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“We’re trying to get to people who are interested in opening a business the information they need,” said Kyle Smith, director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Houston.
The free workshop, hosted by El Campo’s Northside Education Center, will not be a general lecture session. Instead, Greg Clary, an extension economist, will provide one-on-one guidance to attendees.
Ranging reporter Brandon L. Leonard talked with Clary about some of the basics of small and home-based business.
Q: Who is best suited to start a small or home-based business?
A: Someone who wants to do something on a part-time basis, maybe take a hobby or interest and turn it into a business or something to supplement their income.
Some of these people have property and are interested in finding out how to use it and turn it into a business.
Q: What should someone think about before starting a home-based business?
A: It’s going to be demanding on their time.
Some people are just not cut out to work for themselves.
They need to think through all the implications, the effect it will have on their personal life.
They have to be responsible to their customers. It’s not just an 8 to 5 job. It’s more demanding than just showing up and working somewhere.
Some don’t know what to do to start a business, a lot of it is sifting through the ideas you have to see if it’s going to be profitable.
Q: What kind of advantages and disadvantages come with operating a home-based business that others wouldn’t see?
A: There are some tax implications.
They have to operate it from a tax standpoint like any business. There are some additional responsibilities and obligations that people who work for someone else don’t have.
Sometimes, people are able to claim as an expense, things that they can’t cover if they were working for someone else. I tell them to talk with a certified public accountant, to figure all that out.
Q: Do you have any tips or tricks for starting a home-based business?
A: The number one thing I try to get people to do is develop some kind of good solid plan so that they don’t run here and there wasting their time and resources.
It doesn’t have to be a 30-page document or anything, but they need to have it planned out so that they know what they’re doing.
Before you spend a bunch of money, you need to make sure you’ve answered the key questions, which are not difficult but require thought.
And they need to justify their decision by looking at the market.
It needs to be a market-based decision, not just something that’s fun to do. Having fun doing something is a hobby. But when you put a business together it’s to make money, not just have fun.
Q: What is a pitfall you tell people to look out for?
A: If the idea sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Be careful of what other people try to tell you.
Make sure you’re going to be able to sell something. If you can’t sell something, you don’t have a business.
Also, I always tell people to keep their business finances and personal ones separate.
Sometimes, when you’ve been working for someone else for a while, you can forget basics like that.
Brandon L. Leonard is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-574-1286 or bleonard@vicad.comcate.com.