Tag Archive: starting a business

28 Businesses You Can Start for Less Than $1,000

LIf you're looking to start your own business, think about what skills you havaura Cattano went from working in a restaurant to managing her own business in less than a year and spent “next to nothing” to get started.

Her biggest initial startup costs? Replacing an old computer and spending about $400 to create an LLC. Since then, Cattano’s client list for her professional organizing business has grown to be “in the thousands” and multiple major fashion magazines have featured her work.

“My advice is to go out there and do it,” Cattano said. “Starting a business is not easy. It’s a lot of hard work, but if you take your work seriously, people will notice.”

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Luis Alvarez | Getty Images

If you’re looking to start your own business, think about what skills you have, career experts said.

“Ask yourself, ‘What’s my passion?'” career and life coach Deborah Brown-Volkman said. “People want control over their career, and so creating their own business for under $1,000 gives them the ability to test it out, to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Experts say once you feel you’re onto something, purchase some sort of business insurance, which will likely be a big chunk of your costs. Basic business insurance usually ranges from $200 to $500 a month, varying depending on location.

1. Tutor

If you have a skill, teach it. The average wage of a tutor is $17.29 per hour, according to PayScale.

2. Dog walker

Love pets and getting some exercise? Dog walking is an easy business to start. Pet business insurance will make up the majority of your expenses, which usually cost $200 to 400 a month, according to onepet business insurance provider. Dog walkers typically make $8 to $20 an hour, with an average wage of $12.03.

3. Professional organizer

If you have a knack for turning clutter into cleanliness, why not try turning that into cash? The median hourly salary for a professional organizer is $25.

4. Fashion stylist

A great place to start is by styling a few of your friends for a party, and then encouraging them to tell their friends, career experts said. Soon you could have your own fashion business and be making a median of $15 an hour to above $40 once as you gain experience.

5. Translator

Multilingual entrepreneurs, this business is for you. Whether you want to take up projects people post online, approach companies or start-ups that do a lot of international business or check local job postings, there are multiple ways to start building your own translation business. Translators make a median income of $20 per hour.

6. Photographer

If you’re a stay-at-home parent with a knack for photography, creating family portraits or photographing events for people in your neighborhood could be the start of a fruitful business. The trick here is that you’ll probably need to have a nice camera, a tripod and equipment insurance — the total cost of which will most likely exceed $1,000. If you can get a deal on a good camera at a lower price or already have the equipment, then the start-up costs are low. Freelance photographers make a median of $24 per hour.

7. Errand runner

Lots of people don’t have the time to run errands daily, and a local errand service business could be a great solution. Errand runners make about $11 per hour.

8. Transcriber

From video shoots to audio interviews or speeches, there’s a lot out there that needs to be transcribed. If you’re a good typist with a few extra hours and a computer, you could start your own transcription service. The median hourly wage for transcribers is $15.

9. Freelance writer

Companies and content websites need good content, and you want to start your own business. Consider starting your own business as a freelance writer. Freelance writers typically are paid by the post or project, so wages can vary.

10. Jewelry maker

Jewelry makers would most likely make money on sales and projects, as opposed to hourly wages. Platforms for selling homemade goods like Etsy are a benchmark of what you could expect to charge for your products.

11. Avon or Tupperware sales person

Independent sales representatives for companies like Avon or Tupperware don’t have to worry about creating a product or inventing a business structure. If you like talking with people, this social business could be for you. Incomes differ based on the company you work for and the amount of sales you make.

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Lew Robertson | Getty Images

12. Makeup artist

If you’re a professional makeup artist or hairdresser at a salon, you could earn extra income by setting up your own side business. If you love makeup or hair care but aren’t an expert, consider investing in a class or certificate program. Talk with professionals to find what they recommend, experts said. Makeup artists earn a median salary of $16per hour, while hairdressers earn a median of $9.

13. Virtual assistant

Organized self-starters could find good work being a virtual assistant, a person who does all the things an assistant would normally do, just via the internet and phone. Virtual assistants earn a median salary of$16 per hour.

14. Personal chef

Roll up your sleeves and break out the spices. A personal culinary business where you are a chef for private parties could be a delicious venture. Personal chefs make a median of $20 per hour.

15. Personal shopper

If you love to shop or are interested in fashion retail, starting a personal shopping business could be a great fit. Personal shoppers earn a median of $14 an hour.

16. Graphic designer

Graphic design has be frustrating for the nondesigner. While there are free design tools out there, many do not offer customization or the insight an expert would. That’s where your business could come in. Graphic designers make a median of $15 per hour, which you can factor into project prices.

17. UI/UX designer

This one’s a little more obscure to the average entrepreneur than the others. User interface (UI) design and user experience design (UX) make sure your website or app is user friendly, intuitive and visually pleasing among other things. UI designers make a median of $32 per hour while UX designers make a median of $35 per hour.

18. Social media manager

Many small companies or other entrepreneurs can’t afford to have a social media manager or marketing team. Starting a social media company where you manage part-time or full-time other people’s accounts could be a profitable gig. Social media managers make a median of $14 per hour.

19. Consultant

“Every industry could have a consultant. In order to be a successful consultant, you need to have some sort of success in that particular field,” career expert Jill Jacinto said.

As a consultant, you could help businesses make contacts, form deals and guide their strategic plan as a consultant. This job has a median salary of $20 per hour.

20. PR professional

Have experience in a particular field? Recently retired? You likely have a lot of contacts and expertise in a specific industry, which you could leverage for your own venture. PR managers work with the media, government agencies and advertisers. They typically make $20 per hour.

21. Wedding planner

If you love detail and decor and don’t mind the stress of dealing with last-minute changes, a wedding planning business could be a great fit. Wedding planners earn a median of $17 per hour.

22. Event planner

Weddings aren’t the only events that need planning. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduation parties are just a few of many events people need help organizing. Event planners make a median of $17 per hour.

23. Property manager

This job is replacing what used to be known as the butler, experts said. A property manager looks after a household and ensures all property activities run smoothly. The manager would get the mail, do the laundry, stock the fridge, work with other professionals like gardeners and cleaning assistants. It’s especially helpful for people who own multiple properties and don’t have time to look after them. Property managers could make anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per year, experts said.

24. Caterer

While a personal chef usually caters to smaller groups, caterers prepare meals for big events. If you’re a great cook who can handle multiple meals cooking at once, you could start your own catering business. Personal caterers make a median of $11 per hour.

25. Personal trainer

Insurance is something you’ll need at the outset with this business. If you love to work out, look into certifications you could get to become a personal trainer. If you’re already certified, even better! Personal trainers make a median of $18 per hour.

26. Accountant

If you’re a certified accountant, you could start your own practice. Accountants make a median of $18 per hour.

27. Copy editor

Business pamphlets, grant proposals and blog posts all need copy editing. Why not take your literacy and grammar skills to the market? Copy editors make a median of $18 per hour.

Starting Your Own Business: Are Your Ready?

Starting Your Own Business: Are Your Ready?

Every year millions of people answer “Yes” to that question and every year that answer costs many of them money, time, confidence, and heartbreak. The Small Business Administration estimates there are 580,900 new small businesses opening each year and that number does not include the small one-person entrepreneurships that pop up every day. However even if you are your business’s sole employee then there is still something to be learned from the SBA’s numbers.

According to the SBA, two-thirds of new businesses survive at least two years and 44 percent survive at least four years. Two of the key factors in the businesses survival and ability to thrive: the owner’s education level and the owner’s reason for starting the firm in the first place.

How can you make sure that you are among the winners rather than the losers in this high stakes game? The answer is inside of you. You must ask yourself four key questions to determine whether your own small business will survive and thrive.

1. Are You Ready

Have you mentally prepared yourself for the switch from employee (or student or whatever label fits you currently) to boss. You are going to be the one making decisions now about everything from office products to product line. This total control is one of the driving forces behind many people who take the plunge into starting their ownbusiness but it is also one of the elements that drives new entreprenurs crazy. When you start out there is an endless list of decisions that need to be made and new questions crop up every day.

Even more important you will need to remember that in a small business you will wear many hats. Even if you manage to start out with one or more employees you will each fulfill more than one role in your new business. And if you are running a one-man or one-woman show then you serve in every capacity from file clerk to maintenance crew to salesman to CEO. Can you handle switching from task to task and role to role like that? Are you willing to make those switches?

Similarly, have you prepared your family and friends for this switch in attitude. Your life is going to change — probably pretty drastically — and that change can have a positive or negative impact on your family life and social interactions. It will make things much easier if your friends and family are supportive going into the process.

2. Where Is Your Niche?

Have you identified your niche yet? One of the reasons many businesses fail is that they fail to focus on a target audience. Yes if you are a major discount chain then you can sell everything from peanuts to wallpaper but this type of business requires vast resources that just aren’t available to the small business. But small businesses dominate the marketplace (creating more than 50 percent of the private gross domestic product last year) by finding a different approach — a niche.

Knowing your niche means you are better able to find, target, and maintain your customers as well as provide the best possible goods and services to that customer base. That focus is one of your best chances to not only survive but to thrive in a very competitive marketplace.

3. What Is Your Plan Of Action?

Another key factor in the survival and ultimate success of your business is how much planning you do before you open your electronic or physical doors.  You need to decide if your business will be based on the internet or include more traditional models. Are you going to work full-time or part-time at your new business? Are you going to hire help or go solo? Have you written (or at least outlined) your business plan? Dreaming, thinking and planning can save you much trouble and waste later when things are hectic and problems strike. Planning can also help keep you focused and to balance your spending and time.

4. Who Are You Going To Call?

At some point, no matter how experienced a business person you are, you will need help. You will need support, advice, tools, or information — or all of the above. One of the beautiful, and most frightening, aspects of growth is that it can lead you to places you never imagined. No matter how much planning and experience you bring to your new position as CEO the unexpected will arise. How will you cope with this? It is important to recognize that no business is an island. It is not failure to seek help. Failure is when your business shuts down because you didn’t get the help you needed.

The best way to get timely help is to work on your support system while you work on building your business. That way you will already have a ready list of resources available that you can quickly tap into when emergencies strike. In today’s world there are many marvelous resources available to you no matter what your business model may be. These include:

~ Publications (newsletters, magazines, books)
~ People (professional advisors, mentors, teachers, consultants)
~ Networks (organizations and forums in your niche as well as general business and marketing)
~ Education and training (tutorials, courses, and seminars)

After you have answered these four key questions you are now ready to ask yourself that one big question again — are you ready to start your own business?

10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business. Home Based Business’s are spreading across North America and have become widely recognized as one of the most desirable business’s to start for several reasons.

Just think for a minute what it would be like to work from home and never have to worry about waiting in grid lock traffic or to answer to your boss’s demands. 10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

Wouldn’t that be great?

In todays fast paced world a little extra income doesn’t hurt in order for the average guy or gal to get ahead in life so they can enjoy the little extra’s life has to offer that there current job doesn’t allow them to do.

I know from experience because that’s what made me take the necessary action steps required in order for me to enjoy the quality of life I wanted to live and provide for my family.

But, the problem that usually occurs is people need to be motivated by something or inspired in order to take action.

Well, the purpose of this article is to do exactly that, inspire you.

I’m going to cover with you the 10 main reasons why You should consider starting your known ‘Home Based Business’ and the benefits behind each of them.

I guarantee once you read through them you’ll agree that a ‘Home Based Business’ might be worth considering.

With that said, let’s go to reason #1.

Reason #1. Be your own Boss.

Ever dream of being your own Boss?

Well starting a ‘Home Based Business’ is a step in the right direction and the best part is, you’ll never have to answer to anyone else’s orders, just your own.

Reason #2. Work when you want to.

This is probably one of the best reasons in my book for starting a ‘Home Based Business’ simply because you get to set your own schedule for what hours You want to work.

This is especially beneficial for stay at home moms who have children to tend to and need some flexibility in there work schedules.

Reason #3. Freedom to do what you want when you want.

How’s that for a reason to get started. By being your own boss and being able to schedule your own work hours you NOW have the freedom to do what you want when you want to with whom you want at anytime.

It’s a great feeling to be in control of your own life and do what you want when you want.

Reason #4. No more worrying about job security.

By having you own ‘Home Based Business’ you never have to worry about receiving a pink slip from your boss or a “SORRY”, but the company has to cut back on its employee’s and You happen to be one of the one’s who has to go.

Reason #5. It doesn’t interfere with your current “J.O.B.”.

That’s right, you don’t have to quit your current J.O.B. in order to get started. You can start on a part-time basis until your able to replace your current income with the income you generate from your business.

Remember, you get to set your own hours for when you want to work your business.

Reason #6. It will make you a more confident person.

By setting out and starting your own business it’ll make you a more confident person because it takes alot of confidence to start something you have no idea what the outcome might be and the risks involved, whether there financial or personal.10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

Reason #7. It builds a sense of pride.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to tell your friends and family or just somebody you meet that you’re an entrepreneur and you run and operate your own successful ‘Home Based Business’.

Pride also works as a motivator because the more successful you get the harder you’ll want to work in order to achieve the goals you have set for your business.

Reason #8. It’s all for the MONEY.

MONEY is a pretty obvious reason for starting a ‘Home Based Business’ because Why would you otherwise start a business if you weren’t planning on making any MONEY.

It also builds a sense of security for your way of life and the things you enjoy doing because the facts are… nothing for FREE. Everything has a price. 10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

Reason #9. You get great Tax benefits.

You heard right, you get Tax benefits with running your own ‘Home Based Business’ because now you’re entitled to home business tax deductions.

This is a category in it’s own and getting a good CPA who has experience with home based business tax returns will be essential in order for you to maximize your return for the year.

Reason #10. Wouldn’t it be great to retire early.

If your business turns out to be a SUCCESS and you invest and put your money to work for you, wouldn’t it be great to retire early and do the things you’ve always dreamed of doing, but never had the time or money to do so.

There you have it, “10 POWERFUL Reasons Why You’re Crazy NOT To Start A… Home Based Business In 2005”.

Now, if those 10 reasons don’t get you excited about starting a ‘Home Based Business’ then I have failed to inspire you. 10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

If you need to read through them again, do so now.

These are the very reasons I contemplated before starting my home based business and in my mind are the most common.

Write down for yourself why You would want to start a ‘Home Based Business’, I bet you’ll come up with several of the reasons I’ve listed above.

With that said, there’s one more thing I want to mention and that is if you are seriously thinking about starting a ‘Home Based Business’, whether it be online or offline, make sure you put together a ‘Step-By-Step’ business plan on the actions you must take and make sure you start a business you enjoy doing. 10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

ABC’s of Staring Your Own Business – Legal Structures

This today I did a show on what are the best legal structures for your business. Here are some options:

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the simplest form of business, in which a sole owner and his or her business are not legally distinct entities, and the owner is personally liable for business debts.

General Partnership

A general partnership is a partnership in which there are no limited partners, and each partner has both managerial power and unlimited liability for partnership debts.

Limited Partnership

A limited partnership is a partnership that has both limited and general partners. The general partners manage the business and are individually liable for the debts of the partnership. Each limited partner’s liability is limited to the amount of money that he or she has invested in the company.

S Corporation

An S corporation is an eligible corporation that elects to be taxed under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code. An S corporation is generally exempt from most federal income tax; instead, the corporation’s shareholders pay tax on the corporation’s income by reporting their pro rata shares of pass-through items on their own individual income tax returns.

Corporation

A corporation is an organization authorized by state law to act as a legal entity distinct from its owners. A corporation has its own name and powers to achieve legal purposes, and therefore is a separate legal entity.

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

The LLC is a hybrid between a corporation and a limited partnership. LLCs provide protection from personal liability, just as corporations do, yet LLCs receive the tax treatment of limited partnerships, or a C corporation, whichever the members of the LLC desire

Should I Be a DBA or Corporation?

This show (Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm CST) will talk about why it is importance of structuring your business in a proper way to build creditability and begin branding your newly formed company. We will talk about were to go to get set up from the county to the state and why this structure is important. Check it out at l“>Apple Capital Group Blog Talk Radio </a>