My Entrepreneur's Journal

Winston Churchill once said  “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”  After researching and studying up on how to start a new business I have come to the harsh reality that the government has it's hand too deep in business owners pockets.  First, you need a business license from the state, then a tax payer id from the feds.  Second, you need a tax id number for the city, and county you are doing business in.  After all that, you have to pay sales tax, and income tax for the state and federal level.  Then you have payroll taxes that are paid on the state and federal level.  This poses a real problem for new businesses.  Most small businesses don't have the luxury of sitting on money.  Each any every day the struggle to stay in the black is real, and a challenge.  I think we need some big changes to the tax codes for small businesses.  

This week I have learned how to add a PayPal button onto my website.  I can choose different options for the purchase button, such as buy now, add to cart, donate etc.  PayPal does all the coding for you and you just copy and paste the code onto your web page.  After reviewing the option I have decided to include the prices for three different sizes, small, medium, large.  I also decided on set phrases that the customer can choose to be written on the sign.  I will limit the phrases to three or four options.  My concerns about accepting credit cards are; how will I know when to ship the merchandise? What happens if the customer pays with a stolen credit card?  How do I refund money back to the customer if the return the item?  Also what happens if the customer is shady and disputes the charges after receiving the goods?  I didn't know that so many questions could come up in regards to accepting credit cards for the business. 

When I was a kid I would envision starting a business some day.  I would choose a location, rent a space, get inventory of some sort.  My advertising would be on point and eventually I would rule the world.  In this information age I realize that times have really changed.  I can start a business online, not carry inventory, and advertise a product that I have never even tried before and get money from advertising said product, all the while talking about another product.  If only my 8 year old brain could see this now.  I've decided on a website builder, my host is built into the builder so I don't need to worry about that.  The fact that I know the difference between the two is amazing.  This class has really opened my eyes to the wonderful world of web design.  My goal for this semester is to get traffic to the site, and ultimately sell something.  I am sure if my grandma knew about it, she would buy something for sure (if push comes to shove, I may drop her a text.) 

I have learned a great deal about the differences of affiliate businesses versus drop ship businesses this week.  For an affiliate business you set up an internet site and advertisers share links or banners on your site to sell merchandise.  So this blog (if I has subscribers) would be the perfect place to start an affiliate business.  While affiliate businesses are easy to set up, take few resources to maintain and produce residual income, it might not be the best bet for an online business.  Affiliates have to wait for customers to click the link and buy the goods and services before they will see any money.  However, a drop ship company might be a better choice if you want more involvement in your business.  You select the items you want to sell on your website.  You can select many different items and never have to carry an inventory.  Once your customer buys the item from you, you contact your drop shipper and they send the item to the customer directly.  The down side to this bus