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Small Business Owners - Seven Simple Steps to Get You Started As an Entrepreneur

Guest post by: Lalitha Brahma

Article Overview: Many of my Non-immigrant readers are getting excited to start their own business. Here are some questions I get asked. I am currently on pending adjustment of status and have a work permit. Can I start my business? What are the requirements? Can I start a business in my home country? Can my relative in my home country become my business partner? I want to start my business, but I don't know where to start. I can relate to my reader's feelings, as many of my clients have been there. First, I wish I had answer to all these questions, but I do not. However from my experience I can say that following step by step method has worked for my clients in establishing their business. It can be very challenging to make a decision with a mind confused with too many questions.

Small Business Owners - Seven Simple Steps to Get You Started As an Entrepreneur

Many of my Non-immigrant readers are getting excited to start their own business. Here are some questions I get asked.

I am currently on pending adjustment of status and have a work permit. Can I start my business? What are the requirements? Can I start a business in my home country? Can my relative in my home country become my business partner? I want to start my business, but I don't know where to start.

I can relate to my reader's feelings, as many of my clients have been there. First, I wish I had answer to all these questions, but I do not. However from my experience I can say that following step by step method has worked for my clients in establishing their business. It can be very challenging to make a decision with a mind confused with too many questions.

Here are the SEVEN simple steps to get you started:

STEP-1 Your first reaction will be to feel low, afraid and think of what is NOT possible. It is your responsibility to acknowledge your best friend and that is YOU. Its OK to have such a fear because you are getting out of your comfort zone.

STEP-2 You might think that you are in the accounting or software consulting or data entry or coaching business, but actually as an entrepreneur you are marketing yourself as an accountant, Software consultant or a Coach. Hence you must always be willing to learn continuously and become a better and smart marketer. Be prepared for becoming a student of marketing.

STEP-3 Write down 5 skills that you feel, you know and you are good at. Write down the names of people with whom you interacted closely in your jobs and against their name, write down the compliments you received from them. Review the compliments received. These are your core strength as perceived by OTHERS and build your business around them.

STEP-4 When you start your business, you may have questions related to Immigration Law, Corporate Law, Landlord tenants Law, international law and your state law. Hence you will be required to consult with all these lawyers for your specific case. It may be expensive to hire each of these lawyers in the initial stage of your business. Hence you can consider hiring legal services that offer access to lawyers specialized in all areas of law. Ensure that you get access to experienced attorneys at affordable cost. If it is a membership based service, if you are not happy, you also must be in a position to cancel anytime.

STEP-5 Even if you do your own bookkeeping initially, you must consider hiring an accountant to do your taxes and receive timely consultation. There are business consulting services that offer unlimited access to experienced business consultants specialized in accounting, marketing, sales, management and funding. You must shop around for such services and hire the one that suits your needs.

STEP-6 Now that your head and heart are totally committed to your business, consider doing small projects for individual clients. You can also consider registering in elance.com or Guru.com and start offering your services as freelancer.

STEP-7 Having invested your strengths and made your initial income as a freelancer, you now have the choice to do more of what you did or add more services or create a bundle of services. This way you can gradually expand build your enterprise with PEACE of MIND.

ACTION EXERCISE:

Commit to read these seven steps at least once a day for the next seven days and feel yourself deserved to start your business.

Make a 90 day action plan and implement these seven steps.

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Article Tags: entrepreneur, own business, small business owners, start a business



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