How to Start a Business For Your Kid in San Francisco

Sans Francisco is one of the famous and most delightful cities in America. With the iconic views around every ben- Golden Gate Bridge arching over the sparkling San Francisco Bay- diverse neighborhoods, from Haight- Ashbury to Chinatown and one of the finest food scenes in the world, this is really a perfect place to start a business. It is a booming city with a good economy where small businesses thrive. It has so many opportunities that you and your kid could take advantage of so easily with your support of the cause.

Starting a business in sans Francisco isn’t difficult at all; all that is needed is your support and love towards your kid’s ambition or dream.

Follow the Steps Below

1. Create a business plan

Do not just start a business without a business plan. You need to have a game plan that you and your kid will work with. This will include the business goals, missions, and vision of your kid, action steps that will follow etc. It helps you be organized and gives you a clear vision of your roadmap to profit making.

You and your kid should do this part together. Help humor her to sketch out a business plan which should include the following:

• Executive summary- which briefly explains your business plans for the future
• Business description- describes your business and your products or services and explains how they are different from other businesses.
• Market analysis- this covers your potential customers and describes your industry and competition
• Organization and management- shows how you plan to structure your business and introduce your management team and their responsibilities
• Service or product line- describes your product or service, including the features and benefits of product or service
• Marketing and sales- this explains how you plan to market and sell your product or service to the potential customers you have identified
• Finances- show your current and projected financial status, which includes balance sheets, cash flow and in general, it includes your kid’s financial statements
• Appendix- this may include other documents that may support your plan.

It does not mean that your business plan must follow these steps but it is a good example that you could copy from for your kid.

2. Finance your business

This part is so important in business that without it, you probably cannot start anything. Since this is your kids business, you probably have to put in your own cash. This could be done by loaning your kid the start-up capital in an agreement that it will be refunded when the business makes a profit. This is a good system that allows your kid to easily meet up their expenditure for the start. Or depending on how old your kid is or is capable, you could ask them to fund themselves. Perhaps your kid worked on jobs before and has been able to save some cash, then depending on how much your business start-up cost may need, he or she could fund themselves. There could be shared responsibility between the both of you. You could bring half by way of investing in the business, while your kid brings the other half too. Another way to go is to raise money through crowdfunding. Since it is business for your kid which most of the time is small scale business based at home, you could crowd fund from family members and friends who would want to see your kid succeed.

3. Location

Home-based businesses are some of the simplest business to set up in San Francisco. This is because they only just require you to go through the most basic form of registration. Although, they still follow rules set by the Planning Department in the San Francisco Planning Code. Depending on the kind of business that your kid wants to run at home, there are rules governing home office and food manufacturing at home. For home office the rules are

• You cannot have clients coming to the home
• You cannot have employees who do not live there coming to the home
• You cannot display advertising or any other physical alteration that is non-residential in character
• You also cannot use more than 25% of the space for commercial purposes.

As for food manufacturing at home, your kid will have to follow the California Homemade Food Act.

4. Registration

All businesses including those small businesses that operate in San Francisco must register with the City. You may also need to register with the State first, depending on your business structure. Choosing the legal structure that best suits your business type is a top priority. This important decision impacts your business registration, how much you pay in taxes, and your personal liability (i.e. who is legally responsible for debts). The most common structures include sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation. This choice must be made prior to registering your business and, in some cases, even before choosing a name.

Make sure to compare the different types of companies that we have before making a decision as there are advantages and disadvantages to all of them. When making these types of decisions, talk to your kid and explain things clearly to them. Always try to protect them and your decision should be motivated by that. Once you choose a business structure you can register with the City. However, if you choose a partnership, corporation or limited liability company as your business structure then you must register or incorporate with the CA Secretary of State first. I would recommend that you protect your child by going for general partnership starting the business with him or her so that you guide them to sustainability.

5. Choose a name

When your kid gives you that perfect name that they want their business to be called you will have to register that name with the San Francisco office of the County Clerk. If the name is different from your kid’s name, a fictitious name is filed with the Fictitious Business Name (FBN). Find an available name, one that is not used by anyone else in the city.

6. Advertise your product or service

After filing for your FBN, you must advertise your name in the local newspaper for a minimum of four weeks. Now is time to spread the news of your kids business and you can start by doing this the conventional way, which is by word of mouth to family and friends. This is your chance to let your kid introduce herself to future clients. Tell them her name (it might be wise to use your first name only for the sake of safety) and what your business is offering. Or you could design a flyer for distribution. This can be done by hand but looks great and more professional if done on a computer. You can just use a simple word processing program if you’d like.. A babysitting flyer would state that you are looking for babysitting jobs. It is important to list qualifications, for instance, if you are certified in CPR or have volunteered at a youth camp before. These kinds of experiences will set you apart from the competition. Make sure you list how to get in touch with you. Ask your parents if it is all right to list your phone number on the flyer. Another option is to list an email address set up specifically for this purpose.

Your kid could have a website that showcases his or her products and services and a greeting card too. All of these things make it very professional for your kid to easily get clients.

In conclusion, starting up a business in San Francisco is very easy especially when the steps mentioned above are followed. Kids need to be empowered and encourage into being entrepreneur’s and innovators, so help your kid achieve his or her dream. San Francisco has so many opportunities for small business and that is why you can easily start one today.