Women Grow Business

She saw an opportunity and asked a powerful question “What if I…?”

Janet Carter was once enrolled in a Right to Work program and as she shares in our podcast – she didn’t have an ideal experience. She decided to assert her disadvantage and become an entrepreneur. And now she’s helping others with disabilities.

We recently met at Blogpotomac; I’m grateful Janet taught me more about her experience and how she started her business, confronting unique obstacles in the process.

Please listen in to our 3 minute conversation.

More from:

• Janet’s company on Twitter or reach out to her via email: abccleaningservices1 (at) gmail (dot) com.
• Ongoing conversations from Blogpotomac on Twitter.

Image by Donna Grayson, Creative Commons.

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Guest post by Shana Glickfield, regular guest contributor to Women Grow Business and Founder of DC Concierge. Effective just recently, Shana’s company directs the online community for NextGenWeb, the blog of USTelecom (a broadband association). Shana can be reached at www.twitter.com/dcconcierge.

Looking first at legal and tax steps
Before you start reaping the benefits of having a business, like generating income and taking tax deductions, you need to set the record straight with the authorities. Yes, that means formally incorporating with the government. This is such a critical step because it will ultimately define your business as far as taxes, legal liability, growth options, and more.

If you’re wondering whether to incorporate at all, take a look at this recent posting by Startup Company Lawyer for important reasons to consider it.

And then, follow these three simple steps:

Step 1 – Do some research
You will likely be deciding among the following business entities; sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), S-Corp, and C-Corp. The IRS website provides a good description of each,

…however, meeting with a legal or accounting professional that specializes in small businesses will be well worth the time and money.

Again, the implications of this decision will affect many aspects of your business over the long term, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.

Step 2 – File your forms
Each state has different forms to fill out and file once you’ve decided on an entity. Most state websites have business centers with additional tax, licensing and general information, as well as the forms to download. Filing will likely require a fee of around $100 (but consider this a business start-up cost, which is then tax-deductible) and Articles of Incorporation, which is just like a formal mission statement.

This is also the point at which you should formalize any partnership or investor agreements.

Although most forms will only require the names of partners to be listed, it’s best to have all income and loss arrangements in place (and in writing) before the business transactions that follow incorporating take place.

Step 3 – Separate yourself from your business
To enjoy the perks of being a business without any trouble from the IRS, it’s essential to act like a business entity!

What does this entail?

Make sure that your business transactions are separate from your personal ones. To do this, you’ll want to use a separate business name (even if just, say, Shana Glickfield Consulting LLC) in your business transactions, such as email, invoicing, and public appearances.

Furthermore, you’ll want to set up a business bank account. Most banks will be eager to work with you to establish an account that is right for you. Again, make sure to use your business name on the account and use the corresponding debit/credit card in the business transactions that you’ll later claim as deductions.

A note about your new business online
It’s also easy to set up a Web presence for your business, even if your business is not Web-based. Use a template of a blogging platform to post general information. Or, if the website or blog is integral to your business, consider splurging on a professional.

And a few personal tips

• Employee agreements: If you are currently employed elsewhere [in addition to starting your own company], read your employee agreement to see if forming a business is an option for you. And always keep your side business resources separate from your day job.
• Your professional partners: Do short phone or in-person interviews with potential legal and accounting professionals. This will likely turn into a long-term and more involved relationship as your business grows, so you’ll want someone you feel comfortable with!
• Find model Articles to reference: Ask a friend or fellow entrepreneur in your state to share their Articles of Incorporation so that you have a model to work from.

Questions to you
Are you considering next steps for launching your business? What else would you like to know? Or if you’ve started a business already, what helped you make these types of decisions?

More from:
Shana Glickfield and her ongoing series at Women Grow Business, on starting a new company.

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Last week’s SocStardom3 event offered good insight and resources from speaker Jay Berkowitz (…his social media mantra to “Engage, Educate, and Entertain” still resonates).

And then there was Barbara Drazga.

A self-described “serial entrepreneur with more failures than successes under her belt“, we met and talked briefly after Jay’s program. Barbara’s clarity of mind and sense of purpose really packed a punch in our talk (which was 10 minutes or so but the drive for her business stood out immediately).

It was great talking with her on the community here at Women Grow Business – and what we aim to facilitate: to bring women entrepreneurs and those in small business together around resources, experience – and even wit! – to help women at like crossroads succeed. In that regard, Barbara mentioned a published column she wrote and thought could be of timely use to WGB readership.

Favorite excerpts from that column on being more actionable with a business idea:

Be honest.

Are you making excuses for not having the money, freedom, business, or life that you dream of? The first step to change is self-awareness, so you’ve got to be honest with yourself.

“I’d love to make more money…”

“BUT I just don’t have the time to spend on building a business.” [or] “I’d like to lose weight, BUT diets haven’t worked for me.” Notice how the word “but” has negated the positive part of each sentence?

Quick and painless ways to gear your mindset toward productivity

I’m going to offer you quick and painless ways to identify the words you’re using to program yourself for failure — and teach you some tools to replace that talk with words that are guaranteed to produce a more productive outcome.

Crafting ‘problem statements’ with specific action steps

[The unproductive statement] “… I just don’t have the time to spend on building a business.” -Can be reworded as a problem statement like this: “How might I invest one hour a day towards building my business?

Barbara’s context here is something I honestly could practice more. Articulating in more actionable, specific ways toward a business launch (or life goal) mobilizes a positive mindset I find. Her post was a useful mental vitamin [image Vitamin C by CzechR, Creative Commons] …that would be worth reading in full, entitled You Can Make Money, or You Can Make Excuses. Pick One. Or for more of Barbara’s insight online, visit her blog How To Get More Done.

And you?

What re-shapes and re-directs those “I can’t” statements to more productive, actionable mindsets?

More from:

• Sibyl Edwards and the entrepreneur’s mindset;
• Productivity Cafe and a trick toward effectiveness (hint: cracking up helps!).

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Guest post by Shana Glickfield, regular guest contributor to Women Grow Business and Founder of DC Concierge. Effective just recently, Shana’s company directs the online community for NextGenWeb, the blog of USTelecom (a broadband association). Shana guides both locals and tourists around Washington, DC, through her blog, DCConcierge.com and can be reached at www.twitter.com/dcconcierge.

From expert hobbyist to entrepreneur
Washington, DC, is a city of transition. From the musical chairs workforce, to the downtown migration to the suburbs and back, to being the internship capital of the country. People in DC are constantly coming and going. And with that, people often struggle a bit to acclimate to their new, local surroundings. Where is the best Thai food in the neighborhood? -least expensive dry cleaners? -place to impress my girlfriends visiting from L.A.? -quiet restaurant to entertain my uncle who is hard of hearing? All questions that only a local expert can answer.

And I did, over and over and over.

And so I began to publish these exchanges on a blog.

“I-might-be-on-to-something-here.”
Writing quietly from my living room in my spare time, I watched the traffic to my website grow. My first true moment of I-might-be-on-to-something-here was when I was contacted only six months after I began the site by a Washington Post reporter seeking an expert opinion on where to get a feel for the character of DC (my answer – a protest on the National Mall).

As traffic and mainstream media attention continued to grow, so did my encouragement to develop my website …

…which I did this past summer with a professional redesign and the addition of an interactive metro map.

Officially incorporating
I have spent the last few months exploring the opportunities to grow the site even further, but now into a business and officially incorporating. Thanks to my involvement with numerous and various networking groups involving tech, entrepreneurship, and tourism (not all in one), I have gained invaluable feedback and inspiration on my next steps.

My three takeaways so far:

• Starting a blog on a specific topic is an excellent way to position yourself as an expert;
• Be patient with growth of traffic and attention;
• Ask contacts from varying and diverse backgrounds for input on your endeavor and be open to their feedback.

I just took the symbolic step of incorporating and will begin transitioning my project from a pastime to a profession. I look forward to sharing my journey here at Women Grow Business as I navigate through and further establish my first business.

More from:
1. Solutions Are Power and a great, diverse series on business plans (for newly launched or soon to start businesses).

2. Jenny McCune at Third Age on converting a hobby to a new business.

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