The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Starting And Running A Business

This looks really cool. This is a great resource for those starting out in offline marketing.

Yeah, that was a great read. Made me think about a couple things in my own business. thanks for sharing.

I agree that by #26, you "get it". I like "Do as many ideas possible. The right idea will pick you." the best. I recommend everyone read this, newbies and experts alike. Thanks for the share.

And this....
Should I pay taxes? No. You should always reinvest your money and operate at a loss.
priceless!

#21 is pretty stupid IMO. Is a great way to bring in new clients every month.

I never said it was the most effective way to start a business, but to throw it out the window like it does nothing doesn't make much sense. Obviously shouldn't be the only way you market your business but it is a great way if you know what you are doing.

Also this point you made

"SEO can make you money. But you will not build a large business off SEO. While the opposite is true. You could build a large business without SEO. Your site will rank hirer for terms naturally as your other marketing will create the same signals for google that SEO would. So the very process of building and marketing a business will create the same rankings as SEO likely would just not as fast."

If your keywords are very non-competitive then it could rank. But if you are trying to rank for let's say "Web Design Chicago" or something like that it will never happen.

If there are a lot of searches being done for a high value product then doing SEO is fantastic. (which you mentioned)

Besides that point and a couple others I enjoyed the article, thanks for the share

I agree. I was just trying to expand upon his thought process and show why he would answer that way. He says the answers will not apply to all businesses. But I think this answer and in fact all 100 answers when taken on an individual basis would apply to the vast majority of businesses.

For those selling SEO understanding why that is true and how to sell around that point would help them sell more. Instead many who sell SEO sell it as if it will be game changing for the business. And for the vast majority of businesses it will not be. To truly understand what your service is (faults & benefits) and how it will better your clients business is the mark of an expert sales person.

The businesses owner and manager knows, perhaps only subconscious, that SEO will not be this game changer that SEO companies hype it out to be. So would the honest salesperson selling honest and true benefits of SEO make more sales? I assure you that they would.

"Sir how many customers do you serve each month?"

"(answers)"

"The reason I asked you that is I wanted to show you this. (show monthly search results for terms they should be ranking for) I think we both agree that ___ (number searching for term) is nothing compared to ___ (his monthly customers), correct?"

"Yeah ___ seems very small when put into that context"

"I'm glad we agree. I'm not going to tell you a bunch of hype. I'm going to give you honest answers. It's what I would want and I am sure it is what you want. Am I right."

"I've always been a straight shooter son and expect the same."

"I have too. My grandma would roll over in her grave watching me from heaven if I wasn't. So now I want you to look at this. (show print out of actual google search for term). See _______, _______, & _______ on here? (all competitors that rank above them) Now see where you are? Now I want you to stop and think. When you search for something on google where do you click and how many results do you click?"

"I guess I normally click on the first few and as few as it takes to get me what I need."

"And how often do you buy from those places that you click on when you are searching?"

"Well I guess if I was searching to buy something I buy from the last one. The one where I found what I was looking for."

"And the vast majority, myself included, do the same. So ___ (number searching monthly) isn't going to change your business. But right now those ____ people are likely buying from _____, ______, and _______. Wouldn't they get better service buying from you?"

"Our service is #1."

"Which is why I am here. We work with the best because we want people to find the best. So you would say it not only benefits you to get their business but it also benefits those people searching to buy from you, right? Seems like the right thing to do would be to make sure they find you and buy from you, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah i get customers all the time that bought from _______ first and they tell me they wish they had come to us the first time."

"I think it's time to tell you how my team can help make statements a thing of the past......"

C-corp appeals to more but the rise of LLC and it's ability to do both has left it in the dark. But you may have a point that most businesses would not benefit from C but that is because most businesses are not built as businesses. They are build as jobs for the owner(s).

The core idea behind why the C corp would benefit most true businesses is really a tax problem. A proper tax attorney would show this better but the basic idea is to use a C corp to get taxed at a lower rate.

First by leaving profit in the businesses vs. being forced to get taxed on it via the pass thru of S. The point being that the corp rate should be lower than your personal rate and if you don't need the money for personal reasons it is better left in the business.

Second it is about using capital gains to pay yourself with a 15% tax rate vs. your higher personal rate. Think Buffet and most corp executives.

Third it is about using the the corporation to buy things. Example a Jet. Yes you will be charged for personal use and pay taxes on it but you are only charged when uses it while the business takes the hit. And yes you can do this in other forms but C IMO increases the benefit.

The other idea behind C is the fact it makes you a "real" business which helps with VC and selling for the big pay day. Like Delaware the benefit isn't as big for small businesses but if they plan to grow and be big you should start off on the right foot.

I'm heading out and might touch on how I feel on a few others you brought up later. Kinda fun to see which we agree with and which we disagree with,

That article was written for the proverbial technology company founder - and not the Warrior. This is stuff I was taught as part of a tech incubator.

Great stuff, just not the audience.

Great read! A true mirror of what some of us are doing (or trying to do...) right now.

Kudos OP!

S and C Corporations Create Different Tax Consequences | BizFilings Toolkit

Ian this article in the C Corp side talks about some of the things I was thinking about but not fully able to explain. And I am not sure of all the rules to make a dividend a capital gain but doing that for a high income person is a huge advantage. Also avoiding the self employment tax is huge. A high income individual with the right tax lawyers is surely better off with C.

But I do believe i was mistaken on a few rules of C. And unsure on a few others now.

After checking into a few things I now would say I 100% believe for most companies choosing C in the beginning is a mistake. But once established it may be good to convert to C.

Honestly points like that I took as his personal opinion. The only real answer to that question (and a few others) should be ask your lawyers.

Later I may run though the list and see how many I disagree with.

6) Should you require venture capitalists to sign NDAs? No. Nobody is going to steal your idea.

Yeah right. One can only wonder how the story may have gone if the Vanderwinkle twins had required Zuckerburg sign an NDA and a non-compete, before including him in their Facebook idea.


Anytime you have an original product, idea, service, etc., get as much of the protection paperwork in place as quickly as possible. Everyone is looking for that "great payday" and many people won't care that they stole it from you.

Wall of text: Read or Ignore. It is your choice.

1. Disagree: Ask a lawyer
2. Disagree: Ask a lawyer
3. Huh?
4. Agree: Build a business before trying to get investors.
5. Agree: Unless the idea is amazing you'll spend money before you know it is worth patenting. Plus likely a patent troll already did patent it.
6. Agree: NDA like Non-Competes are IMO worthless. They simply don't stand up in court and if someone really does steal your idea you can still sue an may or may not win. B5 and DS9 anyone?
7. Agree: Solid advice
8. Agree: Solid Advice
9. Agree: Always pay for services and get paid for yours.
10. Agree: True for most businesses. Market in your network and expand out.
11. Neither: The answer itself is wishy washy. Hard to have a one size fits all answer to this. Not everything can be a product or service some can only be one or the other.
12. Agree: There is never too much dilution if the price is right. Every offer needs to be considered individual though which I think is what he really means. You wouldn't give someone 99% of your company for $1,000 but for $1 Billion that is likely a smart move. Between the two is the correct answer. And personally I'd rather hold on to a small part of something big and let others do all the work. See deals like this on shark tank where people give up their own chance to make millions because the company is their baby. Unless you are an author or something like that it should never be your baby.
13. Agree: You should listen to all equity partners. But from there you have to decide if their advice it worth following. Also he seems to hate VCs. Not sure if that is sarcasm or not on his part.
14. Agree: Once you have given it a fair shot you need to change your plan.
15. Disagree: Completely foolish advice. The only thing I remember from my first read through that I truly thought was insane.
16. Agree: Something offliners need to know.
17. Neither: This will depend on the business. Updating and releasing too fast could harm the business.
18. Agree: Solid advice that offliners should know. New offerings to your current clients is a great way to expand your business.
19. Agree: Over deliver period. If what you give is always worth more than what they paid they will always be your client. Great advice for offliners.
20. Agree: Especially with the find someone who can do it. Hopefully the businesses you send clients to will do the same for you.
21. Agree: Above you saw my thoughts on why SEO should always be a secondary thought for the vast majority of businesses. Businesses built online only around traffic may be the most major exception to this.
22. Neither: Social Media for most businesses should be secondary. You don't ignore it forever but you don't put too much into it. For the vast majority it will not gain business but rather be a way to interact with customers. So "No" is too harsh but the idea behind the no makes sense. But it can't be ignored forever and at least the big one or two networks you will need to be part of. Unlike SEO this doesn't just happen without doing it.
23. Agree: Be an adult and a professional. Wanna be in Jr High? Go to Jr High.
24. Agree: Do multiple ideas and stick with the ones that work.
25. Agree: All of that was true. Even the friendster thing. The chances of you being the winner (Facebook) are small. There are more failures in business. Never reject a good offer for your business unless you are damn sure it's the right thing to do. Most people who reject regret it. But those who do and win truly win big. It's a big risk and one that only you can decide when it happens.
26. Agree though not every point will apply to all businesses. Also personally growing revenue is bigger than cutting costs in my mind. But you need to be aware of costs and how you could cut them.

1 to 26:
Agree: 19
Disagree: 3

I overwhelmingly think this is solid advice. I hoped by this point everyone would get the point which was stop over thinking and just do it. Revenue matters everything else is pomp. Do what you need to in order to make money. Period. Till you are making money you don't have a company.

27. Agree: Revenue (the would be profitable) allows you to have employees. Don't hire people just to hire them but a business where only you work is a job. And you will never scale yourself.
28. Agree: If your business is solid and you need working capital someone will back you. If you have no profit or chance of profit and the only way you can stay in business is to keep raising money you need to realize you have a charity and not a business.
29. Agree: Most people get an office before they need it.
30. Agree: If you can't even get one person to buy from you don't spend money on the business. Just because you think the market wants it doesn't mean they do. You're not Steve Jobs you don't know what people want before they want it.
31. Agree: If you are building a business money needs to be reinvested. And you don't get taxed in that case. The advice is solid even if clearly a bit sarcastic. You want to make a profit but if using that money to grow makes you take a loss do it. It really isn't a loss if profit is fueling growth.
32. Agree
33. Agree: Build a job if you want a huge salary. You get paid when there is profit. More CEOs need to learn this.
34. Agree: But you shouldn't have hired them in the first place IMO
35. Agree If she isn't the one don't put mr happy in her period. That's a liability. Don't pick up women at work.
36. Agree: Toss bad employees fast.
37. Disagree: I think employees should be aid on what they do. Commission for all basically so they earn their raise by doing more. Tie income to results and be happy to pay them more.
38. Neither: Specific to Tech start ups and similar
39. Agree: Most businesses including tech start ups do not need equity holder advisers. Need an adviser? Find a mentor or pay for a consultant. Very few advisers are providing worth at a level you would give equity away. Sorry Tim Ferris but you know it's true.
40. Agree: Board Members Should be Owners/Investors. Tech is an area where they break this all the time. Wonder how Apple felt when Android came out. Oh yeah that NDA worked well didn't it? (greta example proving earlier points)

41 to 49: LOL never noticed they didn't exist

50. Disagree: a full buy out is only something the owners can decide. But like before with friendster you are more likely to lose if the offer is big. And cash isn't always best.
51. Agree: That is the best use of email. Cold Emails are worthless. People here need to know that.
52. Agree: Free is ok but free doesn't mean they will pay later. You need the right model/funnel to make free work best.
53. Agree
54. Agree: Unless you just want to go and use the business as a way to write it off. IRS man might not like it though.
55. Agree: Go where your competition and customers are.
56. Agree: Blogs work for most businesses. Also not sure why he says yes here but no to social media. Seems to be they go hand in hand.
57. Agree: Volume wins over gross in the long run. Just make sure your margins don't make your business a job. Low margins can mean no money to pay employees.
58. Agree: For most ideas you don't need a separate business. Just makes accounting nightmares. Only separate if completely unrelated and even than consider Virgin as the counter point. Umbrellas are not bad. Unless they are in video games.
59. Agree: Your best friend should not be an employee. Your business is not a place to hang out.
60. Disagree: Not sure you should start with no. You shouldn't disagree with anyone you are selling to. Always agree and redirect. Which is what he may mean.
61. Disagree: You can agree without saying "yes". If they ask you to strip naked you can agree that they would enjoy that. But redirect away from it.
62. Joke Question
63. Agree: An investor you can work with and who will help you is worth more than having an extra 5% equity. Watch Shark Tank to see this happen. Some people take the best deal with the wrong people and others take a worse deal to get the right people. People matter more than money.
64. Disagree: At least get a DBA at the courthouse. $100 or less can make you a professional business (DBA, bank account, PO Box, etc). Incorporate later. Which may be what he meant even if not what he said.
65. Disagree: Though gifts are fine tie pay into results. Bonuses are one of the most common ways to do this. Do not just give random bonuses. And for contests gifts are often better than money. People want recognition not always money.
66. Agree: Though depending on your size a gift basket may be too much. But sending out a gift to clients, mentors, employees, and etc is good advice.
67. Disagree: Say jack shit unless you are their friend. Business and personal should mix naturally or not at all. You have no idea if he is happy or sad he got divorced if you don't know him personally. So don't say crap. Exception is deaths. Send a card and flowers.
68. Agree: Two Months of real 100% effect is enough to test most ideas. Two months of not doing anything is not.
69. Joke Answer
70. Agree: This is the real answer to 69. People are busy. While your business is the number one prioty to you it is not to Investors or Clients. If they don't call you back give a reasonable time and call them back.
71. Agree: Most professional CEOs are overpaid idiots. See Apple in the 80's and 90's. Jobs should have been their man always. Investors convinced him to hire someone.
71 (doubled). Disagree: If you can sell you should be head of sales. If you can't hire someone. His advice is solid for me but not for every business owner.
72. Disagree: You set the boundaries. If you answered when he called then there are no boundaries. Otherwise call him back by 10am. If the voicemail is serious call back by 8am.
73. Agree: Always own up when you mess up.
74. Agree: This depends on the business. But always follow what you think while taking the advice of investors into consideration.
75. Disagree: Don't borrow from your business. If you need money the business should be paying you more.
76. Agree: Though two years may be too long or two short you should not try to just buy and combine companies. Sometimes they are best left running separate. You can't know if that is true if you combine without waiting to see.
77. Agree: Quite when the business can pay you. Otherwise you will be broke and the business will fail. Better to grow slow than fail.
78. Agree: At agree with what I think he means. Basically your customers and revenue will tell you rather your doubts are valid.
79. Agree: Competition isn't a bad thing if you can out perform them. If your can't outperform you will fail because even if you have no competition now sooner or later you will if the business is solid. Mayebe even from someone who signed you NDA or Non-compete. Remember neither will protect you.
80. Agree: you need people around you who support you. A negative wife will lead to your business or marriage failing. So make a choice when it is clear you will have to. Better to happen now vs. when you are worth 10 million.
81. Agree: Same as 81 but when not married
82. Agree: Everyone here knows I tell people to start local and bleed it dry before moving beyond.
83. Agree: Set expectations. His advice here might be extreme but you need everyone on the same page.
84. Agree: Quoted too low? Not the clients fault do the work and learn a hard lesson.
85. Agree: You don't need to be a tech to have a great tech idea. You can build it on paper and have it made into what you envision by those who have the skills.
86. Disagree: Personally I wouldn't recommend buying a franchise period. But if you do make sure it is solid and not only does the system perform but you can make it perform at or above peak.
87. Disagree: Though his advice is solid for buying a business. It has nothing to do with a franchise. I don't think he knows the franchise business model well.
88. Disagree: You need to change your offer or your funnel. Traffic means there is a market. They just don;t want to buy what you are offering how you are offering it.
89. Agree: If you literally have no traffic and are asking how to get some you shouldn't be in business yet. You don't have a business model. If you have some traffic and want more let's talk and see how we can help.
90. Agree: You will not need a PR firm for a while. But I wouldn't discount them completely but like any marketing make sure you are getting a good ROI.
91. Disagree: But I think he was being sarcastic. Basically if you ask that question and can't think of any answers yourself you may need to quite. So I disagree with his point but maybe agree with what he meant.
92. Agree: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting other results is silly.
93. Agree: Only you can know the answer to this. But if you are competing with your employer you should know the answer.
94. Agree: That sounds like a customer service mistake. If they called at 5pm on friday why couldn't you return the call sooner?
95. Agree
96. Agree: Customers = Money. Investors = Investment Never mistake the two.
97. Agree: Though the specific advice is maybe a bit too specific for all.
98. Disagree: Selling a business should be done when it makes sense. You don't want to sell the next Facebook but you don't want to end up the next Friendster either. You have to be smart about this.
99. Agree: Most of the time this is true. The exceptions make the rule.
100. Agree: He basically admits his selling early was a bad idea. Strange he gives others that advice.

Let's see
Agree: 67
Disagree: 18

Yeah it's not very cut and dry but S or LLC is better for most all at least to start. I agree now... I thought dividends were deductible. And that would change the tax picture a lot.

Though I am sure there are other forms and tricks the big companies use as even those owned by only a few people use C once they get large as far as I am aware.

These talks make you realize how important talking to lawyers and experts really is. Tax loopholes are there and that is why you pay someone thousands to save you millions. Might not apply like that to anyone in this room now but good habits like using professionals starts from day one.

Thanks for the share Aaron. I enjoyed the read.
Some good points and some I enjoyed taking them tongue in cheek.

I like #36 about when you should fire employees.

As to the type of incorporation, it depends upon the business. And, it's not always super easy or cheap to change types of corporations as you have to officially transfer or sell assets from one entity to the next.

Also, for many small businesses it's best to incorporate in your state because your state may come after you if they think you incorporated elsewhere to avoid paying the local taxes. SO Mr. Colorado man, how much business do you do in Delaware? How much time do you spend there? How much of the year do you live there? What is your business address in Delaware? Where are your cars registered? Where do your kids go to school?... I realize one can have an agent, etc., but it really depends upon the type of business. I bring it up because there are many budding offline consultants here and not incorporating in the primary state may cause headaches.

The cheat sheet says to use a C-Corp. Is this really what most of you are using? I thought the choice would really be between LLC and S-Corp for most internet marketers/bloggers.

Many thanks to Aaron Doud for a good bit of info on the cheat sheet.

I saw a few points I hadn't considered so all in all it has helped me.

Thanks
Brian

thanks for sharing this business start up and running cheat sheet, great questions