Start-Up – Chief Coconut

Sara Blakely- Youngest Female Self Made Billionaire

“In starting a business and growing a business,
every day is learning how to manage obstacles.”
— Sara Blakely: is an entrepreneur and founder of Spanx

Forbes lists Sara Blakely as the youngest female self made billionaire. They say she didn’t get investment money from her dad or a husband, everything came from her own savings of $5,000. With her company Spanx, now valued at a billion dollars, that makes Sara’s estimated worth over a billion. This doesn’t mean that she has a billion in the bank but she could potentially if she were to ever sell her business.

As a female entrepreneur myself I am extremely proud of what she has accomplished. Also, living in Clearwater, Sara’s hometown, for six years myself, it makes it even more personal since she’s a ‘hometown’ girl.

Sara’s journey in a nutshell is that she was selling fax machines, yes fax machines, to businesses here in Florida and then Georgia. She wore panty hose for work, and as anyone knows in Florida summer humidity, sucks! Plus, she wanted a flawless panty line but didn’t want her toes to be covered up in her sandals. She had the idea for footless hosiery and was turned down by several manufacturers before one in North Carolina finally took a leap of faith on her idea. While still working at her day job, she created her first prototypes and was able to start selling them to certain stores.

One huge, lucky break for Sara came when Oprah listed Spanx as one of her favorite things! That was probably the tipping point at which more department stores said yes to carrying the line and the product took off. Not without hard work though! It’s amazing how many people think that success stories are made overnight and that’s not the case. It’s been 12 short years since Sara launched Spanx, and that, coupled with her being a young, driven female is probably why this story originally published by Forbes gained so much attention. As a follow up, Forbes reports that 680,199 views of Sara’s billionaire status were cited on the Forbes.com website.

Just two and a half years into my business, I work everyday to try and replicate those same successes that Sara has accomplished. I wouldn’t say that I hope to be that successful in another 10 years because hope doesn’t make things happen. I’m going to learn to manage obstacles, as she says, and stay focused and then hopefully that will create a successful business that has longevity.

Congratulations to Sara! You really are an inspiration to young, female entrepreneurs. Hopefully, I’ll run into you one day on Clearwater Beach and we can have a nice chat about our businesses. 🙂

Lots of people dream of owning their own business but are unsure about how to get that business off the ground. I went with the jump right in approach and didn’t spend a lot of time research or even planning before starting Kelapo in December of 2009. It was a Monday morning when we decided to go through with the idea that had been brewing for awhile and by Friday afternoon, all parts of the business were in place and we were moving forward and didn’t look back.

I’ve been working on setting up another business entity and forgot about all the steps that are involved with paperwork, the state, and so forth and so I thought I’d give my tips and pointers to others who are trying to figure this stuff out on their own. These are the steps for businesses in Florida. I’m not saying it’s an extensive complete list either, so make sure you do your own homework but this should at least get you started. *Click on the blue links for form templates or online access to forms.

1. Shareholders or Members Agreement If you are a partnership or LLC, you’ll need to write out the parties that are entering into the business together as owners and the amount of shares or percentages of the company that each entity owns. Also noted, are residing addresses, titles, and signatures.

2. Articles of Organization. Very similar to the members agreement but this is what is filed on record with the State. There is a filing fee associated with this and is around $70. Here you establish all registered agents (owners) of the business, your place and purpose of business, and all contact information.

3. Annual Report. After being accepted by the state, you’ll have to file the annual report each year with the Division of Corporations to remain active. The cost is $130. You can file as soon as Jan 1 and as late as May 1, but my suggestion is do it sooner rather than later to avoid late fees and reinstatement fees.

4. Fictitious Names. Fictitious names, or DBAs (doing business as), also need to be filed. If the parent company is called Robinson Inc, and you sell branded toys under the name Johnnie’s, then you need to register Johnnie’s as your fictitious name. Companies do this when they may have more than one brand or subsidiary of their company. This is another $50 fee for each fictitious name registered.

5. S-Corp Election. This is an optional step for LLC’s that wish to be classified as an S-Corp for tax purposes. The original document, Form 2553, must be mailed to the Dept of the Treasury, IRS Center, Ogden, UT 84201. (Again, this address is specific to Florida). There is a two month period for filing within the first fiscal tax year so if you have questions, refer them to you tax accountant.

6. Federal Tax ID. Your company’s federal tax id is essentially the same identification system for businesses as your social security number is to you. The official name is an Employer’s Identification Number (EIN). It will be used for payroll, taxes, business to business transactions and more. It is an online application.

That’s probably enough to keep you busy for an afternoon! My next post will be about all things dealing with sales and money. I’ll talk bank accounts, sales and use tax, merchant accounts, and more!