2 Responses to “How much money do I need to start a business software?”

1. ray_8128s on July 29th, 2010 7:44 am

   A good place to start is a business plan. Without one it is very doubtful anyone will loan you money or other companies invest in your services.

   I doubt you can do all those things now and should concentrate on one area that you are best skilled at and that is the most profitable with the plan later to expand into those and other other areas (if it makes financial sense) later when you have the people and other resources to expand.

   Small Business Administration (offers many free services)
   http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

2. DIKI on July 29th, 2010 8:10 am

   It depends on your type of business and how quickly you plan to expand. You should sit down and write out how much your expected expenses will be for at least the next 24 months and how much you project to bring in as far as income on a monthly basis. There are several companies that can help you get started with funding your business.

   Financing for a Small Business
   ► Obviously this depends on the type of business – retail, service, consulting, etc., but as a former owner of two fairly successful book stores, I can’t claim to have followed my own suggestions to others. I got lucky in both situations and “disproved” my own rules of thumb, which follow (for retail businesses only):

   ► Determine the best location for the type of retail business by looking at other successful businesses of the same type.
   ► If a street corner location is desired, note WHICH street corner other businesses of the same type occupy. Some corners are better than others, depending on the flow of day or night-time traffic, usually AFTER the traffic light in the direction of the main flow and very visible to passers-by. Follow the old rule of success in business: location, location, location.
   ► Find the lowest possible rental space for the desired area and negotiate a short-term lease (6 months, if possible) because if your business fails before your lease is up, you will be liable for the balance of the term of the lease.
   ► Determine, if possible, what kind of monthly sales other businesses of your type have. This can be in dollars or in product volume. Either figure will give you the needed information for determining your bottom line.
   ► Determine what the monthly cost of utilities (if not provided in the lease) will be.
   ► Find the lowest cost fixtures possible. There are businesses in large (and some medium sized) cities which specialize in theses items. Counters, display cases, registers, etc. can be had used, which defrays the initial cost and allows for other necessary expenses – like more inventory.
   ► If your retail business will need more than yourself (or family members) to run, then figure out how many employees you might need to start. Use the lowest figure possible. If it’s an immediate success you can always hire more as needed. Figure on spending at least 50 hours a week on the business yourself but NO MORE THAN 70 hours a week. Any less than 50 and you’re not spending enough time to develop the business. Any more than 70 and you’ll burn out very quickly.
   ► Figure out how much and what variety of stock you’ll need to meet your projected demand of a full fledged business (look at #4) and then cut that by 1/3 or 1/2, but leave enough to make the shelves look reasonably well stocked. You won’t be selling as much as the established businesses at first but you need enough to meet initial demand.
   ► Now start adding up those figures and then multiply that by 3 months’ worth of costs.
   ► If at all possible, start off with your own money, NOT a loan from family and definitely NOT a loan from a bank. Get a government grant if possible. Failed businesses often force people to go into bankruptcy and that’s not a pleasant experience. It can also ruin families, so start off with money that you could put into a slot machine and never miss if you lost it all.

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