Local officials outline the ABCs of starting a small business

By BRANDON JOHANSSON
The Aurora Sentinel
Friday, March 26, 2010
http://aurorasentinel.com/articles/2010/03/26/news/business/doc4bab9daeb46dd691048930.txt

AURORA | The floundering economy and difficult job market has Tony Johnson thinking more and more about taking the reins of his own company.

Johnson, 45, said that after being laid off from his job in the telecommunications industry and later finding a new but less-fulfilling telecom job, he is considering starting his own bar or restaurant.

But the difficult marketplace has him also wondering if now is the right time to jump into entrepreneurship for the first time.

“I’ve seen a few bars and restaurants close lately, and it kind of gets me wondering if that’s something I want to start,” he said.

Johnson was one of about 50 people who attended a town hall meeting held by state Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, state Rep. Su Ryden, D-Aurora, and state Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora.

The meeting, at Community College of Aurora, focused on starting a business and some of the challenges entrepreneurs might face when they try to begin their own company.

Speakers including Chuck Hahn of the Aurora Business Development Center and Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher laid out some of the opportunities prospective small businesses in Colorado, including what Buescher said is the country’s lowest price to register a corporation at just $50.

Carroll, the event’s host, said the event was designed to help prospective business owners get an idea of what it takes to start a new business.

She said that with unemployment around 7 percent and with the state having lost more than 100,000 jobs in the past 12 months, people are wondering if now is the right time to become their own bosses.

“For some people, they have always wondered if they want to go into business for themselves ... Now may be that time to think about going into business for yourself,” she said.

Douglas Rother, an adjunct instructor of business at CCA, cautioned the crowd against some of the pitfalls of starting a business, including failing to pay themselves during lean times and over-extending their personal finances to cover the company’s difficult times.

And, Rother said, entrepreneurs have to be ready to tackle difficult decisions when they are the person in charge of a business.

“When you start a business you have to give up the luxury of making easy decisions, comfortable decisions,” Rother said. “You have to make the hard calls.”

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