![Online, Inc.: Tools to get your venture started
Ivan Drucker and Caroline Green of IvanExpert
One of the best things about starting a business in the digital era is the volume of information for entrepreneurs available at low costs (or for free!) on the internet. In years past, you could spend months and months, not to mention thousands of dollars, just to get a business launched. Luckily for today’s savvy entrepreneurs, those days are behind us. Here are a few online tools that’ll help you start your business.
Finding the Right Business Structure and Name
Many of us are so excited by the prospect of starting a business that we want to start right away by telling everyone about it. But not so fast. Before you open your doors for business, there are still a few important steps that need to be taken:
1) Forming a business entity: It used to be that incorporating, finding employment documents, filing tax documents, and jumping through the legal hoops that come with starting a new business involved actual lawyers. Expensive ones. Thanks to the Internet, this isn’t nearly the stumbling block it used to be.
For quick and relatively painless legal tips and documents, you can check out sites like LegalZoom. If you need more background and education, Nolo Press has lots of booklets and templates available for purchase on many topics relevant to small businesses. They offer some useful all-online docs: “Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business,” “Working as an Independent Contractor,” “How to Write a Business Plan,” and “Choose the Best Legal Entity for a One-Person Business,” to name a few.
2) Researching taxes: The IRS website, for federal rules and guidelinesThe IRS website has a whole section dedicated to small businesses. It can tell you how to get your EIN (Employer Identification Number), what types of federal taxes you’ll need to pay, a checklist for starting your new business, and all the forms available for download.
There may be state guidelines to follow and taxes to pay as well, so do a search for “form a company [your state]” or “corporation rules [your state]” or “Department of State [your state]” and find your state’s webpage for business regulations and forms.
3) Getting clearance on your company’s name: The last thing you want is to have a successful launch, only to find out that someone else is already using your company’s name. Investigate at the US Patent and Trademark Office’s online site—and then use the site to file your own trademark.
Marketing
Now this is where the internet provides a wealth of free and low-cost opportunities for business owners.
4) Build a website
These days you must have a website if you have a business. One easy way to create a basic site is Wordpress (it’s not only for blogs!), which you need to install at your web host (or pay somebody to set this up for you). There are thousands of free design templates, and you can update your site content yourself. Squarespace is a modular system to create an attractive website that also allows you to make changes and updates easily; there’s a monthly fee for use. For you open source fanatics, check outDrupal.
5) Printed materialsYou’ll probably need business cards, and you may also need flyers, handouts, and other printed materials. These can all be created and purchased online fairly inexpensively. A few options for where to purchase (we have used some of these companies, and heard good things about others):Vistaprint Mimeo (Mimeo does professional printing, but doesn’t print business cards)ZazzleModern PostcardMoo
Business Operations
Congratulations! You’ve got your business up and running. Now is the time to avail yourselves of all the tools that make it even easier to keep the wheels turning.
6) Get documents signed online
If you need to get many clients, vendors, or contractors to sign legal documents, DocuSign and EchoSign are two online systems that allow recipients to “e-sign” online—no printing, scanning, or faxing necessary. We’ve just started using EchoSign and are impressed with how fast people sign our agreements, because the system is so easy.
7) Accept credit cards
Make it easy for your clients to pay you by accepting credit cards. Two popular and easy credit card systems to set up arePayPal, for accepting payments online, and Square, for swiping people’s cards onsite with an iPhone or iPad. Easy payments can also be made through LevelUp, which is the most user-friendly of the bunch.
8 ) Accounting
Create invoices quickly and easily using Freshbooks; you can also use it for basic accounting purposes. For a more sophisticated accounting system, Intuit now offers QuickBooks Online.
9) CRM
Manage your client lists and your prospective clients with an online customer relations management (CRM) system. Keep track of every phone call and email, set reminders to follow up with a lead, and create task lists. Two systems that are easy to learn areBatchBook and Highrise.
10) Dropbox
Have your most up-to-date documents wherever you are, whether at the office, at home, or on your iPad, by using Dropbox to sync documents among multiple devices. It also allows you to share specific documents securely with collaborators or clients.
[ed. note: Being an entrepreneur and a female can be a taxing endeavor, and you need to develop a circle of advisors, sponsors, and mentors. If you’ve got a concept and are ready to get going but feel lost and without support, start with Entrepreneuress Academy, care of Melanie Duncan.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly1znqZkNW1rnojvoo1_500.jpg)
Online, Inc.: Tools to get your venture started
Ivan Drucker and Caroline Green of IvanExpert
One of the best things about starting a business in the digital era is the volume of information for entrepreneurs available at low costs (or for free!) on the internet. In years past, you could spend months and months, not to mention thousands of dollars, just to get a business launched. Luckily for today’s savvy entrepreneurs, those days are behind us. Here are a few online tools that’ll help you start your business.
Finding the Right Business Structure and Name
Many of us are so excited by the prospect of starting a business that we want to start right away by telling everyone about it. But not so fast. Before you open your doors for business, there are still a few important steps that need to be taken:
1) Forming a business entity: It used to be that incorporating, finding employment documents, filing tax documents, and jumping through the legal hoops that come with starting a new business involved actual lawyers. Expensive ones. Thanks to the Internet, this isn’t nearly the stumbling block it used to be.
For quick and relatively painless legal tips and documents, you can check out sites like LegalZoom. If you need more background and education, Nolo Press has lots of booklets and templates available for purchase on many topics relevant to small businesses. They offer some useful all-online docs: “Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business,” “Working as an Independent Contractor,” “How to Write a Business Plan,” and “Choose the Best Legal Entity for a One-Person Business,” to name a few.
2) Researching taxes: The IRS website, for federal rules and guidelines
The IRS website has a whole section dedicated to small businesses. It can tell you how to get your EIN (Employer Identification Number), what types of federal taxes you’ll need to pay, a checklist for starting your new business, and all the forms available for download.
There may be state guidelines to follow and taxes to pay as well, so do a search for “form a company [your state]” or “corporation rules [your state]” or “Department of State [your state]” and find your state’s webpage for business regulations and forms.
3) Getting clearance on your company’s name: The last thing you want is to have a successful launch, only to find out that someone else is already using your company’s name. Investigate at the US Patent and Trademark Office’s online site—and then use the site to file your own trademark.
Marketing
Now this is where the internet provides a wealth of free and low-cost opportunities for business owners.
4) Build a website
These days you must have a website if you have a business. One easy way to create a basic site is Wordpress (it’s not only for blogs!), which you need to install at your web host (or pay somebody to set this up for you). There are thousands of free design templates, and you can update your site content yourself. Squarespace is a modular system to create an attractive website that also allows you to make changes and updates easily; there’s a monthly fee for use. For you open source fanatics, check outDrupal.
5) Printed materials
You’ll probably need business cards, and you may also need flyers, handouts, and other printed materials. These can all be created and purchased online fairly inexpensively. A few options for where to purchase (we have used some of these companies, and heard good things about others):
Vistaprint
Mimeo (Mimeo does professional printing, but doesn’t print business cards)
Zazzle
Modern Postcard
Moo
Business Operations
Congratulations! You’ve got your business up and running. Now is the time to avail yourselves of all the tools that make it even easier to keep the wheels turning.
6) Get documents signed online
If you need to get many clients, vendors, or contractors to sign legal documents, DocuSign and EchoSign are two online systems that allow recipients to “e-sign” online—no printing, scanning, or faxing necessary. We’ve just started using EchoSign and are impressed with how fast people sign our agreements, because the system is so easy.
7) Accept credit cards
8 ) Accounting
Create invoices quickly and easily using Freshbooks; you can also use it for basic accounting purposes. For a more sophisticated accounting system, Intuit now offers QuickBooks Online.
9) CRM
Manage your client lists and your prospective clients with an online customer relations management (CRM) system. Keep track of every phone call and email, set reminders to follow up with a lead, and create task lists. Two systems that are easy to learn areBatchBook and Highrise.
10) Dropbox
Have your most up-to-date documents wherever you are, whether at the office, at home, or on your iPad, by using Dropbox to sync documents among multiple devices. It also allows you to share specific documents securely with collaborators or clients.
[ed. note: Being an entrepreneur and a female can be a taxing endeavor, and you need to develop a circle of advisors, sponsors, and mentors. If you’ve got a concept and are ready to get going but feel lost and without support, start with Entrepreneuress Academy, care of Melanie Duncan.]
