My Type (aka preparing your articles of incorporation)

     Holy Week was a period of prayer for some, and of rest for others. I did a little of both and added some work in the equation too. It wasn't heavy work, though. Communicated with the two bidding contractors, arranged for meetings for the coming week and typed the article of incorporation, including the bylaws, the treasurer's affidavit and the secretary's certification.

     Yes, typing. As in manual typewriter typing. Well, it wasn't the whole document. (That would have qualified as my penitence if it did!) SEC made it easy for people like me by issuing a pro forma document. we just need to manually type the parts which are applicable to us. Like name of the corporation, the nature of the business, names and details of the incorporators, etc.

     I finished the deed in one afternoon, sacrificing the nails of only two fingers. Yay, for me!

     After this, the next steps are to have the incorporators sign, open an account for the company, get the bank's certification, submit all documents to SEC before May 5, the last day of the 1 month reservation period I paid for.

     Preparing the documents is both easy and hard. The typing part is easy. But deciding on the contents is not. Generally, the names of the incorporators do not need to be decided in the sense that they would have been decided ahead, as they would be the people who have invested in the business. To choose who would be the people you will be in business with is a decision excruciatingly made, almost as, if not more, difficult than choosing who will be your mate.

Next, there is the decision on where the headquarters would be. You can't just put any address. You have to be able to back that up with the necessary papers (lease contract, for example). There are also certain areas which do not allow commercial activities. 

When you fill up the Articles, you have to have the TIN and the Community Tax number of each incorporator. These information form part of the document.

Then, decisions muse be made on who will be the officers of the board. Who will be President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer? The right people must be chose as they will be the people steering the boat that is the business. Their signatures will be required in crucial documents. So it's very important to choose the right people for the job. They must be able to work as a team, have the welfare of the company at heart.

     And when that's done? What's next? Oh, believe me, my friend, so much more.


(photo from www.gadgetchick.com)

What's in a Name?

With my cousin's agreement tucked in my belt, I started to look for a location. I wanted an area near the business district but not too near that the rental rates would be exorbitant.

I told a couple of friends about it. I said it's going to be called Agahan. That name just resonated in me as soon as the word came out of my mouth. Agahan is going to be an all-day breakfast place. 


They advised me to start the papers going.

So I did more research. I must register the name but where is determined by what form the company will take. Single proprietorship means DTI or Department of Trade and Industry. Partnership or corporation means SEC or Securities and Exchange Commission. 


After reading up on the matter, I decided that corporation is the way to go. As I understand the concepts, it seemed most ideal to me. Since you create a new entity when you go corporation, your personal assets are not compromised should things not go according to your hopes. 


Of course, the drawback is that it's more complicated to set up. And also complicated to dissolve. But I figured, I'm here to stay, so why not?


Next question, what's the name of the company? You have to think about this hard. It's a name which will be with you a long time. 


As for me, there are two things I want the name to say: joy and food. So after almost a dozen tries, I found the combination that I'm happy with and passes SEC's name screening.


Also, I wanted a name that I can use beyond Agahan, my chosen trade name.Why? Because I want the option to open another concept food place in the future. So I have a company name and a trade name.


But I didn't start on it right away. 


Sure, I already have the "yes". But I still have no location. And I didn't want to commit to something that is still essentially just an idea. So while I scoured the town for a location, I let my mind wander so I can further refine and put more specifics into Agahan.


And that's how Agahan started to emerge.

Let's Have Breakfast

First off, just want it out from the start that I'm not a business woman. At least, not yet. I've dreamt of being one though, for years. I was that elementary-grade who made bookmarks out of yarn, colored pencil & crayon shavings, cardboard and plastic cover to sell to my classmates who would rather play than read a book. Needless to say, the venture didn't fare well. My classmates were barbarians, and I was foolish to not consider that I'm targeting the wrong market.

Well anyway, I thought, why don't I just chronicle my adventures into setting up a business. At worst, it's just me rambling, boring someone to tears. At best, it could guide me in the future. (Surely, I'd be successful and create more than one venture!)


I made a few attempts to build something through the years. I have business ideas coming out of my ears like earwax. But nothing really happened until a couple of months before my 40th birthday. 


I had been toying with a couple of ideas in my head, trying to see which one seemed feasible. I made concept docs to put my thoughts on paper.


Then in January, my cousin-in-law came here for his annual me-time vacation. As is tradition, we had dinner. And, as is tradition, we discuss my business ideas. We do this every time he come here. We kick my ideas around to see if there is something that will catch.


This time, something did. So he told me he's interested and if I can come up with a business plan.

As I have no formal business training, not even basic accounting for non-accountants, I just researched on what makes up a business plan. That's when I found that it contains:


1. Executive Summary
2. Industry and Market Analysis
3. Business Description
4. Marketing Plan
5. Organization
6. Operations
7. Financial Statements

I poured all my heart and mind into that document. I explored my thoughts and feelings. I made changes in it to suit what I felt needed to be said. I wanted a venture exuding positive energy. I want to build a culture of respect and integrity.

I had a short time to do the plan. so I concentrated mostly on it, rather than outside of it. I gave him the business plan. The concept is simple enough. I like breakfast food. I can eat it the whole day. Most people I know are the same. And I have not heard of a good all-day breakfast place. Light bulb!

A couple of days later, he text-ed me to say that he's in, that we can do it.

On a related note, while doing the plan, I also learned that having right-brain leanings made it hard to put everything on paper.  So, when I encountered this book called, The Right-Brain Business Plan, written by Jennifer Lee, I got it though I was already in the middle of hunting for a location.

I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn more about it. A business plan is a constant work-in-progress anyway. It's never too late to continuously update and refine it.

And that, my friends, is Sequence One.

(i do not profess ownership of the rights to the photos in this blog.)