Assignment

10-Step Business Start-Up

Worksheet

Step 1: Create a Business Plan For this step, you will need a business plan. A business plan can support your strategic understanding of how you will pursue success for your business plan. Please outline in a minimum of 25 words what your business will product/service will be and how you plan to dedicate time to successfully completing this plan in this course.

For this business plan, I will be selling a new application that can be downloaded using a Smartphone to help organize student notes. I will plan to dedicate 2 hours in the evening to develop this plan over the next 3 weeks of this course.

Step 2: Local Free Resources In step 2, you will want to know what local resources are available to you to continue supporting your journey beyond the course. Many local organizations and government agencies offer free training, help in finding funding, and much more. What are two local resources that you could use and their contact information (include website, address, and phone number)?

The two local resources that are available to me are the Chamber of Commerce and the Employment Works Agency in my local area. The contact information for the Chamber of Commerce is 1234 Doe Way, State, AS 52525, 444-444-4444, www.chamberofcommerce.com. The contact information for the Employment Works Agency is 3333 Jane Way, State, AS 52525, 333-333-3333, www.employmentagencyworks.gov.

Step 3: Business Location Analysis Location, location, location…you may have heard this adage before when discussing opening a business. Where you choose to open your business in a physical location or the web address you choose, in many cases, impacts your success. Please share your location selection or web address and briefly explain why this is a feasible choice. If it is a physical location, does it comply with zoning laws?

The location of my product sales will occur using App stores. Specifically, I will be selling my application via the Android Store and Apple Store. This ensures that I am able to reach both types of Smartphone platforms. This is not a physical location, but I am zoned to use my home address as a business. This allows me to comply with zoning laws.

Step 4: Business Financing Financing a business can be challenging. Many times, financing holds many people back from pursuing a dream in entrepreneurship. Let’s evaluate some

Small Business Loan, Small Grant Lending, and VentureOne are opportunities that I could possibly use for funding. I am starting this has a small business option. Each of the funding sources listed are focused on funding small businesses only. They

Commented [KB1]: Followed Instructions - 1) Submitted on time. 2) Assignment meets required length and setup expectations.

Commented [KB2]: Provided a 25-word response for each step in the 10-Step Business Start-Up Worksheet plus a brief 250-word minimum summary of how you would start your business Worksheet and Summary template.

opportunities for business financing. Share one government loan, one government grant, or one venture capital firm that you might consider evaluating further as part of your business financing plan and why.

specialize and understand small business finance needs.

Step 5: Legal Structure Selection Legal structure selection of your business is a crucial step in entrepreneurship. Choosing the right legal structure can impact areas of accounting, legal protection, and even your oversight and ownership of your business. Consider the following options, select one, and explain briefly why you have chosen that structure: sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), corporation, S corporation, nonprofit or cooperative.

I have selected sole proprietorship for my business legal structure. I am attempting to retain all the decision-making, profits, and responsibility of this business and therefore, it is important that I operate the business as a sole proprietorship. My desires reflect the sole proprietorship structure characteristics.

Step 6: Business Name Selection What’s in a name? Your business name selection sets the stage for branding your business, marketing strategies, and links the business directly to you among other considerations. What name have you selected for your business and why? Business names are registered with the State and go together with the process of contacting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state revenue agencies to determine what other tax identification you may need (e.g., Federal Tax ID, Sales Tax License).

NoteOrg is the name that I have selected for my business. I believe this name reflects the products and services that I will offer with my application. My application is for organizing notes. The name is also short, which I believe will make it easier to recall.

Step 7: State and Local Taxes Speaking of state revenue agencies, please share your state agency information (web address, phone number) that you would need to use to contact the agency about receiving a tax identification number, workers’ compensation, and disability insurance. Do you need to apply in-person, online, phone, or multiple options? Which route would you use?

Anonymous is the state that I live in and the contact information for the state’s agency is www.mystate.gov, 222-222-2222. I have the option of applying online or walking into the agency. I will be using the option to apply online to save time to focus on my business.

Step 8: Business Licenses and Permits In addition to taxation filing, disability insurance applications, and more, your federal, state, and local agencies will have a list of licenses and permits that each will likely require for your business. Please conduct some research and share what you will need here in terms of required licenses and permits for your business.

I will not be required to have a license or permit to operate this business, but I will need to ensure that I register my home address as a business address.

Step 9: Hiring Employees Hiring employees may not be something that you do as an entrepreneur right away. However, many businesses do grow to a point where they may need to hire workers or start off right away needing to hire support. What is the basic process that you will need to hire an employee.

For me, I will not be hiring anyone right now. However, once I decide to hire someone to support me with technical and customer service, I will need to carry out the following steps according to Intuit (2017), ensure that my Employee Identification Number is received and correct, ensure that potential employees are eligible to work in the United States, hire a Certified Public Account to handle payroll, report that I have hired someone to the state, and apply for Workers’ Compensation Insurance, and ensure that I have outlined all state and federal notices for my employee(s).

Step 10: Small Business Administration The Small Business Administration is a federal agency that offers a great deal of support to entrepreneurs. Where is your local agency located? What are their hours? Please name three services that they provide that may interest you in learning more about.

My Small Business Administration is located at 3333 Street Way, Citopia, AS, 555425. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM MT. Three services that they provide are Business Plan Review, Hiring Support, and Finance Planning for businesses.

Commented [KB3]: APA Citations - 1) Included minimum number of required references in APA format. 2) In-text citations used as needed and correctly.

SUMMARY ANALYSIS Using the worksheet outlined above, I will use the 10 steps to start my business

effectively. To ensure that I am successful in developing my business, I plan to dedicate at least

2 hours each evening to developing my business plan for NoteOrg. NoteOrg will be an

application that will be available through the Android Store and Apple Store. I will also visit the

Chamber of Commerce and Employment Works Agency to gather information available

regarding starting a new business. During the creation of my plan, I will be investigating the

Small Business Loan, Small Grant Lending, and VentureOne organizations to understand what I

might need to do further to apply for financing for my business. Understanding that I do not have

to have any permits or licenses to operate my business from home, I do have some legal

considerations. For example, I will need to structure my business as a sole proprietorship

structure to ensure that my personal goals are met for my business regarding decision-making

and visit my state’s agency to apply for my federal and state requirements. I am not planning to

hire new employees at this time, but located a useful resource from Intuit on the steps of hiring

once I come to that part of my strategic planning for my business. Lastly, once my plan is

complete, I can also take it to the Small Business Administration for additional tips on reviewing

it, for hiring support in the future, and additional opportunities to attend their Finance Planning

course.

Commented [KB4]: Provided a 25-word response for each step in the 10-Step Business Start-Up Worksheet plus a brief 250-word minimum summary of how you would start your business Worksheet and Summary template.

Commented [KB5]: Topic Focus - 1) Topic is appropriately narrow for assignment scope.

Commented [KB6]: Knowledge Mastery - 1) Author demonstrates understanding of the assignment's topic goals. 2) Writing connects facts with each other and original thoughts of the author 3) Paper concludes with cohesive and comprehensive wrap up tying into the thesis.

Commented [KB7]: Voice - 1) Author's tone is appropriate for the thesis 2) Writing is engaging 3) Writing enhances the points rather than distracting from them

Commented [KB8]: Cohesion - 1) Paper progresses smoothly from start to finish tying all parts together into a whole

Commented [KB9]: Spelling & Grammar - 1) Spelling is correct. 2) Grammar is correct. 3) Sentence structure is appropriate. 4) Paragraph structure is appropriate.

Commented [KB10]: Depth - 1) Paper addresses assigned topic with appropriate depth 2) All points are handled appropriately 3) Areas for deeper exploration or challenge are handled appropriately

References

Intuit. (2017). 6 steps you must take when hiring employees. Intuit. Retrieved

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/hiring-and-recruiting/6-steps-you-must-take-when-hiring-

employees/

Commented [KB11]: APA Format - Used APA formatting per IU APA standards

Commented [KB12]: Source Quality - Reference(s) are appropriate. Unless clearly stated with purpose in text, sources are primary, reasonably free of bias, credible, timely, and in context to the general post claims. (Business Related Source)