Minority Owned Small Business

[Mountain]

Hello,

Is anyone aware of the SBA and minority owned small businesses ?

By law the government has to give 23% of multi-billion dollar contracts to the minority owned businesses.

Due to the current economic conditions I am thinking of doing business with Uncle Sam. Selling toletries and stationaries. I have had this business idea for almost two years now. Sky is the limit and in 3 to 5 years we can have revenues in millions of dollars.

I have a master's degree in technical field and more than 6 years experience in the software industry.

Anyone who is interested, please just jump in and contribute to this thread and help each other to succeed !!!

Cheers,
Mountain

[gary_mail]

please let me know more details...

chandureddy@yahoo.com

[Mountain]

It is a long and grueling process to go through the bureaucracy
. So, visit the Small Business Development Center office in your State. This is a one-stop shop for the government procurement.

It has resources such as videos/books to develop your management skills. You can check them out if you have public library card.

Please join the Small Business Support Network :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SBSN/

Here is the link to the website : www.sba.gov

If you have more specific questions let me know.

Cheers,
Mountain

[gary_mail]

I was looking to do some business , but don’t know where to start. I now have some thing to read and start. Thanks a lot again - let me know if you consider any partners in your business, I will be happy to join.

[Mountain]

What is your background ?
What business do you want to do ?
Which state do you live ?

Mountain

[gary_mail]

1) I am in IT industry for the past years in US.

2) I am pretty much open to any business from export/import business to desi grocery stores or Gas stations. But I am not able to decide on one.

3) I am in Boston.

where are you from ?? do you have any plans on your mind?

[Mountain]

You must do business in what you really like to do. Is it software development ? By the way how many years of IT experience do you have ?

First thing we have to do is come up with a business plan. I read the excellent book on this "Anatomy of a business plan". Here you will answers questions like : Does you company sell products or services ? What is your competition ? Who is your customer etc.

I did the market research for my business plan. I did a search on the web for the top contractors for the government. I went to their web-site and gathered information. They also have online listing of available subcontracts on the company web-site (They have to give sub-contracting opportunities to small businesses. By doing sub-contracting you can build your business resume.

You have to evaluate yourself and see what your strengths and weaknesses are, and then form a team with complementary skills as the core people of your company.

I am currently learning Accounting, Marketing and Sales. You need these skills in order to sell to anyone even if it is government. As a small business owner you will have to make decisions based on the financial statements (financial analysis). You have to proactively market your business, generate leads and sell.

Just like writing a program you have to start from something which already works in business as well. You can gradually move into different products/services later as you become a more experienced business person.

My plan is to prepare, prepare and prepare in all the above areas. Preparation is the key to successfully start and build a small business.

I am from India. Where are you currently in small business related work ?