I'm looking to start up a business. A commercial printing business at that. I was wondering what kind of tips you people might have.

I'm hoping to have a S corporation, or a corporation of some sort(LLC??). I'm still not sure which one will work best. Nonetheless i know that i want to go with a corp of some sort.

The printing business will be more like a printing brokerage. Clients and customers bring their job to us. We pick the best printer to do that job. This isn't some small do it yourself cheap stuff you buy from an electronic store. The printing done will be 4 color offset printing, done with film and plates. The real way to print spectacular postcard, business cards, catalogs etc.

Now, why would you come to a printing broker? Because a printing broker knows the best place to get your job printed. Different printing presses have different size presses. Different places specialize in each kind of printing. Not only that, but the printing broker and get a better price than you can by going directly to the people with the printing press.

My other questions have more general. i really feel like a newbie for asking some of these.

The business plan: What does it need to contain? what makes an effective business plan? Probably a topic within itself.

Hoping to make a kick ass business plan and obtain grants and/or loans. I'm not looking for a huge amount of capital. about $10-15k. Hoping to obtain an SBA loan.

How does an SBA loan work? What is the application process?

Any information is helpful. Starting a business will probably be the hardest thing to attempt in my life so far. Espcially since 99% of business fail with in 10 years. 90% within 5 years.

Any books to recommend? I've found E-myth by michael gerber quite helpful and insightful.

Thanks

 

Just curious, why would someone go to YOU instead of just going to KINKOS?

 

Well, it depends what kind of printing you need done. If you just need a few xerox copies, I'm definitely not the right place to go to. This would be more of b2b than for the general public. Kinko's can probably get the job done. But their color copy capabilities are done with a color copier most of the time. Compared to off set printing, the quality of offset printing is much better. Afterall, the press is the size of a car, or larger. Not only that, but kinko's has high markups.

 

There are a number of reasons to set up a corporation. You should do some research though into the different types of entities you can use, because they each have different benefits. For a small company though, S corporations are typically the best because you are protected in terms of liability and do not get double taxed personally. The only down to having an S corporation is that it is not a good format to go public in because of the way taxes are calculated for shareholders. That's probably a long way off for you though so I wouldn't worry too much. You can buy a business starter kit, which is what I did the first time I set up my corporation and it was a great guide. While a business plan is important, especially when starting to look for funding, there are documents you should concentrate on first to finish the corporation in my opinion. You need to write by-laws, even if they are very simple. These are basically like a set of rule (laws) that the company will follow. This is also where you will set up who gets voting rights, what positions will be filled by whom, etc. You also will determine how many shares of stock the company will be broken down into and how much stock will get you on the board, etc.

MeTh222 -
I believe the type of printing Midnight Runner is trying to do is probably commercial grade. I used to work for an advertising agency and while we won't bad mouth Kinkos, it just isn't the highest grade stuff, they are marketed more toward consumers, not businesses.

 

Hi.....a newbie here. You can call me willy. I know least about the topic you are discussing. I will try to get more information about that. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

Best advice: Start doing some research. Not knowing what the SBA offers, or what a business plan is or what it is comprised of is a bit scary. Sorry, just being honest.

After doing your research, meet with professionals to mentor and guide you. Looking for business advice on this forum is, um, also a bit scary.

Good luck.

 

^ lol @ bump of 6 year old thread.

 

Spam bump?

 

I think Newbie Willy is just learning to check post dates...

 

Check henry' s sig