I would like some advice on starting my own business?

Any internet sites I could look at or suggestions for people to talk to?I would like some advice on starting my own business?
If you're in the UK, one of your best sources of free help and advice is you local Business Link. They run free seminars on starting in business that take you through everything that you need to think about.





Inland Revenue also run free seminars on the tax and national insurance aspects of running a business.





Talk to people who run their own businesses. Ask what worked well for them and what they'd never do again. (I'd advise setting a limit on how much of your own money you put into your business and focus on marketing it to the hilt.)





Good luck!I would like some advice on starting my own business?
I'm a small business consultant and I've posted a ton of stuff on my web site and blog, www.keeterconsulting.com and keeterconsulting.blogspot.com that might help point you in the right direction.





And, as several people before me noted, SCORE is a great resource.





Bottom line: it all starts with you.





1. Make sure you're the right kind of person, and in the right situation, for self-employment. Can you handle start-up costs? Low/uneven income for the first 0-12 months of operation? Not having the safety net of unemployment insurance, workers comp coverage and employer provided health care?





2. Only consider business opportunities where you already have training and/or experience. If you've never changed the oil on a car in your life, don't open an auto repair shop. This is not the time/place/way to get on-the-job training.





3. Put together a detailed business plan that shows who you're selling to, what the demand is for your product/service, who your competitors are, how you can compete against them, how you'll handle marketing (hint: personal selling), bookkeeping, banking, payments (cash only? Credit cards? etc.), insurance...all that stuff.





4. Run the numbers. Estimate your monthly revenue and expenses for the first 12 months of operation to establish if it'll be sufficiently profitable for your needs.





5. Develop an exit strategy. If in 6, 12, 24, 36+ months you need to walk away from the business for any reason, will you be able to sell it intact, or sell off its assets, to cover any debts the business might have? Cover warranty work you've promised customers?





Have fun -- it's challenging but 100% doable and potentially very personally and financially rewarding.
Go to www.score.org and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will find the SCORE chapter nearest you. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor.





SCORE ';Counselors to America's Small Business'; is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).





SCORE was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Herndon, VA and Washington, DC and has 389 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with 11,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors. SCORE is America's premier source of free and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs.
roughly 6.7 million jobs lost since the start of the recession, it's tempting - and often a great idea - to launch your own business. That way, of course, you can take matters into your own hands. No more rolling your eyes at the boss; it's your show.


But many people do a lousy job of picking businesses they can realistically turn into a profitable operation.


';There's this very sad pattern about how people start businesses,'; says Scott Shane, an entrepreneurship professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. ';People are most likely to start businesses in industries where start-ups are most likely to fail.';


The problem: Many would-be entrepreneurs are drawn to businesses they like to patronize or the ones that are cheapest and easiest to start. Instead, experts argue, aspiring entrepreneurs should create firms in which they have professional experience so they have a competitive advantage in the market.


So, what are most overrated businesses out there? We spoke with small business experts to find out. Here are seven you might want to think twice about - and then maybe twice more.


1. Restaurants. Dining out and cooking are among Americans' favorite pastimes. But ';restaurants are among the toughest businesses to run,'; says Donna Ettenson, vice president of the Association of Small Business Development Centers in Burke, Va.


Far too many people assume their culinary abilities will lead to success in the restaurant business. Instead, about 60% of restaurants close in the first three years, according to a 2003 study at Ohio State University. That's quite a bit higher than the roughly half of all start-ups that close in the first five years.


The reason: Restaurants typically have low profit margins and need strong managers who can run an ultra-tight ship through seasonal fluctuations and other struggles. Most people don't have that kind of intense managerial ability to pull it off. By the way, the pitfalls are quite similar for restaurants' cousin 鈥?the catering business. In other words, Chef Emptor.


2. Direct Sales. It's a tempting pitch: Work from home and earn commissions by selling cosmetics, kitchen knives or cleaning products. But companies that recruit independent sales reps tend to attract new team members by pointing to the success of their highest earners.


A harder look shows that those high earners are making big money in large part by recruiting new reps into the organization and getting bonuses or a cut of their recruits' commissions, says Ken Yancey, chief executive of SCORE, a Herndon, Va., organization of current and retired business executives who volunteer time counseling entrepreneurs. The new reps then have a much harder job because they need to recruit more people on top of selling product even though the number of reps out there is increasing.


The result, Yancey says: ';Most of them wind up with a bunch of jewelry or kitchen equipment sitting in their basement that they can't sell.';


3. Online Retail. By far, one of the easiest businesses to start is selling items through online marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon. But as online commerce ages and these sites fill up with more established retailers, it's much harder for new, small sellers to compete for attention and generate a viable income.


';A lot of people are thinking it's the Web of five or 10 years ago and you stand out simply because you're on the Web,'; says Rieva Lesonsky, chief executive of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company for small businesses based in Irvine, Calif.


Instead, successful online retailers today must have a handle on sourcing their products at a low enough price, then layering on clever online marketing and fine-tuned logistics. These businesses won't generate much income if they can't be easily found in searches, maintain a good reputation among buyers or add enough value so that sellers can build profit margins high enough to take on bigger players and physical stores.


4. High-End Retail. Many people dream of opening a day spa, luxury jewelry store or designer clothing boutique 鈥?businesses they feel good patronizing. But specialty retail businesses close at higher rates than non-specialty stores, according to the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, and are even riskier now that consumer discretionary spending has dried up and people are no longer spending money on little luxuries.


';It's going to be a long time before we return to the days of conspicuous consumption,'; says Ms. Lesonsky of GrowBiz Media. High-end retailers often suffer from poor locations and lack of understanding of how to source and market their products in an effective way. In today's economy and in coming years, she says, retail entrepreneurs should be looking to sell non-discretionary consumer goods or offer items at a value rather than high-end products.


5. Independent Consulting. Common advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to stick with industries they know. So, for many looking to es
If you are IT literate - you might want to consider setting up an IT Training Business. Training people on the use of Microsoft Word, Excel and other Software Packages)





To minimize costs, you will do the Training on site. E,g Training Centres or Organisations (that have training facilities for their staff) This significantly reduces set up costs. (No Training centre to rent, no computers to buy) There is still a big market for peole who are learning IT - Some just trying to get into jobs, some need refresher training.





I set up my small IT Training Business in 2001 and I'm still running it now part-time.


Best Wishes
http://www.sendearnings.com/?r=ref979394
Go straight to the nice people at SCORE. They'll give you all the help you can use:





http://www.score.org/index.html
talk to people in the same business.