Nancy Tanner Crisco and Janis Burgess lacked a written business plan when they opened What’s Cookin’ in Brandon in 2005 but nevertheless took a hands-on approach.
The two women visited a similar business in Starkville for menu ideas and a lesson in how to start a business that specializes in preparing and stocking ready-to-go casse-roles, side dishes, soups and desserts.
“I truly recommend going to work for someone else for six months to a year and learn on someone else’s nickel about the business,” said Rhonda Abrams, author of the book, Six-Week Start-Up: A Step-by-Step Program for Starting Your Business, Making Money and Achieving Your Goals.
“You want to find out what’s really involved. How much time and money it takes, what the day-to-day operation is like and what the industry is like.”
Starting a business doesn’t have to mean taking out a second mortgage, Abrams said, and making yourself responsible for dozens of employees.
“Start with a business that has low expenses such as consulting,” she said. “I call it the training-wheel business. That’s how I started. Start off as a personal chef before you open a restaurant.
Sell goods at crafts fairs or house parties before you open a gift shop. Those are all ways to learn if you like working for yourself and handling risk.”
Even if you’re establishing a low-cost business such as consulting, keep in mind you’ll still have living expenses to pay, she said.
Photo by MSDesigns.
Gerri Bryce on September 6th, 2007 at 2:38 am
Start off as a personal chef before you open a restaurant.
This is by far the best business advice. If the issue is coming up with capital, it’s simple common sense to figure out that you should start small before investing on a business whose operations you don’t grasp fully. This works for would-be business people even if they intend to start as a low risk or a high risk merchant.