[nabentre] Government Assistance and Business Registration

[Gregory D. Rosenberg]

Good afternoon Mellissa,

The Small Business Administration (http://sba.org) offers many training seminars. Another great resource is SCORE. They offer free face-to-face mentoring & online business workshops. http://www.score.org

The IRS has a lot of small business resources. They have a CD they send out with great material for startup companies and home businesses. Search “IRS small business” in your favorite search engine. 

The Federal Trade Commission also has a lot of resources that can assist you compliance, dealing with and reporting to credit bureaus, and other useful tools for small businesses and individuals. Lots of common sense advise in protecting your business or yourself on-line. The FTC ran a nice program maybe half a year ago that was focussed on blind individuals and they provided audio materials that were quite useful.

You need a Federal Employee ID # for your business. Search for “apply for fein site:irs.gov”. Make sure the site you use ends in irs.gov. You need the FEIN before you can file with your state.

If you intend to sell products or provide services you will need an occupational retail ales tax certificate. In most cases going to http://sos.state.??.us will get you to the correct place. The ?? is your two letter state code. For example I am in Illinois so http://sos.state.il.us gets me to the top page for the Secretary of State. Depending on your state and your business goals you have to decide your tax structure. In some states an LLC is better in others an S Corporation may make more sense. The S Corporation has the least burdensome reporting and accounting requirements. Again this is not the beset option in every state. A short consultation with a CPA or an attorney will save you many headaches. The NFB has attorney resources for those that are blind or have low vision. There are lots of free resources out there.

You likely will have to register with your county. They will want you FEIN and state sales tax number. In some states they use the FEIN exclusively. 

You may also need to register your business with your municipality. In most areas as long as you comply with the municipalities home business / small business practices you likely don’t have to interact with them ever again. In my area I had to not have customers visit my home regularly. Not send or receive an excessive volume of boxes. Nor could I have flammable or hazardous chemicals. These three tests were very easy to comply with.

Registering your business with Dunn and Bradstreet to get a DnB number for your business is an important step in creating your business presence. Don’t let them talk you into any of their paid services they are a rip-off for small businesses. Go to DNB.com. Even if you are starting a new business you still have to go through the step of searching for your company. Once they find you don’t exist they take you to the registration step.

If you want to sell to Government agencies you will want to register with sam.gov. If you get stuck on any of their questions just ask. 

On Aug 5, 2014, at 02:48 CDT, Nicole Valicia Thompson-Andrews via nabentre <nabentre at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> On 6/15/14, Nicole Valicia Thompson-Andrews <goldyemoran at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Do you know of any seminars dealing with entrepreneurship coming up that
>> are
>> online? Are you all doing a phone conference anytime soon?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Pen Name
>> 
>> Mellissa Green
>> 
>> twitter @abluegreenunivs
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ---
>> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
>> protection is active.
>> http://cp.mcafee.com/d/2DRPow76QmbzAQS3hOyUrKrhKCUMyYYeudETjsohd7ab39J6X1EVjd7bNEVod79J6WrzVEVjopvdAo-h8wGcHiFOVKcHiFOVJx-PR_pvW_9K8KfefZuVt5VBXCnDxP2r_bnjIyCHsQsIYG7DR8OJMddECSjtPtPo0bjeQDOVK6AfxefBO5mUm-wawWg1L00jrWoV4SqmUqg-4U-qnjh04GCvz1nUjd40xiAGjS5Ld46Mgd40OTikfFgQg0LOcGjzIVlwrvudIKag
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Pen Name:
> Mellissa Green
> Twitter
> @abluegreenunivs
> 
> 
> What government assistance are the entrepreneurs on this list getting,
> and how did you get it, also, how did you register your business and
> pay business taxes?
> 
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P.S. Text the word BLIND to 85944 to donate $10 to the NFB Imagination Fund via your phone bill.

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. 

--
73' & 75'
Gregory D. Rosenberg AB9MZ
gregg at ricis.com

RICIS, Inc.
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