Starting a DBA (Does Business As)

[Ziomek]

Hello. I live in IL and I think I should start a computer business here in the area. I have a bachelor degree A+ and Network + Certifications. I've been fixing and upgrading computers for a long time now, but for friends, relatives and so on this is why I think I should be good at starting this basically from home computer business. I heard of legalzoom.com that they can make you legal for like $580 to start a DBA and I wanted to find out if they are any good. Also, what are some marketing and advertising strategies that you guys used when starting up. I'm on unemployment and have been trying to find a job for 7 months now and no luck even with certifications and bachelor degree. I don't know the consequences on unemployment benefits when starting a DBA in IL so I'm a bit scared. This is one of the reasons also why I think I should start a business because eventually unemployment is going to run out and I would end up completely broke. If anybody has any comments, ideas, or good advice please post it. I really appriciate it. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be glad to answer. Thank you.

 

[SmR13]

I got my DBA at my county's recorders office for $11. I would call around first before having Legalzoom do it.

 

[vdub12]

I started my business for the same reason you are thinking about starting yours.

I lost my job in February 21st and March 1st was my first day as a business owner. I have been doing computer repair as a tech for 12 years and I have been a techy for 20+. So experience was not a problem. My business had been part time for years but the jump to full time was out of necessity, the same as you. When I started I figured that it would hold me over until I found a job. I have an associates degree in networking and I am currently working on my BA in network security. However, now that I have been running this business for over a month I don't plan on finding another job. In fact I don't ever plan to work for anyone again. I have found that this is my calling and I love doing it. The best thing that ever happened to me was loosing my job because if it wasn't for that I would have never made the jump.

A few tips on things that I did to get started. Don't pay anyone to get a business off the ground. Find an accountant that can help answer your questions, I luckily had a lady thats been doing our family taxes for the last few years and she told me what I needed to do. I'm not sure about your state so you should have this verified but I applied and received my business license the same day for about $75. The first few years you don't have to worry much because your not going to make enough money to really get in to tax problems and you will have a ton of write offs.

The next tip is advertise advertise advertise. Since your starting out your not going to get a lot of referrals. Take every opportunity you can to get your name out there. newspapers, window graphics on your car, business cards, and fliers. Anything else you can think of can help you. The problem you will have is people feel comfortable with the person they trust with there computer. You need to convince them to give you a try. Don't be cheaper then everyone else and don't be the most expensive. Get the prices from your area and charge the high average. Also when just starting out do everything you can to make every customer happy. Also make sure you do great work and charge for value. If you spend 4 hours at a customers house but don't feel like you accomplished much only charge them for 2 hours and tell them why they are getting the discount. The best practice is be strait with a customer. These customers will tell there friends about you trust me. Once you start getting referrals your business will pick way up but until then you will have to work hard for every single customer. Remember to get referrals be honest, fair, and good. Keep in mind people in this business make good money as well we should, it takes years to get good at doing this job. However, don't try to get Rich off of a single customer. Remember to be fair to both you and your client.

when you first start out you will get many customers and this will taper off. keep up the hard work and get use to living on a shoe string budget and you should be fine. Once your name gets out and you start getting referrals you should start making a better living off of it. I personally have a 6 month to a year target before this business makes steady money.

My best success so far with advertising is passing out fliers. Make sure you go around to all the business personally and introduce yourself. Dress nice and be polite. You will get a few people that will blow you off and be rude but make sure your nice to them. I have had a few call me after being jackasses and have to swallow there pride and have me fix there computer. It works out in the long run. Make sure you do this yourself, don't hire some teenager to do it. You want to personally introduce yourself to a potential customer.

As a final note you are going to run in to a few people that are un happy with the person or people that have worked on there computer in the past. You may have personal knowledge of some of these people and you may also agree that they shouldn't be working on computers. However, don't ever badmouth a competitor in front of a potential client or even a current client. This makes you look very petty and un trustworthy. Remember good or bad the techs that are already in business are the big boys because they have more clients then you. You don't want to get in to a battle one of these guys because its not there reputation at stake. Its yours. The best way to get ahead is do better work and build up your client base. Eventually the bad techs will start to loose customers to you. There is no need for you to try and make them look bad, they often do that on there own.

Hope that helps.

This is personally the way I run my business but keep in mind that my business is truly only a month old and I am still working on building up my client base. This however is my business plan. There are many good techs in this forum that have been running there businesses for much longer then me and there advise in how they do things is valuable to making your own business to succeed.

 

[Ziomek]

Great advice. Thank you all.

I see that you mentioned that your strategy is to pass out flyer to local businesses. With that in mind I didn't even know that you can go out to a local business and pass out flyers and I thought you would always be blown off by them but your proved me wrong. However, have you ever passed out flyers to residential homes and leave flyers by their mail boxes because I always thought this would me more efficient and started doing this recently, not much since I'm not a legal business and said that I would accept cash and checks to me name only upon 100% customer satisfaciton. I did this on a very small scale about 10-20 houses. Once I get this business legal I was planning on purchasing about 1000-1500 flyers for a good head start in advertising from professional companies who print flyers in large scales and start passing them out around my neighborhoods to residential homes. I'd then see how this is picking up or if it is at all. What do you think?

 

[RevivedCS]

DBA's do not really require legalzoom. I started my LLC through county, Capital, Federal, and State and it was way less that what legalzoom is asking for. My best piece of advice is just do your research first and you won't waste any time or money. Hope that helps.

 

[Ziomek]

Thank you RevivedCS.

I have done a lot of research and I still think I'm a noob at this. I'm good with computers but with forms and talking to state and so on I'm not that good. I research how to start DBA in IL but from what I seen not even 1 web sites showed like steps for example:

1) Think of a business name
2) Check the business name in your county records if it's already taken
3) Get and fill out DBA form "HERE"
4) With this form attach "Fee X Dollars" made out to the county clerk
5) Processing time will be from X weeks to X weeks.
6) So..on
7) Once you receive this letter from "whatever place" you are legally open for business
8) Create a bank account in your business's name.

I like this type of directions, many of the websites I say are misleading. I don't know if it's just me or what that I can't seems to find instructions.

 

[hardtoremember]

I'm not doing too much in the advertising right now as I am waiting for unemployment to approve or deny me. However, look at your County or City Clerk's website. It cost me $15 to get my DBA. It cost $150 to get my State Business License, $75 for City, another $15 for State Tax ID and another almost $400 for Trademarking [which you don't have to do.]
So everything all together aside from the trademark was FAR less just doing the legwork myself.

I don't know the deal with starting a business with unemployment but once I get up and going I will cancel that. Best of luck and vdub12 has some great advice.

ALSO, very important... Go and look up and read every thread that CallThatGirl has posted. She is very successful and full of knowledge and happy to share it.

 

[vdub12]

Great advice. Thank you all.

I see that you mentioned that your strategy is to pass out flyer to local businesses. With that in mind I didn't even know that you can go out to a local business and pass out flyers and I thought you would always be blown off by them but your proved me wrong. However, have you ever passed out flyers to residential homes and leave flyers by their mail boxes because I always thought this would me more efficient and started doing this recently, not much since I'm not a legal business and said that I would accept cash and checks to me name only upon 100% customer satisfaciton. I did this on a very small scale about 10-20 houses. Once I get this business legal I was planning on purchasing about 1000-1500 flyers for a good head start in advertising from professional companies who print flyers in large scales and start passing them out around my neighborhoods to residential homes. I'd then see how this is picking up or if it is at all. What do you think?

In the US its a federal offense to put anything in someone mail box. I knock on there door and if no one is home a tape a flier to there door. I haven't gotten much business that way. Going around to businesses has done better for me.

I get my fliers done 200 at a time at a local printing guy. It normally cost me about $20 for 200 black and white fliers and 15 color ones. Try to do business as local as possible because sometimes the businesses you do business with will hire you also. My fliers are done in black and white to save money and I have some color ones done that I pin to bulletin boards around town. Chances are your fliers will get riped down by other people in the business. Make sure you go back and check to make sure there still up. Also when you hang up your flier don't take anyone else's down. If they are doing the same thing you are they will know you did it once they see your flier in the place theres was. Your best bet is just make your flier look more professional and eye catching as theres and you should get the calls. If you notice your flier getting riped down a lot keep going back more often to hang a new one up. After a few times they will give up and taking yours down. Be persistent it will pay off. Sometimes the point is to just get your name out. If a customer sea's your flier he may not hire you but then when they see your ad in the local paper and your window sticker eventually they call. Your basically just trying to get name recognition. the trick is to keep your name and logo fresh in there head because when they first see it they may not have a computer problem but if they continue to see it all the time when there computer breaks they remember your name and logo and call you because as far as they know you must the be best because they always see your name every ware. Then once you get the job be fair and do a good job and they will recommend you and hire you again.

The trick is part advertising and part psychology. Just because you don't think a form of advertising is working because you are not getting any calls it may be helping to get your name out there. Also its hard to get calls if your advertising to people that don't have broken computers. The trick is to be in there mind when there computer has problems.

 

[Ziomek]

Thank you. When you go to local businesses do you ask for any particular person? such as manager, owner, supervisor, or that does not really metter it's just whoever is working in the business at the time? Do you also deal with POS systems (Point of Sale) meaning the registers since in my opinion those would be the "computers" which break the most because they are the most used. What type of businesses do you go to? like small businesses meaning liquor stores, flower shops, and so on. I wouldn't think of going to big chains such as Home Depot or Wendys, or do you do that and pass out flyers for the employees?

Just for the record I didn't put anything inside the mailboxes, I left flyers on the side of mailboxes by the lever (when you have mail to send out) because I seen people hanging flyers around my neighborhood just like that but no flyers with computer repair or services offers so this has to be kinda good.

 

[SThompson86]

I hope you own your on home or store front.. lol I am stuck since I still live at home and cannot get a city business license.. because I do not have a business structure in my name. I am LLC though.. and I am still rolling out.

 

[vdub12]

Thank you. When you go to local businesses do you ask for any particular person? such as manager, owner, supervisor, or that does not really metter it's just whoever is working in the business at the time? Do you also deal with POS systems (Point of Sale) meaning the registers since in my opinion those would be the "computers" which break the most because they are the most used. What type of businesses do you go to? like small businesses meaning liquor stores, flower shops, and so on. I wouldn't think of going to big chains such as Home Depot or Wendys, or do you do that and pass out flyers for the employees?

Just for the record I didn't put anything inside the mailboxes, I left flyers on the side of mailboxes by the lever (when you have mail to send out) because I seen people hanging flyers around my neighborhood just like that but no flyers with computer repair or services offers so this has to be kinda good.

I go to most businesses, there are always potential clients.

One of my best customers I have right now I passed his business up because I didn't want to walk up a long stair case. Lucky 10 minutes later I went in to the bar across the street and luckily he was the owner and was there at the time. He owns many businesses in that block. A property management company (Place with the long stairs), a bar, and a hotel. All of them have computers and they have kept me quite busy. Yes point of sale systems can make you money. Many modern ones are just windows based computers with a special front end.

So basically go every ware. I have even gotten residential customers from passing out fliers at hair salons and nail places. When I give the business owner a flier many of the customers there want one to.

When passing out fliers don't miss the chance to talk to someone in person. The flier is just there for there reference to call you later. What you are trying to do is sell yourself. You have a better chance of turn around if you talk to someone face to face rather then leaving a flier on a mail box. Remember they are not hiring a computer repair person, they can find one of those on there own, they are hiring you. Give them a good reason. Maybe they don't need you right then, but when they do they will remember your conversation more so then a flier on there mail box.

Try to think of it like this. Your building relationships with people rather then building business. If you have a good relationship with your clients they always come back to you because they consider you there friend.

I hope you own your on home or store front.. lol I am stuck since I still live at home and cannot get a city business license.. because I do not have a business structure in my name. I am LLC though.. and I am still rolling out.

Yeah you might also need to own your property to get a business license. Luckily I own my home so I was able to get a license without a problem. It took about 15 minutes to fill out the paper work and visit all the different offices in the same building to get everything signed off.

 

[RegEdit]

legalzoom.com that they can make you legal for like $580 to start a DBA

$580 is HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!! I live in Los Angeles where we are getting taxes and fee'd to death, but it only costs about $100 with a local company that files the paper work for you AND they publish an announcement in a small paper for 4 weeks as required by law.

Others have said that it takes like 5 years to launch a computer repair business. Don't expect it to get you off unemployment any time soon, especially now that computers are getting cheaper and cheaper. Plumbers are doing a whole lot better.

Get listed in the yellow pages (not a paid listing - just listed is fine). Having a web site gets me about 1 - 2 jobs per month.

 

[NeutronTech]

Where I live there is no state licensing, nothing that costs anything anyways. I only paid $10 for a DBA with the county that's good for 3 years. I got a yellow page ad because there are no other local computer repair places listed in there. There are a couple big brand listings in it, but I'm the only one in my town. Sadly the book won't be out until October, but they did list me online within the first month. They also provided me with another domain and built me a very basic website so that I can get listed in the search engines. I have a domain registered as well, and right now just forwards to the domain they provided, while I work on building mine offline.

Still, the hardest thing is letting people know that I'm here. Being the only one around, I'm confident that if people knew I was here it wouldn't be too tough to get work. I've gone door to door with businesses handing out fliers and my card. I've also posted my cards on every bulletin board I could find. The newspaper has never worked for me, so I didn't bother with that.

 

[hardtoremember]

The newspaper has never worked for me, so I didn't bother with that.

Have you tried advertising in the local section? The section with all the local events, the crossword and the fun stuff? That is really the only part of the paper I really read.

 

[Ziomek]

Everybody thank you for really good advice. I hope to get this DBA started soon and thanks for letting me know that legalzoom.com was a nice ripoff.

Vdub12 really great advice man on how to get things going. I passed out flyers in the neighborhood couple days ago and I left flyers on the lever of the mailboxes, however I didn't leave flyers where there were people outside, somehow I think like I'm invading their space. Thanks to your advice I think I should be doing exactly the opposite by giving the flyers to people who are outside their home and talk to them and get to know them a little bit so your flyer isn't just another flyer and there is a good chance that the person you talked to is actually going to keep it, not just toss it with the rest of junk.

 

[RegEdit]

+1 Advertising in papers is a waste of money.

Mailing out postcards was a break even venture for me.

 

[mooncat]

I registered my DBA at the county clerk's office for $33. You get your official certificate right there with a raised seal. My authorization permit to collect sales tax cost nothing, but took about three weeks to process. In my state/county that's all you really need to do to be legal. In addition I also registered a Tax ID # (FEIN) so I don't need to use my SSN. This was free through the IRS website, and I purchased liability insurance for $234/yr. I work out of a home office so I don't have many initial overhead costs.

As to advertising I'm focusing on the ideas of "Call That Girl" in the sense that the most successful methods are the ones that get you in front of people, networking, and known as an expert. EX. I'm going to a free seminar today about facebook and linked in. Goals are to learn, network, meet people, and find out how to conduct my own seminars. Also, I have a family member who works at a local grocery store and has handed out a ton of my business cards. I've been making frequent "appearances" at that store so she can introduce me and I can chat with the people. They get to see my appearance and we make a connection so they don't just "have a card," they also know the person. I think these things are crucial in this type of business, at least if your targeting residential. I'm also thinking of joining toastmasters.

 

[vdub12]

I registered my DBA at the county clerk's office for $33. You get your official certificate right there with a raised seal. My authorization permit to collect sales tax cost nothing, but took about three weeks to process. In my state/county that's all you really need to do to be legal. In addition I also registered a Tax ID # (FEIN) so I don't need to use my SSN. This was free through the IRS website, and I purchased liability insurance for $234/yr. I work out of a home office so I don't have many initial overhead costs.

As to advertising I'm focusing on the ideas of "Call That Girl" in the sense that the most successful methods are the ones that get you in front of people, networking, and known as an expert. EX. I'm going to a free seminar today about facebook and linked in. Goals are to learn, network, meet people, and find out how to conduct my own seminars. Also, I have a family member who works at a local grocery store and has handed out a ton of my business cards. I've been making frequent "appearances" at that store so she can introduce me and I can chat with the people. They get to see my appearance and we make a connection so they don't just "have a card," they also know the person. I think these things are crucial in this type of business, at least if your targeting residential. I'm also thinking of joining toastmasters.

is there a place where advertising tips from "Call That Girl" can be found. Maybe a place where there all consolidated.

 

[callthatgirl]

I have a post in the Marketing forum "What I did to market my business" and it's a long list. Keep in mind that I am growing a business in a metropolitan market, some of the things I did, won't work in a smaller town/market. Some of the stuff that Ohio is doing, doesn't work for me (ads in newspapers) because of cost/effectiveness in a metro area. I am doing the hand and foot marketing that is working...for me. My business is also branded with myself to back it up with the work I have personally done, not everyone can do self branding to back up a company branding, in technique. If that makes sense.

My list is a good list to get ideas that work for YOU, it's not for everyone. What I tell folks to do is look at it and find things that appeal to you and work it! Marketing only works if it's fun and doesn't hurt you (like, you hate doing it)...then it shows.

Enjoy your business, it's your life!

 

[vdub12]

Marketing only works if it's fun and doesn't hurt you (like, you hate doing it)...then it shows.

Enjoy your business, it's your life!

I agree, There are some days when I should be passing out fliers but I don't because my attitude just isn't in to it. Then theres other days where I have a blast talking to people.