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Start a Successful Business on Small BudgetI am going to show you how to start a business today on a low budget, and all of the things you can learn from my years of experience and secret I am going to share with you about business and how you can start. We are going to discuss the plan of action with ideas that can be implemented right now. Little background is I started a jewelry manufacturing business with my late husband with only A 1 thousand dollars loan from an uncle. With that money we bought used equipment, and we sent our Partner to a class to learn how to make jewelry, and we sold it. But first we purchased a few items to see what would sell. We realized jewelry was an easy sell. Why do customers do business with us? Because our price in Sterling Silver had a finish on it so that it would not tarnish. It had a lifetime guarantee, we started small and we grew every single year. We started a fine jewelry business because we noticed the problem was silver tarnishes, so we created a finish so that it would never tarnish and it was a lifetime guarantee. The reasons why most people start a business is that you recognize you have a great idea, and there is a great opportunity, and you also recognize a problem and create a business or product to solve that problem. For example, a walk-in nail salon or a hair salon with a blowdry bar, when you have no appointment Jiffy Lube, and also, you can work for someone else and I know that you can do it better. There is flexibility, and we had that passion and enthusiasm so that you realize you can actually start a business. The first steps are to identify your strengths and weaknesses. You know how to lead and motivate people. You know your skills, interests, abilities and talent. Being creative is essential. You had to know that there is more than one way to start a business. When you start a business you can either buy an existing business, by a franchise, which is 98% successful because it's an actual no business model that is successful. You can have a partnership and start from scratch, by something I tried to sale it or offer a service. You need to observe other businesses to get ideas and make your business better. Every time you go into a business you want too look at it and see how your business can be better than theirs, what do you like about that business? What don't you like, and you want to go beyond the expected to set yourself apart. How are you going to see if -- how many of you see great business ideas every single day and gray business models every single day? When you walk into a business you see what you love and do not love. You want to observe trends and see what people want. Economy also determines the type of businesses and products you can over the dollar stores came about, they are consignment stores because people do not have money. But also, there are concierge doctors that can make a more personalized medicine for you. On all aspects of business, you can find a customer with money or without money, but observe and see what your customers need. There is grocery deliver, Amazon to our delivery, 24-hour gymnasiums. Basically, you need to recognize a problem and create a solution for the problem. There is also technological advances that are going to influence your customers and they're purchase preferences. Today, we have apps for everything. The goal is too really understand the customer, and confirmed there is a growing demand for can you be competitive? Can you give more value while still making a profit? You always want too conduct market research. You want to understand your customer and test your products. You want to get feedback and offer samples. There is surveymonkey to get an idea of how your product or s ervice, people respond to it. I actually published a book called, remember regard life. I put a focus group together. I had a Rabbi, minister, publisher, funeral Director. I had a grieving widow and a marketing person that helped me design the book so that it would be effective to the audience. You also may want too want too offer a service for a limited time, as you know cable subscriptions will give you A1 month, to month, or three month free cable, trial membership so that you can really see how people respond to your business. You also want to know the industry. You want to see what the trans R and keep up with what's new. -- what the trans R. Keep up with what's new. No competition. No their strengths and weaknesses. You may even want too work with them to see how they do business, and you decide what you like and do not like from your competition. Joining trade associations, reading trade journals, industry articles, and going to Trade Shows will make all of the difference.When we did our first Trade Show, we got all of the major companies that we do business with. That is where we were really visible. That helped us a lot. The next thing is to put your idea in writing. How are you going to identify? You want too put it in writing with a short plan to determine whether or not your business is going to succeed. This is a concept statement. After I sold my jewelry manufacturing business, I started looking for other businesses to b uy. The first thing I did was to write everything down that I could about the business. I did my research, looked at the competition. I identified the products and services, and I figured out what price I would have to sell that product at in order too make a profit. Also know if the industry is growing, and you want to know where your customers are. You want to define your market. You want to also understand if you need help managing this business. Do you have experience in it? Do you have to higher people too help you? For the financial projections realistic? What is the rate of return on investment? You always want to sell something to make sure that you make a p rofit. You must know what the risks are, and, basically, does it make sense too start the business, or are you better off working for someone else with a guaranteed paycheck? The concept statement those that we have the communication basis. No one knows your business better than you, so you need to sell yourself. I am Julie Brander. I help entrepreneurs realize their dreams of owning a business by sharing valuable information with an action plan on how to start a successful visit on a low budget. Your passion and persistence are the first steps. The next step are putting your plan in writing and implementing it. I am available to help you so, please keep in touch. Alona, do you want to give your elevator pitch? Sure, I would love too. The name is Alona Ariel, a consultant specializing in business and entrepreneurial ship, as well as credit money management. My work helps people across the globe accomplish there financial dreams providing them with the tools, skills, and knowledge so they can be successful. What you meet somebody and hear their elevator pitch, the next step is had your business card. You always want to have at least in business cards on your pocket at all times, had to get to every single person you me. It's very important that your business card is easy to read and printed on high quality card stock. Networking is going to be your very best way too meet contact resources and customers. The goal is to leave a lasting impression so that you can create an image that people will remember you by. Part of marketing also will be getting a website for your b usiness, and you might want too link your website to others, joint free directory websites and meet social media, Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, you too. You may want to write articles in magazines and local papers. You want to write an ad or an article in a different language. You always want to go to the local network event because word-of-mouth marketing is always the most effective, and referral business is always better than someone learning about you just coming in. You want to consider subscriptions, free shipping, warranties, and a good return policy. We offered a lifetime guarantee for are jewelry. In the 20 years I was in business, we got one piece back. A lifetime guarantee adds more credibility to your product, and in most cases, if it's a good product, you will get good feedback. You may want too contact new companies, meet them and see if you can provide products and services to them. Free samples are always great. As we go into Costco and get are samples, most of the time, we probably by what we are sampling if we like it. Testimonials are always important to have on your website. If you are in a service business, you want too collect e-mail addresses so that you can constantly keep in touch with your customers. Do you have anything to add, Alona? Absolutely. Right now with the social media that is out there, there is a lot of opportunity to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and the price of advertising right now is really low on them. That is definitely one of the best avenues right now to pursue, especially if your product is not a service, or actually, even if it is a service. Getting your name out there and having people see it over and over, don't try the concept once, tried a couple of times, making sure that it's getting out there and seen so that it promotes your business more and more. As well as the networking, your local chamber of commerce, every different one that is available. Here in Las Vegas, we have the urban chamber, the Latin chamber, the Henderson chamber, all of the various chambers. Getting out there, letting them know who you are, and if it's a service industry you are in, you will tell them that your service is available, because you could have the best service out there but if no one knows you are available, you will get lost in the crowd every time. Wonderful, thank you. Financial information is probably the very most important thing. Is this finance personal budget and must be identify before starting a business. Alona will go over this. Alona? Thank you, Julie. With the financial information, your business finances, the personal budget, expenses, all of these need to be identified ahead of time when you are doing a start-up, one of the biggest things if you are going to go for a loan or any type of financing that is commercial financing through a bank, or even if it's a parent or family member, they will ask you first of all, what are your start-up costs? Your start-up cost will be different than your everyday working cost of the business. Your start-up costs are the one-time expenses that come up. If you have to purchase equipment, and for example, if it's a restaurant, you will need certain equipment, dishes, forks, utensils work any of those, deposits for utilities. All of those should be in you're start-up costs, and it should be very will detailed so that the individual who is going to assist you with the financing has a really good understanding of how involved they will be. Then you want to separate that. Once that's complete, you want to do your monthly expenses. If it's a utility, make sure every month there is a portion set aside for that utility, all of your variables, much like you're own household. Think of each and every single thing you would be using and utilizing each month, and have a fixed amount for those. If it is a product you are selling, and you had to have inventory in stock call you need to keep the cost in mind each month. One of my formal clients wanted to do an eyelash, selling eyelashes. Her business, she needed to make sure that she had the product in stock, the accessories that went with the product, each and every labor and overhead will have to be noted and detailed in their, so that when you take the information to a bank, or to get financing, they want to know, is this a viable business? Is it going to make the money? Is it going to be a black hole cost sinking money and and getting know money back? That if you have a nine you will be able to see if this is a viable business. If you do not have any of these and come into my office, commit to a bank and say, hey, I would like to get a loan for $15,000. I tell you what it's for. I want too start a business. When you start speaking in that, it's not enough. If you sit down with your paper and say I'm going to start a business, I need to get $500 for rent, $300 for my utilities, I want too hire a part-time employee, so when you have those, you can show the specific numbers, that is where you are going to actually get a lot more traction with your request. If you don't understand how to do those, there are several examples online. There are organizations like the one I work for, operation hope. We have financial coaches that are available to do business in entrepreneurial development with you. There are organizations like SCORE. All of those have these i ndividuals, mentors, and advisors that are willing to help you at no cost or at very low cost. You are definitely wanting to get into one of those programs if you have absolutely know idea where or how to do a financial statement. Monday, what are your other o ptions, or what are your options? There is personal savings, of course. You can start saving in advance if you know that this is going to be a large production you are doing. Right here we are trying to speak to a small budget, so places that you can get and access money quickly. Personal savings, your family, friends, lines of equity credit, Home Equity, rather. That is when you pull money from your home. Here to peer lending, prosper, one direct capital lending club. All of these right now have and are looking to loan money out. They want to give out these short-term type of loans. And different programs. I am speaking to the ones in Las Vegas because these are the ones I know of write-off of the top of my head. There are opportunity funds that are available through the local banks here, as shown one of them is SBA government loan. Each one of them have different qualifications, and you need too make sure that when you are preparing to go ask for financial support from any of these places, that you have them in -- your finances in your statements spelled out very neatly. You also want too make sure that you are always disclosing information. If you have had a past bankruptcy, or any type of financial downfall in the past, that doesn't necessarily count you out from being a candidate for these funds, but do disclose them, and make sure that there will not be an issue with them, even in the very first conversation. There is nothing like getting all the way to the end of an application where you had submitted all of your documentation, did all of this work, and then they turned you down because of something that was on your record that just popped up at the last minute. These are definitely worth making sure that you're going to provide that information up front so that you are not wasting their time for your time. And, Theresa, I want too mention, absolutely, banks, lenders, they do look at your personal assets and you're personal credit history. As well as because you are the business, so keep that in mind. Absolutely, Julie. We're going to go too, check or credit. For checking your credit, one of the things that I do is I am a credit and money management program well-being Counselor, or coach, rather. What we do with operation hope is we look at all of these -- we look at your personal credit ahead of time. Now, there is a business credit, and there is also your personal credit. When you first do a start-up, it will be necessary for you to access your personal credit. A lot of individuals think, tonight, my credit is shot, so I don't have an option. I'm not going to be able to start a business. Not necessarily. A lot of the information that goes into your credit, you are looking at the last two years of what has happened. I know that the credit records show the last seven years, but what a lender will always look at our the last two years. There is an exception there with bankruptcy. They will look and see how long it was, how long ago it was charged, and how much it was for. The first thing is first, get a copy of your credit report. You can access your credit report for free at free credit report, at annual credit . Those are free. You will be able to access your aqua fax, TransUnion, as well as your Experian once a year. Or you can call the 800 number listed here. Also services that you would like to keep in mind, credit karma and . They may not be the exact same credit score that you will get when you go to a lender, but that's because each credit score is going to be based on what you are applying for. If you are applying for a car versus a home versus a business, they were different algorithms and criteria that will come up. By using credit karma and , which are both free, no Credit Cards require. I suggest using both, because credit karma does TransUnion and aqua fax. And does provide you with your third score, and well give you a good understanding of where you are at on your credit score. Typically, we are looking at 754 an excellent score. Anything 750. 750 and above is excellent. 70750 mid-range average score. 650 and under, about 2590, looking at a fair score. Below that you will definitely need too work on step. About 590, looking at a fair score. -- Commercial Lending because there are organizations that will lead to 520 and above, especially if you have a good solid business plan too work from and work off of, and show this is going to make money. That is the biggest thing they are looking for, a moneymaker, or am I -- my money. This allows you to track all of your credit and avoid the tax, number one, and also surprises. What else do we have on this slide? If there are any questions or credit reporting. Thank you, very much. The credit report is your credit history. It will contain the past and current histories for the last seven years. When you see the seven years, yes, it's seven years of history, but are also only looking at the last two years. What they are mainly looking for our the late payments, if you have had late payments, how many? Are you consistently paying late? Your Payment history is actually 35% of your credit score. That being said, ways to avoid that, set your calendar up ahead of time and know what your budget is, knowing when the bills are due and paying them ahead of time top not on the exact date do. When you are paying exactly on the due date, you risk getting a late credit history. We do also want too mention that any time you are over 30 days late, that is when those marks will start eating your credit. If you pay on the 29th day, not recommended, but if you had to go out 29 days, it will prevent a 30-day late being put on your credit history. The total amount owed is 30% here. That's correct. What they want to see is if you have revolving credit, the amount, and any amount, they want to see that you only our using maximum utilization of 30%. Once you go beyond the 30%, that is when you start losing credit score points for that portion of it. The length of credit history, a gain, is 15%. That means from the very first date you opened up any kind of credit, you're score will go from then to current. One of the things to note, if you have gone a long time without any credit, then it starts from the very first account you get right after that. For example, myself, I went a few years without using any credit at all, so my credit history isn't 40 years long, 20 years long. It's going to only be seven years to 10 years there. New Credit, every time you get a new credit card and at there is a pool called those do affect your credit score. They will end up costing you some point in the beginning for that inquiry, but once there is a new card on their, they kind of balance themselves out once you get an increase in your credit line. The New Credit, while it is 2%, it really does balance itself out. Types of credit you use, so, if you have a personal loan, car loan, home loan and the credit cards, that is good diversity when it comes to credit. They want too make sure that you can use each type correctly. Business loans generally go under personal loans. If you are looking for a business loan, and you wanted to be completely under the business and not your own personal information, once you've gotten your business established a little bit then they are more than willing to keep that business line of credit open for you. If you have had issues in the past, again, it does not mean, no, we will count you out completely. Negotiating and settling debts is always an option. The biggest thing with all of these is to make sure that you are documenting everything on them. It happens, people get behind. No one is perfect in this world, so what we want to do is make sure that you are going forward and correcting those mistakes in the past. If you are going to do a settlement or a negotiation, and it's filled with your original Creditor, I would definitely suggest making sure that you have everything in writing, and a firm agreement that they will be deleting that account from your credit history when you submit that payment. A lot of times when you are speaking with the first line, I want too call it the first line of defense, when you call a collection company or a Creditor, the first person on that line, they are going to give you the answer that their boss has told them to give you. That is, no, we cannot delete it. When they tell you that, that's absolutely an incorrect statement. Anything that is on your credit report can be deleted. It's just a matter of getting into it to the right person who agrees with you that, yes, we will delete this item. Doing a payment daily can be very beneficial. If you have some outstanding cell phone bills, cable bills, which I see often on a credit report. You reach out to do the settlements, make sure you are contacting the right place. Again, if it's -- if it's the original editor, that's what we want to do paid to delete. If it's a collection Agency, you will want to do a cease-and-desist letter, having a go back to your original Creditor. And and then work from there. Working with an original Creditor is going to be most easier than working with a collection Agency, because a collection Agency is always going to say, no. They always want the maximum amount and their fees. But keep in mind at that when looking at a collection Agency, those individuals have purchased that debt for literally pennies on the dollar, and they are now trying to collect pick you really do not owe that person any money. It's a collection Agency that was set up for the purpose of collecting other people's debt. You really want too work with the original Creditor as much as possible. Wonderful, thank you, Alona. The next topic is really to be smart with money. There is business expenses, car expenses, home expenses, personal expenses, and you want to analyze every expense, and determine whether or not it's necessary. You want to take your daily spending habits. You may want too use cash rather than credit too monitor your spending. If you have $100 in your pocket for the week, once you run out of that money, that's it. That's your budget. You always want to ask for credit terms. You want to buy on sale. You may want to buy close out consignment merchandise. The only person inventory and supplies that will be used quickly. When we sold to the majors, their best selling items sold five times. It had to be A5 time turnover. You only want to have your best selling item in your inventory so that it can be sold quickly. You may want to consider leasing or buying used equipment, and even subcontracting out tasks and labor. When we were tagging and bagging are jewelry, we found paying for peace was cheaper than paying somebody by the hour. You may want too share space, work from home. In fact, home-based business is in the United States, there is 38 million of them, and 70% of home-based businesses succeed within the first three years, and a 44% of those were started with less than $5000. 20% of those home-based businesses also are doing $100,000 to $500,000 a year in revenue, and 72% of those home-based businesses are women-owned. A great strategy might be to run your business from home in the very beginning, before you commit to a lease with two those terms come because then you are locked in. The other thing is, when you share space work from home call you may want to create an Internet b usiness. You can create an app. You can barter goods and services, but with caution. I know that when you barter, your trading or services for something else, but that's going to affect your cash flow in your business, so you don't want too barter more than 10%. You want to be very cautious when you do that. Do you have anything to add, Alona? No, not at this time. There are many tips you want too list below your means. Never spent more than you have but don't pay others for services that you can do yourself but think about recycling, reusing, refinishing items. You can find three things online. You can sell items know longer needing those needed. You can take your things to consignment shops. Always think about coupons. Shop online to save money. And it went shopping, make a list and stick to it, then there will be no impulse purchases. Then you know exactly what you need. You want too cook at home. Bring your lunch too work. Be aware price match helices stores offer. You want too check flyers for deals but today there are so many apps that can give you money back or saving opportunities. I use eBay and I get checks every quarter for the things that I have bought. [Indiscernible] gives you coupons if you shop at certain stores and you get checks. There are many others such as Ernie Scott and highs you can use to compare lowest prices. Always think about how you can save money. And, Alona, do you have anything that you would like to add? One of the biggest things I always look for is the different group ponds, and any type of savings that you can use daily, home or business wise. They are going to help you get out there and be able to live a full life, as well as save yourself and other people money. Especially with group on that's another marketing technique for those who have business, restaurants or services that they want to provide. You get somebody in the door, and make sure that you shine, and you are getting your customer service service skills up, and have them come back as a repeat customer. My experience with Groupon is you have to limit. I have a client who have used Groupon and they are getting a discounted price but you have to make sure that you cover your costs. When you give something away at your cost, you are losing money, because of other expenses involved when you use to 22, had to negotiate a limited amount, and also make sure that you have a percentage over your cost in order too cover your costs. Otherwise you'll end end up losing money. I know a client that went out of business because her entire business was Groupon. She did not get enough customers because people only used Groupon. Be cautious. Your gut is always right. In today's tough economic times, owning a business is really you're only job security. If you are able to go to these steps, do your due diligence, do your research, and really know who your competition is, then you have to think about owning your own business. The five keys to entrepreneurial success are passion. You always must love what you do. People, surround yourself with the best. Planning, have a plan and modified that plan to reflect market changes and customer needs. Needs are always changing. Persistence, maintain your mental and physical stamina. You never give up. If you have an idea, it may take you years to get it off of the ground, but never give up. Profit, always know that you are in business to make a profit. If you don't make a profit, you are going to lose your business. But I can tell you the satisfaction you feel when you grow and nurture your business is worth it. Your business should always be enjoyable. When it stops being fun, it's really time to get out. Thank you for joining us today, and we will be taking questions. Alexa? Thank you guys so much. We will now move into the Q&A portion of the webinar, where we will be taking questions that you guys have been sending in over the course of the presentation. Please continue to submit your questions. Of the remaining time, we will address as many as we can. Please note, if we do not have an opportunity to get to your question during this webinar, I would like to encourage you to reach out to a SCORE Mentor after today's session. That will be posting a couple of links later on how to get further information to request a SCORE Mentor also. With that, let's get started. We would jump into the questions here. Julie and Alona, the first question comes from Alex. Alex would like to know, I do you recommend conducting a focus group without revealing proprietary aspects of your business idea? I have never, ever worried about anyone stealing my business idea, because if you look at businesses that no two businesses are exactly the same. But when I put this focus group together, there were people that I knew that I did business with. You really gather a group of your people, your friends, people that no people, so that you can share i t, and it's confidential. You can bring people into a focus group and let them know, I had 10 people around the table. Basically, let them know it's confidential. People are pretty good. I have never seen anyone really still an idea. I would never worry about that at all. Alona? If you are worried about it, you would want to have a confidentiality agreement signed by each individual who is in the group. If you are doing something along the lines of patents, and you know that your idea is completely going to be different and that no one else has this information out there, you really want too make sure that the people you are inviting and are not going to get that information out, because that could risk losing the patent on it. Alexa? The next question from Brian says, he feels that the product validity is one of the hardest parts. Do you have any suggestions on practical in low-cost ways to do this? When we started our business, we did not know what kind of a business. We did know we were going to sell so we bought a small quantity of items and we sell it. Then you well know whether or not there's a market. When you buy a product -- we went to India top went to Mexico and Israel and bought Linux wholesale. Wiest-- we sold those two stores. We sold it also retail. We sold it every which way. The only way to know if your product will sell is to get it out in the market. You can do a crafts fair, home party. You can set up -- in the beginning I set up in a beauty salon. When women get their hair done, they are in a beauty salon. There is a lot of cash and impulse buying, so I set up a jewelry table. I gave a percentage of the sales to the salon to let me set up. There is a million different ways you can get your product in people's hands, and again, be created. Look around to see what's going on. That's how we did it. You know there is a million other ways. All right, the next question comes from Pamela. Pamela would like to know if you guys have any networking tips for in-store? It takes practice. Go ahead, Alona. I take this one. I am both an introvert and an extra for. There are days I totally want to be out in the middle of everything and just getting out there, networking with every group that I can possibly find. Then there are days I just want too hide. With those days come up, that's when I tend to do more of an Internet, social media type of marketing. Instagram, Facebook, linked in, all of these areas now are coming up, and that they are having different ways of marketing and interacting with individuals. For LinkedIn, you may want to write an article and put it out there so that you cast your net wide there, and individuals can say, this individuals has does this individual has something else going on there. This may be someone I want to connect with. The other way I have found successful, really, it takes practice. If you have a really good elevator pitch and you are comfortable with what you are saying and you love what you are doing, your enthusiasm is going to show. It's like, make yourself say hello to people. A simple hello to a stranger helps you get comfortable talking to people. Whenever I am on an airplane, supermarket, at the gymnasium, I had knowledge, say hello to everyone I meet. Gradually cut you will be more and more comfortable talking to people. You are your business. If you want a successful business, will need to know you, and you need to speak to them and develop relationships. Alexa? The next question is from Susan. When you are starting up, you may not have real data to forecast f rom, and it's hard to find that kind of information under competitors depending on the industry. Susan would like to know, should she be using a best estimate? Or what does she use to determine how realistic their numbers are? There is industry standards, and that is what the trade association can help you with. For example, a restaurant, when they start, they have A3 time market in food cost. Of food costs one dollar, their marking it up three dollars. That is an industry standard. You do your best guesstimate. You know that if you are paying one dollar -- for my retail jewelry store, I knew I had to sell it for $2.50 in order too make a profit and cover all of the overhead. An accountant can help you with a lot of the cost, and seeing what you are purchasing items for, and what the market is selling it for, can you compete? That's a big question. Maybe you are not buying it at a low enough price and not able too really go into business. Again, it's doing your market research. Alona, anything to add? Julie, if you would share your story about the hand sanitizer, I think that would be really helpful. You know Carol has 20 different ingredients in it. For me, it always feels sticky. It has like this terrible kind of sent sometimes. I just didn't like it. I created a hand sanitizer pick it was called a Robert Iser to start. Now it's Sandy spray. It's alcohol and a peppermint spray. It's fresh. I really do my research to see how much is a spray bottle? Spray bottles cost one dollar. But if you buy 10,000 of them, you can get them for $0.17, but what am I going to do it 10,000? The actual product itself is nothing, but it's the packaging that costs the most. I realized for the distribution it did not make sense for me to start the business there are other items similar to that, and it's also easy to reproduce. I really didn't go forward with the. I'm always thinking of business ideas. I have a million ideas on a daily basis. You go to the exercise, and it helps you determine whether or not it's feasible. Alexa? Lisa says, hello, Alona. How much of a reserve do you recommend to set aside for slow months? This is a great question. Whenever you are going to get into business and decide, hey, I need too make sure that I am going to be able to pay my employees. You want to definitely have a budget every single month for all of your business necessities and that needs, so that when you have one of these slow seasons, you are able to continue to either have the staff, or you know that those staff are only going to be seasonal. If that's the case, you want too make sure that you have it at least with a three-month, or six-month reserve, that makes sure you can get it back around. Again, it just depends on what type of business you are in. If you are in a great example is my uncle had an income tax business. He basically had all of his money the first three months of the year, the first three and half months of the year. After that, he would downsize his staff, Quebec hours, and take a look at the next into Burrell's -- intervals, where he would be making less money with the taxes. Those would be extra dates that are there for filing taxes and whatnot. Those types of planning ahead will allow you to continue the business, rather than having to pack everything up every three months, after the first three months, starting over again at the first of the next year. When individuals get involved in something like that, a professional field, making sure they are providing that personal information to you, they don't want someplace that will pop-up and go, and pop-up and go. You do want too set aside, I would say three months, six months minimum to make sure that you have a reserve in place. That's a good for your personal budget as well. In our business, what we did just to add, we had a two-week mandatory vacation. We gave our employees pink slips so that when we shut the business down to save overhead costs. You also hired part-time staff or as needed and reduce your staff do the slow time. You see what department stores and seasonal business, you have to account for that. You well know the first year in business what you're slow times it will be so that you can manage your money and accounts for everything. Alexa? The next question is from M illie. She checks her credit score more than once per year. Will this impact or score? I take that one. So, yes and no. If you are pulling from a hard pool, from one of the commercial lenders, actually going out there pulling your score then, yes, that will affect your score. If you are signed up for credit karma, , or even going directly too aqua fax, TransUnion, or Experian to get those scores -- aqua fax, to June the, or Experian and having them pull often, does occur those are softballs I will not affect your score. It's when you go to a car dealership and they pull your credit 16 different times, those are the ones that will impact your score the most pulling over and over and often from a commercial lender do that. I have seen individuals who work for banks. Alona, I'm going to pull my credit today. It's not a good idea to do that. That will drive your score down quickly. All right. The next question is from Stacey. Stacey says that her credit score is about 750, but she has a bankruptcy -- she had a bankruptcy six years or seven years ago. She wants to know, what type of impact were -- with this have on her receiving a loan? Alona? The high credit score is going to balance out that bankruptcy, but being upfront and forward about it before she gets involved with a lender and starts filling out the application, you want to ask that question right off the bat. For some places, if you have had a bankruptcy within two years and it's been discharge, there is not a problem at all, they can move forward with the loan. But when it comes to some of the big-name commercial lenders, they will not jump in and say, yes, will take that with a bankruptcy. They want to see no bankruptcies filed within the last seven, 10 years, depending on which chapter you file. In that case, you may want to take in a Partner that has a good credit score that can get alone a loan. It's a business is, there are the money people of the sales people. The money people with good credit, maybe financial business for you as another option. Alexa? For next question comes from Thomas. Can you talk a little bit about how financials will be done. When you have a similar material to start and it is a home-based business? I think we need more i nformation. I mean, you're start-up cost would be your equipment, whatever you have at home. I mean, there is not a high overhead or start-up cost when you are a home-based business. Would just be a product are business. Alona? That's right. You want to keep in mind, so, a lot of individuals think I'm starting a home-based business. I don't have any really start-up cost or anything. You need too look to the telephone. That doubt is going to be split between personal use and business use. Your printer, what will the cartridges cost? The paper, getting the extra supplies. There is always going to be some sort of start-up cost in any business, whether it's providing the service over a phone to driving somewhere else. There is always going to be those costs, and you can always find at them by pulling everything apart, breaking it down to what your product is top and how much it cost to manufacture. Or even to produce it. Like I said, if you are doing a home-based business that is based completely on consulting, and at some point I'm going to have to buy a piece of paper. At some point I will have to pay for a telephone. My Internet, all of those things go into what you are going to pay for, even if you are already paying for the personal does personally, there will be that second where you need too split those up and divide the. Alexa? We have time for one or two more questions today. The next question comes from S tacey. Stacey wants to know, is insurance necessary for an Internet -based store? Depending on what you are selling, I would say that you need too talk to an insurance agent that specializes in small business. Most businesses you have a Baker, and accountant, and insurance agent, and a lawyer. Those are the professionals that you speak too. Sometimes, it's your liability insurance, and it's not necessarily -- you just have to talk to an expert. I'm not an expert in insurance. Always if you go to a lawyer, in the expert that specializes in that type of law. And also an insurance agent that specializes in small business. Alexa or Alona? Yeah, I would just mentioned that you want too look to product liability if selling the product. Know that the minute you get out into the free market selling that product, you become liable for it. If you want to continue to keep all of your current assets, that that is definitely a need that is there. Yes, insurance, I would definitely say is there. The other thing we did not mention to much I will mention is l icensing, to make sure you are properly licensed in any of the locations you're at. That could be State, County, or city licenses available. You definitely want to get in their, making sure you have proper license to do any selling services. And zoning. And zoning when doing a home-based business. You need too make sure. Sometimes neighbors get upset if there are too many cars in front of your house if you have a home-based business. Again, zoning and licenses our good point. Alexa? Can you hear me? Yes. Great. Those are all of the questions that we have time for today. Ladies and gentlemen, if we did not have a chance too address your question during this Q&A segment, we agreed to connect with a SCORE Mentor today. I have posted a link of the checkbox, so you should all have that handy. You can also indicate that on the survey that will be prompted once we close out this session today. As a reminder, a release -- a link to the recording to this session and a slide deck will be sent of the post-event e-mail. We will get that out later today. Be on the lookout for that. On behalf of SCORE, would like to thank you for taking the time to attend the session today. I would like to give a very big taker to Julie Brander and Alona Ariel for presenting today. Julie and Alona, thank you, so much. Thank you for having us. I am excited to announce that the registration is open for the small business week virtual conference being hosted by SBA. The conference is being held May 1 through May 3. It will include 12 Educational Webinars, Mentor sessions, business resources, networking, and much more. We will post the link for you here in the chat window. We would love for you to sign up today and participate in that event. There we go. Thanks, again, everyone, for being here. We hope you have a great rest of the day and take care. [Event Concluded] ................
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