Pay Day Hawaii

Setting up a small business isn’t as hard as you might think, especially with PayDayHawaii here to help you. Figuring out how to finance your start-up, however, is a bit more challenging!

If you have saved enough to get you started on purchasing the supplies, equipment, packaging materials, and advertising, and anything else you may need to start your business, you are ahead of the curve! Congratulations!

Most of us, however, are looking for that new small business, or side-hustle, to contribute income, not cost us even more money that we don’t have.

What to do?

First, make sure you have your new business priorities worked out, and that they meet your business plan (even if it’s only a plan in your head).

If you are creating a product to sell:

• How many products and their variations will you need to create?
• Evaluate how much stock you will need for your selling venue (fairs, online marketplaces, etc.).
• Estimate how long it will take you to create new stock to sell after your initial stock is gone.
• Now calculate the costs of creating each of your products.
• Multiply the cost of each product by the number of products you want to create and package.
• If you are shipping your product, don’t forget to include the costs of packaging and shipping materials.
• If you are listing your products on an online service (Etsy, eBay, etc.), factor in the percentage of each sale that the service will collect.
• Your total of costs you need to cover will be the amount you need to start your business.

You may have to keep your initial stock selection slim as you start out, and as you work out your costs.

If you are creating a service to offer:

• Price your service and its variations that you want to offer (for example, alterations: set pricing for different kinds of alterations: pants, jackets, hems, etc.).
• Work out what equipment you may need to purchase, and the cost.
• Don’t forget to figure in not-so-obvious costs, such as gasoline (especially if your business involves delivery), or additional utilities costs you might incur.
• Research signage, business cards, flyers, and any other advertising or promotions you may want to use.
• The total of costs you need to cover will be the amount you need to start your business.

Now that you know how much money you’ll need to start off with, it’s time to think about where you can source that money!

Your alternatives include:

• You have enough money already saved.
• You are going to borrow from family or friends.
• You are going to take a short-term loan.
• You are going to charge your supplies on a credit card.

If the last two options are ones you are seriously considering, make a plan to pay back the business loan right away, or to pay off the charges on a credit card as soon as possible. Not paying these loans off in a timely way will only add finance and interest charges to the expenses you need to pay off.

PayDayHawaii offers a new micro-loan product exclusively for part-time business owners: The Self-Help Cash Advance. A short-term loan, it can help tide you over until your next “regular job” paycheck, or let you buy your supplies all at once (so you can start creating your products immediately!), rather than waiting until you have that supply fund completely saved for. Your GET (General Excise Tax) license qualifies you for this special rate. If you don’t already have a GET license, we can help you apply.

MicroCredit Cash Advances at PayDayHawaii are easy to apply for, and offer quick access to cash much more cheaply than the overdraft fees you would incur if you bounced checks-and no damage to your credit rating.

Once you start thinking about your business plan, start creating your product, and plan your sales venues and promotions, you are well on your way to your own profitable side hustle!