Feeling overwhelmed

[jessabelle]

Hi...I have a lot of questions regarding party plan consulting:

1. Is it beneficial for me to have my own website with my own domain name? If so which web hosting site is best?

2. Should I make my home business official by having a business name? I was talking to my husband and he thought that it would be safer that way so that no one can sue me personally.

3. I read that I should have a separate checking account for my business for tax puposes. What is the difference between a business account and a personal account? Which one should I have?

4. Does anyone have suggestions for software that will help me manage my business financially?

That's all I can think of right now but I'm sure I'll have more later.

Thanks so much,
Jess

[ccarroll]

HI jess...
Here are some thoughts,

1. Is it beneficial for me to have my own website with my own domain name? If so which web hosting site is best? ** Yes absoultely so you can track your traffic!! there are many moms sites that are inexpensive. I use http://www.momwebz.com and it is like $8 a month

2. Should I make my home business official by having a business name? I was talking to my husband and he thought that it would be safer that way so that no one can sue me personally. ** Depends on what type of business you are doing. If it is a party plan, I don't think it is necessary right now. If you grow your biz hugely, you may want to talk to your acct about it.

3. I read that I should have a separate checking account for my business for tax puposes. What is the difference between a business account and a personal account? Which one should I have? ** You should have your business accts run thru a separate account. It does not have to be a "Business Account". It can be a savings account that you already have. just start doing all of you business banking thru that one acct so it is easy to see deposits going in and expenses going out. The IRS likes seeing that. It makes you more professional. You can set up a checking acct in your own name as well. If it is a party plan or something like that, you will not need a DBA. If you are doing your own business, you will need a DBA which the bank can help you with.

4. Does anyone have suggestions for software that will help me manage my business financially? I just use excel. It works fine for me. I set up some spreadsheets to track my income and expenses. Simple


Hope this helps!
Chris