Gallo pinto. Sautee onions and garlic, add dry rice, let it get a little crispy. Add water. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and cilantro. Add black beans. Win.
You can make a ton of this stuff really cheap, and the beans make it pretty solid nutritionally. Rice and ramen aren't going to do much for your body.
Thats my country's staple breakfast just missing the Lizano (Costarrican sauce)
That looks so good. I know the recipe for those rice and beans and it is one of my favorites. Mmm. Only an hour until lunch. ^_^
Fail has been going on for a while, but is now coming to a conclusion.
Specifically I discovered that one of my business partners was embezzling money, and hiding bills. Thus my business has collapsed (Tesla cyber cafe, might reopen without me as I had no interest in retaining any rights to it). Now I'm trying to sort things out, and its finally looking better (moved into a geek haus with friends, resuming college next semester).
The fail of the day in all this is that in moving my stuff out of my old apartment I seam to have lost some money and an ipod (lived in apartment over business with failure partner). Its fairly obvious what happened to my stuff I think, but there doesn't seam to be much I can do about it at this point.
Not a bad plan, but I'm way poor at the moment. As long as I don't end up having to pay any of the bills that I didn't know about, I figure I'm getting off ok. It has been a learning experience, and if I ever try to start another business I now know most of what to do or avoid. Plus now I have time to finish school and work on my various projects.
Not a bad plan, but I'm way poor at the moment. As long as I don't end up having to pay any of the bills that I didn't know about, I figure I'm getting off ok. It has been a learning experience, and if I ever try to start another business I now know most of what to do or avoid. Plus now I have time to finish school and work on my various projects.
Hey, at least you started a business. I can't even figure out how to do that much!
Also, before you have to pay a lawyer any fees, they will usually tell you if it's worth it for you to hire them. If they don't think your case is likely to win, they won't even bother. If it is winnable, but the money isn't enough to cover their fees and be profitable for you, they also won't bother. A good lawyer will at least talk to you about it on the phone once. A phone call or two can't hurt.
Have a product or service, some way to produce it, have some initial funds, some way of being contacted by clients and placing orders, register a business name, get your name out there, and do some business.
Have a product or service, some way to produce it, have some initial funds, some way of being contacted by clients and placing orders, register a business name, get your name out there, and do some business.
Where do you get the initial funds? Everyone that I've talked to has either had the money already, got money from their parents or something, or they had an investor of some sort. Even if I keep working and saving as I am now, I'm not going to have enough to start a business for a very long time.
How do you register the business name? What exactly is the paperwork? How can you avoid paying a zillion dollars to a lawyer? How do you take care of the other legalwork necessary without breaking the bank?
I think the business name costs about £150-£250 here and that includes the service of getting an off the shelf business and swapping the name off it and all the other legal stuff.
As for money, that depends on what kind of business you want to start. I suggest you read up on it as I'm not that knowledgeable. In England there is a company that will assist you in starting your own business called Buisness link who're funded by the government, you might have something similar where you are.
Venture capital is an option, but If possible, keep your current job and run your business on the side until you are confident it will be able to support you consistently.
Everyone that I've talked to has either had the money already, got money from their parents or something, or they had an investor of some sort. Even if I keep working and saving as I am now, I'm not going to have enough to start a business for a very long time.
Again, if you run your business to the side of your day job, you should be able to work something out. It also depends somewhat on the type of business - for example, this is a slightly better idea in a business with a high startup cost or high overheads - you can support it with your income where necessary, and if it goes down the tubes, then you're still able to eat. However, if your business has low overheads/initial cost and you feel the risk is acceptable, though I wouldn't personally recommend it, you can quit your job, and run for quite a while from savings - but I stress that this is not a path I would go down, personally.
How do you register the business name? What exactly is the paperwork? How can you avoid paying a zillion dollars to a lawyer? How do you take care of the other legalwork necessary without breaking the bank?
Now, I only know the Australian laws for this, so I can't help you much here, however - You shouldn't need a lawyer to register your business name, and you should be able to do it through the government - You should probably go to your state government for more information. Also, as Omnutia mentioned, there are probably companies in the us similar to Business Link, who help small businesses get started.
Trade shows are a good idea, though they can be expensive, and are generally boring as hell.
Venture capital is an option, but If possible, keep your current job and run your business on the side until you are confident it will be able to support you consistently.
I don't have enough time to run a business on the side, and commute, and do GeekNights. That is, unless I stop sleeping and doing other things.
Venture capital is an option, but If possible, keep your current job and run your business on the side until you are confident it will be able to support you consistently.
I don't have enough time to run a business on the side, and commute, and do GeekNights. That is, unless I stop sleeping and doing other things.
I apologize, I should have known that already - after all, it's not like you haven't said as much on the podcast previously. This being the case, it looks like venture capital or saving are your only options at this point in time, unless you want to start engaging companies to assist. Do you have time to do the groundwork, for example, making demo products, documentation, and initial startup prep within a time-frame you're comfortable with?
The only reason I managed to get anywhere was because we started in the middle of a revitalization effort and got grants / breaks, the partner of mine who caused failure was the primary investor. So much is dependant on type of business, location, and whats available. Also its basically impossible to run a business if you work another job during business hours.
Also its basically impossible to run a business if you work another job during business hours.
I strongly disagree, That's how my father got his business(Embroidery) off the ground, and that's how my business(Id cards, placards, basically thermal sublimation printing and a few other things) worked for the first few months of it's life.
Usually step one is to get an idea about doing something that you really like to do. Step 2 is to create a business plan on the idea from step one step 3 is to make sure you can make a complete business plan, ususally the answer is no and you will go back to step one over and over again until you do.
Business plans are hard to do since they are like a resume for a business and will take a long time to do (I am around the 4 month mark and still working on it), however if you get some help and make sure you are realistic you can take it to the next phase.
Be prepared to work for at least six months (possibly much longer) without getting anything in return.
Of course you need to look further than that. A time line for a small business will go something like this:
Day minus 30. Do paperwork for starting new business, register yourself self employed and a business owner. Depending on country this can either be a day or a month job. Day 0. Quit job. Month 6. Have business running and make first sale. Month 12. At this point you should have established returning customers. Month 18. Break even on costs so far. Month 24. Make enough money from your business to actually live.
There you go. All you need is to save money enough to live on for two years. Or to find someone to invest in your business and support you for two years. Or have a part time job to support you financially but still have enough time to do your own project.
Scott, why not ask Rym to invest in your business? You quit your job, he stays working full time. He supports you with some place to live for a few years until you make mad monies of your own. At the end of two years you can buy your business back in full. Or if it fails, you can work out a deal to pay back the money once you are working full time again. Who knows, it might take only a few months and you only have to pay back a small amount. Or after a few months you pack it in, and you only owe Rym 20 or 30 k.
I've been self employed since 2003. It is the best thing ever. For a few years you'll take a hit both in terms of time and money, but it is certainly worth it. Every year me and my girlfriend (also self employed) book about 4 months off to do anything we want together, which usually involves traveling. If either of us worked for anyone else we'd never have that freedom.
Also, while I like geeknights, I certainly wouldn't begrudge you packing it in to pursue your dream job. In fact, start the podcast again in a year when you have more time, and you'll have shit tons of new things to talk about.
Also its basically impossible to run a business if you work another job during business hours.
I strongly disagree, That's how my father got his business(Embroidery) off the ground, and that's how my business(Id cards, placards, basically thermal sublimation printing and a few other things) worked for the first few months of it's life.
I guess it might depend on what you're doing, but there were so many people I couldn't work with unless it was between about 10:00 and 4:00. I live in a small city, not really many people on hand for handling business needs. Hell, we never got a proper health inspection (we served sandwiches and coffee along with normal cyber cafe stuff).
hmm, I see I have accidentally made this thread about small businesses...
Comments
Specifically I discovered that one of my business partners was embezzling money, and hiding bills. Thus my business has collapsed (Tesla cyber cafe, might reopen without me as I had no interest in retaining any rights to it). Now I'm trying to sort things out, and its finally looking better (moved into a geek haus with friends, resuming college next semester).
The fail of the day in all this is that in moving my stuff out of my old apartment I seam to have lost some money and an ipod (lived in apartment over business with failure partner). Its fairly obvious what happened to my stuff I think, but there doesn't seam to be much I can do about it at this point.
Also, before you have to pay a lawyer any fees, they will usually tell you if it's worth it for you to hire them. If they don't think your case is likely to win, they won't even bother. If it is winnable, but the money isn't enough to cover their fees and be profitable for you, they also won't bother. A good lawyer will at least talk to you about it on the phone once. A phone call or two can't hurt.
How do you register the business name? What exactly is the paperwork? How can you avoid paying a zillion dollars to a lawyer? How do you take care of the other legalwork necessary without breaking the bank?
As for money, that depends on what kind of business you want to start. I suggest you read up on it as I'm not that knowledgeable. In England there is a company that will assist you in starting your own business called Buisness link who're funded by the government, you might have something similar where you are.
Also, as Omnutia mentioned, there are probably companies in the us similar to Business Link, who help small businesses get started.
Trade shows are a good idea, though they can be expensive, and are generally boring as hell.
Step 2 is to create a business plan on the idea from step one
step 3 is to make sure you can make a complete business plan, ususally the answer is no and you will go back to step one over and over again until you do.
Business plans are hard to do since they are like a resume for a business and will take a long time to do (I am around the 4 month mark and still working on it), however if you get some help and make sure you are realistic you can take it to the next phase.
Let me know once you are there.
Day minus 30. Do paperwork for starting new business, register yourself self employed and a business owner. Depending on country this can either be a day or a month job.
Day 0. Quit job.
Month 6. Have business running and make first sale.
Month 12. At this point you should have established returning customers.
Month 18. Break even on costs so far.
Month 24. Make enough money from your business to actually live.
There you go. All you need is to save money enough to live on for two years. Or to find someone to invest in your business and support you for two years. Or have a part time job to support you financially but still have enough time to do your own project.
Scott, why not ask Rym to invest in your business? You quit your job, he stays working full time. He supports you with some place to live for a few years until you make mad monies of your own. At the end of two years you can buy your business back in full. Or if it fails, you can work out a deal to pay back the money once you are working full time again. Who knows, it might take only a few months and you only have to pay back a small amount. Or after a few months you pack it in, and you only owe Rym 20 or 30 k.
I've been self employed since 2003. It is the best thing ever. For a few years you'll take a hit both in terms of time and money, but it is certainly worth it. Every year me and my girlfriend (also self employed) book about 4 months off to do anything we want together, which usually involves traveling. If either of us worked for anyone else we'd never have that freedom.
Also, while I like geeknights, I certainly wouldn't begrudge you packing it in to pursue your dream job. In fact, start the podcast again in a year when you have more time, and you'll have shit tons of new things to talk about.
hmm, I see I have accidentally made this thread about small businesses...
For those of you who haven't seen it, imagine a kung-fu Plan 9, made in Hong Kong with the WORST DUBBING IMAGINABLE.
"Ricky, I am your uncle. I have secretly been watching you for 8 years. Do you still have your superhuman strength?"
"SURE DO!"