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Dane points us to a list of 20 Don’ts that would really do you some good if you intend to start your own business. (Via BW)

1. Don?? quit your day job.

2. Don?? incorporate. Seventy five percent of all businesses are sole proprietorships, and they already make money.

3. Don?? get a bank account. Your personal banking account will work just fine if someone wants to write you a check, or if you need to pay for something.

4. Don?? rent an office. Work from home. It won?? require a first, last and security deposit. Plus, it?? tax deductible.

5. Don?? hire an attorney. What?? an attorney going to tell that you didn?? already know, or couldn?? figure out on Nolo or in a good bookstore? There are only two times to call an attorney: if you??e in jail, or if someone else?? attorney contacts you.

6. Don?? hire an accountant. Quickbooks Simple Start or IAC-EZ will get you going.

7. Don?? get a loan. To get a loan from anyone, even your family, will require that you do too many items on this list. And besides, if you get a loan, you know work for the bank ??not for yourself.

8. Don?? hire anyone. Don?? hire someone if you can do it yourself. For everything else, use contractors and give them 1099.

9. Don?? get a business license. I?? not advocating that anyone cheat the government. Once you can sell your product/service, go out immediately and get all of the necessary business licenses and permits in your jurisdiction.

10. Don?? try to patent anything. It takes 1.5 to 2.5 years to get a patent. Who knows what the market will look like then.

11. Don?? design a logo. You are your own brand, you don?? need a logo.

12. Don?? waste time picking a business name. As a sole proprietor, you already have a business name: your own!

13. Don?? advertise. Advertising costs money, and takes time to perfect. Selling takes only you.

14. Don?? buy office supplies. If you need a pencil, get one out of the kitchen or your son?? backpack. You are working from home, aren?? you?

15. Don?? buy any equipment. Outsource everything. Fedex Kinkos can handle all of your printing, and instead of splurging on a postal meter head down the post office. Need something big? Rent it! If it?? not something you can rent by the day, maybe there?? another local business with one. Can you rent it during their off hours in the middle of the night?

16. Don?? try to find a partner. What do you need a parter for? Capital? Don?? take loans. Need someone with some sales experience? If you the inventor of your product/service can?? sell it ??no one will be able to.

17. Don?? join the Chamber of Commerce. Chambers of Commerce have great mixers where you can meet and network with other local business people. Right now, you don?? need to network, you need to sell! Plus, you can always go as a visitor.

18. Don?? tell all of your friends about the business that you??e going to start someday soon. Every minute that you spend telling someone you love about your future business is one less minute you have to either try to find someone to buy your product/service or to refine it. Plus, everyone knows an ??ntrepreneur??that is all talk and no action: don?? be one yourself.

19. Don?? write a business plan. Sure you need to know what you??e going to do and how you??e going to make money, but don?? waste time formatting it into a structured plan.

20. Don?? get a business telephone number or mailing address. You have a cellphone, use it. If someone needs to mail you something, have them send it to your house. You??e working there, remember.

#2 Don?? incorporate. This really hit home on one of the mistakes I’ve made back in 2005. We’d a gung-ho team with some really great ideas, and before even getting any paying customers, we went ahead and in-corporated the company, and THEN started working on the business model. We’d to pay the Company Secretary a monthly fee, keeping a proper account of the company’s finances and pay an audit fee every year, even when we are not making a single sen of profit. I am not saying all that is not important, but really, the whole company’s incorporation is a distraction that we could really do without. In the end, when the team members was heading in different directions, the bleeding company had to be de-registered, which incurred another cost, not to mention the unproductive time spent on administrative work. Hence, always opt for sole-proprietorship or partnership first.

#4 Don?? rent an office. This would really help you to cut out on unnecessary operation overheads, especially if you don’t require a retail front to sell your wares. Besides, what you really need is a space to get productive, without distractions. If there’s a place at home that serves such a purpose, by all means utilize it.

#13 Don?? advertise. Another useful point. A friend spent about RM10K just to advertise on a prestigious business daily. Results: A few phone calls enquiries and that’s it. Spend those money and get this book instead. Some of the points though, are a good reference but not necessarily applicable to every kind of businesses.

For example, #16 Don?? try to find a partner. If you have problem creating a website on your own and you’ve identified that your products would benefit most from online presence, it would be a better idea to get a partner who’s IT-savvy rather than outsourcing the IT department.

For #20 Don?? get a business telephone number or mailing address, you can always get a single multi-purpose machine that scans, faxes and photocopies all at the same time. I’ve got a multi-purpose OfficeJet 4335 All-in-One at just under RM250 and it’s hooked to a splitter that is also connected to the StreamyX Broadband modem. I’ve also got a HP LaserJet 1010 which I use for black and white prints and an EPSON Perfection 610 flatbed scanner, which I won from a computer graphics competition back in 2001. So, far the setup which cost about RM950 and a maintenance of about RM30 for the ink cartridges and hardware services worked really well for me.

The list is certainly very minimalist, but it really points out what you really should focus on when starting a business- the selling part. Yes, until the first sen comes rolling in, you are just in the day-dreaming phase.

A fictional adaptation.

Bank Negara is cracking down heavily these days on illegal money dealings and scams. Here’s one of their latest pamphlets, available in banks nationwide.

Bank Negara Malaysia – Dont Get Trapped in Illegal Money Dealings

I think another good place to start is doing a round of filtering on direct sales or multi-level marketing companies. Whoops, did I just say that? Yup, many are going to start flaming this thread, but let truth be told, the lack of regulation in these industries has caused so much untold misery.

Most of the people I know who got cheated in such scams just prefer to remain quiet and low profile, simply because by revealing the truth, they would look stupid in front of their friends and relatives. These fear of losing face amongst the victims has undoubtedly help these illegal schemes to continue spreading like cancer cells.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing

~Edward Burke

Now, if there’s one telecommunication company which I can bet my last ringgit on, it’s got to be the Yellow Guy. They just seem to get it.

Instead of focusing on prices, coverage and the “top download speed”, DiGi, based on its market study and research, will focus on quality.
“We have the ambition of doing broadband right. All our customer research shows that customers are generally not happy with the broadband services. It may be speed, download quota, customer service, consistency and price.

“We are starting small. We are not going to claim to have the largest mobile broadband coverage. That would be the wrong approach.

More…

I can only hope they(DIGI) walk the talk. So far, the Green guy’s been walking backwards, while Maya Karin’s been marching steadily with the laptop and the USB device along the highways.

The idea of restricting the number of subscribers to maintain quality of service shows that DIGI is not just another telco going after your money. Nonetheless, you are well-advised to read all the fine prints in the service contract before putting down your signature on the application form.

No, I am not buying into another mobile broadband, yet. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy.

On the side note, DIGI definitely didn’t get their 3G license the easy way. It would be interesting to see how DIGI plays the broadband game, since the other major players are already in the game for quite some time. Being big doesn’t mean anything these days. Think big, act small seems to be the way to go.

If only the depositors bothered to google “Sunshine Empire”, they might have been able to look up on some information published about SunShine Empire’s operation in Singapore. I am not sure if they are at all related, but with such similar names, it would have been enough to sound off the alarm bell.

On 13 March 2009, Bank Negara Malaysia charged Sunshine Empire Sdn. Bhd at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court under section 25(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (BAFIA) for accepting deposits from depositors without a valid licence.

The company was charged for accepting deposits without a valid licence at its premises in the following addresses:

* Block A-11-1 (13 Floor) Penthouse, Menara Uncang Emas, 85 Jalan Loke Yew, Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur between 14 July 2006 to 17 October 2006 and;
* Ground Floor and First Floor of KUB.com Building, 12 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur between 18 October 2006 to 4 April 2008.

Sunshine Empire Sdn Bhd represented by its director Mohd Azlan Bin Azman pleaded not guilty to the charge. The mention date for this case is fixed on 10 April 2009.

Source: Bank Negara Malaysia

Con-artists thrive in a recessionary cycle and they will not hesitate to separate you and your hard-earned money. If you are told of an opportunity of a lifetime, always consult someone you can trust before making any decisions. Else, you might just turn out to the ‘opportunity’ in someone’s life.