The Leap of Faith

This is a good time in your life for you to take more aggressive action -- and take a few more risks here and there. So what if a plan or two backfires on you? It's time for you to get comfortable with the idea that you can't hit a home run every time you step up to the plate. Sometimes you just get to first base -- and sometimes you strike out.

But guess what? No one is going to throw you off the team any time soon. You'll always have more chances."Now that you understand the "Risks & Rewards" of entrepreneurship, it's time for you to place faith in yourself and your product/service. Since reading our preceding lessons, I hope that you have learned to build a solid foundation. If not, go back to the first and read through to the last.

The first thing you need to do is decide what type of entity best suits your business: sole proprietorship; partnership; corporation; limited liability company (LLC), etc. By choosing the appropriate type of entity, you will be able to save yourself thousands in taxes and headache. Although many businesses start as sole proprietorships, I am not a fan of them. To explain, everything relies solely on the owner. The owner's credit, credibility, liability and personal artifacts are all on the table in this gambling game of entrepreneurship.

I often hear clients bark about how good their personal credit score is, how small of a business they are, etc. I usually challenge them by saying, "Can your personal life (credit, credibility, liability and assets) survive ONE unfortunate situation? Being sued? Business slows down? If not, establishing your business as a corporation or LLC is the best solution. By forming your business into a legal entity, you protect yourself and your business. Build business credit in your business' name. That way, if God forbids something goes awry, your personal credit and assets will remain intact. Also, it builds credibility that you are not a "fly by night" company, while offering you hundreds of more tax deduction opportunities.

It's time to get moving, there is no better time than the present! Don't look back five years from now disheartened that you never followed your dream. Take the bull by the horns and begin! With job security being at its weakest levels since the Great Depression, business ownership is your team that no one can kick you off of!!!