Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I saved hard and finally ended up with $20,000 to start my very own business. This is the high point in the story.

My advice- do not do that again! :). But maybe put an add out, or sell on ebay business?Did you contact companies personally that may be in the market- even at your cost?

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I guess my question is whether or not you had a business plan before you started? You likely would have had a financial section, detailing your projected expenses and whether or not $20K would be sufficient?

One option would be to ask the government for a bail-out, since that seems all the rage this week. :-) But no, I do understand the pain and anxiety you`re dealing with.

Is there ANY way you can hang onto your basic investment while you work out how to re-start the business? You`ve invested not only a lot of money, but a whole lot of personal sweat and imagination. You may have put the cart before the horse, but before you declare it dead, perhaps you can hang on and look for solutions.

Have you spoken with anyone in your local SCORE branch? They may make you feel embarrassed, but they also might be able to come up with creative solutions. I`m not sure what`s your product so I don`t know what stock you`re talking about.

Craig`s List might help, as maybe Erin`s thought about using eBay to auction off some of your inventory. The truck is equity, and even if you don`t drive it, you`ll eventually need it again when the business is up and running. Legal fees and bookkeeping, you likely can`t get back, but you could do your own bookkeeping for the moment.

Did you do the market research to know that you`d have a viable market originally? If so, what were the key points that indicated that viability? There may be something there you`re missing or forgetting that could re-ignite the business.

Thanks for the responses and especially the encouragement guys.

Thanks for the clarifications. Just so others might learn, a business plan usually would be prior to actually starting the business and would include results of market testing, advertising budget, and all other startup costs. It doesn`t work as well to have a plan for after the business is up and running.

The main reason being that the business plan is all about how to get from nothing to that point where the system is in place and running. A "strategic" plan would then encompass what to do after it`s running.

I realize there`s not much you can do about it now, and we`re looking at moving forward. But others do read these topics, long into the future, and who know; maybe it`ll save someone else some heartache.

Can you diversify the business as a stop-gap measure? For example, you say you have this truck that presumably is relatively new and in good shape. What sort of productive revenues might you get using that truck? Could you start a delivery service, or lease the truck to someone who needs it?

I don`t think natural gas production is going to come to a halt. It may be in a downward turn right now, but like real estate, it won`t stay there forever. We do need energy, and gas is part of that energy. If you could function and bring in revenues some other way, you could build up an advertising budget and also hold on until a turn in the market? Maybe?

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