Anyone out there start their own business?

[TristanM]

Just wondering what (if any) thoughts you might have for someone thinking through a few ideas that are heading that direction. So a long way off, but serious enough that I have the forms and whatnot to register company names and trademarks and start looking for small business loans and whatnot... filled out but not yet sent. Any tips? Problems you ran into? The highs or lows? The cost...?!? You can keep it very general - as I said there are a few thoughts going at the moment which can be combined in a couple of different ways, but for the sake of discussion we can assume that it involves providing a service (rather than a product, though that could be added) and that it involves things you know relatively well and enjoy doing. Before anyone asks - no, I am not starting my own full service escort business with me as the sole employee to help out the lonely ladies...

[Pesto]

my wife started her own business selling cloth diapers and other various baby clothes that she makes.. some neat stuff..

the only thing i can say about it is that it costs alot of money up front.. but the plus side is you get to write almost everything off on taxes...

its fun, stressful at times, yet fun...

[Apoptosis]

since your selling a service and not a product I'm not sure what advice to give you... But you'd likely need at least a one or two million dollar insurance policy to cover the service you are providing, a website, staff, marketing expenses like the yellow pages and since it's a service you'll need a way to get there. My best advice is to find a lawyer that specializes in start ups and tell him what your up to.

[stev]

About eight years ago my brother started his own residential & light commercial HVAC business.

There were a few costs up front, but the most expensive were the work vehicles (two) and the building of the metal pole barn on his property. Other expenses were liability insurance and being bonded.

The first three years were hard to launch out and to have those costs up front.

Before he jumped into his own business, he took a bunch of junior college courses on HVAC and worked for a larger shop in the metro area.

On another note, I have a brother who repairs computers and makes house calls. It's a side business at most. He's A+ certified and will have other college courses completed this fall with a degree. Basically he does computer repair work better than the visiting geek squad. Of course there isn't any real money in this endeavor, but it keeps him sharp enough with the hardware and software the average joe uses and small businesses in his town.