I am a business owner!!

Just something to add to Kent's great advice: don't 'bid against yourself' by dropping your prices. You don't want to pigeon hole yourself that way, besides, you are in a speacialty trade--your customers can afford you (no matter what they say). They expect you would make a profit.

Consulting with an attorney is good advice, but have everything written out beforehand. It might be hard to concentrate with the egg timer counting the minutes.

Keep written records on everything. Use it to spot trends in your costs, tracking sales, and determining your pricing. Keep a written account of all your costs.

Get and maintain the insurance. It can also help you to build your bond capacity to better qualify you for if and when you decide to branch into commercial work.

Don't hesitate to take these folks up on their offers to help.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
loads of useful info
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Awesome. First business expense: Quickbooks. I am loving how many business owners are here. There is a great wealth of information here, and I like it :D

Also Don, I'll probably take you up on your offer enough times to make you sick of me :D

And Richard - definitely. Thanks for the continuing advice!
 
Congrats Nick.

As far as insurance, if you are going to do any work for a company they will almost always require a certificate of insurance. Check with where ever you buy it, there is a "clearing house" for insurance certificates. When we request one from a company they almost always come from the same "clearing house" via fax no matter what insurance company they are with. No contractor is allowed to do work for my company unless we have that in the file.
Your on your way.
 
AdamZ said:
Nick Mazel Tov! The American Dream is yours. Now listen to Richard and Michael and consider incorporating and get Insurance before you do job one.
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Add to that finding an accountant you can deal with effectively and works with small business. Do that at the begining of your adventure and find out all the things you need to track so at tax time stuss not only goes smotthly but that you do not make mistakes that could work against you.
 
SkyHog said:
Awesome. First business expense: Quickbooks. I am loving how many business owners are here. There is a great wealth of information here, and I like it :D

Also Don, I'll probably take you up on your offer enough times to make you sick of me :D

And Richard - definitely. Thanks for the continuing advice!
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Before you settle on Quickbooks, look at the options. Quicken/Intuit has a really nasty habit of retiring support for products very quickly... you'll be spending a lot of money each year just to buy the latest version. They've effectively made it so you're renting software. For a very small shop, you may be able to use a regular home-based package instead of needing the more powerful system.
 
wsuffa said:
Before you settle on Quickbooks, look at the options. Quicken/Intuit has a really nasty habit of retiring support for products very quickly... you'll be spending a lot of money each year just to buy the latest version. They've effectively made it so you're renting software. For a very small shop, you may be able to use a regular home-based package instead of needing the more powerful system.
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YOu're right Bill but I know that some accounts want you to use that so that it works with their systems. That is why I suggested he sit down with such a professional and work out details such as that one.
 
smigaldi said:
YOu're right Bill but I know that some accounts want you to use that so that it works with their systems. That is why I suggested he sit down with such a professional and work out details such as that one.
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Agree, Scott. I played the Quickbooks game one time and got thoroughly frustrated by the support, registration, advertising, etc. I always suspected that they gathered more data about me than I ever wanted them to have. Registration and online services are NOT a license to track eveything I do.

I'm about to dump Quicken at home due to their "upgrade or it stops working" policy.
 
I have been looking at Microsoft Money. While I hate Microsoft, it seems to be a better fit for what I'm gonna be doing. Anyone ever use Money Small Business Edition?
 
wsuffa said:
Agree, Scott. I played the Quickbooks game one time and got thoroughly frustrated by the support, registration, advertising, etc. I always suspected that they gathered more data about me than I ever wanted them to have. Registration and online services are NOT a license to track eveything I do.

I'm about to dump Quicken at home due to their "upgrade or it stops working" policy.
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I've been using QB for over 4 years now and have had ZERO problems with support, registration, advertising, etc. I upgraded once because I wanted to.

Nick, Quicken and Money are not business accounting programs. I have used Quicken for my home stuff for 10+ years so know it pretty well. It is not appropriate for running a business, and I doubt that Money is either.

What you will regret is starting with one system and then switching to another. Don't try to save a couple hundred bucks and start with something meant to balance a checkbook. Get an business accounting program from day 1.
 
-get a calendar or a make a checklist and use it only to record recurring things that happen at the same time every year (large payments like mortgage, irs1040, filing 941, sales tax submission), renewing licenses.
-never ever leave a mess at the customer's when the job is done.
-find out what your competition is doing.
-make follow up calls to jobs completed, a day later or maybe a week "Just checking to make sure its all working"
-make your business stand out from the others through the personal touch, offer extraordinary communication and consideration for your customers.
-be organized in everything you do. Your jobs, your office, your plan for the week, your paperwork.
-avoid making promises that will stretch you to the max.
-subscribe to a small business mag, especially one that deals with your trade.
-never buy substandard product because it is cheaper...even if the customer thinks thats what he wants - remember when you leave, your name and reputation is permantly affixed to that job - what tone will he use when he tells his friends, "Brennan did that for me.."
-solicit input from customers after the job is done "how can I do better for you?"
-take care of your employees as you would like to be taken care of
-don't take on more work than you can handle simply because you are afraid of turning a job down and losing it. If you do quality work that is better than the other guy, they will wait.
-if you look after the business (esp. the customers) it will look after you.
-don't be afraid to ask for a down payment to start especially if you are providing materials.
-seriously consider at least a simple contract for all jobs so as to avoid communication issues about what is expected of both parties.
-never tell an untruth of any kind to a customer
-never speak ill of a customer, an employee, a competitor....to anyone. Become known as someone of integrity and respectfulness. If it all blows up, all you really have left is your reputation... and that can make or break you.

10,000 more to follow.
 
oh. get to like Ramen noodles and Pork and Beans for the first two years!!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
-get a calendar or a make a checklist and use it only to record recurring things that happen at the same time every year (large payments like mortgage, irs1040, filing 941, sales tax submission), renewing licenses.
-never ever leave a mess at the customer's when the job is done.
-find out what your competition is doing.
-make follow up calls to jobs completed, a day later or maybe a week "Just checking to make sure its all working"
-make your business stand out from the others through the personal touch, offer extraordinary communication and consideration for your customers.
-be organized in everything you do. Your jobs, your office, your plan for the week, your paperwork.
-avoid making promises that will stretch you to the max.
-subscribe to a small business mag, especially one that deals with your trade.
-never buy substandard product because it is cheaper...even if the customer thinks thats what he wants - remember when you leave, your name and reputation is permantly affixed to that job - what tone will he use when he tells his friends, "Brennan did that for me.."
-solicit input from customers after the job is done "how can I do better for you?"
-take care of your employees as you would like to be taken care of
-don't take on more work than you can handle simply because you are afraid of turning a job down and losing it. If you do quality work that is better than the other guy, they will wait.
-if you look after the business (esp. the customers) it will look after you.
-don't be afraid to ask for a down payment to start especially if you are providing materials.
-seriously consider at least a simple contract for all jobs so as to avoid communication issues about what is expected of both parties.
-never tell an untruth of any kind to a customer
-never speak ill of a customer, an employee, a competitor....to anyone. Become known as someone of integrity and respectfulness. If it all blows up, all you really have left is your reputation... and that can make or break you.

10,000 more to follow.
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All good advice. I especially like the last one. I can't tell you how much of a turn off it is to hear people speak badly of their competetion. Talk up your business/product as much as you want, but don't turn to personal insults on the other guy. That is definitely advice I will follow, as well as most of the rest.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
oh. get to like Ramen noodles and Pork and Beans for the first two years!!
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LOL - love them already. That, and Mac n' Cheese. :D
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
-never buy substandard product because it is cheaper...even if the customer thinks thats what he wants - remember when you leave, your name and reputation is permantly affixed to that job
Click to expand...

Yeah. Had a client who bought $19,000 worth of computer equipment and declined to buy the $35 APC (read: quality) surge protectors. I insisted that I would not sell a substandard brand. They didn't buy surge protectors from me, and when I returned a few weeks later they'd plugged everything into - get this - Walgreens store brand surge protectors. I warned them again that they really needed to buy something that would work. "Oh, these'll be fine."

Three months and one lightning strike later, I had to install another $19,000 worth of computers. This time, they bought the $35 surge protectors from me.

-don't be afraid to ask for a down payment to start especially if you are providing materials.
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Amen. We'd always require 50% of materials in advance, IIRC. That also worked out to be just about what our cost was. :D
 
Resurrecting an old thread. Step 1 of my "Stop doing a job I hate" clause of new life has begun....this time correctly.

I ditched the partner, changed the scope of business (out of necessity, I can't really go around pulling wire very easily with one arm), and formed an LLC. High Desert Networking, LLC is now open for business. And I have clients already. And I have a contractor's license. And I'm older and smarter.

This time, I'm going to succeed!
 

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In many cases you must submit proof of coverage with your bid package. Talk to your insurance agent now and find out how long it will take to get a certificate of insurance and be guided by that.

-Skip
 
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All the best, Nick. Far as advice is concerned, just remember who pays the bills and treat them like gold. Even when they're wrong, the customer is right. Worked for me. :cheerswine:
 
Wishes for the greatest success, Nick! There is nothing more satisfying than doing well at a business you own.
 
Good job Nick--if one can figure out a way to do it--it is a hell of a lot better to be working for yourself. Let me know if you ever need some advice, I spend a fair amount of time 'networking'.
 
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