Tools and Tips for the Entrepreneur

• See the series from USA Today on Small Business Startups featured at www.startup.usatoday.com. There are 6 steps reviewed complete with worksheets and videos.
• Review the attached list of E-types to match your passion with your talents and take the on-line E-test. If you love antiques, should you open a store, become an appraiser, set up websites for antique dealers, or become a dealer?

• LegalZoom (www.legalzoom.com) offers inexpensive and reliable filing assistance, but they are not lawyers.
• Review the options of Sole Proprietorship, partnership, LLC,and incorporation. There are different tax requirements for each type of business.

• Trademark search for free at www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp.
• Search the internet for names for uniqueness and us the ™ symbol until you decide whether to register your mark.
• Develop a non-disclosure agreement form and present it when meeting with outside sources that will work on your concept/product.

• The Small Business Administration Office in Santa Ana is a great resource http://www.localresources/district/santa/index.html
• SCORE is a resource partner with the SBA http://www.score114.org/ offering counseling and workshops (many free) on all aspects of business. They have document/planning templates.
• Develop a circle of advisors that strengthen your weaknesses, i.e. finance, marketing, organization, legal, etc.
  
• Advisors can serve as contractors, minimizing fixed costs.
  
• Consider the USA Today/Gannett Small Business Challenge. Five entrepreneurs will be followed in 2010 and appear in USA Today. www/smallbusinesschallenge.usatoday.com
• Come to WomanSage Re-Invent meetings on the first Tuesdays and network

E-Types
Advisor/Counselor: has significant experience and knowledge that others are willing to pay for. Gaining the credibility needed to star in this E-type takes time, but the best of the best command high fees.

Builder/Creator:  excels at making things, whether it's paintings, wedding cakes, or skyscrapers. Starting out can be slow — it takes time to become established in this E-type. But long-term rewards can be great.

Caregiver/Maintainer:  capable of providing consistent, reliable, nurturing care to others. Often, the work is hard and the pay is low, but for this special type of person, job satisfaction is what matters.

Communicator/Trainer:  exceptionally good with words — whether written or verbal — and excels at communicating complex ideas to others. Competition in these fields is fierce, but so is demand.

Entertainer/Host:  thrives on being with — or in front of — other people. This outgoing person enjoys the spotlight, can command the attention of an audience and loves making others happy.

Investor/Owner:  good with numbers, good with money, willing to take carefully calculated risks, and has available (or is able to raise) investment funds. The risks and rewards can be great.

Organizer/Administrator:  keeps things running like clockwork. They excel at managing multiple tasks, details and deadlines. They don't need to be the star of the show, but without them, there is no show.

Seller/Broker:  an enviable E-Type. Every industry needs the services of competent salespeople. Good Seller/Brokers can make a nice living; great ones can make more money than almost any other E-Type.

Technologist/Engineer:  the person who designs, makes, sells or services all those gadgets the rest of us need but can't figure out. They, of course, are paid well, but competition is getting fiercer.