The easiest way to start your entrepreneurial activity is to get a personal loan. The business plan should provide an investment reason for family or friends to put up funds. Don't encourage investments solely due to personal relationships as failure will lead to schisms and estrangement.  Explain your idea and get them excited about why they should invest in it. Alternately, you could try to crowdfund your startup with help from sites like GoFundMe or Kickstarter. If your business is especially cash-intensive, you might need to look to financial institutions and investors for funding. Look for venture capitalists (investors willing to take a chance on new, untested ideas or businesses) and talk to your local financial institutions -- banks and credit unions -- about getting financed.  The U.S. Small Business Administration is a great resource for young entrepreneurs who want to be successful.  They have lots of resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners, including generous loan and grant programs.  Check them out at www.sba.gov/loans-grants/. Another useful resource for young entrepreneurs is Google Ventures.  Check their portfolio of startups at www.gv.com/portfolio/ and reach out to an investor who is interested in a product or service similar to yours.  If they like your idea, they’ll help you get funding. While outside funding can provide larger amounts of cash than personal loans or self-funding, you will need to pay interest.  Ensure you get a low interest rate and a low minimum monthly payment. As a teen, you might have trouble getting a business loan.  Your best bet is to stick to personal loans from friends or family.  If you really need a business loan, ask a parent or guardian to co-sign the loan with you.  Build credit once you are 18 by getting a credit card and paying the balance off regularly. Your business should be located in a location with enough space for your needs.  If you have a small tech startup that makes cool apps, you’ll need a modest office.  If you’re manufacturing clothing, however, you’ll probably need a large warehouse to produce and store garments, cloth, and raw materials.  Check local zoning regulations with your city or county planning agency.  Certain types of businesses cannot be located near housing or other types of commercial property. Give yourself room to grow.  Think about your long-term strategic plans to ensure the location you’re in can support growth. Consider the needs of your business as far as safety, proximity, exposure, etc. If you are a teen, be sure to ask ahead of time if the real estate agency from which you’ll be renting has a policy about renting to minors.  Some agencies might not want to risk renting to a minor, since contracts with minors can be risky for them.  If you cannot rent space from one real estate agency, contact another.  Alternately, get your parent or guardian to rent the space on your behalf, and pay them rent as your proxy. With your business effectively ready to launch, you might need staff to help you meet your goals. Consider taking out ads in local newspapers and employment websites like Indeed and Monster to advertise who you’re looking for.  Ask interested parties to submit a resume and statement of interest describing why they would be a good choice for the position you’re offering.  Conduct multiple interviews.  Don’t hire the first person who seems to fit the criteria you’re looking for.  If you’re hiring for two positions, you should try to interview at least 15 people. If you are a teen entrepreneur, you might have trouble getting staff to join your company.  Because of your youth, people might be skeptical about your ability to manage a business.  Plus, contracts with minors occupy a questionable legal territory, and potential staff might be wary of entering into an employment relationship with you.  In order to give yourself the best opportunity to attract competent staff, have a strong business plan and a number of smaller wins under your belt (like local awards, a growing market share, or a high profit margin) before contracting with staff. Depending on your needs, you might need a lot of equipment, or you might have everything you need already.  If you need equipment, you could lease it, buy it new, or buy it used.  You could lease equipment -- including desks, machinery, or vehicles -- to reduce your company’s initial investment costs.  However, if your business continues to grow, you should buy your own equipment, or you’ll end up paying more in loan fees than  you would if you just bought it outright.  Alternately, look for lease contracts with an option to buy at the end of the contract, using your lease payments toward the purchase price.  You could buy secondhand equipment.  When companies go under or invest in new equipment, their old equipment goes up for sale.  Depending on your business, you might consider picking up government surplus equipment.  You could buy new equipment.  This is the most expensive option, but you will then have everything you need and not need to worry about paying extra costs on leased equipment later. If you are a teen, you might need a parent or guardian to help you lease equipment.  If you have trouble leasing equipment from one place, try another. Depending on your business, you might need a lot of materials or just a few.  Think about the kinds of materials you’ll need both immediately and in the long term.  Identify major manufacturers of those materials and shop around for the manufacturer that offers the best balance of price and quality. For instance, if you’re making a salad shop, you’ll need to identify distributors for lettuce, carrots, and the other veggies you’ll need a steady supply of.  Contact local farmers and find out how you can order the materials you need. Once you're up and running, begin to use the marketing and sales plan that you described in your business plan. Purchase advertising space, network with local business owners, and work towards winning over your target audience as planned. Then, monitor your marketing efforts to gauge which ones are successful. Look for rises, or lacks of rises, in sales that coincidence with your marketing efforts. Ask customers how they heard of your business and record their responses. Then, you can use what you've learned to refocus your marketing strategies. More than anything, focus on delivering a good product or service. Word-of-mouth referrals are free and stand as one of the best ways to gain more business.

Summary: Obtain start-up funding. Get a business loan. Choose a location. Hire staff. Get equipment. Get the materials you need. Implement your marketing and sales plan.


This should pierce the plastic and pull it up.  You'll be able to see the metal plate below it.  The pin should easily slide through the now-free hole and the tag should be removed.
Summary: Place the item of clothing on the floor with the ink cartridge facing up. Take a very thin flathead screwdriver and place it along the edge of the raised square pyramid. Press down hard. Continue to pop up the perimeter of the plastic. Remove the silver paper lining. Use the screwdriver to lift one of the metal arms that holds the pin in place. Slide the pin away from the tag.