10 Things You Should Be Weary of when Starting a Small Business

In this great country of ours, we are given the opportunity to pick our own way to make money. Whether you choose your occupation to involve yourself with white collar or blue, America is known best for it's Capitalism and the different roads we as Americans are allow to prosper by. Some occupations give us, as Americans, the opportunity to sell our goods and services to make a living. Henceforth, we dwell into the art of retail.

Of course there are basically three different roads to take when riding this path. Some of us take on a 40-hour job for a company. Some of us take a career or job opportunity with others, and open a business that is associated with other super stores and middle-sized companies. Others take the opportunity to become a sole proprietor, and end up running a "mom-and-pop" store, doing our own errands, filing our own papers, or better yet, becoming our own employee at times. This road is known to be one of the hardest, but it's alsp the most dear to one's heart and considered the most self-satisfying.

This is an account of the 10 worse things I have ran into. This is a list of the situationsI didn't see coming that has done everything from con me out of my own money, or worse yet, nearly made me lose the very store I sank my heart into, as well as my blood, sweat, and tears that I have put into it. I truely don't like to see anyone have to go through the same things I did, so this guide was wrote to protect you as a business owner. Want better odds at running a small mom-and pop store? Would you like an opportunity to see a profit? Don't want to set yourself up to be conned? This is the top ten things you need to be weary of If you want to keep your store intact, as well as your money and sanity.

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1.Solicitors= You're now open for business. As you go on through the daily life of running your new store, soon you will notice "enterprenuers" coming inside your store. You set up a conversation, asking the "so-called" customer if there is anything you can do for him...then bam!! You have just welcomed a seller! He's in the market of trying to sell you a product or service. Feel like you just been "conned"? Me too.

There are two types of solicitors that WILL visit your place of business; the type that carry the goods on them,and the type that carrries information to sell. He makes his sales pitch, not thinking that he is now wasting your time. Sometimes, if you you ask him to leave, they will accomidate this request, but they will be back. Some solicitors will actually take another attempt, then you have to stand there, wasting more precious time, trying not to be rude. Altogether, not only have you wasted time inside your own store, but you had to avoid customers, stop work, and worse, your train of thought has just been deflected. Most solicitors that come off the street and come into your place of business know that once you say no, they should leave. In most states, this is often a law or code. Some often do not get the idea, knowing there is no opportunity for profit if you say no, so they"ll stand there and try to talk you into buying their services regardless. They never realize the two things that are going through your head when they walk into your business.

a. You're doing the same exact thing they are, selling goods or services.

b. They are not paying your overhead, actually just using it, and most likely, not paying much overhead themselves overall.

Solicitors are just that; they are soliciting. They will not only solicit to you, but if given a chance, solicit to your employees as well as your customers. We all understand the right to free enterprise, it's a give-in, but if you have a solicitor that tracks your customers the second they walk out the door, it's time to call the authorities. Yes, you have to be this harsh. Solicitors only make slight profit from the organization they are working for, so some will get a sell, regardless of the moral obligation to respect your business.

TIP: Door-to-door salesmen have heard the word no before, so their feelings are often numb. Do NOT feel bad about hurting their feelings. After you ask politely once, threaten to call the police the second time.Think this is too harsh? If you are wasting alot of time on a solicitor, try wasting time with 5-10 solicitors a day. The worse part about buying from a solicitor? Buy something and you have now been marked. They now have your number and will be back. You can't even be nice and buy a tangible item, for example, because you gave them the reason to come back time after time. This adds up. Cut out your feelings, you are running a business. Show them the door, and remind them not to come back.

2. Business organizations= Within the first month of you opening your business, you will be visited by another merchant of sorts. He will pitch you a line about the business association of your area, and you will get an invite to one of the meetings. Now you feel like one of the bunch, a product of the neighborhood, a knight visiting the round table. Business associations and chambers of sorts are a good source of promoting your store of sorts, but the one thing you have to determine before you set foot into this entity; the people associated in these organizations. These are also merchants too. Unknown to you, you just set yourself up for a slew of sales pitches, meetings you don't have time for, and brochures you don't have time to read. Merchants associated with these branches of established credentials will do everything from sell you bottled water, to get you to buy zoo passes for half off. Soon, you"ll hear about one-time fees, volunteer work, and worse yet, monthly meetings you should attend to. Don't get me wrong,volunteerism is great for all, and some organizations are fantastic for promoting your store, but you have to remember the bottom line. You are in business to stay in business.

TIP:If you want to put your time into such organizations, you need to make sure you have the time to give and the same organizations are putting time into you. Pay close attention to their marketing skills, and know you are a target before you even associate yourself with this type of people.

3.Checks= In today's modern world, as well as the world of technology, checks became one of the biggest opportunities of theft in the 21st century, ranked second to online theft. Checks can be duplicated, copied, created, and dubbed. With scanners, photo copiers, and online help, anyone can make up or steal a check for any amount. Within the last decade, companies have reported a loss due to bad or fraudulent checks. FACT: If someone has a checking account, chances are, they have a debit or credit card for the same account. If you are starting out, the best bet is to lay off taking checks or money orders at first. sometimes it's best not to take checks at all. If the customer truely wants to purchase your products or services, they will attempt to come up with a different approach to paying for this transaction, like cash for example.

TIP: There are companies that do sell services that will run the check at the same point and time as the sale is made. This is not to suggest that as soon as you deposit the check, it will still be "honorable", but at least you"ll know where the buyer stands at that point and time of the sale. Compare the difference between honoring and not honoring checks at your establishment. See if the payoff is worth it.

4. Competition= In the world of marketing, you set yourself out there too promote your business. Sometimes this involves you to advertise not only your product, but your price. Competitors see this, and the next thing you see advertised, is the same product, only cheaper. Another example: A customer walks into your place of business. He asks for information about a product or service. Then he asks you these questions, "Where did you pick this up at?", or ,"Can you drop-ship this to my house from the distributor"? Any question similar to getting information. Chances are, this is either a competitor, someone selling the exact thing online, or an enterprenuer trying to buy the same product or service you have, to start his business. You MUST read between the lines when you have a curious customer. Some competitors would rather see you hit the bottom of the barrel in your opportunity for success than making a profit running your store. They will attack your credibility, make false accusations, drop prices below yours, and even try to get information from employees. Some even have their employees put in applications to work in your place of business. They will even look for information on your family. They will stoop this low!

TIP: Remove all information from your cardboard boxes. Competitors will look at where your products came from. Keep paperwork separate from public view. Shred your resources of information, like bills paid, invoices, and even old catalogs, (no matter how thick they are). Most Importantly: talk to your employees about what information to give out, and what information not to give out. Last, but not least, look online for any bad information posted about your business or you. Protect yourself as well as your company. This is your money maker.

5. Online Transactions= Dealing with online transactions over the years has proved to be more of a battle then a profit for most small businesses. With the Nigerian scams, stolen credit cards, address forwarding, and the overall 3% who are online just to steal from businesses online, you will be a great target. Most online frauds go after a sole proprietor selling sevices and products, or a small business. Scammers know that if you fall into one or both of these categories, chances are, you are not as protected as some of the bigger stores online. FACT: You will have an "entity" try to steal from you. You will be attacked at one point in your career, and chances are, it will be on businesses that just started up. Scammers know you you being new, your experiences with online scams are limited.

TIP: Take a course at your nearest school, or at least study past scams. Pull up resources from the "buyer". The most important defence when dealing with this; Knowledge. Talk to other merchants about their past experiences with this type of crime. No one wants to get ripped off, and even if you got "taken for" for just 3% of the your money, this will definately hurt your business more than anything else.

6. Banks= Your business has started. Being a sole proprietor, you need to open up a business account through your name at a bank. You soon realize that the task of opening up an account starts with the name "D.B.A". This stands for "Doing Business As". It doesn't matter if you are attempting to open up a "Primary", "Economy", "Advanced", "Gold" account, (or what ever the bank wants to call it), It's still a "D.B.A." One thing that a bank will not tell you is that when you start this type of account, you are personally responsible for this account, and if you have ANY other accounts through the same bank, and you overdraw on your business account, you're not going to like what the bank does next. Whether it's your fault or not, the bank now has rights to withdraw from your personal account. The account that has nothing to do with your business can be altered in any way the bank sees fit to put the business account back into a positive account. This means also paying all overdraft charges, and ANY outstanding payments that went into overdraft.

TIP: Follow your bank account VERY closely and close your account when suspicious activity is seen.

7. Employees= Most employees will be thankful for the job you gave them, and will attempt to make their services valuable. They will work hard, show up on time, and even give 110% to your place of business. Others, not so grateful. Do not think for a second that because you gave someone an opportunity to work that they will be grateful for this experience. Through the years of hiring people for their services, I have learned that some often hurt the company alot more than help. They have either sold or gave away vital information and resources I needed to run my business. They have stole my customers, stole products and services, ran off customers, turned in hours they did not work, and worse yet, try to start their own business from my resources. Not all employees, including family, have the moral values to support your store or ideas. They are out for #1. This is the fastest way to lose a business and the fastest way to put you in debt! Not all employees are this way, but why take the chance on hiring a loser.

TIP: Do not hire someone off the street on their stories alone. Give them an application and follow through with the application. Call their past employers and jobs, get a history of past performances and verify everything. Find out the true reason why they asked for work to begin with. A great piece of advise; always put them on a probationary statis. One month is too soon. Anyone can behave for a month. Make your probationary statis 60- or 90- days. Keep vital information away from employees that do not need it, and whatever you do, DO NOT share vital information! Even in friendly conversation. Some employees WILL use this to their advantage, and the only one that will pay dearly for this is you.

8. Consignments= Some establishments, (but not all), will consign a product for resale. A customer will walk in with a product, willing to sell this to a buyer and they know that chances are, the product they are attempting to sell with have better odds if left displayed in your store. Often, this does work out, but several issues come about when dealing with consignments off the street. this is a list of some of the issues I had to deal with:

a. They will call you nonstop to see if their product has sold.

b. The biggest percentage of profit will go to them.

c. They will try to sell the item to you.

d. The product might be stolen.

In some states, you have to have a re-seller's license to obtain the rights to re-sale an item from an individual. If you do not have this license, you cannot buy anything to resell. Most small businesses never thought this aspect though. You often have to wait seven days before you can sell the product, get a fingerprint from the seller, and your investment now has to somehow make money. These steps do not guarantee that the item was stolen either. Law does not protect you in several states, even if you follow the directions below. Most often then not, the seller wants an incredible price, which makes the item harder to sell, and often, they will call you OFTEN to see if it's sold.

TIP: Frown from consignment opportunities. This is nothing more than an attempt for someone else not to pay overhead, but make money. No matter how good the investmewnt may seem, you are setting yourself up for a big fall if just ONE of those consignments are stolen. Customers frown on business who have a reputation of selling stolen merchandise, whether it was intentional or not. Once again, PROTECT yourself and your company. If possible, stay away from consignments, it becomes a job in itself.

9.Hidden Charges and Bills= Ever had to pay for a sewer activation fee? How about an inspection fee for electricity? Did you know there was such a thing as a sign permit? This is just a few examples of what I have deemed, "hidden charges". These are charges you never heard of until you open up a brick and mortar store, known more commonly as a "Mom and Pop" store. Onlines stores will have a very limited amount of hidden charges, but brick and mortar stores will experience these hidden charges alot more often. One of the worse bills you could experience is a CAM bill, (charges the lanlord give you in excess to the charges already calculated from rent and normal utilities). This is not neccessarily a hidden charge, but this type of charge could cost you up to 50% more than you expected to pay in fees running a business. Hidden chages come from just about anything, but the most frequent series of charges will come from the local state, and federal government, as well as utility companies. At best, this is a burden on your time and money, so be prepared for these "hidden charges" when you first open up your establishment, they are right behind you.

TIP: Go to the other small companies in the area your business is established, and see what they had to pay. Talk not only to the landlord, but find out if the landlord has other tenants and see what kind of information you can obtain. Do not jump into renting a building just because the rent is cheap. There are reasons for this, and don't think that the realtor or investor of the property is going to tell you why either. They are in the business of getting you to sign a lease, regardless of how your business is working out. Also, call the light company and ask if that certain address needs to be inspected first. Calling other utility companies don't hurt either, like gas, water, sewer, etc..)

10. Family= Last, but not least, you might have to come to terms with protecting yourself against blood relatives. I love my family. They are almost as close to me as my own religion, and are VERY important to me. This does not stop anyone from taking your store down, intentional or not. This subject is not only pointing towards the direction of your Immediate family, but Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Step Brothers, Half Sisters, etc. I would give my life to my family, but in essense to your business, you, as a business owner, have got to pull this to the side. If you ever want to run into a list of stressed out decisions, become a negotiator of outlandish arguements between family and non-related employees. You got to keep a good relationship with your family and still stay on top of things. There are some things you need to avoid when hiring a relative:

a. This is still a business and you have to make business decisions that your own relatives might not like.

b. Some family members will try to override authority on a non-related employee.

c. You have the possibility that relatives might fit into the same category as #7, the bad employee.

Just because they are related to you, don't think that they won't try to sue you, take you to the employment board, or worse yet, call the Better Business Bureau. They are also there to make money, but they have one thing over you that a non-related employee doesn't; they know you. Embarrassing situations might come about and your relatives might think that because you are related, you decisions will be softer. Don't get me wrong on this last tip. Most of the time, family is what you need to keep a business going, but in order for you to make due with relatives, you have to make up some rules at ground point, day one.

TIP: If you are going to have family involved in your business, set ground rules. Make sure they understand everyone is equal on the job. Designate someone else to do reprimands, and whatever you do, keep your business accounts away from family that you think are "flaky". If you think a bad employee can shut your doors down fast, hire a bad family member.

I hope this list opens up eyes. Successful stores overcome these obstacles, even if they did come unexpectantly.

God bless and prosper well