Dreaming

For those who are dreaming or planning to start a business of their own. Resources to help you get started.

 

The Dreaming Stage

This is an exciting phase. You’re dreaming of starting something new. You’re full of excitement and also apprehension. To help get you going, here are some of our best resources:

Checklists for Getting Started

I wrote these first two for a friend, when he got his first paying side gigs. He wasn’t sure where to go or what to do.

Here are some more getting started tips, including ways to find more help.

 

While you’re getting going, here’s a little push.
A two-fer: Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson from crowdSPRING tell 5 startup commonalities and how that relates to being outside of Silicon Valley.
Is entrepreneurship for you? Let’s find out.

Biz Ideas

When you’re dreaming of starting a business, ideas can be like candy, or like yeast. You may snack away on them like candy, or they may help your business dreams to rise, like yeast in bread dough. We have a downloadable booklet, with 20 business ideas. It also has more ways to dream up your own business ideas.

We also have an entire category of business ideas you can borrow or take inspiration from. A couple of examples:

How do you tune your brain to find your own ideas?

Business Intelligence

When you’re trying to evaluate whether a business idea is a good match, you need some business intelligence.

Business Plans

Yes, you need a business plan. No, you don’t need a 40 page bound booklet or 5 pound stack of paper. Here are ways to keep it simple, but still figure out your direction.
Here are guides to a few sticky questions around marketing that often come up while business planning:

Getting Online

Getting your new business online is essential. Here are just the essentials for getting that done.

Accounting and Bookkeeping

I know, I know. Everyone hates accounting. “Math is hard,” people say like a mantra. Well, time to get over it! You can get this, because we are going to make it easy.

Business Structure

Too may people get hung up on this. Don’t worry about this part until you have already found the idea and started working on details.

And a couple of related questions, though not really about structure:

Accepting Credit Cards

Since many credit card processors lock new businesses into multi-year contracts, it’s better to get this right from the start.

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