ForumsStarting a Business

Building a business plan for a start-up business is not as difficult as it may appear. Just picture an empty room and start filling it up! Then take every component of the business and define it somewhere in your business plan...you'll have two components of the plan: the actual sales (inventory management, displays, shipping/receiving, etc.) and the operations of actually running the business itself (paying bills, hiring/firing, payroll, personnel issues, etc.) SCORE.org and SBA.gov both have excellent business plan formats to follow and will ask the right questions to help you make sure you'll have a good picture of what you'll need when starting your venture. But be prepared...no matter how well organized you are and no matter how well done your business plan is, there will always be surprises the day before you open. So it's good you're looking for advice. As to renting in a mall, you will have to factor in the rent, common maintenance fees, security as well as any percentage of sales that the mall management may require. This can be a hefty chunk off the top of your projected cash flow. Good luck!