Koala Bear wrote:
BCtriguy1 wrote:
I think you will get a lot better advice if you shed a bit more light on what kind of business you're planning on starting.
I started a business around 7 or 8 years ago. The advice I would have to offer would vary greatly depending on what you're planning on doing. I might not offer advice at all it was something I'm unfamiliar with.
That’s fair. I kind of kept it vague to get some of that general, globally applicable advice, though it may not all be too useful.
And to answer the above advice about having money set aside for living expenses, there would be other income coming in, not just anything from this.
My preamble over, I’ve been a long time car enthusiast, and a several year photographer.
I’m nothing record-shattering or ground breaking, but after seeing the other photographers work in our local area, and the prices they charge, I know that the quality of my work and the service that I can provide would, and already have, far outpace that provided by some of the bigger names in my area.
I’ve started writing some stuff down and playing with numbers.
But if that gives more context, there have you (:
I’ve been self employed for over 25 years. Some years are good and some are not. During 2008 I had a developer stiff me over $80k and the bank foreclosed on the commercial site we did that work at. That was bad times. Good times were when I bought my Porsche Cayenne and the business pays for it. Realize it took me a LONG time to get to that point. I tell people that I was 20 without kids and I was single. I worked probably 65 hours a week on average and probably made $5 an hour. Eventually, it became something that gave me flexibility in my schedule and I make a decent buck. If all goes well, I can sell business assets and walk away with the business checking account as a minimum- or sell the business for a pretty good buck. Frankly, anyone I know working in the corporate world with health benefits, 401k, etc- probably is in just as good of a position as me. So, is it worth it? In many ways no. In some ways yes.
More importantly, a self employed person is usually someone with certain characteristics that would define them as someone who would be self employed. You need to know if you are that guy. Google the traits of a self employed person.
As far as photography.... decide if this is a side gig, or a real job. Google Peter Lik. He is the most successful photographer that there is. He has marketed himself well. He has made his photos a product that is desirable. My girlfriend has a few of his pieces and they are beautiful. I was in California and met a photographer when I was there and I bought two of his photos. When they were shipped to me, I inspected them and one is not right. That framing didn’t turn out right. I won’t go into it much, but bringing this up because you will have situations like this and you will take a loss on a reprint and shipping and possibly framing.
In my business, lawn maintenance, landscaping, and snow removal there is so much that can go wrong. This winter, two trucks hit parked cars. I bumped the brick work on a commercial building with the bed of the dump truck. Even with insurance, filing claims are not worth it- so I just pay out of pocket. A single parking lot that pays us $45k for the winter sounds like a lot, until you see what goes into the job. I imagine photography is similar. Right now, your looking from the outside in. You need to really learn what it takes. I would bet taking the photos is actually the easy part.
As far as advice-
Set up a business checking account that has no fees or minimal monthly fees. Get business cards. Make your business pay for your cell phone. Take one room of your house and call that your office. Deduct that as office space on your tax return. Take a mileage deduction on your car, or lease a car in the name of the business. You will need a commercial auto insurance policy most likely if you lease the car in the business name. Contact the state department of financial institutions and setup an LLC for the business. Contact the IRS and apply for an FEIN, basically a Social security number for your business.
Anything else and probably need a consulting fee. :)