Business update

Last week, we helped our personal trainer painting the walls of his new gym. I got some replies from friends thinking that I was going to start a gym. That’s not the case. Opening a brick and mortar business is time consuming and an office space is so much easier to find. Also, it feels better to start a new business in a field I’m already experienced in. Starting a business in another country is already challenging enough with cultural differences and language barriers. Nevertheless, we are still on track. We study English on a daily basis, we’re making some friends and we’re staying in shape by working out 5 days a week. But let me take this opportunity to tell you about what is going on businesswise.

In the beginning of January, I registered my Limited Liability Company (LLC). That’s what we call a “BV” in the Netherlands. A couple of hours later, I found out that a company in New York was in the process of registering that very same name as their trademark. Their trademark wasn’t approved yet, but I could see how that could give more challenges in the future. Since I already filed my application for the LLC with the Secretary of State in Sacremento, I wasn’t able to cancel or change the name on the application. The application had to be processed first. Last Friday, the original name of my LLC had been approved by the Secretary of State. I immediately filed an amendment to change the business name to something more personal so I won’t run into any legal issues because of the name.

I’m planning to buy an IT franchise. The franchise has more than 230 IT companies in 37 states. They have several franchisees in California. Surprisingly, none of those are in the Fresno area. All franchisees are working independently. The franchise doesn’t dictate which services you can provide to your clients. Nevertheless, the main focus for the company is providing managed IT services to clients. They’re working with tens of approved vendors. Also, and I think this is a great asset, you can hire employees of other franchisees to work with you on a project or issue. It’s my goal to employ several workers in a couple of years. However, it’s great that you don’t need to hire them all at once.

The franchise development manager told me they would love me to expand their business to the Fresno area; so that would be a great match. The upcoming weeks I have several meetings with executives and vice presidents of the company. The goal for those meetings is to determine if we are a good match for each other.

What’s next?

I’ll open a business bank account after my amendment has been approved and I’ll have received my business federal tax identification number (EIN). After that, I can transfer the funds for the initial investment in the business. I will then start working on the business plan together with a specialized company. Also, I’m going to search for an office space of around 1,000 – 1,500 sq.ft (100 tot 130 m²) and I’ll buy office furniture and other equipment that is needed to start the business. And then it’s time for the biggest challenge: finding the right technician to hire. I’ll keep you posted.