What about insurance ? Just wondering if you needed liability incase you "missed" something on an inspection and it later became something major if they could come back on you.?
I'll start by saying good luck. My wife started a daycare last year. Advice above was great. We contracted a lawyer to set us up with an LLC. Then we hired an accountant, best move we made. I had accounted for everything except for the major hit from taxes. Government took in much better profits than we did last year and we ended up in the black. Build up a bit extra in the bank account, just starting out was hard to do but I try to keep 1.5 to 2 months extra in the account to cover unexpected expenses, taxes, payroll, etc. Name is important, lots of deer hunters in this area and lots of rednecks, named the place "Button Bucks -N- Little Does, Daycare". We get quit a few positive comments on the name. Honesty with your clients is a must, they are your first priority. Word of mouth from positive feedback is very important to our set up and we get good customers from the feedback, we also give a discount to our customers who refer additional families to our business. Lots of things we found out after we got started. There are many parts of the government that have to do an inspection and require a fee for required certifications etc. Look at creative advertising, business cards, web site, social media, etc. We even got t-shirts for kids and employees for walk around advertising. It's a lot of hard work and an adventure but well worth the hours with the satisfaction you will feel from your accomplishment. Best of luck to you and your new business.
On a practical note.... be prepared! The biggest thing I can tell you is be prepared for countless hours, more stress, headaches, peaks and valleys, decisions, unforseen problems, etc..... It is far from sunshine and rainbows. You will now live, eat and breath it (kind of like hunting). It's a totally different world than being a clock puncher, working for someone else or public sector job. It is very much different. Yes it has it's benefits. You work for yourself. You make your own rules. You make your own hours. You get out of it what you put into it. BUT.... its just tough. It's every day of your life and it never ends. At the end of the day personally I couldn't be doing anything else. It's not in my DNA. But be prepared to bust your hump. Especially first couple years.
Say goodbye to being able to leave work at work. It's a double edged sword. You can make your own hours but a lot more hours behind the scene. Expect the unexpected all the time. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Customers dictating when they pay you even if you have due dates on your bills. They usually ignore that. On a positive note there are some days it all seems to come together and you are proud to own a successful business. If you have more of these days than the crappy ones you are doing a good job and it is worth it. If you are upside with your bills and just can't keep up time to go work for someone else.
.....but just remember if you are successful in building a small business, it won't be because of anything you did, but rather Obama and the government...this is why you will gladly give them roughly 50% of your profits between local, state and federal.
Double edged sword is right. I run a general contracting business and right now I have two big payments that I was supposed to collect last week but doesn't look like I will see either until next week. Meanwhile I have bills due this week - time to go to the bank and get a short term loan I guess. Double edged sword.
Rather than file a schedule C on your personal taxes, you may want to set up an LLC, and file as an 'S' Corp. on a separate return for the business. You may be able to avoid some self-employment taxes this way. Best bet is to get with a good CPA for solid advice BEFORE you do anything. That move saved us over $20K in taxes last year alone. The CPA is $230/hr. but has been worth his weight in gold. Bottom line is, don't skimp on getting things set up correctly from the beginning. Business colleges can also be a good resource. There are plenty of government funded programs that will hook you up with free assistance for starting a small business. Like I mentioned earlier, "SCORE" is a good one if available in your area. Good luck!
Ok guys... I found one that the domain isn't taken. How does Home Source Inspections sound? Don't be shy, I only get one shot at picking a name. Here is a "rough draft" of a business card... Please critique. Front Back
I would get an exclusive email address. Something like [email protected]. That way, if you branch out, you can add an email address. Gmail/Yahoo email addresses look bush league.
How do you do that? I thought you had to have a webpage to get an address like that? I will get a web page up soon as I can I just have a ton of expense right now purchasing all the tools, software and marketing pamphlets cards etc etc I do agree it looks jake. I haven't created an email address or anything, this is just a mock up business card. And you did not comment on the name or card design.. I need feedback and you are a prime candidate to give me some.
The card and name look great to me. Call your local IT company and speak with them about getting your own domain email address. We did that a few years ago and it wasn't very expensive at all. I believe mine was $100 for 5 years and then the IT company does the web hosting for like $30 per month.
You can basically write off anything when you own your own business. Lunches can be business lunches, of course to stay legal you should make it somewhat business. Vacations can be justified through going to a home inspectors convention, TV can be written off for instruction/training. Home office along with utilities (the portion of your house that is home office) can be written off.
Also best of luck buckeye, do you have any contacts in the real estate or other business? I know its been said before but hit them up. Take advantage of the tax breaks, and be honest. Id also get more than $1million liability, we're getting $1million and we're not self employed. But that is up to you.
I personally only know two Realtors, both were dudes I went to high school with. I don't know what limits I will purchase yet, I need to study more into it.
Opinions on this? I don't know what much of it means. Web Hosting | Lightning Fast Hosting & One Click Setup - GoDaddy
