Help! What are some costs of running a business?

**johnbears** · 08-11-2008 04:03 PM

I know that every businesses will be different when it comes to costs, but can you help me list all the different costs businesses can have???

I came up with these:

• Rent
• Car (Transportation, Gas, Repair)
• Taxes
• Insurance
• Employee Salaries
• Marketing Costs
• Patent Fees
• Credit Card Fees
• Web Site Creation (Hosting, Domain)

Do you have other costs in your business?

**chrispalko** · 08-11-2008 04:24 PM

How about:

-the cost to register your business (LLC, Corporation, etc.).
-your accountant?
-your lawyer?
-the cost for zoning of your business
-the cost of your DBA

**RLorenzen** · 08-11-2008 04:37 PM

There are many, many expenses a business can have. Also, there are a lot of industry specific costs that only certain businesses will incur. What kind of business do you want to operate?

**KKoher** · 08-11-2008 04:51 PM

It def. depends on th type of business...even with just a website...what kind of website are you going to have? Are you selling a product? How about inventory? Also, if it is a website business, I'm not sure you'll have to worry about employee salaries right away...it all depends.

**johnbears** · 08-11-2008 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by RLorenzen

There are many, many expenses a business can have. Also, there are a lot of industry specific costs that only certain businesses will incur. What kind of business do you want to operate?

I want to start a B2B biz, import something and becoming a distributer, or even a shoe store, but rather a brick and mortar business.

Can you think of other costs?

**pboychuk** · 08-11-2008 07:36 PM

Strippers and alcohol for shareholders meeting.

**johnbears** · 08-11-2008 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by chrispalko

How about:

-the cost to register your business (LLC, Corporation, etc.).
-your accountant?
-your lawyer?
-the cost for zoning of your business
-the cost of your DBA

What is DBA?

**pboychuk** · 08-11-2008 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by johnbears

What is DBA?

Doing Business As Name, it costs like $20. not really an expense to worry about lol.

**RLorenzen** · 08-11-2008 07:45 PM

If you're going to run a store then your list at the top left out the most important expense: inventory.

Here's what I recommend doing: Take some time (at least a few months) to get as thorough of a business education possible. Not necessarily college. Studying on your own will even suffice. If you didn't know what a DBA was then I can be pretty certain you are not as educated as you should be to start this type of business. Go to barnesandnoble.com, not only can you buy regular business books there, but you can also buy college textbooks. Load up on books and learn everything possible. Knowledge is your most powerful weapon so load up on plenty of it.

**rogercbryan** · 08-11-2008 08:21 PM

This is a good question... Here is my chart of accounts from QuickBooks

Each business is different....

1288 · Payroll Expense
2210 · Fed Tax
2220 · Fica Tax
2230 · Md State Tax
2270 · D.C. Income Tax
7100 · Accounting
7110 · Advert.
7130 · Auto Work
7135 · Auto Expense
7140 · Auto Gas
7150 · Bank Charges
7180 · Casual Labor
7200 · Cleaning supplies & Expense
7210 · Comission
7215 · Consult
7240 · Equipment Rental
7280 · Dues & Subcrp
7300 · Emp. Benefits
7310 · Entertainment 100%
7320 · Enter 50%
7365 · Auto Ins
7370 · Ins-Hlth
7420 · Licenses & Permits
7440 · Comp. Maint
7445 · Film Development
7460 · Office Supplys
7500 · Payroll Taxes
7565 · Postage
7600 · Rent
7650 · Salary Staff
7700 · Supp. Gen.
7750 · Taxes - general
7770 · Telephone
7780 · Towing
7790 · Travel
7795 · Storage-Boats
7900 · Client Payment
7910 · CATS Expense
8100 · cash over/under

**pboychuk** · 08-11-2008 08:27 PM

Oh goodness i just took accounting 1 and 2 over the summer dont haunt me with these evil expense accounts

**johnbears** · 08-11-2008 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by RLorenzen

If you're going to run a store then your list at the top left out the most important expense: inventory.

Here's what I recommend doing: Take some time (at least a few months) to get as thorough of a business education possible. Not necessarily college. Studying on your own will even suffice. If you didn't know what a DBA was then I can be pretty certain you are not as educated as you should be to start this type of business. Go to barnesandnoble.com, not only can you buy regular business books there, but you can also buy college textbooks. Load up on books and learn everything possible. Knowledge is your most powerful weapon so load up on plenty of it.

Dude, your assumptions are way off. I come from a business family and I have a finance degree from a pretty good school. You think DBA is a prerequsite knowledge to start a business?

This thread is to create a checklist for entrepreneurs to consider all costs because lots of times people underestimate what costs there are in running businesses.

Inventory is good. Can you come up with anything else? But please don't tell us to go to barnes & nobles and get a book about costs.

**pboychuk** · 08-11-2008 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by johnbears

Dude, your assumptions are way off. I come from a business family and I have a finance degree from a pretty good school. You think DBA is a prerequsite knowledge to start a business?

This thread is to create a checklist for entrepreneurs to consider all costs because lots of times people underestimate what costs there are in running businesses.

Inventory is good. Can you come up with anything else? But please don't tell us to go to barnes & nobles and get a book about costs.

I mean honestly, expenses should be common sense, and you can learn about new ones as they arise. for example, you know you will have inventory, salaries, rent (all the stuff for a store). Then along the way you may learn some new expenses. I dont know, i never like to think too far ahead, just reason out how things are going to go down in your head, dont be over confident.

if you are going to start a shoe store, look at you competition and assume you are going to do half the business as them, there you will have a pretty good idea of where your business stands.

Personally I would love to discuss eliminating expenses. My income is basically based on elimnating expenses. I dont borrow money, thus, the less I can spend, the more I can make.

**RLorenzen** · 08-11-2008 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by johnbears

Dude, your assumptions are way off. I come from a business family and I have a finance degree from a pretty good school. You think DBA is a prerequsite knowledge to start a business?

This thread is to create a checklist for entrepreneurs to consider all costs because lots of times people underestimate what costs there are in running businesses.

Inventory is good. Can you come up with anything else? But please don't tell us to go to barnes & nobles and get a book about costs.

Do I think knowing what DBA stands for is a prerequisite to start a business? YES.

Chances are you will at some point need a DBA. It's a very basic business abbreviation. Yes, you do have to know what it is.

**rogercbryan** · 08-11-2008 08:55 PM

My best advice here is to do a search on Google for 'business expenses chart of accounts'

or Chart of Accounts

Most start ups forget these accounts:
forget to plan for taxes, employee costs, office supplies, utilities (under estimate), facilities maint, client entertainment (hookers and booze- as pointed out by another poster)... its the everyday small stuff that gets over looked.

An easy was around this is to take all the major expenses COGS, Rent, Staff, Opp Exp and then add an additional 25% as misc exp... this will cover most of your basic stuff that you may forget. After a few months in business you'll have a better feel for what you are doing.