Home
News
Arts & Leisure
Sports
Business
Opinion
Dining
Gardening
Travel
Classifieds
Jobs
Community
Events
Forums
TV Listings
|
|
Community
 |
Starting Your Own Business in the Sedona Verde
Valley
By Marie King
|
Sedona.biz
(Sedona Verde Valley, Arizona) - One of the chief forms of work in the Sedona
Verde Valley is self-employment. Starting a business is risky but
can be lucrative and personally rewarding. It may also provide the
flexible lifestyle you crave.
To maximize the success of your business, here
are some steps that you can take:
Before Starting a Business, Get Professional
Advice
Starting a business is a complex task and
getting business counseling can help you avoid pitfalls. Fortunately, the Verde Valley has
a number of resources, most of them free:
| 1. |
The Arizona Small Business Development
Center is an alliance between Small Business Association and
the Arizona community colleges. The Center provides free
counseling and seminars at a nominal cost. To access the nearest
center, you can contact the Director Rick Marcum, who is located
at Yavapai College in Prescott, at 928-776-2008. |
| 2. |
SCORE is a non-profit staffed by
retired business men who volunteer their time to help others
start businesses. They also provide free counseling and
seminars at a nominal cost. To find out more about what it
offers, you can visit its website at
www.scoreaz.org. |
| 3. |
The Center for Business Outreach at
Northern Arizona University provides training, information,
technical assistance and support services. For more
information, you can visit their website at
www.cba.nau.edu/business/bocbo/. |
| 4. |
The local Chamber of Commerce
can
help you identify those market segments that are growing and those to avoid. At a recent
town meeting, Sedona Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff
said that very few people starting a business in Sedona contact the
Chamber of Commerce beforehand. Said Ms. Wesselhoff,
“Often times new owners are so passionate about their idea,
they
feel they can overcome all obstacles. We offer a reality
check.” To contact the Sedona
Chamber of Commerce, you can visit their website at
www.sedonachamber.com. |
Write a Business Plan
Launching a business requires taking risks.
Writing a business plan is a means of reducing those risks and
maximizing your success by thinking through the issues ahead of time
before you commit money; and if you want to borrow money, the bank
will require a business plan.
You can find information on how to write
a business plan and sample plans on the Small Business Administration
Website
www.sba.gov (click on starting a business).
On its website
www.commerce.state.az.us/ the Arizona Department of Commerce
suggests that you ask yourself four questions when writing a
business plan:
- What service or
product does your business provide and what need does it fill?
- Who are the potential
customers for your product and why will they purchase the
product from you?
- How will you reach
your potential customers?
- Where will you get the
financial resources to start a business?
Here are some other questions you might want to
ask yourself:
- Who is the competition
and is there an opportunity to provide a better product or
service than they do?
- Is your business in a
growing industry or one that is shrinking?
- How much money do you
have to make to cover your costs, and is this realistic?
- Are your skills and
personality well
suited for the business?
Determine How You Will Finance Your Business
A number of individuals use their personal
funds such as savings, retirement income, or home equity to finance a
business, but many more need to borrow money to start an
enterprise.
Here are some resources you may consider to obtain
capital.
| 1. |
Your Bank or Financial Institution
may be your best resource for obtaining a business loan. It
won’t be easy to secure a business loan. Most banks award loans
based on the cash invested, collateral, credit history and your
experience. |
| 2. |
Small Business Administration
offers a number of different loan programs to start or expand a
business. You can find out about that at
www.sba.gov/financing, and it also has grants that are
targeted at non-profits at
www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html. |
| 3. |
Arizona Department of Commerce
offers incentives and programs that promote economic development
as well as assistance to new corporations and growing Arizona
businesses.
http://www.azcommerce.com/BusAsst/Incentives. |
Make Sure That You File the Necessary
Paperwork With the City & State
One important piece in starting a business is
to file the paperwork necessary to comply with state and local regulations.
| 1. |
Arizona Department of Revenue has
information on what is required in terms of sales taxes for
retail businesses at
http://www.commerce.state.az.us, and it also produces a
brochure that details the Arizona state agencies that may
require licensing, certification or permits for doing business
in Arizona. You can obtain this licensing guide at
www.azdor.gov/609/licensingguide.htm. |
| 2. |
Arizona Secretary of State (www.azsos.gov)
handles issues around trade names and trademarks, and you can
contact them to reserve the name you have chosen for your
business and to ensure no one else in the state is doing
business under that name. |
| 3. |
Arizona Corporation Commission
deals with the documents you need to file in order to start
doing business in the state of Arizona. For more information on
filing for incorporation as a business, visit
www.cc.state.az.us. |
| 4. |
Contact your local City Government
to find out about local sales tax and regulations/licenses
for opening a business in the city limits. |
Create a Marketing Plan
The only way to grow a business is to get your
name out there, so customers know about the service or product you offer. A marketing plan allows you to
organize your strategy for advertising your business. To find out
more about marketing plans and see sample marketing plans, visit
www.knowthis.com.
For more information, visit
www.sedonatransitions.com or contact Marie King at 928-204-5691.
To find job listings in the Sedona Verde Valley, visit
SedonaVerdeValleyJobs.com.
[Home Page]
[News Home Page]
[Back to Community Page] |
|