What can we do for a business?

You need to sit down, maybe with a personal counselor or life coach and discuss what you really want to do, start by brainstorming and write down every idea you come up with. Give yourself plenty of time for ideas. After you've done that, go over the list(s) and throw out any that are obviously impractical, such as ones that require skills you don't have and can't get, or require a ton of money to get started. Then investigate any remaining options, and work your way through the list to see if you can find an idea that is both practical and affordable, and which you really would want to do. Take it from there. Don't drop an idea you really like because you don't have the money; you may be able to get a small business loan to get you started.

Talk to the counselors at your local Small Business Development Center to see if they can help you with ideas too. Hint: their services are FREE.

Once you find something you want to do, sign up for the NxLevel Entrepreneurial program... it's a 12 session course that walks you through the ins and outs of starting or growing your business, and as part of that you will write a business plan. At the end of the class your plan will be reviewed by a lending professional, and will be critiqued, telling you the strong points of your plan AND the weak points.

Then you can work on the weak points and hopefully get it into shape to actually present to a lender and get the loan you need. There is a cost for the NxLevel program ($375.00 last year at my SBDC), but itâ€™s a lot cheaper than losing your investment.

Even if you hire a professional to write your plan, you should still take the NxLevel course. It saved me from going into a business that would have failed within a year or so, taking my investment with it. I realized by the third week of the class that I could not afford the business I was looking at and changed directions in the middle of the class. I ended up not going with the second business either, but for non-financial reasons.

Business plans may be a pain in the butt to prepare, but without one, your business is doomed to failure. To start with, you won't know what your startup costs are going to be, what kind of income to expect, what your ongoing expenses are, who your competition is, and even whether or not you can make a profit. Without a GOOD business plan, you will not be able to get a business loan to get your business off the ground.