Before you jump into small business entrepreneurship, consider first the following myths which we will debunk.

Starting a Small Business is Easier Work

This isn’t true. You’ll probably work harder. A small business needs more work to survive. However, the potential to earn is more. The difference is, at work you would balk at overtime. With your small business, you may actually enjoy working overtime because you are caring for your own business.

1. MYTH: I’ll be the boss.

You may be the boss of your company. But you will still have to please someone else: the client. So in truth, they are the boss. Make sure you keep them happy and well served.

2. MYTH: I can now ratchet up my asking price

We often think that we work too much and are paid too little. When starting a small business we may be tempted to think that we can now push for a price more befitting our skills. However, we should remember that we have competition who might be offering their services for a pretty low amount. We always have to be competitive and practical. And exorbitant pricing may not help our small business any much.

3. MYTH: I don’t have to deal with people I don’t like anymore!

Unfortunately, no, You might find that the clients you now have may be pushier than your boss. And as we said in number 1, your clients are your boss. The goal here is for you to have more and more clients. So from here does it follow that the more the clients, the more the bosses, the more the headaches?

4. MYTH: I own my time!

Yes, you do own your time. Unfortunately you will find yourself using more and more of this time to tend to your business. So, ultimately you won’t gain much in the time department.

5. MYTH: I can’t work any harder. I can’t do all this.

Do you know that most of the managers give more jobs to busy employees because they seem to know how to balance and allocate their time! The key to working more is to work smarter, not harder.

This will take a lot of organization, but being able to accomplish much in less time will prove to be its own reward.

6. MYTH: Freedom at last!

Free from what? And free to do what. Yes, you will have more leeway to do things when you want to. But this does not mean that you will be free to do nothing. Or be free to do something else than tend to your business when you have to.

7. MYTH: I’m in charge. There’ll be no mismanagement from me.

You may think that your boss was foolish not to listen to your suggestions regarding work. But unless you are on the hot seat, you will not appreciate how hard management really is.

8. MYTH: If I’m good, I’ll be a success immediately.

The unfortunate reality of life is that sometimes, talent and hard work are not rewarded. However, if one is patient with his or her small business, the chance that that business will turn out to be a success increases. So always be practical in your expectations of success. Don’t count your chicks when the eggs haven’t hatched yet.

9. MYTH: I can motivate myself

No man is an island, remember? In any business, your first line of security is your friends and family members. They will help you assess yourself and should be ready with a kind word or two to motivate you to start your own business. But aside from them you should be driven yourself. Without this drive you might not find the fortitude needed to weather the trials that beset starting businesses.

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Getting a small business loan for the first time can be a stressful experience, especially during these hard times. Getting a loan from the bank, especially now has also fallen into hard times. So here are plans A and B to help you start your own small business. Plan A is for acquiring a small business loan from the bank, and plan B is your contingency plan, so take notes,

PLAN A

Know yourself. Before approaching a bank or any other lender, be sure you know your own history in terms of personal credit. Is your credit history good or bad? Due to the current recession, you can be sure to see that banks have become more strict in reviewing records before making any decision for business loans. You can obtain your credit history from companies like TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax via fax, mail or online.  Also, be sure to check if the records are right. Companies with credit card services sometimes make errors in logging cancellations or adjustments to your credit limit. These misreported transactions in the past  may appear as available credit to the bank.

Prepare a competitive business presentation. A good presentation should initially be able to make the bank understand what you plan to do with the money and not simply WHY you need the money. Remain objective in your explanations and try not to attach too much personal reasons in your answer. The bank’s concern is not with you, but with the money they will give you. A cash flow projection will be of good help during your presentation because the bank can quickly assess the benefits and risks for them. However, a cash flow projection is different with a cash flow statement. The projection is an expectation on how money will come in and out, while a statement shows how money arrives and leaves the business. You can make a projection on a monthly basis over one year for a better outlook of your expectations for the business.

Prepare other documents. You may need to present other documents like a credit rating report. Though this is not an actual requirement, it will still be useful for the bank to know your loan payment history and other dealings with other credit card services. After all, most banks only approve businesses that are able to accept credit cards.

Get to know the bank. It is also important to do a little research on your lender’s point of view. Again, the first question in the bank’s mind is, “what are you going to do with our money?” The second question would be, “Why should we risk our money for your business?” Providing the bank with the right answer boosts your chances of getting that business loan by more than 50% of the time.

Bear important facts. You need to be honest to the bank on certain areas like, how much money are you willing to put in to the business, the collateral you currently have, and how much do you really know about the industry you’re planning to venture in. Enduring the bank that you’re not completely in the dark on your planned business will somehow put their minds at ease with regards to the loan they will be giving you.

PLAN B

If all else fails with the bank, do not despair. There are other means of acquiring small business loans for yourself. Many business cash advance companies are now available to serve you. Borrowing money from these companies are relatively easier than getting one from a bank. They will review your credit record but they are less strict in terms of seeing a few bad records on your history. With a business cash advance, you will be able to start your own small business, expand, pay off debt or taxes, and get emergency funding. However, make sure that the company you will be applying to is legitimate with negotiable terms with payment.

Good luck!

Trying to get a handle on the complex world of small business taxes? There are plenty of good resources available, both online and offline, for free and not-so-free.

I’m assuming you want to postpone spending any money on a topic you may prefer not to touch with a ten-foot pole let alone a ten-dollar bill. So let’s review some of the least expensive tax resources available. Is free a good price for you?

Believe it or not, the IRS has a plethora of free resources for the business owner. The place to start is the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center at www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html.

Now before you go there and start clicking away until your head spins, let me give you a heads up on how to best navigate the IRS web page. First, you need to know what type of business entity you own: sole proprietorship, S corporation, C corporation, limited liability company or partnership.

Once you have that basic piece of information in mind, click on the link “A-Z Index for Business” and you’ll be taken to a page that is organized by the various types of business entities listed above. Under the heading “Business Types”, click on your particular business type and you’ll be taken to a page that provides just about everything you need to know about taxes for that entity.

For example, let’s assume you are a sole proprietor. So you click on the Sole Proprietor link and you’ll be taken to a page that contains a chart for all the major income tax forms you’ll need, organized according to the type of tax. For income tax, there are links for forms Form 1040 and Schedule C. For Self-Employment Tax, there’s a link to Schedule SE. If you have employees, there are links to the various employment-related tax forms (Forms 941, 940, W-2, etc). This is a very handy chart because it gives you the big picture for all the main types of business taxes and their associated tax forms.

Below this chart is the heading “References/Related Topics”. Under this heading is a clickable list of several excellent resources that you can view online or download as free PDF files. Two of the best IRS small business publications are listed here: Publication 334: The Tax Guide for Small Business (for Individuals Who Use Schedule C) and Publication 583: Starting a Business and Keeping Records. Pub 334 is 53 pages and Pub 583 is 27 pages, so you’ll get plenty of information at a bargain-basement price.

After checking out the resources applicable to your particular entity, you can return to the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center and find dozens of other useful articles, updates and publications. Be sure to check out the Online Learning and Educational Products link. Here you’ll find both audio and video presentations by IRS staff on a number of small business tax topics.

Take advantage of these free tools and benefit from your tax dollars at work. For the small business owner who prefers not to spend a dime on tax advice, the IRS website is a great place to start.