SDVOSB

The Basics

Posted by

0

What are the essential elements needed to start your business journey?

There are thousands of online sources available to you but a good starting point is the Small Business Administration. (Concerning writing a business plan, you may have to write one at some point, but do not let it stand in your way — take action today).  http://www.sba.gov/content/follow-these-steps-starting-business

Most of these steps can be completed in a manner of minutes (please perform your due diligence).

1.  What do you want to do?  If you have business experience, a hobby, or something that you have a passion for, use it as the base to determine the type of business you would like.

2. Name your business. Check to see if the name of your business is available – I believe all States provide this service.  In Virginia where I live, you can check for name distinguishability at https://sccefile.scc.virginia.gov/NameAvailability

3. Choose the Type of Entity. Determine what type of entity will work best for your business e.g. Limited Liability Corporation, Corporation, and etc.

For WSG, we chose to be incorporated as an S corporation; for Connectify Social, we chose an Limited Liability Corporation.  You need to decide what will work best for you.  http://www.sba.gov/content/business-structure-and-tax-implications

4.  Register with Your State. Register your business through your State Corporation Commission.   http://www.scc.virginia.gov/clk/formfee.aspx

5. Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online

6.  Obtain a Business License. Check with your local Government to obtain a business license.  Local Governments generally have resources available to help you launch your business.

Obviously these are just the initial steps to start your journey, but your business will soon be growing and evolving in remarkable ways and directions you might not have expected.

Here’s to you and your new business venture!

Gary

Business Partners

Posted by

0

Developing and making your business profitable can be an overwhelming task, but you needn’t take the journey on alone.  The right partner or partners can help the business develop momentum and velocity to move forward.

For example, I am now engaged with two businesses — crazy, right?  One is Whetstone Security Group where I serve as president and CEO and am the majority shareholder and the other is Connectify Social where I own 30 percent of the company and … am president of the company (I have reservations about overextending myself and do not plan on retaining this title for the long-term).

For WSG, the company was founded by two other partners and myself.  My partners are absolutely great people and I trust them completely.  We all come from the intelligence world and have similar visions on how we want WSG to evolve – placing integrity, innovation, and people first.  Each of the partners enhance the company by bringing different skill sets and strengths that help balance out the areas where we each have individual weaknesses – a win/win situation.  However, we recently transferred some ownership shares to bring aboard two new partners.  Our new partners have added new energy and are providing great ideas on how WSG can evolve.  I truly believe it is better to add partners/teammates to reach your goals and generate momentum rather than try to hold all the company.  Of course, there is a point where adding addition partners might not make sense financially or operationally, but do be open to the possibility.

For Connectify Social, it was an idea I had and wanted to bring partners aboard to push the business vision forward.  I knew I could not launch the business alone; I simply did not have the time or brain cells to bring it to reality.  I chose my partners based on trust, drive, personality, and to be truthful — because I like and respect them.  It was an easy decision to give away 66 percent of the company because I know they will drive the company forward.  This leaves me time to primarily focus on WSG while launching another business!

So, if you are having trouble launching and need to put your goals back on track, considering bringing the right people onto your team.  It is much better to launch the company with partners who can move you forward than let your vision lay fallow!

With Love and Respect,

Gary

 

Getting Started

Posted by

0

With any new challenge, just getting started is the hard part.  So how do you turn your business idea into reality?  My advice is to not over think it.  Over thinking or waiting until you have the perfect solution, plan, partners, and etc. is a prescription for inaction and unrealized dreams.

Step 1.  Write down your vision of how your business will look, feel, smell like (especially useful if you are opening a bakery), the culture you wish to establish and your financial goals.

Step 2.  Working backwards, mark out milestones for your business over the next 12 months.

Step 3.  Take action – launch the business and get started.  Trust me, you will work out the details as you build out your business.

Step 4.  Take action each and every day.  Action will keep your dreams alive; inaction leads to the death of dreams.

Step 5.  Do not let resistance defeat you.  Resistance is your enemy.  Keep step 4 alive by doing something for your business each and everyday.

Starting a business really is easy as that.  Really.

I’ll go into more detail on further posts.

You can do this and succeed.

With Love and Respect,

Gary

 

 

Entrepreneurs – Veteran and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) (SDVOSB)

Posted by

3

My name is Gary and I am a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Owner and entrepreneur.

My passion is helping others live their dreams.

This blog is for anyone who is ready to take action to pursue their dreams.  Although, I will be focusing on veteran entrepreneurs, this community will be for all those who thinking about or have already launched their own business.

This blog will be partly about how to establish your business and my person journey as a business owner.   The first several posts will be about how to start.  Doing anything worthwhile takes time and commitment and launching a business will certainly take persistence.  My motto is take action every day!  No matter how big the project, as long as you stay consistent and persevere, you will eventually succeed.  I was recently listening to James Altucher’s audiobook “Choose Yourself.”  He said that you should keep failing until your accidentally succeed; I love that. http://www.jamesaltucher.com/

In July of 2012, my two partners and I launched a Service Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business.  It wasn’t until late in 2013 that we finally had enough structure in place to pursue our first proposal and have just won a contract.  We also have several bids outs and are awaiting the results. One is where we had to hustled to pursue a Department of Homeland Security Customs (DHS) and Border Protection (CBP) opportunity after our prime decided to no bid at the last minute.  We contacted another company 1000 miles away and found a new partner with enough past performance to make a credible bid.  Our new partner would not have gone after the bid if we had not contacted them.  Sometimes things go wrong and you have to hustle to pursue your goals.

In April of this year, I formed another company with two partners that will engaged in Social Media Marketing.  I will share with you lessons I’ve learned and the challenges faced in launching a start up.

For veterans, your military service will benefit you starting and managing your business. Regardless if you have spent time in military or not, the time to begin is right now!  Please believe me, you have everything you need to succeed and live your dream.  I hope this blog can help in some small way on your journey to success.

Very Respectfully,

Gary