Categories: MyCorp News

MyCorporation on KCAL 9

MyCorporation.com CEO Deborah Sweeney recently appeared on KCAL 9 to discuss simple tips to get your business booming. Deborah provides five tips to help you take an idea and make it a business.

1) Decide what Kind of Business You Want and Do Some Research. Before you do anything else, ask yourself some questions. What are you passionate about? Do you like to work alone or with a team? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Then, take these answers and do some research about your desired field. Keep in mind what you love to do, and what you’re good at. Starting a business takes a lot of time and you will definitely want to be spending that time working on something you enjoy.

2) Create a Long-Term Business Plan. Next, come up with a written business plan that takes in to account the questions you have asked yourself. If you work better with a team, plan for employees or partners. If you aren’t very good with accounting, think about easy ways to keep your financials in order. In your business plan, focus on where you want your business to be in 5 or 10 years, then work backwards to this start-up phase. Your long-term goals might dictate your current plans, and having a path set out for you will save you time and energy down the road.

3) Find Financing. The next step is financing your goals. There are many ways to get the money for your business, including friends and family, personal credit, and loans. Be sure to also look for partners/investors and associations that are looking to invest in people like you! This is also a good time to be thinking about building business credit. Business credit will allow you to take out loans in the name of your business, and these types of loans can have higher amounts and lower interest rates than personal loans.

4) Use an Online Filing Company to Make your Business Official. Creating a legal business entity early on in the start-up process is important to protect your personal assets from liability. Online filing services will create your business for you and save you lots of money in the beginning when it really counts. Lawyers can cost around $200 an hour but online filing services will typically charge less for filing your entire business, a process that could take a lawyer more than 4 hours. Using an online filing service guides you through the filing process and helps ensure you do it right the first time.

5) Protect your Business with Trademarks. After you’ve worked to bring your business idea to life, protecting it becomes important. Companies with similar names or offering similar products can steal customers away or negatively impact your reputation. Registering your business name and product protects against this scenario and allows you to be a unique company, saving you from consumer confusion.

Check out the entire interview HERE

Get started today with your business HERE

Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah provides insightful commentary on the benefits of incorporation and trademark registration. Education: Deborah received her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in corporate and intellectual property law. Experience: After becoming a partner at LA-based law firm, Michel & Robinson, she became an in-house attorney for MyCorporation, formerly a division in Intuit. She took the company private in 2009 and after 10 years of entrepreneurship sold the company to Deluxe Corporation. Deborah is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites including Forbes, Business Insider, SCORE, and Fox Business, among others. Fun facts/Other pursuits: Originally from Southern California, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin and Christopher, and practicing Pilates. Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Deborah, and MyCorporation, have previously been honored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s List of the Valley’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in 2012. MyCorporation received the Stevie Award for Best Women-Owned Business in 2011.