Ski rental delivery service - need critique

[whatupgord]

I will be opening a ski rental delivery business next winter. I'll write up a quick overview of my plan and let you all critique the crap out of it :-D.

I plan on moving to the city where I will be opening this shop in the summer, forming a network of people at hotels / vacation rentals to refer customers to me, and setting up the business then. I have already purchased about 60% of the equipment I need, and I am in talks with suppliers right now to obtain the remaining 40%. I have gotten a lot of my equipment from rental shops clearing out their old inventory, but still need to buy some skis, helmets, poles, and many boots.

I have about 25k personally in capital, and I hope to get a loan for another 50k. My credit is good, and personally I have about 65k in total cash and assets.

I will be purchasing a 4 wheel drive cargo van to deliver out of. I will get it repainted and partially wrapped. I need to sell my car (civic) and get another more mountainous car (Outback?) which I could deliver from as a secondary vehicle. I will probably badge the outback with custom magnets.

I need to figure out all of the liability issues that I could run into. I know that binding manufacturers make forms which waive liability on my part, so I will probably do that while Im starting up. It is more paperwork and not computer-filled information, but it's the easiest way for me to cover my name. I also need liability insurance and vehicle insurance. And probably rental insurance for the property I will be renting.

I plan on hiring 1 person as a full-time manager and 2 people as part time delivery help. With 2-3 of us working at a time, we will be able to send either 1 or 2 people out on deliveries and pickups, and have one person at the shop to answer phones and take information for orders.

I have friends that can help with a website but I am not sure how much money I want to put into it. I guess there are two routes - information based website that directs people to call to place an order, or an interface where people can place an order online and send it to our shop. I think it will be fine if the order is just sent into our mail, and then manually entered into whatever order manager we have.

To manage orders I will just set up some excel templates that I can populate with information, and the order will print to a receipt with totals and equipment rented. I'm not too sure how to run credit cards virtually, as most orders will take place over the phone. I need help with that.

I think I will be able to generate enough business with the connections I have, so I'm not too concerned about advertising.

How does the current plan sound? I dont have it written into a business plan yet, but thats a fast-approaching step. Does anybody have info on SBA loans, and if Ill be eligible or not? From what I've read it seems like an LLC will be the best way to start this business, but I think CA has some kind of crazy $800/yr fee you need to pay on an LLC? Is this true, and is there an alternative to an LLC that allows me to own this company solely but doesnt put me at financial risk?

Thanks for your help YE. Shoot me questions about this and I'll reply quickly.

[brickstone]

I would recommend back tracking a bit and working on the fundamental concept and its profitability. I would determine the least amount of fixed costs necessary to begin operations. I would then do pricing research to determine margins and to assist with creating a break-even analysis. I would also perform market research to determine the level of demand in the target market and to verify if the network you described is willing to work with you on referral marketing.

This should be structured into segments and the business plan should begin with a marketing plan and a profitability analysis. The administrative components (business structure, insurance, order format, etc) you mentioned are secondary. I would be happy to work with you further on this. You can send me a message or contact me at brickstonecg.com

Ryan