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Offlinewiggles
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Registered: 11/09/05
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Looking to start side business, need advice
    #11654162 - 12/15/09 09:46 AM (14 years, 1 month ago)

Hey all!
I want to start by saying that this will not be replacing my day job. Maybe one day, but not for now. I am an experienced computer technician, and fairly heavily certified for both computer repair and networking. I've got about 10 years of experience which is kind of considered the "golden number" to start branching out on your own.

I am not interested in quitting the day job (network engineer) because it provides insurance, steady income, and they also help pay for training which I can use in the freelance business. These are all good things I'm not quite ready to give up.

Now, I'm trying to figure out if I want to do the type-s corporation, or if I would want to look into an LLP with one of my wealthier friends. Either way, I need the limited liability since I will be working on other people's equipment. Advice?

Also, I haven't really done much accounting since high school, and even then it was a one semester class. I'm looking to get quickbooks since its supposed to make it easy... I have downloads for trials of both Pro and Premier going.. any advice on which would work better?

Next.. I need initial pricing help. Last night I went to my first freelance customer since college and I literally charged him 10$ for the night because a) its a friend, b) he runs his own business and is offering to give me some guidance, and c) he has ample contacts which I'm hoping he'll refer me to. He even said he would want to pay me more, but I am figuring that the money he saves now will pay me dividends in the long run. Smart decision? Further, how can I start investigating what people charge in the local area so I can be reasonable but competitive? Is it as simple as calling them up and saying, "Hey, what do you charge for X?" Or walking in 15 times with different moustaches (while fun, probably annoying)?

I went to the library last night and checked out a book called "Do you really want to be an entrepreneur" or something along those lines... I figure the library is a good free resource to start with. Any books anyone can reccomend?

Finally, how do I fund the business to start? If I spend an hour driving back and forth from a customer, do I count that as an expense and start making expense sheets? Is that deductible? Do I write myself a receipt for every cent I spend to fund the business and consider everything as a business expense?

Sorry, ton of questions, but I'm not quite sure how to get started. Most of the people I know are graphic designers, so they don't really seem to have much to worry about in the way of liability. They run everything as a sole proprietorship. I actually need the separation between myself and the business.

Oh, a friend of mine is a CPA (just certified), think she'd be decent to enlist help from?

Thanks for everything :smile:


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OfflineWizenheimer
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Registered: 07/10/08
Posts: 41
Loc: Ontario
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
Re: Looking to start side business, need advice [Re: wiggles]
    #11654511 - 12/15/09 11:00 AM (14 years, 1 month ago)

I've got a suggestion or 2, but I do live in Canada so the tax/accounting/laws are different and I don't own my own business.

An idea for pricing a few things would be to call tech support at Dell for example and see what they charge for things. I just had to have some work done on my computer (a Dell) and their prices were all significantly higher than the computer repair guy on campus although I'm not sure if that's common or the campus business is subsidized. If that is a common practice the prices quoted from tech support would at least give you an upper limit on prices.

When dealing with friends the one thing I would watch out for is bartering your services for their's. My mom is always doing this and she tends to just exchange her time for theirs and in her case her hourly wage is usually at least double theirs although this could work out to your advantage if your situation is the reverse.

With accounting and expenses I would keep as detailed information as possible get receipts for everything write it all down and most importantly ORGANIZE IT get folders and pick categories, probably new folders monthly for accounting items and yearly for expenses. If you end up doing all the paper work this will be handy, but if you give up and go to an accountant to get it set up professionally it'll be invaluable, at least it will be if they get paid similar wages in the USA as they do here.

If you're buying assets for this business or trying to expense tons of things like home office space and what not you should probably get professional advice at least to start. If you're getting paid in cash frequently and don't plan to report it all I wouldn't go overboard on expenses. This is kind of a random point, but if you are planning to purchase assets, in Canada leasing is often a better arrangement because the interest can be deducted even if the expense for the actual asset can't. Not sure about the states though.

I'm not sure what kind of revenue your expecting this business to earn, but one thing to consider is that the costs/fees associated with incorporating may be prohibitively high and I really don't know how feasible it would be to operate in your field without limited liability. I'm under the impression in Canada at least it wouldn't be worth it unless you were doing upwards of $100k in revenue although if liability is really a major concern this would obviously influence that.

Related to that last point you might want to try and estimate what this business could potentially earn. Use the hours you WANT to work at it per week times a lower end hourly wage and subtract some estimates of expenses for your situation. The main reason I suggest doing this is I would expect the lawyer (and other people) you talk to about incorporating and accounting to ask about the size of the business in order to give you specific advice.


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