Selling One’s 800 Number Could Take a Toll
Q: I have an 800 number I am considering selling because I don’t use it much anymore. My number can spell OUT-OF-JAIL, OUT-OF-JAM and OUT-OF-LAND. I have pitched it to law firms, jelly companies and bail bond firms with no response. Can I legally sell the number?
--William L. Seavey,
Orcutt Oracle, Orcutt
A: Brokering a toll-free number or selling it to the highest bidder is not something that AT&T; supports, as it violates our tariff with the Federal Communications Commission. Businesses have been known to broker specific vanity numbers, but the practice can lead to problems for other businesses who want to acquire vanity numbers legitimately.
I cannot say that this doesn’t happen. In a worst-case scenario, however, it can create real problems and could lead to the number being seized.
There is a legitimate way to transfer your toll-free service to another party, by filing a transfer-of-service agreement with us that holds both parties jointly liable for any balance due at the time of the transfer.
Toll-free service turned 30 this year and its growth has absolutely exploded, because of its increased use by small-business owners, people with pagers, home offices and even parents who want their children to be able to reach them at work or in the field.
It took the telecommunications business 28 years to exhaust all possible 800 numbers. One year ago, the 888 toll-free number was introduced. We are now planning to introduce a new toll-free number, 877, in April 1998 because the 888 numbers have been assigned so rapidly.
There are currently more than 7.71 million 800 numbers in service across the country and the estimated value of the toll-free service market is more than $10 billion.
--Janet Wyles, spokeswoman,
AT&T; Business Markets, New Jersey
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Q: I would like to start my own business, such as a restaurant or store. I have three years to devote myself to studying business. Could you lead me in the right direction to free or inexpensive literature about starting a business and developing a business plan? Your advice and direction would be greatly appreciated.
--Danny Garcia, Crescent City
A: First, you need to target a specific business that you want to pursue. Spending three years doing a lot of very generalized research will not be terribly productive. The way to determine what type of business you want to own is to start by looking at your own abilities and skills and spin off something that you already enjoy and are good at.
You can take a course that will help you narrow down your own personality type and areas of strength, but they tend to be fairly expensive. In the less pricey realm, there are many books that aim to help you evaluate your skills: Are you good at organizing, managing and promotion? If you can’t market your business, you won’t be successful. Self-tests in entrepreneurial magazines can even help you narrow down what you are good at, what you like and how you work best. Even if those things are fairly obvious to others, they may never have registered with you.
Once you decide what kind of business to focus on, you need to start networking in that field. I am counseling a student who wants to be a wholesale nursery owner. He went out and met other nursery owners and found that, sure enough, several of them were willing to help him out and share their expertise with him.
When you have learned all you can about your business, you need to simply take the risk and get on with it as fast as possible--otherwise, it may never happen.
--Gary Snow,
entrepreneurial instructor,
Snow Management Services Corp.,
Simi Valley
A: The most successful business owners typically have done a thorough job of research and planning. If you have three years to launch your venture, you can make a dent in your learning curve by doing several things:
Contact the appropriate trade association for the industry you are interested in. Many of them offer resource packages with a bevy of statistics, trends and how-to information. The National Restaurant Assn. (1200 17th St., Washington, DC 20036-3097; [202] 331-5900), for example, offers a start-up kit for $10 that includes information on business plans. Other associations are listed in the Encyclopedia of Associations, published by Gale Research.
Pick the brains of experienced restaurant owners or retailers. They will prove to be your best source of information on the highs and lows of running a business. One nonthreatening way to reach them is to scout out online chat sessions or forums where they meet. America Online’s Business Strategies area holds a weekly chat session for business people to discuss problems they are having and strategies they use to promote and operate their businesses.
Go to the library and get books on writing business plans (Gale Research publishes “Business Plan Handbook,” for instance) and business anthologies that profile various types of enterprises (Small Business Profiles Volume 1 and 2). Most libraries also now offer free Internet access that will allow you to locate Web sites that pertain to your industry of interest.
You can use the Web to find out about free and low-cost counseling and workshops available through the Small Business Institute (https://www.sbaer.uca.edu), Small Business Development Center (https://www.sbaonline.sba.gov) and SCORE office (https://www.scn.org/civic/score-online).
--Kimberly Stansell,
Research Done Write!, Los Angeles,
and author of “Bootstrapper’s Success Secrets”
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If you have a question about how to start or operate a small business, please mail it to Karen E. Klein in care of the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia CA 91016 or e-mail it to Kklein6349@aol.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. The column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.
