Choosing a Domain Name for Your New Business

Choosing a domain name for your new business can be tricky. There are quite a few taken names already, and some people have trouble finding one they want. If your company name is unique you’ll have no trouble finding a domain name that’s available.

As a general solution you can add “Inc” or “Incorporated” or “LLC” or some other extension to your business name and you’ll usually be able to find a domain name that matches your business name well.

Generally you don’t want a domain name more than 20 characters. That’s a number I pulled out of thin air – but, the longer your domain name, the least interested people are in typing it out.

Even 15 character domains are a bit long to type out. The good news is that newer browsers these days are making it easy for us to re-visit websites we’ve been to already once in the past. FireFox 3.5 browser that I use now will auto-complete the entire domain name for me after typing just a couple characters. That’s good news for business websites with long domains.

Still, a long domain name is not usually very memorable. Whereas a short – 8-10 character domain will be much easier to remember.

The usual caveat about using dashes in your domain name still applies. Don’t use them if you can avoid using them. In the past search engines like Google used to not be so good about separating words in domain names that were joined together without a dash. We chose florida-incorporation.com eleven years ago because it was a great domain then. Today it’s still great, but there’s no need for the dash anymore – the search engines are adept at parsing out names without dashes.

Choosing .com as the suffix is also your best bet. The .net, .org, and other extensions didn’t really catch on like some thought they would. The .com extension is the standard and the one you should get for your new business in most cases.

If you want to buy the .org, and .net version of your .com domain name then that might be a smart idea.

Where is the best place to buy your domains? Godaddy.com is the largest domain name registrar in the USA. If you buy a website hosting account with them they’ll give you your domain name for just $1.99 (at time of this writing 7/09). Godaddy hosting for your business website (or personal) is also VERY affordable – about $60 for a year. Your new business won’t likely need more than the economy account that gives a lot of bandwidth and server space.

If you are interested in learning more about setting up your domain name, hosting and building a website for your new business we’ll be offering elearning courses here shortly to help you do just that – and every other step you need to get up to speed. Check back often.

10 Tips for New Business Owners

10 Tips for Starting Your New Business:

1. Be clear on your business idea and the reasons why you are creating the business. Take the time to write a business plan – even if not a complete plan – outline essentials.

2. Be honest about your skills. Outsource when you need to. You can’t do everything, and the more you focus on your strengths and hire others to also use their strengths the better off your new business will be.

3. Incorporate your business and research whether LLC, S-Corp, or some other type of corporate entity is the best way to structure your new business.

4. Funding takes a long time. If you need it – make sure you start this process soon after deciding you’re going to start a new business.

5. Research grants and other alternative funding. If your business is a non-profit – Google and other major internet companies (Microsoft, Yahoo) have grants available for certain business types. Also, your business may qualify for funding under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

6. Try to get more money than you need. Low capital is one of the primary reasons businesses fail. If your business is viable you’ll be able to find funding – it might take a lot of effort, but you’ll find it.

7. Hire only great people. Don’t settle. You’ll waste more time with one that isn’t right than is worth it! Don’t hire close relatives! How can you share the strengths in your organization?

8. Position yourself in the market where you are offering a service or product much better than someone else is. The harder it is to reproduce, the more solid your business footing. Identify the best markets for your business to be in – use the internet to find them.

9. Take time to speak to other professionals in the same or a parallel niche as the one your business targets. If you need specific business advise, then contact a professional at the SBA, an accountant or business coach.

10. Prepare for contingencies. What would happen if the key person, or two persons in your business couldn’t work all the sudden – or worse, quit? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – and always have contingency plans for everything to pull your business out of any hole it might fall into.

It pays to know a lot of people. Networking is probably the least thought of activity for new business owners – and yet, it can be one of the biggest advantages for your business. If you knew someone – one person even, that could handle expertly the major areas of your business – how much would that be worth?

You’re running the show – the show is going to go much more smoothly the more people you involve and know on a personal and business level. Get to networking and marketing – the two fundamental tasks of a new business…

And, GOOD LUCK!

Starting a New Business in Your Prime of Life

Starting a business after age 50…

Ok, not that 50 is old… but, you’re in a different state than others that are in their early 20’s You’ll see why I say that in a few minutes as you go through this article. Beginning a new business is tough at any age. At your age you have to be careful because you’re coming up on retirement soon and you don’t want to blow your cash on a crazy idea. Some caution is in order.

You have more money to invest, but at the same time you have more to lose if that’s the case. Business entrepreneurs over 50 have a better chance to succeed than their much younger counterparts… your knowledge and experience puts you in a better position to grab success.

What should you do?

Like pulling a beer from a tap… you have to tap your network. You have decades of accumulated friends and co-workers and it’s time to get them into a manageable list. Email addresses, Facebook, and face to faces are in order. Many times a successful business or not comes down to the networking and pool of customers, friends and experts the owner of a new business has contact with. Someone in their 50’s or older has a deep network to help them start their business.

Experience. Experience. Experience. Use it. The business you start is probably similar to jobs you’ve held in the past. You have a lot of knowledge built up – many experiences that will help you get through problems. The experience you’ve built up over the years isn’t like two twenty somethings, it’s like 6 of them. Again, anyone you can team up with or network with – increases that knowledge base and experience-base.

Get to work finding startup funding. A huge barrier to successful business prosperity is finding enough capital to get you going. Mike Hodge, a retired engineer from Akron, Ohio won a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an advanced microwave system which helped him start his new company. In addition to that grant he also mortgaged his home and found another $50,000. That’s what it took. Are you ready to do what it takes?

Prepare yourself to put in the hours. Starting your own business is not easier than working for someone else – it’s harder. You’ll be doing many things you can’t afford to pay someone else to do. Decide – will you allow this new business to dominate your life? Your free time will dry up and blow away as you put hour after hour into your new business to make it work. The payoff will come – but, at the expense of serious effort in the beginning stages. It’s that way for nearly all new businesses.

Keep costs low. Cut costs wherever possible. Eat in. Clean up yourself. Start your business in your home or partner’s home. In most cases you dont’ need a storefront to start off. You probably don’t need a new computer or half the stuff you’re thinking of purchasing. Reign in all costs before they become a plan. See how little you can start your new business on – not how much.

Have a backup plan. Most small businesses don’t make it past 3 years. Know the worst-case scenario and be prepared for it. Be prepared to keep your head up and swing into the next phase of your plan. The backup should be part of your plan. It’s dicey to put your own money into a new business venture. It’s important to know that if it fails – you have something else to look forward to. You have a plan to keep going forward, not fall back and cry in your soup. Pick it up and keep moving forward – toward something.

Good luck! If you need anything – feel free to write us here…