Debra LoRusso submitted this question to our survey:

Do I need any type of license besides a “seller’s permit” or a city business license to sell my product on the internet? I live in California and I have to do a little sewing to make the product. Thanks for your advice.

My response: You do not need a license to sell products online — at least not if you live in a desert island in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe on the moon.

However, if you live in a city, you may need a permit or a license from your municipality. You may even need to check the zoning of your home. In most cases though, if you aren’t going to have a ton of inventory stashed in your house, or people stopping buy to shop, you shouldn’t have any zoning issues. I would check with your city though.

If you live in the U.S., you most likely live in a state (insert tongue in cheek). As a business owner, you need to file a DBA (doing business as) form with your state, and you’ll need to register your business as either a sole-proprietorship, LLC or corporation, and you’ll need to request a state tax ID.

I also recommend that fill out the paper work for a federal tax ID, also known as an Employer Identification Number. You’ll use this when filing your taxes.

Since you’re a California resident, you can go to the California Secretary Of State website for more business information.

Do you need answers? Submit your question to our Product Seller’s survey!

Popularity: 46% [?]

Pat Sandy submitted this question to our survey:

I am trying to help my mother-in-law get her business on line and I also want to do the same for myself with a different product. My mother-in-law designs counted cross stitch graphs and wants to sell them (she completes a sample of which a photo has been take). I make quilts and wall hangings. I think these need to be two separate businesses and would appreciate your advice. Thanks.

My response: Whether or not you run separate businesses, or start one business depends on a few factors.

First, do the two of you have the same vision for where you want the business go to? This is very important. Let’s say person wants to start a business, but is really just in it for fun. She just wants to sew when she can and really is interested in making some money from a hobby. On the other hand, the other person is serious about building a business, earning a profit and paying off some debt.

If these two people start one business, there will soon be friction over where the business is going to go. In many cases, this can result in lost relationships, and sometimes in loss of the business altogether.

So, my advise is to make sure you’re on the same page with your mother-in-law.

Second, are the two products related. If one person is selling baseball bats and the other person is selling baby slings, you’re going to run into trouble. Those two products have nothing to do with one another, making marketing one business tough. In this situation, I’d recommend two businesses.

Since your product and your mother-in-law’s product are similiar — handmade crafts — you may be able to get away with running one business.

Third, you need to consider the target market. Do the same people who buy cross-stitch graphs also buy completed quilts and wall-hangings? It seems to me that a person who buys a graph is not going to be the same person who buys a completed craft item. I recommend you study your target market to find out.

If you’re still not sure which option you should choose, you’re welcome to try my one-on-one business coaching services.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Myth: I’m just going to start my business small and if people like it, I’ll (buy a better website/setup a mailing list/hire a writer)…

Truth: If you’re going to run a business, call yourself a business, make a profit like a business and do business, as a business, with other businesses, then you need to act like a business.

There, I said it.

Before we continue this discussion, I’d like to say that if you’re just wanting to sell a few pieces of jewely or a few baby slings as a hobby, more power to you. I have no problem with that.

But if you’re starting a business, it’s in your best interests to behave like a business.

Here are some tips for those of you who are wanting to start a business — or already running one:

1. Behave like a business and you can write off your expenses on your taxes. Can’t do that if you’re just a hobbyist.
2. Acting like a business means trying to earn a profit, which means you’re going to have to mark up your prices above what a hobbyist might charge. After all, if you hadn’t planned on earning a profit, you’d have stayed a hobbyist or started a non-profit organization, right?
3. Set boundaries like a business. Make your terms of service clear and stick with them. As a business, you can’t make exceptions for everyone. You’ll run yourself — and your business — into the ground.
4. Don’t allow people to run over you. You might be a nice person, but that doesn’t mean you have to let people mop the floor with you. Follow the advice in #3 and politely tell the freebie-seeker that she needs to pay for your products or services.
5. Plan to be big. Starting a business that dies because no one bought its products or services is sad. Starting a business that does because the owner didn’t plan for success is a shame. Ask yourself where you want to be in five years and start planning for that now.

And finally, hold on tight, because running a business is a bit like riding a roller coaster — lots of ups and downs.

Popularity: 34% [?]

I consider myself very lucky that I can stay home and run an online business. There are so many benefits — and so I decided to make a list:

1. You get to stay at home.
2. You can get out of your house if you want to. No being forced to sit in a cubicle for eight or more hours.
3. You can watch your kids grow up without missing their first words, first steps, first temper tantrums…
4. You can take said kids to the local Mommy’s Day out for a couple of hours a week while you focus on getting some work done.
5. You are never bored.
6. You have the opportunity to interact with people all over the world.
7. You can take the afternoon off and hang out at the park with your kids.
8. You’re the boss — and the employee, and the secretary, and the salesperson, and the shipping clerk, and the inventory manager, and the advertising manager, and the mail clerk…
9. You can decide what you don’t want to do — and outsource it.
10. You can wake up at 9 a.m. and stumble into your office in your pajamas.
11. You can wake up at 5 a.m., shower, dress up in your business suit and arrive in your office at the stroke of 7.
12. You can stay up for 5 hours after you put the kids to bed and work in peace and quite.
13. You can shut your office door at 5 p.m., spend the whole evening with your family, and go to bed at a decent hour.
14. You can steer your business the way you think it should go.
15. You can learn from your mistakes.
16. You are your own worst critique.
17. Your customers will tell you when you mess up. Often loudly and publicly. Some of your customers will love you — loudly and publicly.
18. You can learn something new every day.
19. Some days you’ll want to crawl into your bed and stay there until spring.
20. Some days you’ll wish there were more hours in the day so you can carry out all your brilliant ideas.

Whew! Twenty reasons to start an online business. Tell me your reasons…

Popularity: 32% [?]