Wednesday, February 24, 2010

8 steps to launching a start-up

There's a nice article in the March 2010 edition of US News and World Report titled, "Kick-Starting a Business of Your Own." The author describes 8 important steps that are important for anyone starting a new company:
  1. Find a mentor
  2. Do the prep work
  3. Write a business plan
  4. Line up sources of funding
  5. Purchase health insurance
  6. Hire an accountant
  7. Don't neglect retirement savings
  8. Accept what you can't have
When it comes to step #4 above, this is where many people get stuck. How do you find sources of funding for a new business venture?
  • Savings
  • Credit cards (use with caution!)
  • Home equity loans 
  • Friends and relatives (use with extreme caution!)
  • Banks and credit unions
  • Angel investors and venture capital firms
So, are you ready to embark on a new adventure? I'm a bootstrapper (defined by Wikipedia as: to start a business without external help/capital). Perhaps you've been thinking about starting a new business. Would you call yourself an entrepreneur?

1 comment:

  1. I am looking for an MD to invest seed money in my start-up in exchange for equity/partnership or a return on investment. We have A LOT of interest in this project with a great team. Our website is at http://www.mdidealab.com and our office is in Cambridge, MA.

    This opportunity would be perfect for an MD wishing to transition to Medical Informatics without retraining. Informatics is a very hot field right now.

    If you would like to know more please contact me at drfitzmeyer@mdidealab.com. Serious inquiries only please.

    Stephen Fitzmeyer, M.D.
    MD Idea Lab, President and Founder
    VA Boston Healthcare System, Advanced Medical Informatics Fellow

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