Yep, there's a lot to consider when a person is starting a new business. Most people take out a small business loan to get going, because of the rent and initial cost for store lighting and fixtures, computer and office setup, purchases for inventory, and so on.

The only real way to know about some of these costs is to do some research in your area. You'll want to check out rental costs and utility bills for a spot that is about the right size and in the general vicinity of where you want your shop located. You'll want to have some nice business cards printed up, and look at the cost for advertising in the local paper. You'll also want to look at what kind of sign you want, and do some shopping around for that, too.

You'll need a phone and probably a fax machine, a computer and cash register, credit card machine (available through the credit card companies), desk, adding machine, and some kind of bookkeeping software or paper setup.

You'll need to file DBA papers with the county where you'll be doing business, so as to register your company name. That's about $20 and is a one-time fee. You'll need a business checking account, and a separate little savings account to put aside money for taxes. You'll have to see about setting up to collect sales tax with the State Comptroller's office.

If you plan to hire workers, or maybe a part-time assistant, you'll need to get set up with the State Unemployment office and the IRS as an employer, with an Employer ID number. You can apply for an EIN online at the www.irs.gov web site.

As a professional tax preparer and bookkeeper, the one thing I see most often is small businesses hiring a family friend or relative to do their bookkeeping.. or.. trying to do it themselves... without a clue where to start. If you're going to do the bookwork yourself (it isn't hard, but it is time-consuming) do yourself a favor and take some basic bookkeeping and business accounting classes at a local community college. The cost and time you invest in this will save you countless headaches. If you hire a bookkeeper, you won't need a CPA, but you will want to check them out pretty thoroughly. Look for a small company that has been in business for a number of years. Smaller companies won't charge as much per month, usually. Go over your monthly financial statements with the bookkeeper and have them explain them to you. If you aren't satisfied with their explanations... maybe you need to consider changing services. Check with some other business owners in your area who seem to be doing pretty well, and see who they use. Oh, and whatever else you do.. do NOT give your bookkeeper access to your bank accounts. That doesn't mean not to let them see your account, but don't put them on there as signatories. A true professional with integrity won't want that, anyway.

If you can avoid it, don't pay with your credit card when you start buying things for your business. It's way too easy to run up a huge bill and then not be able to pay it. If you have to charge a few things, don't charge more than you can pay off when the bill comes due every month.

I'd check out resale shops and garage sales for furnishings, shelving and racks, storing them in my garage or a small storage unit as I buy them and paint them or fix them up. You may be able to buy some peg board at a home building store, and use that for some of your display space, depending on what items you're looking at selling.

You won't want to buy computers and other electronic machines ahead of time and store them because the heat and other elements could cause them not to work right, or ruin them altogether.

It's okay to buy up things for the shop ahead of time, and then convert them to business use when you open up for business. Just keep the records of when you bought everything and how much you paid for it.

You'll want to come up with a nice name for your business, and a slogan, too. You can design your own letterhead in Microsoft Word, or sometimes the printers who do business cards will design matching letterhead and envelopes for you. I found some excellent business cards on www.vistaprint.com.

Well, that's about all I can think of, right now. Looks like I gave you quite a bit of "homework" but it's best to do the research ahead of time and develop a game plan before the first pitch, huh?