agreement to share the profits and losses that result from their activity.

The challenge is that the liability of partners is joint and several, meaning any person can be made to pay the debts of the partnership, irrespective of all other factors. This can make things feel very unfair and risky, as whilst one partner might only receive 10% of the profits they could find themselves liable for 100% of the debt of the partnership.

PROS
It adds a sense of formality to the relationship when multiple stakeholders are working together for a common purpose. It is relatively inexpensive to form. The profits are distributed according to the terms of the partnership, which makes things simple and unambiguous in terms of future profit allocation.

CONS
Each partner is liable for the whole of the partnership’s debt, even if they have a small share of the profit – meaning the risks are very high, particularly if you are going into partnership with a person or company that turns out to not be as trustworthy as you first thought.

There are a number of different partnership structures and this one is something to think carefully about, as whilst you might feel more secure in terms of entering a formal partnership, you really do need to be careful who you “go to bed with” in this sense.

3. Business Corporation

A business corporation is a legal entity in its own right. This his means that unlike a partnership and sole proprietorship it is a separate entity that is governed in accordance with laws set out by the state.

In broad terms, there are two types of corporations; for profit and not-for-profit.

The majority of businesses are ‘for profit’ in the sense that they aim to conduct activity that derives a profit, and from that profit, dividends are paid to shareholders depending on their allocation of shares.

There are two types of corporations in the sense of where they have been registered, you can have a domestic corporation that means the company was incorporated under the laws of the United States (specifically, the state in which the corporation was registered), or you can have a foreign corporation, which is a company that has been incorporated under the laws of another country, or state within the US.

A corporation is much more complex than a partnership or sole proprietorship, as a new legal entity is created, that is subsequently regulated by a number of onerous administrative procedures. The benefit to this, however, is that unlike a partnership where things can get a little dicey in terms of liability, if a company incurs a debt, it is the company’s debt rather than the partner’s liability.

The owners of a corporation are called shareholders. The shareholders then elect directors (often themselves) to set the policies of the corporation. The directors then appoint officers of the corporation to manage the day to day operations.

In reality, you could be a shareholder, director, and officer of the company – but the key point to focus on here is that corporations are their own legal entity, and as such, you are employed by the corporation (usually) even though you are technically the owner of the business.

In essence, a corporation is separate from its shareholders. This means that a shareholder cannot just take the funds and abscond, unlike a partnership, which offers a lot more legal and financial protection, but can feel inflexible if you are a one person startup or small family business.

PROS
Things are secure and regulated. Everyone knows the score, and things are not ambiguous or open to personal discussion – there are processes and procedures to follow… meaning, all shareholders have security in terms of their interests. It also creates a democracy, in terms of decision making, which some entrepreneurs value whilst others do not.

CONS
There is a significant administrative burden with regard to setting up a corporation and maintaining the records.

Five Key Aspects You May Miss Out When Starting Your Business

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleStarting a new business can be simultaneously exciting and terrifying. You have this idea in your head, and now it’s time to make it into reality. But it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of starting something new and wholly yours that you might neglect some parts of the process. And as the saying goes, “the journey is far more important than the destination.”

Here are five things you may miss out as part of your business endeavor that proves to be essential in the long run:

Make sure you have a detailed and well-researched business plan

This is the foundation of your business idea. Without a business plan, you might as well be grasping in the dark and may even jeopardize the running of your business in the long term. It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to business plans, and you may miss out on certain things so do your research, and you’ll thank yourself later.

Customers, products or services, operations, sales and marketing strategies, management and competitors – these are the absolute minimum, and when writing up your business plan, you must include all of these key areas. Show that you have done your research and that you did not just run into the business industry with an idea and no plan by including industry trends and market analysis. As well as this, your plan must include a detailed financial flow, from month cash flow to income statements.

That being said, don’t get caught up in the details. This can be common with technology-based start-ups where technical jargon is thrown around, without taking into account the reader. But if you must include such keywords, make sure to include an appendix to increase accessibility. A business plan must be easy to read and understand so lay down your idea and your plans as succinctly as possible. Take into consideration that you may be required to submit a business plan when asking a bank for a loan or applying for business grants to further grow your business. Without strategies set in place, whether this is for sales and marketing or otherwise, you cannot persuade a bank to lend you what you need.

A business plan is not only useful when applying for loans or grants, but also acts as a guide to grow your business. This helps you identify and pursue goals and objectives that lead to the growth of your company and details the steps that will need to be taken to accomplish this.

Invest in reliable security

Whether you are starting an e-commerce or are venturing into opening a physical store, investing in reliable security is one of the most important steps you can take.

This is particularly relevant to data security. Chances are, your business will use electronic systems and these use data to operate. From information regarding your employees to your customers, these are all data.

With such sensitive and confidential data in your company’s system, you must put into place to keep these as secure as possible. Your customers, particularly, are trusting you with their sensitive information, whether these be bank details or home addresses, whenever they buy your product or use your service. When there is a breach in security, it is not only revenue that is at stake but your customer’s trust – and as a result, your company’s reputation. It is important that you invest in reliable security to keep sensitive and confidential data as safe as possible.

Likewise, keeping your home office or store safe is also a priority. There are many security technologies that allow you to monitor the location through real-time updates and notification systems and you can find out more from this website about the options available.

By increasing the security for your business and ensuring your customers know that you take their data protection and safety as a priority, you can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and increase your business’s reputation.

Check if you are legally allowed to use your business name

Make sure you check if your business name is taken by another company before you start printing this on business cards, social media and other marketing and sales related areas. A simple search can let you know if the name you have chosen for your business is already taken or if you are free to use it. If the name is already trademarked and you have used it, then this can land you in legal trouble.

Don’t forget to set up a business bank account

Combining your personal and business finances leads to confusion – and it can create suspicion if ever your local or state tax bureaus or the IRS start asking questions. You’re far better off keeping personal and business monies separate for those reasons – and certain legal structures require you to do it that way. As a bonus, you’ll appear more professional and credible when writing checks from your business versus your personal account.

Know your competitors

You may think that your new product or service has no competition, is novel and above existing products – you’re wrong. Most often than not, it’s extremely rare to not have any competitors in an increasingly saturated business industry. But this doesn’t have to be a weakness; instead, do your research. Find out who your competitors are and how your business can be better.

How can you differentiate your business from an existing one? By researching your competitors, you can not only find ways on how you can improve your own business but also learn more about your own business as a whole, your customers and their habits.

By constantly improving and adapting to a constantly changing business industry and customer base, you can ensure your business stays on top and beat out competitors when the tides change.
Making your business idea, a reality can be exciting. With these few things in mind, you can ensure that even if the road towards your business goals and objectives is rocky, that you will know exactly where to go for success.