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Starting a business, but have unanswered questions? Just "Ask Jim!" Submit your question about starting a small business and Denver Metro SBDC Business Consultant Jim Olp will answer them for you!

Hello Jim - I am starting my own interior design business from my home and I am checking to see what type of licensing I will need to do so. I have already establish my company with the State as an LLC and received my business ID and I have also received an EIN number for tax purposes nas starting accounts. I have also registered my domain name and I just want to make sure there isn't any other specialty license or anything else I need to move forward. Please let me know and if you could also forward any necessary links to make it easier to obtain the information. Any help you could give would be appreciated.

You have done most of the necessary paperwork. But depending upon what city or town you are located in, you will need to register your business with the local municipality. This usually means going down to city hall and talking with the city clerk. In Denver, you have to go to the Planning and Zoning Department and get a “Home Occupation Permit.” Also in Denver, you need to register for the occupation tax. These two things can be done at the Wellington Webb Building at 15^th and Court downtown. In addition to these registrations, you should open a business bank account using your EIN and then check into insurance for your business. Finally, if you did not do an Operating Agreement for your LLC, you should get that done.

My husband and I have a small consulting business that does leadership and manager level training for IT professionals. We have been in business 2+ years and have mainly worked in the Ohio area (Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton). We are hoping to have a free lunch 'n learn session to introduce our workshop to IT professionals in Denver and surrounding area. I am looking for a small classroom type setting that would hold 10-25 and our session would go from noon until 4:30. I am looking at June or July. Do you have any recommendations on where I could find this type of room at a very reasonable cost?

There are many possibilities for this but I would start by checking out the various community centers around the Metro Denver area. Virtually all of them offer reasonably priced meeting rooms of various sizes. They usually have the necessary computer and audio-video facilities in case you need those. We sometimes use these for our own meetings and have had good luck with them. An online search for “community centers in Denver” will give you a list of these. You can also check on churches and libraries that often offer meetings rooms for public use.

Good Morning Jim, We have a small business that we run out of our home currently. We would like to take it to the next level and open a shop in Loveland or Fort Collins Colorado. Can you advise us in what steps we should take?

The very best advice that I can give you is to do a business plan for this expansion. Writing the plan will lead you through reviewing all aspects of the venture and provide you with a guideline on what needs to be done. If it turns out that you need additional funding in order to do this, most lenders require some kind of a business plan in order to get the loan, certainly the SBA does. Generally, businesses with plans have a higher success rate than those without. You can get a great deal of assistance in doing the plan from your local Small Business Development Center. At the Denver Metro Center, for example, we have regular classes on business plan writing as well as consultants who can help you with the process.

Jim Olp is a retired business consultant of the Denver Metro SBDC. He assisted clients with financial analysis and funding options. He has a depth of experience derived not just from his many years working with SBDCs, but also from his ownership of more than a dozen small businesses. He has taught virtually every aspect of small business management and operations at the college level for more than two decades. Olp has exceptional expertise in business financing options and can assist clients in structuring their business plans and pro forma projections toward the goal of securing financing. He earned his bachelor’s degree from King’s College with a double major in history and political science with a minor in English. Olp received his master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in political science and a minor in computer science.

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