Entrepreneurial Advisor
Starting a business is a challenging undertaking activity because of the scarcity of resources and experience. Each type of enterprise has its unique challenges. As such, an entrepreneur needs to be conversant with the dynamics of each sector to succeed. This essay will provide advice to a woman willing to start a web-based business and a veteran starting a home-based business; identify the legal, financial and human resources required, and provide some advantages and disadvantages of each business type.
There are various resources that a woman starting a web-based business can use, which include legal, financial and human resources. Starting a business may be complex because there are legal aspects that an entrepreneur must satisfy. For instance, online businesses should set up some mechanisms to protect the privacy of their clients such as credit card details (Read, 2011). Additionally, they should be knowledgeable of the taxes applicable in every jurisdiction and collect them accordingly from their customers. Moreover, the entrepreneur must protect their businesses by obtaining copyright to ensure that competitors do not use the business’ original work for their benefit. Finally, there are locations where online businesses require permits or licenses to operate. Failure to obtain such documents can hinder the business progress because it can attract fines and penalties. A woman venturing into the web-based business may not have the sufficient expertise to satisfy legal needs. As such, she needs to consult legal experts, who represent a part of legal resources within her area of operation to guide her on how to obtain all the documents. Government services also provide online guidance on how to meet all the legal requirements. Thus, such services are vital to the woman entrepreneur because they are usually free of charge.
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For financial resources, there are various sources that the woman entrepreneur can use. First, she can save money over the years and finally use the savings for the business. On the other hand, the entrepreneur can write a business plan and take it to financial institutions such as banks to seek a loan. She can also look for partners who may have finances to co-own the business and share the profits. By the way, there are various government grants that women can utilize to fund their undertakings. Moreover, now those people who decided to start a business can benefit from technology-driven sources of loans such as crowd funding and online loans, which target web-based entrepreneurs (Boone & Kurtz, 2011). The human resources that the web-based business may require include experts to develop and maintain websites – designers who make and offer maintenance for websites. The entrepreneur can find their location online and seek their assistance. The woman can also employ in-house personnel with expertise in electronic commerce.
One of the advantages of starting an online business as a woman is the support from the governmental and other institutions that seek diversity in the electronic commerce sector. The business has a wide reach of customers, and thus is likely to have large sales volumes when managed well. On the other hand, the disadvantages include possible barriers such as people’s lack of confidence with women because the industry is mainly male dominated.
A home-based business is located in the owner’s compound and differs from other entities in different ways. There are tax implications for home-based businesses with which a veteran may grapple. Other complications arise from factors such as zoning, which apply restrictions on home-based businesses. Like any other type of business, the veteran should seek some legal advice from law firms in the best way to file the taxes and take advantage of various deductibles. Apart from attorneys, the veteran can also explore the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) website for guidelines on how to benefit from operating a home-based business. The veteran may not have the financial resources to pay for legal advice. Additionally, he may have a disability that may have resulted from his service. As such, several agencies and organizations can assist him to acquire both legal and financial assistance. For instance, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government intuition that has a division dedicated to helping veterans. Thus, such businessman can seek the aid of SBA to benefit from the different offers at the organization. The Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) is part of SBA that trains veteran entrepreneurs by equipping them with skills, mentorship and exposure to government programs. As a result, the OVBD can help the veteran to understand the various sources of finances available for the home-based business. Another program by SBA is the Veterans Advantage, which guarantees the loans for veterans and their spouses (Kutz, 2010). Such a loan guarantee is essential because many financial institutions may require collateral before issuing a loan, which the veteran may not have. SBA also connects the veterans with not for profit lenders who provide free financial advice. The same organizations can help him by showing how to file their taxes without involving lawyers. Hence, the knowledge can reduce the amount of money the veterans use to seek legal assistance. Consequently, they can direct their financial resources to grow their home-based businesses.
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The first advantage of operating a home-based business for the veteran is that there are limited financial needs because one of the houses can act as an office. Such a benefit is crucial because most veterans have no finances and suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder, which may be expensive to treat. Secondly, in case the veteran has an injury from a military service, the home office ensures minimum movement. As such, the veteran can work within the comfort of his home. On the other hand, the demerit of having a home-based business is that it is not eligible for many government grants. As a result, the operation may limit the veteran’s sources of capital. The second disadvantage is that the family may be a distraction, which may hinder the business from reaching its full potential.
