David Trahair 
Entrepreneurial Itch 
Don’t Scratch Until You Read This Book

Statistics show that 90% of businesses fail within their first five years of operation. What is the story behind these intimidating odds? Every year, unsuspecting entrepreneurs show up at their banks asking for small-business loans. The problem is that far too many people go into business without doing thorough research into what it really takes to be successful. The best way to learn is to learn from someone who has worked with hundreds of small businesses. In this new book, small-business accountant and author David Trahair lays out in plain language everything that no one else tells you about starting a business. Trahair stresses that it’s important for most people to start their business first as a side job. The owner should market and develop the business until it becomes strong enough to survive those crucial first years, and profitable enough to provide an income for the owners. Trahair also offers excellent tips on what the major franchisors will never tell you.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE SELF-EMPLOYED? 1
You Hate Your Job 1
You Hate Aspects of Your Job 2
The commute 2
Annoying coworkers 2
Making money for others 3
You Lose Your Job 3
Your Life Changes 4
Maybe You’ve Just Got the Urge 4
Why Listen to Me? 4
The Self-Employment Alternative 5
Do You Have the Entrepreneurial Itch? 7
How This Book Will Help Scratch Your Itch 7
v
CONTENTS
2 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SUCCEED? 9
The Key to Success 9
Attributes of a Successful Entrepreneur 10
Attributes of a Successful Business 12
Leg 1: Operations 12
Leg 2: Selling and marketing 13
Leg 3: Finance and administration 14
3 WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO? 17
“A Restaurant Sounds Good” 18
Something Old? Something New? 19
Research, Research, Research 20
The Business Plan 23
Research Should Never End 25
Niche Today, Gone Tomorrow? 26
What is good about a niche? 27
Always be thinking about your next niche 27
4 IF YOU CAN SELL, YOU’LL DO WELL 31
What Doesn’t Work 32
The mailing list 32
Expensive one-time advertising 33
Newsletters 33
Build a website and they will come 34
What Works (for Me) 35
Personal contacts 35
The story of my dentist 36
Other Keys to Marketing Your Business 37
5 GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE:
START ON A SHOESTRING 41
The Home Office 42
Advantages of a home office 42
vi The entrepreneurial itch
Disadvantages of a home office 42
Start-up Costs 43
Why Not Get the Bank to Help? 44
Where Does Cash Come From Besides a Bank Loan? 45
Your savings and “sweat equity” 45
Friends and family 45
Credit cards 46
The bank again 46
The Cash-Flow Crunch 47
Tips for easing the cash-flow crunch 47
Track your daily cash flow 49
6 BOOKKEEPING: LIFEBLOOD OF A BUSINESS 53
Basic Accounting Concepts 53
Accrual accounting 54
Debits and credits 55
Financial statements and journal entries 56
Equity 57
Capital assets, amortization, and depreciation 58
Bookkeeping for Sole Proprietors 59
Recording business finances separately makes
tax time easier 60
Recording business finances separately gives a
clearer view of your personal finances 60
Recording business finances separately lets you
see how your business is doing 61
Act Like a Corporation 61
Bookkeeping Made Easy 62
Invoicing and accounts receivable 62
Paying bills 63
Other bookkeeping entries 63
A word about using spreadsheets for bookkeeping 64
Contents vii
Setting Up Your Books 65
Bookkeepers versus accountants 65
The chart of accounts 66
Schedule C — Profit or Loss from Business (US) 66
Form T2124 — Statement of Business Activities
(Canada) 67
Group your expenses 68
Focus on the Key Numbers 71
Improving the Bottom Line 72
Increasing revenue 72
Cutting the right expenses 72
Keeping Current Is Key 74
7 AIM FOR THE IDEAL BUSINESS 75
The Ideal Client 75
Pick and choose your clients 77
Make sure your clients are in a solid industry 77
Get Others to Do the Work 78
What kind of help do you need? 79
When can you afford to hire someone? 79
Competing with You Is Difficult 80
Your Whole Family Is Not Tied Up in the Business 81
Could It Be Web-Based? 81
8 RUN YOUR BUSINESS; DON’T LET IT RUN YOU 83
Juggling Three Balls at Once 84
What’s On Your Dashboard? 85
My dashboard 86
Other useful information 88
The Early Stage 88
The Growth Stage 89
viii The entrepreneurial itch
9 IT’S NOT THE TIME, IT’S THE EFFORT 91
The Good Old Hourly Rate 92
Disadvantages of Hourly Billing 92
It focuses on hours, not results 92
It limits the amount of money you can make 93
Billable hours become more important than
business growth 94
It treats customers unequally 94
It doesn’t reward the “finding” function 95
It penalizes technological advances 95
Hourly Billing Versus Set Fees 95
Setting an hourly rate 96
Going beyond time 97
Value points 97
Time-Tracking Secrets 98
Keep track during the day 98
Use increments of less than one hour 99
Track chargeable and nonchargeable time 99
Time-Tracking and Reporting Software 100
What to look for 101
The quest for five-star time-tracking and
reporting software 101
Why I chose Bill Quick 103
10 INTEGRATE YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR BUSINESS 109
Life Tip 1 — Do What You Don’t Want to Do First 111
Life Tip 2 — You Get What You Expect 111
Life Tip 3 — Balance Is the Key 113
Life Tip 4 — Plan on a Weekly, Not a Daily, Basis 113
Life Tip 5 — Be Flexible with Your Time 114
Life Tip 6 — Don’t Be Afraid to Ask a Stupid Question 115
Contents ix
Life Tip 7 — Stay Away from Those Who Say You
Can’t Do It 116
Life Tip 8 — Don’t Be Afraid of Your Competition 117
Life Tip 9 — Leave Lots of Time for Completing
Each Task 118
Life Tip 10 — Don’t Wait for Everything to Be Perfect 119
11 THE MILLIONAIRE DREAM: I’LL SELL IT AND
GET RICH! 121
Business Valuation Methods 121
Business valuation method 1: Profit multiple 122
Business valuation method 2: Book value 124
Business valuation method 3: Service business 125
Are You Building It to Sell It? 126
Make it work without you 126
Make it big enough 127
Take time for planning 128
12 COULD A FRANCHISE BE FOR YOU? 131
What Is a Franchise Anyway? 131
Advantages of a franchise 132
Disadvantages of a franchise 133
How Much Is a Franchise Worth? 135
Questions to Ask Before You Buy 136
Watch Out for Scams 137
Examples of franchise fraud 138
How to spot a scam 139
The Five Most Frequently Asked Questions
about Franchises 140
Where can I get a company’s presale disclosure
document? 140
How can I find out if there have been complaints
against a company? 141
x The entrepreneurial itch
How can I file a complaint against a company? 142
How do I know what must be included in a
disclosure document or offering circular? 142
How can I find a lawyer who specializes in
franchising? 143
13 THE SELF-EMPLOYMENT PENSION PLAN 145
Cushy Pension Plans Are Dying Out 145
Keeping a Job Is Getting Tougher 146
What Are You Going to Do? 146
Freedom 55? 147
I Love What I Do Now — Why Stop? 148
14 DO YOU STILL HAVE THE
ENTREPRENEURIAL ITCH? 151
FIGURES
1 Cash versus accrual method of accounting 55
2 Sample journal entry: Income 56
3 Sample journal entry: Expense 57
4 Balance sheet 58
5 My dashboard 87
6 Bill Quick work in progress report 105
7 Bill Quick write up/write down report 106
8 Sale price based on a percentage of future billings 126

Über den Autor

David Trahair is a chartered accountant with more than 20 years’ experience in accounting, finance, and tax. He has made many television appearances as well as being a speaker on numerous radio programs. He is also a feature writer on the web at Moneysense.ca and Microsoft.com, and he offers useful financial information on his website, http://www.trahair.com/.