New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

[yukanaoe]

I have decided to go ahead with my plan and start this business. the only problem I've come across is the name.

SO I've decided to hold a contest. for 2 weeks I'm searching for the perfect name for this business.

the winner will receive a free necklace of their choosing. you will get to choose from over 30 different stones. I'll even pay for shipping.

so what do you have to lose!! Come on give it your best shot!!

[Roknrol]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

What all are you selling? Jewelry in general? All necklaces? All with stones? Online only? Give us some details!

[yukanaoe]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

it will be 90% online. and as of right now only necklaces but i'd like to expand into other jewlery in the future. and yes all with stones.

[yukanaoe]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

noone? nothing?

[Corvus]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

'jessie's jewery'? (i know totally creative) erm 'add to your look'? is it all going to be using stones? maybe 'mineral masterpeices'?

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

Rocking Stones

[thalassa]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

Amethyst Charms

[yukanaoe]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

that MIGHT work if i was woking with only amethyst :P

[Roknrol]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

that MIGHT work if i was woking with only amethyst :P

So KFC only serves chicken?

[LiadanWillows]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

What about "Gemstone Gewelry" or opposite "Jemstone Jewelry"

I also like:
"Natural Beauty Jewelry"
"Goddess Glamour"

[thalassa]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

So KFC only serves chicken?

lol, I've occasionally thought about opening an herb shop/tea house/book store (genre/niche specific) and calling it Sassafras...its not like I'd *just* have sassafras products, I'd never get any customers

[Gobae]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

At the risk of sounding like a snarky asshole....

Since you posted your "Would you buy these" thread 18 days ago:

- You've taken business classes
- Researched your target audience ("everyone" doesn't cut it)
- Developed a business plan
- Know your applicable local, State, and Federal laws regarding businesses
- Know how to file sales tax
- Know how to report the additional income
- Have obtained a reseller certificate
- Know how much insurance will be (or if running a business will affect your homeowner's/renter's insurance)

I know how exciting it can be to make the leap of starting your own business. I also know (after having failed at two of them) that 18 days isn't enough time to isn't enough time to fully research and learn all that is necessary to successfully run one.

Be honest with yourself, be patient, do the 'homework', and build a business and product that will last.

Good luck

[B. de Corbin]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

Hot Rocks

Wired

Silver & Stones

Wearable Magic

What I Like To Do When Nobody Is Looking
(a long name, but oddly interesting)

Things to Help You look as Good as You Are

---------- Post added at 04:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:30 PM ----------

At the risk of sounding like a snarky asshole....

Since you posted your "Would you buy these" thread 18 days ago:

- You've taken business classes
- Researched your target audience ("everyone" doesn't cut it)
- Developed a business plan
- Know your applicable local, State, and Federal laws regarding businesses
- Know how to file sales tax
- Know how to report the additional income
- Have obtained a reseller certificate
- Know how much insurance will be (or if running a business will affect your homeowner's/renter's insurance)

I know how exciting it can be to make the leap of starting your own business. I also know (after having failed at two of them) that 18 days isn't enough time to isn't enough time to fully research and learn all that is necessary to successfully run one.

Be honest with yourself, be patient, do the 'homework', and build a business and product that will last.

Good luck

This is right, but it is also wrong. I'll explain what I mean, Yukanaoe, and you can take it or leave it...

Starting a business is not hard, but there is hard work. How hard the work is depends on how large you want your business to get.

You do want to get a business license - it's usually about $10 at your local city government office - one time fee, no renewal. This will allow you to:

A. Get a business account at your local bank. You want to do this so you can keep your business finances seperate from you household finances. You'll find it much easier to do your taxes this way. If you are just running a hobby business and don't expect to make much money, you can skip this.

B. Buy supplies without paying sales tax on them.

C. File state taxes (be sure to collect tax when you sell within your own state - if your state has a sales tax). This is really useful because, if you don't make a profit, your business losses are deductable from your Federal taxes. Set yourself up as a "Sole Proprietorship." This is the cheapest and easiest way to go - it doesn't require a lawyer, and there are no fees. However, if your business goes bankrupt, you'll have to pay your debts out of your household income, which is probably what you'd do even if you don't have a business license.

D. Have something to frame and hang up so you look like a real business person. Put it right above the framed one dollar bill you get from your first sale.

After that, my recommendation is to start out small (which you have to do anyway unless you got gobs of money you can afford to loose, in which case you'll also have a lawyer who can give you better advice than I can), and build up gradually, learning what you need to know as you go along.

If you plan to sell on the internet, you'll need to learn as much as you can about SEO. Don't even THINK of starting a web-based business until you know what SEO stands for... It's actually better to set up a shop through a venue like Etsy or Artfire (most people have more success with Etsy) than it is to set up an independent website because these venues are established and already attract a clientel who want to spend money.

Sooner or later you'll want a business plan so you will know what direction you want to move in - but later is fine. Until you have a bit of experience under your belt, you won't know what to do with a business plan anyway...

You should certainly take business classes when you can, and especially accounting classes. But - you can do it later when you have more of a need. As with the business plan, the classes won't mean much until you have some actual experience.

Or you could just chuck it all and live below the radar. If you aren't making money, nobody cares if you file your taxes or not (when you have expenses without profit, you have a deduction, though, so it's to your advantage to file). If you are making money, nobody will pay any attention unless you start making $20,000 a year or more. And if you are being paid in cash, nobody can catch you anyway unless your day job pays $25,000 and you are buying personal jets.

Bottom line (for me) is this - If you want this business to be your main job, it'll require a huge investment in 1. money, 2. time, 3. knowledge - and the odds are that the business will fail (3 out of 4 new business fail within the first year). You will also end up spending 80 plus hours a week working it, 'cause you are the boss, the design team, the production team, the accountant, the delivery boy, the research and development group, and the custodian.

If you want a hobby business that might pay for itself and might give you a bit of pocket change, have fun with the hobby, sell what you can when you can, and enjoy the journey - it's all for fun anyway, right?

I started out as ignorant as a newborn gerbil, and learned as I went along. I'm not getting rich, but I have a thousand or so coming in and going out each month - the selling is enough to support the work I like to do. For me, that's fine. If you want to be the next Bill Gates, it's gonna be harder, and you'll need to be smarter than Gates was. Good luck with that...

Yukanaoe, do what you enjoy, and enjoy doing it. Sort out the details later.

[yukanaoe]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

thank you guys very much! i appreciate your help

[DanieMarie]

Re: New buisness? whats the name? YOU decide

Also not sure about there (you have to look into it though)....but here you don't need a business license to do small business. You can declare yourself a freelance trader up until a certain point, which limits you in that you can't hire anyone and after a certain point of income you have to get a business license, but you can always choose to "upgrade" at any point and until then as long as you're making under a certain amount, it's just easier, cheaper and more efficient (for everyone, including the government, and that's why they do it).

Also in Canada if you're starting with small arts and crafts you don't have to immediately do it as a business either. I sold lingerie in 2005 there and declared it as freelance income, though once again, I made under a certain amount.

Just saying you should look into it in your state, because if you're starting from nothing with no customer base, it's cheaper to work as a freelance artisan if you can.

I agree about business skills. I studied business originally for that reason (though now I think that's more my full time career direction over being an entrepreneur). You can't teach writing a business plan. Anyone who thinks you can is probably trying to sell you something or needs to fill their program with another credit. There's a lot online about how to write one....just work on it and get others to look through it. The more thorough, the better. While accounting classes are more valuable, it's also something you can teach yourself if you're good at math (and I'd know....I take business as a major and have done two accounting classes, but I study distance and essentially teach myself, especially this year when our tutor was NO HELP whatsoever). Marketing is a HUGELY overlooked skill in my opinion (which I admit is a bit biased as it's my major). You HAVE to know who your customer is, what they want, how to reach them, etc. The rest is easy enough to learn and cheap enough to get help on to be honest, but this is something that is integral to sales and not really easy to get outside help with, especially initially.

You'll have to work super hard to make it full time, and even if you want to sell anything part time, research is your friend. Know your channels and know your customers!