Your Time Is Now

The time for your small business is now! The Corporate Company, Inc. has found that nearly 69% of all businesses that fail each year do so within the first year of operation. Our over-arching objective is to provide consultation for your Articles of Incorporation, Structure Selection and our 12 month corporate assistance to ensure your business model is answering all documentation requests from your state, accounting agencies, and your desired consumer. More importantly, our mission is to provide these products for free to assist in your small business growth.

Of course we have national competitors with familiar names; however their price structure requires hundreds and hundreds of your dollars in fees for state documents that are normally FREE to you. As your Registered Agent, we bring all of the corporate resources to you. The Corporate Company is here with the answer and the time is now!

There are no expedited fees because all filings are expedited as each state would allow. There are no costly business plans and expensive bindery portfolios and seals. Your new start up has no need of those things. We have found that these products add to escalated costs that fail to address the needs of the business and generally lend the owner to an environment that is unfamiliar to them in their quest for tangible information.

It’s time for your business to break through the clouded paper trails and get busy doing precisely what you do best; business. What you can expect from The Corporate Company is as follows:

· FREE Initial Business Consultation – Submit your application to assist us in determining what is most suitable for your business structure.

· FREE Structure Development – Implement the goals of your business by applying state requirements and policies to your corporate plans. During this phase, The Corporate Company will also make available local and partnering resources in your area that will further increase your success potential.

· FREE Name Search- We will assist you in your statewide name search to ensure the name that you desire for your business is available.

· FREE (DBA) Doing Business As – We will assist you establishing your documentation for State and National name recognition.

· FREE Articles of Incorporation – Initiate your corporate filing. The Corporate Company will tailor your business structure and articles to states and districts that are best suitable for your selected structure if desired. Just the same, tax requirements, incorporation requirements vary depending on the state. The owner is only responsible for state fees required for their desired filings. All other services rendered in conjunction with your articles filings are FREE

· FREE State Certification – Requests for state certification and/or certified copies of your filings. Any fees necessary, usually range $8-$20 will be paid by the owner. All other services rendered by The Corporate Company in conjunction with your state certifications are FREE.

· FREE Employer Identification Number – All businesses are required to apply and obtain this number. Bank accounts for your business are only provided with your EIN. We will file for your EIN and update your small business portfolio. Although every competitor will charge you a fee for this filing, the federal government provides this to you for free. The Corporate Company will file just as the others will do on your behalf and pass that savings on to you.

· FREE Follow-Up Filings – Any additional document filings in reference to your Articles of Incorporation you may require within the first 12 months of operation, The Corporate Company will file for you for FREE. The owner will be responsible for all fees associated with official filing fees with all state and municipalities however; there are no additional fees or surcharges due to our assistance on your behalf. Our objective is to help you divert all pertinent resources, both financial and sweat equity into your new small business (*this does not apply to 501 C3, Not for Profit filings for tax exemption).

· FREE Daily, Weekly and Monthly data notification – provides business resources, networking opportunities, financial and business lending information to small businesses. Message Boards, Email notifications geared to your business structure, industry and city that keeps you ahead of the curve with a customer centric focus. The Corporate Company makes all SBA and SCORE resources available to you and will at times suggest these resources for greater efficiency and potential success. These organizations provide their services at no additional cost so we will also pass that on to you for FREE.

· FREE State Updates – Many states require the small business owner to follow up with various filing documents and to meet certain filing dates unless incur additional states fees for delay. The Corporate Company ensures all filing dates and documents are submitted within the necessary time during the first 12 months of operation leading to your first annual state review and filing for FREE.

I think you get the idea! “Now is the time”. The Corporate Company has no interest in charging business owners for what is already FREE to you. Problem is you don’t know that. What should TCC expect from you? Only your hard work!

Your dedication to growing and making your business successful is your responsibility and yours alone. Becoming your own boss means you actually have to BE the boss and ensure your day to day operations are direct, targeted and consistent. That’s one job you can’t staff out. We can guide you, however your success is yours to obtain.

The Corporate Company is not permitted to make corporate decisions or act on your behalf in any legal and/or corporate matters of any kind, but what we offer suggestions concerning your business structure as make available to you the most recent of FREE resources that are not intending to lead the owners or companies to a specific outcome other than your success.

Any Ideas? Lets Talk About It!

An idea is less about thought; more about action!

So you think you’re ready to tackle your own business? You seem to have everything under control and on par, but what’s your business idea? Where is your mind-set? Are you thinking on your customer’s expectations? What are about your demographics? Sometimes you may find that you are your own biggest fan. Now that may not be so bad, as long as you aren’t your only fan!

Now that you’re ready, what is your next step? Most new comers have problems with that next phase as well so don’t be discouraged. I want to take a minute to give you a few tips on how to create wonderful business ideas that will assist in getting you off the ground and running.

Get Feedback: One of the steps taken when you visit us at The Corporate Company, Inc. is we get to serve as your feedback! Your ideas need objectivity and our strategy experts ask all the right questions; the pros and the cons with hopes of spurring the right patterns of thought that specifically affect your customer as well as your operation.

This is your business! You can’t staff this out and you can’t delegate your dreams to the next flunky or staffer. This is your baby, your vision and your idea. Own up to it and own it. Do all that you can, learn all that can, be everywhere you can to best understand your market as well as your client. What you have is a seed, but now it’s time to bring that seed to the point of germination and growth. The more you learn, the easier it will be to identify your successes as well as impending doom. There are gaps in the industry you are looking to service. So open yourself up to all that’s out there and you just might find that the idea you began with has evolved into an even better idea.

Change Your Mind: Alter the way you think about your business and your industry. For a moment, stop being the seller and become the buyer. How do you feel about what it is you see as the buyer? Turn the tables on yourself, but only if you’re going to be honest. With this new view of things, look for the service opportunities that you, the customer, would stand to receive from this service or product. Be positive in your diligence and efforts so that you may be best able to create excellent opportunities for thinking on great ideas for success.

Become the contractor and the architect for your business plans and dreams. Build toward that ultimate success one productive step at a time. When there is a string of successes, however small, celebrate them. Make them your new pattern to used repetitively. Every idea should contain a small piece of you and the passion you exude for your business. With every new layer, build it just as you did when you laid the initial foundation. Don’t look at the next layer of success as a new layer, but yet just another foundation.

A great idea is DOA when you don’t know what your corporate limitations are. It never becomes anything more than a great idea that never carried out. Don’t over promise your idea. If your product is a book, don’t say something is in the book that you know clearly is not just to sell the book. Know your plan and plan what you know. Don’t re-invent the wheel, but instead design newer ways for the tire to perform uniquely.

Plan out your idea and do your research: With what you discover, implement your ideas more smoothly and smartly. Just as it in Real Estate, location-location-location; so it is in business, plan-plan-plan! For those familiar with Six Sigma Business Planning, “checking the checker” is a poorly advised concept. However, as a small business owner, have a plan for the good plan that might quickly become a poor plan.

You’ve got great ideas and big plans; The Corporate Company wants to help you direct those ideas in the right direction. Take one step each day in the direction you want your business to go…your time is now. Let’s go!

Seeking Employment? Hire Yourself; Start Your Business Today

Are you qualified to be your own boss? You probably won’t know that until you decide if you would even be a good employee to yourself. Let’s assume the latter is true and promote you to head honcho. Now, can you deal with managing you? Sometimes it’s just gonna be you…but keep at!

As I speak to many of my clients (The Corporate Company, Inc.) regarding their vision for their new start up, I often attempt to get them to perform some sort of interview with themselves. Now, that sounds a bit insane, but they usually find it a bit helpful. There are several reasons you may want to try this on yourself as well.

Attendance- How are you with your attendance? Can you expect yourself to show up to work on time every day? One of the many concerns that I have when individuals start their own business is how attentive they will be to their own internal organizational needs. When you are wearing the time clock on your wrist, can you make it back to work on time and be productive?

Experience- Do you have what it takes to balance the day to day operation, your life, family, you? When attending one of the many traveling circuses, one of the most entertaining acts of them all is the juggling clown act. That’s what you will need to become…face paint included; never let them see you sweat. Pull on your previous experiences, however small they may be.

Turn each additional day into a time of building onto that experience. After becoming a single parent, I quickly realized that keeping a smooth running home was a bigger job that I had ever known it to be. I thought, if I can do this and get the kids out of the house each and every day with clean clothes on and packed lunches, then what else can I use those multi-tasking and organization skills for?

Become what you are looking for- The markets, both jobs market as well as the stock market may have imploded when you least expected it. Now what? You don’t know what that new employer is looking for, if they are truly hiring at all, but you do know what you are looking for. SsssOooo, become what it is you are looking for. Turn your ideas into a working gold mine that will permit you to meet the school bus as they arrive each day with your children. Design your work schedule to not interfere with preparing dinner and assisting with homework. But don’t stop there, being your own boss means you will have to hound yourself and ride your own back about that report that is due and completing all necessary tasks you assigned yourself that day regardless of what else is on your agenda. If you’re late picking up Johnny from soccer practice, tell him the truth, “my boss held me up, I had a few things to do before I could leave for the day”.

Performance- Do you work best for yourself or for someone else? Every time I ask that question, people lie to me! They expect me to want them to say that they work best for themselves since I am the small business owner guru, but the truth is always heard in my next question. Do you work best with a team or by your lonesome? Well, here’s how you can know when you’re lying to yourself. Generally, those who perform best for themselves also do their best work alone. Those are the delegators and the team leaders. So although they work well with a team, it’s usually because they are leading that team. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good followers just that their best work is done when working alone. Just as well, those typically who perform best for others, they generally require oversight, someone to report too and long for working in tandem with a support staff or group. That unfortunately is not the best quality for becoming your own manager/boss.

You probably already know that starting a small business requires extensive research and analysis of many factors. But the one requiring the most critical assessment is often overlooked by many entrepreneurs. And, it’s as close as the nearest mirror.

That’s because wanting to be your own boss is one thing; being one is quite another. What you will be expected to take on in the form of responsibilities and commitments are far different from those of an employee, even if you have management experience. This is not going to be easy…know that. Sure, there will be great days, but just the same, you are going to have plenty crappy ones also. You built this Titanic, so don’t run to the evacuation dingy when it looks like it’s going under. Looks are deceiving.

Are You a Self-Starter? Business doesn’t just happen; you make it happen. Ray Kroc had to make the first burger…now; McDonald’s has sold billions and billions. Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney co-founded a business supply store. Today, Staples is one of the largest in the country and has netted the former governor nearly 500 million dollars in returns. The idea starts with you. As the owner, you’re responsible for everything from establishing your firm’s vision to setting the daily work schedule. The fact that you’re exploring small business ownership and asking questions is a good sign.

Are You a Positive Thinker? The moment you become a business owner, you represent yourself, your business and your expectations for success. What you say and do must convey confidence and commitment to moving forward. Employees who sense these qualities will share that determination to succeed, even under difficult circumstances. If you work alone, there will be days when you have to be your own cheerleader.

No longer the young stafferWhat “9-to-5 routine”? Those days are over buddy. Running a small business requires a continuous commitment to quality and detail. Hey, this is your baby! You cannot afford to cut corners, miss deadlines or make promises beyond your capabilities. If you plan to run the business from home, you must be able to resist temptations and distractions in order to get your work done.

If you can’t sell your business or your vision to those who don’t see it, it really doesn’t matter what kind of boss you’re going to be to yourself. You have to become the VP of Marketing, Director of Human Resources, VP of Sales and the CEO all at the same time. No business, no matter how good, will succeed without some kind of marketing. The good news is that promoting your business is easier than you may think as long as you know what to do and how to do it. After all, we all enjoy saying good things about ourselves. When you craft and tell your story in the right way, more people will be willing and eager to hear it.

Am I needed where I am? Do your research. Do your research. Do your research. Know what your limitations are before you head out. If you wait too long, it may be far too late when you realize that your “Pork & Go Meat Deli” isn’t as big a hit as you hoped in that predominantly Islamic neighborhood.

Know Your Worth; Your New Business Has Value

I wanted to take a minute to speak with you about developing your corporate goals that will bring about your success. This won’t be one of those episodes where we evaluate our talents and skill set to best determine our value. Really, how do you know if I am truly “wasting your time or not”? You don’t have a clue on how much your time is valued at.

Speaking of which, I like to share this, a wonderful man by the name of Denny Dettro, a former Director of mine from one of the many airline management jobs I’ve held throughout the years taught me a lesson one day in his office that I have never forgotten.

He looked me in my eyes as he leaned back in executive chair, peering at me from across that 2nd hand desk and said, “Always know what your value is. If you let me define what your value is, two things will always be certain. (1). I am never going to get it right in your eyes and you will secretly resent me for it and… (2). I’m always going to low ball you and in the business world, everyone is out to get more for less.

What Denny meant by that was, I can only be mad at myself if I allow others to define my worth. How much is your time worth? How much is your advice and counsel worth. Placing value on your time and energies helps those who will ultimately come seeking it know in advance, that because this of value to both him and me, let me not waste this opportunity. And isn’t that what this is all about? OPPORTUNITY.

We don’t fail due to the lack of opportunities, we fail for not taking advantage of them when they come our way. There are many reasons, too many to go through all right now, but there are many reason as to why we don’t take advantage of them. First, we don’t believe we can handle it. Our fear for being overwhelmed or failing overtakes us. Its funny, we’d rather not fail, I mean…who would. But we sure don’t want to fail in the front of others. So we’d rather not pursue any efforts at all. If that is you, you are destined to fail.

If you don’t take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, you my friend are destined to fail. Set out to uniform some goals for you and your business both and take advantage of each every “leg up” that presents itself to you that further assists in getting those two things to marry up better to form a dynamic team. You are your success.

You birthed this dream of yours so that you could win and win big! Take a chance on yourself now; others will bet on you later. Below, see the posting on Betting on yourself. It flows right in with seizing every opportunity.

Go to http://moneycentral.msn.com and click on the calculator that will show you what the value of your time truly is. Never take less than that!

Taking hold of your new start up business for FREE!

Many of us have the wrong idea of what is required to “do” business. The art of “doing” business implies a sense of action; a duty. These tasks typically place a vital claim on both your financial and human resources accumulated.

I have to be honest with you, one of my greatest concerns is when clients come to me with an idea and a stack of business cards. You see, there are some investments that are not so imperative early on in your business development. So many new business owners spend their entire budget on “looking” like a business that there are no remaining funds to actually “do” business.

For example, one of my clients is a licensed hair stylist and is looking to open her first salon. When she approached The Corporate Company about assisting her in building her vision, she had grand ideas about what her corporate letterhead and logo should look like but couldn’t answer some of the most basic and fundamental daily operational decisions. That is not uncommon.

My immediate advice to her was to direct her focus on some of the small areas like proper licensing and permits. What good will ever come of the letterhead if you are unable to ever even open your doors because you have not directed your resources to those areas that are instrumental to your ability of attaining the success you desire. Banks for many reasons no longer build their branding from small business corporate loans.

Many of these financial institutions can no longer absorb the many risks in part due to the level of unnecessary expenditures. Just last week, I received a call from a young man who we decided to help build his core business out of Los Angeles. I couldn’t quite understand the conversation with the high level of noise screaming from behind him through the phone. When I found a way in, I asked, “What’s all that noise behind you out there?” The young man replied that he was having granite counter tops installed in what was soon to be the new break room for his small computer supply business.

I wasted no time when I informed him that he was currently overseeing one of several projects that could very well be the downside of his dream. I make a point to inform all of my clients that your dream was to complete your plan and “do” business, not spend an exorbitant amount of money and time just look like one. One of the hardest and most costly things to do is to “look busy”.

Well, I never like to just beat you up with bad news, but allow me instead to share with you some applications that will further ensure your success.

Start Small: Don’t confuse that with the physical size and scope of your business, but rather challenge yourself to focus on the operational aspect of the day to day. One day at a time, then one week at a time. This keeps your objectivity on point and away from those things that will instead undermine your available resources with pet projects and beautification.

Start Out Organized: Put a solid plan together that keeps your business focused with laser beam precision. Make a list, just a small one for each area of your business that you think are essential. Don’t go any further down your list than 2 or 3 places or bullet points. Systematically, work your resources as well as your sweat equity around those key areas. It has been found that if you start out organized and spend some quality time each day on the maintenance of the organization (i.e. administrative, recordkeeping and etc.), your chances of success increase by nearly 30%. Time is money! Get your business moving

Start Efficiently: Don’t over complicate small tasks by placing details on them that keeps you from acting consistently each and every day. You should appear as if you are making the process work with great ease and little or no budget. This keeps your attention and focus on the expectations of your customers. Meeting their needs becomes more improbable each time you get lost in the weeds of the details.

Start: No matter what happens….START! Don’t get discouraged. As a rule, I make a point not to become involved in the day to day operations. Kick the fear to the side and Let’s Go.

Build your business on a dime. Spend your resources on actually the costs of doing business.

What Credit Do You Need To Start Your Business

Applying for commercial credit can be tedious. It calls for more documentation than you might initially have expected and certainly a lot more than when you apply for consumer credit. For lenders, extending credit to an entrepreneur usually means customizing the loan to suit the credit needs of that business. So don’t be disheartened by the amount of paperwork needed to accompany the application. Instead, be more prepared.

With this blog resource, The Corporate Company marries the need to get you best aligned with your organizational structure that best suits your corporate needs and that does not exclude preparing you to best answer, honestly, your credit needs and identify your sources to meet those needs.

Among the best assets you can bring to the lender is a well though-out and documented business proposal. Listen, you will need a plan and that plan cannot only make sense to you but instead it must make logical business sense to all those that will come to hear it. Take this additional note, assume and rather expect, that all those who will see your proposal won’t even be in the same room with you so all they will have is black and white paper with your dreams and hopes typed and graphed out…thats it. This isn’t the time to “go for the gusto”, but rather, put together a sensible plan of repayment. Remember, no one is interested for the most part in your dreams and your hopes, but instead, they are interested in how well and how fast you can repay their investment.

With the state of our economy being what it is these days, its not so much about getting a loan from a bank, let me be honest, no one is lending money the way they formerly did. Don’t take it personal, this is business. Instead, figure out a new way. This is your dream, your passion, figure it out like the world depends on it. You’ll be suprised what you come up with in such a short period of time.

You should lay out a business description: What’s that? It simply tells the nature of the business, describes the product and the services rendered and its market as well as identifies its ustomers and competition. The best advice I ever heard came from the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Wayne Huizenga, regarding the methods and principles he used to build his empire, Republic Industries; “become the authority in the area of business you operate in”.
In other words, know and learn all that you can regarding that thing you want others to invest in. They will ask you questions and you better be able to answer them.

I’m going to go out on a limb and just say it…”Business Plans are stupid!” No one will read it, no one will lend you the money you’re looking for without sufficient collateral anyway…sorry to be so blunt, but the plan is for you…not the lender. With that said, the plan outlines your corporate strategy for the next three to five years; it will aid you and the lender in detemining whether the business will generate the cash flow needed to repay the loan.

Also, have a repayment plan! This is the most vital piece of all the short term goals. This tells how you propose the repay the loans or outlines a repayment schedule. The lender will be expecting you to repay the borrowed funds from the profits produced by the business. As a contingency, you might need to develop a plan on how you would repay the loan if the profits alone turned out to be inadequate….in other words, have a Plan B, documented, in the event your success comes slower than you first hoped.

Keep in mind, you can’t just make this stuff up…You’re going to need Supporting Documentation as well. This is where my folks reappear because certificates and articles of incorporation, partnership agreements (all housed and kept on record at The Corporate Company), letters of references, contracts (to verify business agreements in the works or underway), invoices or vendor quotes.

This portion probably should’ve been listed first. There is no loan for you personally or professionally if there is no collateral for the loan. You will need it to secure the payment of the loan. This could include business assets, personal assets…anything of value that you own that you can borrow against.

The need for financing is a critical an perennial concern for the owners of small businesses. Few things are as crucial to the health of a small business operton. Many small businesses are launched by the personal resourcces of their owners. But they can quickly reach the stage where the owner must look to the credit market for financial help in expanding operations. The banking industry is a customized process for your application for commercial credit.
The next blog will focus more on what to do if you are not approved for a loan. I hit on a few things here, but more specifically, I want to discuss the rejection process.

We take “incorporating your dreams” literally so you should too.

What if Your Credit Application Isn't Approved?

Just in case you apply for a business loan and you are not approved, what do you do then? Most lenders, banks especiallly, are conservative in granting business loans. Given the obligation to ther stockholders and depositors, they need to be sure there’s a good chance the loans they make will be repaid.

I mentioned that in the last blog as we discussed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and some of the basic principles of applying for a loan and many of the documents you would need in the build up of that process. If your application for credit is not approved, find out the reasons why. Some of the reasons that lenders often give for denying a business loan include, for example, insufficient owner’s equity in the business; lack of an established earnings record; a history of slow or past-due trade or loans payments; or insufficient collateral. Finding out the reasons may help you qualify the next time you apply.

If your application is denied, the lender must give you either:
A written statement of the reasons for the denial or a written notice telling you of your rights to obtain the reasons in writing. This notice may be given to you during the application process or at the time of the denial.

Let’s level with each other here, there should be no suprises in the approval or denial phase. If you’re denied, there should be no suprise. Really! The times we are now in this economy indicate the credit markets are tough but don’t let that cause fear to enter in. Instead, do your homework, plan properly and seek help.

One other thing, in the event you are denied, and lets face it, you probably will be…be ready without hesitation to move forward. In the last blog, I told you to make sure you have a back up plan to repay the loan once you are approved. So even if your success is delayed, the loan can be repayed without delay. Well, in the same way, have a Plan B to continue your plans to finance your business plan. There is money still out there! It may not come from the bank or some other form lender, however, grants and all sorts of other corporate gifts for small business are out there.

We're Putting The World In Your Hands!

I've taken the necessary steps to pull many of the forms you will need to look into starting your business. Some of the best advice you could ever get from The Corporate Company is to plan, plan, plan! You could never plan enough, but what we want to do is to get you to "act" as well...as you plan. Almost in somewhat of a one step-two step process. See the next phase and then act upon that prior to moving further. Why? This is important in part because you gain the opportunity to not only pace yourself but also correct yourself as you step into your entrepreneurialship.

Often, we see business owners just plugging along without providing their own oversight as necessary. We have assembled many of the forms and templates that you will need to get your business organized and functional on every front.

Business Plans (Startup, Established Business and NonProfits), Startup Expenses, Opening Day Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Projections and etc. just to name a few. What we will do is provide you with the necessary templates (46 total) as you will need them at no cost to you!

That is the ideal feature of our Dream Team, we are here to set you up for success as your National Registration Agent. Once we gather the direction of your organization, we then put you on a short path to incorporation by advising you of the necessary steps and documentation. No need to take a course, we will guide you through the entire process and stand by you for the first 12 months. We are The Corporate Company!

Contact us regarding how we can get you started for FREE!