Things You'll Need:
- Paper
- Pen
- Ability to Research
- Ability to write
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Step 1
Scout for location. You’ll want to have the location (storefront) in mind, as well as at least two backup locations. Information you should obtain: street address, proximity to other similar shops, rents, competing restaurants in the area. When scouting be sure to keep the following things in mind: 1. The space must be zoned not just for commercial use, but for food service businesses, 2. Size. If the store is too small your customers will be crowded, too large and you will be paying for wasted space. 3. Variation in city taxes, and how that affects your costs, as well as sales tax differences that will affect your customers as well. If your business will be online only, then use this time to compare web hosting, find online payment systems and register a domain name.
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Step 2
Choose your business type: Sole ownership, partners, or corporation.
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Step 3
Take a realistic inventory of how much money you can afford to invest in your business and how much you will have to get from loans.
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Step 4
Pick a location (or hosting/domain name) and what products you will be selling. (You can get a good idea of what/how much you can afford to sell by looking at the prices of those goods to you as a wholesaler and your budget.) If you are making your products, get an idea of what supplies you will need. Based on these costs, price your products.
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Step 5
Write a business plan. More information in provided in the links below on business plans.
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Step 6
Get any money and equipment you need, and set up your shop for opening day.
Comments
mommy003 said
on 9/26/2009 i'm wanting to stay home with my children. i'm thinking about selling homemade things from cleaners to baby soap. is this a good idea with this economy?