Starting a small business is not always easy. Especially if you are starting only a side business. The complexities of a side business have to intertwine with you current life and still work … not always an easy task to do. Thankfully the Lifehacker Blog [1] has come to the rescue an amazing post [2] about just this. This post of absolutely jam packed with superb information and links to great tools. All the information there will be a huge help to you as you start up something on the side.
Though the information about tools is great, the post needs a bit more spice: How to Start Up a Side Business. So here I’ll explain the basics of that, whether it’s online or brick-n-morter it doesn’t matter, and give you some more tools and information.
Phone Numbers
When starting a side business one of the most essential services that you will want/need is a phone service. By that I simply mean a phone number for your business. As a reputable business you want to publish this number and let people know (ie, let people know). Though this does not mean you have to give your phone number. As the post says get a new phone number.
Just like you’ll publish your business address on your cards and web site, you’ll also want a separate phone number for your side or small business. I was lucky enough to get in early on a free (but invite-only) Google Voice number that lets you set up custom greetings for customers and forward business calls to my cell phone during business hours. Many voice over IP services offer similar features that let you set up filters to separate business and personal calls so your customers don’t get your personal voicemail greeting.
I was also lucky and have a free Google Voice number, but that does not apply to everyone. Google Voice (formally GrandCentral) is great but it’s not a business solution. It will forward phone calls, take messages, give you easy access to the messages, auto record and a lot of other goodies; yet it is still not big enough for a ‘real’ business. If you really don’t need more features than Google Voice then you have plenty of options for this type of solution: Google Voice, (a) Skype number, Magic Jack (I don’t have first hand experience with MJ, but I have know several business assosiates to use it and they love it), a second cell phone. For all these solutions of course go and change your greeting to a as professional greeting as you can.
If you want menus, multiple greetings, many mailboxes, queues, support options … you’ll have to go with a more professional system. Most of those revolve some sort of PBx system. I used PBNext [3], and it was alright. It did it’s job nothing more nothing less. Though these systems are definitelly the way to go for small business, they can (and do) get expansive. A standard contract can cost around $50 USD a month. But like I said, these options offer plenty of features great of businesses. IF you have a single person side business I don’t think you’ll need it … but you can if you want to split it up between family. (side tip: a PBx system can be a great way to make calls for cheap to anywhere; also great for managing many phones in the family if you want it do (with the right setup of course) ).
A quick word about faxes: they are not outdated yet. I have had a plethora of correspondence using them between small bank CEO’s, business partners, customer service, schools. They are old, but heck … so is e-mail. Get a fax, it’ll serve you well. You can pick up a decent all-in-one printer/fax/scanner for around $200! You don’t need anything special, plus it can also serve as a new printer for the family. E-mail-fax can only go so far. It’s useful when on the road (also then using a PDF writer), but fax is still my prefered document sending method at the home office.
Setting up your online ‘pressence’
Lifehacker said it well: “These days no business is in business until it’s got a web site.” Get a domain name and website. Many web hosts will setup a domain for you, even for free many times. My host HostGater [4], for example, offers you a free domain if you sign up with them … or at least did. But at least you can setup a domain easily through them.
If you need a website up quick, many hosts also offer software packages (like Fantastico) which can help you setup a basic site. Want something more costom? Buy it, freelancers are a dime a dozen these days. Just do a google search for “freelance programming/website design/<whatever you require>”.
Paperwork organization
Lifehacker recommends some tools, personally a filing cabinate has never failed me. Sure our office is filled with them, but they store all our documents for 7 years plus! You can always put the oldest documents in a box and stuff it in the crawlspace. A filing cabinat at the office is an oldy but goldy. If you don’t have room in your home/office you can rent some cheap space. A self storage location or even rent space from someone who has spare space (trust me on this, A LOT of people has spare space and are more than willing to get paid for you using their extra space).
Paper envelopes are GREAT organization tools while on a business trip or for just about anything actually. Possible labels: June 2009 food, XYZ corp conference August 2008, Home Renovation june-july 2009 … ect. Label it something descriptive 
. Then group all 2009′s together,ect ect … Just a bonus idea.
Business Ideas
Don’t know what to start a side business in? Well, that could be troublesome. But it’s actually a lot easier to find something than you might think. Pick anything you are even remotely good at, and go with that. If you’re good at underwater basket weaving, then simply start with that. Start a blog, start a website, publish articles about it, make a t-shirt … just go with the flow. Start! That is the main idea … whatever (and I do mean really mean anything) it is, just start it. Even Microsoft and Apple were once small companies. But if you can’t think of anything right now, here are some ideas for you:
- Lawn mowing service
- Landscaping services
- Flower Arrangment
- Garden creation/set
- Landscape care
- Landscape consulting (ie: helping people come up with ideas)
- Programming
- Computer repair
- Cleaning
- Graphic design (for you doodler’s and graffitti artists out there)
- Painting and design (consulting or the actual work)
- Teaching
- ‘An Extra Hand’
- Photography
- Guide (tour guide or so)
- Transcriber
- Runner (ie: you run arrends and what not)
- Writer (write a book, e-book, articles … anything)
- Music writer
- Start a (garage) band
And so many more possibilities! You can create a business out of anything. No joke … common, a guy made a million bucks by selling a rock on a string. I think a small side business is possible from just about anything! Get to it!
Finances
Correctly suggested: get an accountant! They will be one of your greatest assets. Our personal prefence is to get a local person, not a big corp. That’s just us. So far he’s worked out far better than the big corps (because he actually is there and cares (sort of)). Even though you have an accountant, you should still be checking your accounts and statements. Online, there is a great (free, as in beer) website called Mint [5]. Mint has been reviewed/mention on Consumerist/LifeHacker/a-heck-of-a-lot-of-other-blogs. It’s free, it’s good, give it a spin!
When you go out somewhere always keep the receipt and store it. If you can, keep a log book with you that keeps track of what your ‘business lunch’ was about, where, how much, how far you drove to get there … ect. Keep track of all these things for accounting. Other types of log books are also a good idea. With that said, it might also be a good idea (if you have a lot of paper work) to get a book keeper. They will keep track of the paper work for you and deal with your accountant and contact you when the need arises.
Best of luck on your side business adventures! Start one, start many! Just get going
[1] Lifehacker Blog (http://www.lifehacker.com)
[2] Essential Tools For Starting Up Your Side Business [via Lifehacker] (http://lifehacker.com/5226028/essential-tools-for-starting-up-your-side-business)
[3] PBNext (http://www.pbnext.com)
[4] HostGater (http://www.hostgator.com)
[5] Mint (http://www.mint.com
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