In Part One, I discussed 5 of the 15 steps to starting a business. They were: Get a business name; web site (domain) name availability; get a web host; get a business license; and get a mailing address. Here are the other 10:

1. File a Fictitious Business Name form through the County Recorder's Office of the county your business is in within 40 days from the date you start your business. Some counties allow you to do it online! The filing fee is around $23.00 (in South Orange County, CA).

2. Publish the information in a newspaper publication for 4 weeks after you receive the d.b.a. statement. The range is $20 and up. Then file an Affidavit of Publication within 30 days after the last publication date. Some newspapers do that for you after they have published your d.b.a. for four weeks. By the way, after you file your d.b.a., you will receive several flyers in the mail from the local newspapers advertising their rates for publishing your d.b.a.

3. You will need to apply for a Seller's Permit from your local State Board of Equalization office. You have to give an estimate of how much you think you will make as a profit and pay a portion up front. Needless to say, you should report a low figure since it may be difficult to determine that kind of information.

4. Get a business phone line if needed. There are ways for people to talk via the computer by using certain programs and/or services that are available for free or for a fee. All you need is a headset with a microphone.

5. Get business cards and marketing/promotional materials. There's a great web site out there that offers lots of free materials including business cards and logos. If you do a web search for business cards, you are bound to find it!

6. Look into starting blogs (Your web host may offer this service as part of the package). There are many sites that offer free blogs. You will want to get your business name out there and blogging helps you to talk about what kind of business you have and what you offer.

7. Write articles and publish them. If you're starting a business, chances are you have a thing or two you can tell others about your area of expertise (your business).

8. Get your web site listed in as many directories as possible. Some are free, others charge.

9. Put ads in your web site. Sign up with affiliate programs too. They pay you every time someone clicks or buys through your web site. Again, depending on what type of business you're in, you want to be careful how many ads you place in your site. Don't overdo it, otherwise it will distract from what you're really trying to sell, which is your products or services.

10. If any questions, do web searches. There are a few web sites out there that offer a ton of free advice on different subjects. You can also find web sites that offer free business webinars.

Please keep in mind the above information is based on my starting a business in South Orange County, CA. I'm sure it's not the same in every county or state. This list is just meant to give you a starting point as you go through the process of starting a business. It's better than not having any direction at all!

Copyright 2008 Mary L. Weinstein. All Rights Reserved.

Mary L. Weinstein is a certified Life Purpose Coach and a Biblical Counselor. She holds a Bachelor of Theology in Biblical Counseling. She is an ordained minister. Mary is founder and CEO of Friends with Purpose Ministries. She offers several services including coaching, counseling, articles, resources, links, a radio show, and a blog. For more information visit: http://www.friendswithpurpose.com

Bookkeeping is a very important part of any business structure. The owner of the business must know where their money is, what fiscal amount of money they had to spend or invest, and whether there money is losing or making money. The traditional bookkeeper would come by once a week or once a month and collect all the invoices and purchase orders that the owner had gathered for the week. Traditional bookkeeper would then enter the numbers into the ledger so that there was a least a semblance of order in accounting. The negative aspect of a traditional bookkeeper was that sometimes the numbers were delayed by up to a week or more. This could cause delays and miscalculations of company funds and could put the company to into a deficit.

A virtual bookkeeper is a person that a company would hire to keep their books with them and not have a physical address that usually costs time and money. A virtual bookkeeper Kate Daly take into receipts, and voices, than statements of the business and have them electronically inputted into a readable report that would be updated daily and could be viewed on command. The virtual bookkeeper would allow the business to have a more up-to-date statement on their financial records and also allow them to be able to see the bottom line at a moments notice. Here the business owner can make crucial decisions on how the money is allocated or spent or how the money is invested for future endeavors. The virtual bookkeeper is off-site and is communicated with electronically through the Internet or via telephone. The virtual bookkeeper is faster, more efficient, and saves time in the long run. The records of a virtual bookkeeper are more secure because they are kept in a separate location out of the eyes of curious employees. The virtual bookkeeper will allow access to your books only to the people that you have trust in and give permission to see. Just a click of a mouse and the owner will be able to see all the financial records of the company and know within 24 hours what fiscal cash flow the company has for use.

Cheryl Criswell created this website to help business owners find a virtual assistant or bookkeeper to do the tedious tasks that demand space and time. To learn more about the virtual assistant and bookkeeper, visit http://www.thetexasva.com

After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought. They knew I could get more money for them on eBay than they could get selling the items themselves. An added incentive to them was I did all the work. All they had to do is say "I don't want this anymore, sell it for me;" and within a few weeks I converted their castoffs into cash.

I was already selling on eBay, and I had developed a system for listing and dealing with sales that allowed me to list lots of items in a short time. The chance to make a few dollars without any investment was too much to pass up. I made some good money doing this and because I didn't have to tie up my money buying inventory I was able to use it to grow my train business.

Consignment Selling Is The Perfect Way To Start Your Own eBay Business.

There are no set up fees or investments. You won't need to risk your own money buying items to resell. You don't need a detailed knowledge of antiques and collectibles. You only need to know how to find the right category, write an adequate description and take some high quality photos.

Selling on consignment allows you to learn about antiques and collectibles without risking your own money. By selling other people's items you learn the value of items in the most practical way. By handling them and selling them. No matter how many price guides you read, and antique shows you attend, you will never get the feel for items until you sell them.

When you sell on consignment, you provide a service that makes your clients additional money. When most people sell something, they sell to a dealer who needs to mark up the item to make a profit. This is not what happens on eBay.

On eBay the END USER is the buyer and will always pay more than a dealer would. Even after paying a consignment fee, the seller makes more money.

This is the true benefit of eBay consignment selling. Finding the END USER. Before eBay this was a difficult and daunting process. With eBay, a simple listing placed in the correct category, with a good description and some high quality photos, is enough to get a few END USERS to fight over the item.

Things You Need To Succeed With Consignment Sales:

1. You need to take possession of the items. When you sell items on consignment you risk your eBay name and reputation. You take these risks when you sell your own items, but you are in complete control of your actions. In order to lower your risks you need to get complete control of the items you are going to be selling. This prevents sellers from changing their minds, and allows you to ship the items as soon as you receive payment.

2. You should always have a written contract. One of my friends was sued by a consignor who felt the commission was too high. The consignor agreed to pay 20 percent of the selling price, then when the item sold for $8500, got upset about paying $1700 to someone for doing 30 minutes of work. While my friend won in court, it would never have gotten to court if he had a written contract.

3. You'll also need to perfect ways to get items. At first your friends and co-workers will provide you with a good stream of salable items. After a while this stream will dwindle and you will need to go out and find consignors. This is not as difficult as it may seem. Remember, by consigning with you, the seller gets more money than they would otherwise.

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: http://www.news.iwantcollectibles.com

http://www.iwantcollectibles.com/consign5.html

Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.