Virtually Yours Personal Assistants

When I was younger I said I’d tell my kids to pick a career that best met the following criteria:

1. Something you’re good at
2. Something you enjoy
3. Makes great money

I did that. I’m good at math. I enjoy working alone and solving problems. I liked engineering, that made good money. I did it. I chose engineering and guess what I liked it! For about 7 years……then I got that itch.

Yup, the seven year itch. I realized that though I still liked engineering, there were other things I liked more and there are other things I’m good at and (gulp) the money just doesn’t make it worth it anymore. That’s when I decided to rethink my own advice.

I no longer like working alone. I like interacting with people. I’m great at finding resources. I’m still fantastic at solving problems. So……. I and my staff interact with people to help them find resources to solve their small business problems. AND I LOVE IT!

Now my advice to my kids will be:

1. Figure out you love to do!
2. Become great at it.
3. Do it!
4. If you love it, the money won’t matter anymore. And if your great at it. The money will come.
5. Once you don’t like it anymore…..do something else.

I think the same advice applies to anyone choosing a second career. Here’s another blog post gives a similar viewpoint.

What will your advice be?

One of the first steps in starting a business is developing a business plan. It’s a pretty scary step but one that is vital in helping to determine the future direction of your venture. Here’s a list of resources we recommend:

FREE

SCORE Business Plan Template: http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html

BPlans.com also has a number of free plans available online in several categories: http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/index.cfm 

LOW COST

Check your local community college for a continuing education course on business plan writing. For a relatively small fee you’ll meet other aspiring entrepreneurs, get low cost classroom materials, and have an instructor who can answer questions and refer you to other resources.

MODERATE COST

Review Amazon.com to find highly reviewed books on business plans (or save a few bucks by borrowing them from your local library). If you insist on spending money, one book we personally recommend is New Venture Creation - Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century by Timmons and Spinelli. At 700 pages its no quick read but the CD that accompanies the book is an excellent resource for thinking through every aspect of your new venture.

Once written, you should revisit your business plan periodically to review and, if necessary, reevaluate your direction.

What other business plan writing resources would you recommend?

OK, so you have a great idea and you wanna start a business. Great!

Where do you start? Well, at the beginning of course! Built and maintained by the federal government, this site http://www.business.gov is one of the most concise resources for anyone in the United States who wants to start a business. It lists the licensing and regulation requirements for each state as well as tons of useful information for new and existing businesses. Just select your state and the type of business you want to start. It will direct you to the websites and locations in your area to get all the information you need. Many states have forms available online so all your filing can be completed from your desktop.

Know any other great sites for licensing and registrating your business? Share the wealth!