Harbour & Associates

So you are starting a business and can’t decide whether it should be a company or remain a sole proprietor. It really depends upon the nature of the business, who your customers or clients will be and your expectation of success. So let’s take a look at it. One-man goods or service provider to the general public. You don’t expect to do more than earn a decent living, so you want to keep things simple and keep the costs down. Also, the general public don’t usually care whether they are dealing with a company or an individual. As far as…

I get lots of calls from people who want to start a business. It is difficult to respond to them because they really have no idea what it means to start, grow and run a business. So, here’s a straightforward guide. Decide what the business will sell. What great idea do I have? What am I really good at? What are people/companies badly in need of? What do I need in order to deliver the goods or services? A factory? Plant and equipment? Offices? Office furniture and equipment? Delivery vehicles? How will I make connection with my potential customers? Word…

So you’re thinking of starting your own business. Why may I ask? Freedom? Ha! Wealth? Ha! Ha! Passion? Now you’re talking! But if it is a passion for sewing or carving or designing or whatever it is that you do well, then sorry for you. You have to be passionate about being a business person, because it doesn’t matter what the underlying product is, you won’t succeed unless you run the business properly and that means you won’t be doing much of what the business does – you won’t have time. The beginning is all too easy. You don’t have…

I guess the first thing is to ask yourself “Why do I want to start a business?”. To get rich? Forget it! Freedom? Forget it! To make a living? Sounds good! To satisfy a dream? Also good! Sure, some people in business actually do get rich. But I haven’t met many in the last 30 years or so that I have been with Harbour and Associates. And freedom? Freedom is going to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, leaving about 55 hours a week to enjoy other things and that’s not including the 13 public holidays when…

So you’re starting a new business. You figure that you can undercut the established competition because you don’t have their overheads. You are about to make your first two mistakes as a business person. Firstly, you are relying on your low prices to get business, whereas you should be differentiating yourself so that you stand out from all the rest. Secondly, if there’s not some extra fat in the price, you’ll never grow, or if you do, you’ll soon run short of cash and won’t be able to afford the overheads that are necessary to sustain growth. So, stop thinking…

new business

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If you don’t charge for overheads, you’ll never get them.

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