Most new antique businesses fail in the first two years. In my opinion, the major reason for nearly all failures is the lack of a business plan. New dealers have the belief that it is easy to make money in the antique trade. They operate under the assumption that all they need to do is buy an item and sell that item for more money then they paid. Nothing could be further from the reality of the antique trade.

To succeed as an antique dealer, one needs a business plan before he or she spends one cent acquiring merchandise. There are close to 60 questions that must be answered, and many decisions that must be made before a person decides whether or not to start a small business.

I do not have space in this column to cover all questions and decisions that a person needs to address before he or she decides to open a small business. I will, however, list some of the most important points and spend some time discussing a few points in detail. I suggest that a person considering starting a small business buy a book on business plans, available from any of the large booksellers, or download sample business plans available on the Internet. See complete article: http://www.journalofantiques.com/Aug05/businessAug05.htm