Requirement number Six. When you believe that your business idea is feasible, start your own business. Show evidence that you started your business (sales receipts, for example, or photos of the goods). Report to your counselor the results of your venture.
Ready to Roll!
Begin your own business and provide proof of your business operations to your counselor. Proof of business operations should be in the following forms:
Provide purchase orders if applicable for any items that you purchase to make your product or provide your service. For example, if your service is mowing lawns and you need to purchase gas to fill the lawnmower, create a purchase order for the gas you need to purchase to complete the job.
A purchase order can be written on a sheet of paper and should include:
- Your company name, address, and telephone number.
- The item you are purchasing and it's associated cost.
- The date of the purchase transaction
- The signature of the purchaser (business owner)
This provides a record of all purchases for business operations expenses for the business owner and the client/customer the
expense is associated with.
Complete a sales receipt for each sales transaction. The sales receipt should have two copies (one for yourself and one for the purchaser of your product or service). The sales receipt can be written on a sheet of paper and should include:
- Your company name, address, and telephone number
- The date of the sales transaction
- The product/service being purchased
- The quantity being purchased
- The total purchase price
- The signature of the purchaser
Provide pictures of your finished product/service. If you are selling a product take a picture of the completed product. If you are selling a service, you will need to take before and after pictures. For example, if your service being sold is lawn mowing, take a picture of the lawn you are contracted to mow before mowing and then another after your service is completed.
Obtain Customer Testimonials for your product/service. A customer testimonial is a written statement by the customer describing their satisfaction with your product/service.
You can do this with two methods:
- The simplest method is to create a "survey" or "comment card" to be completed by the customer. It would have your company name, address, and telephone number. It would have approximately five questions regarding their experience with your product/service. (i.e., Were you satisfied with the quality of your purchase?, Were you satisfied with the sales representative that you worked with?, Would you purchase from this company again, etc.) You would conclude the comment card by asking them to provide any additional comments and providing 2 to 3 lines for them to write in.
- The second method is to ask the customer to write a letter on your behalf. It is more effective for you because you can use the letter to show potential customers how satisfied your former and existing clients are. However, you will find that not every customer will take the time necessary to write a letter.
Customer Testimonials are helpful in obtaining future sales because it demonstrates to potential clients your company's ability to provide a quality product/service that people are satisfied with. If possible, use the survey/comment card method for all clients and use the letter request on only a few that you feel will take the time to generate the letter for you. Do not be afraid to ask!!
The final step is to provide a record of profits or losses to the counselor. To do this, take a composition book and create two separate sections labeled: Expenses and Sales. Take all purchase orders and log them in a book under the category of expenses (These are the costs you incurred to provide your product or service).
Provide three columns: Date of purchase, item purchased, and cost of purchase. Fill in all three columns with data from your purchase orders. Then, add the cost column figures together to obtain your total expenses.
Now, under the separate section in the composition book titled sales, record all sales transactions with three columns: Date of sale, item bought, and price paid. Fill in all three columns with data from your sales receipts. Then add the price paid column figures together to obtain your total sales revenue.
Your total sales revenue minus your total expenses will equal your profit or loss of your company. For example, if your total expenses were $500.00 and your total sales receipts were $700.00, you would have made a profit of $200.00. However, if your total expenses were $700.00 and your total sales receipts were $500.00 you would have lost $200.00.
