Need some advice on job offer

I

iMuf

New member
Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
67
Reaction score
0
Hey everyone, so recently I started do some detailing on the side and it has been going really well. On the last car I did the owner of the shop where I did my work, saw the work and wanted to talk with me about hiring me to do his cars and company cars and possibly some other things like the Ferarri's, Porsches, And Lambo's that are all in some buildings across from his shop.

Well a couple of days ago he called me and told me to come over to his place and talk. He offered me a pretty good hourly pay to start off with and we would just spend some time perfecting what I already know and learning anything new, basically just to make me an even better detailer than I already am. Well today I went over and we started to do some work on one of his cars and he asked me that if he could promise me that he could keep me busy, if I would come and basically come work with him full time that way we didn't have to work around my schedule at Best Buy. I think he can keep me busy, with how many cars he has and how many company cars he has for both of his companies. I should always have work. He even plans on opening up another shop just for detailing. So needless to say the guy has money, so I don't see work or money being an issue.

So here is where I need help. For now I'm going to be considered working for myself until he opens up his shop. My question is if you had an opportunity to do something you loved but when tax season rolled around you would probably have to pay a decent chunk of money would you do it? Basically what is holding me up is I have always worked at Best Buy so I really have never had to worry about taxes in that sense since it has always been taken out for me. I currently make about $16,000 to $18,000 a year. With what he is going to pay me, I would be looking at around $25,000 to $30,000 depending on how much I work obviously. Does anyone know about what I would have to pay, percentage wise, in taxes? I did kind of a high number (at least I think it was high) and it came out to be around $3,000-$7,000 in taxes. Again I may be way off so if someone knows more around what it would be please let me know. But if I'm making $25,000 to $30,000 a year in the whole scheme of things isn't to much. And as long as I save up it should be fine I would think.

Let me know what you guys think, this is something I really want to do but it's tough to make that jump when you are so used to something and currently have that security if you know what I mean. But I could be making so much more money doing this vs doing Best Buy. Any help will be much appreciated. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where this would fit in best.
 
My opinion: go for it. Anyone with any common sense will tell you that you have to like what you do for a living otherwise you'll be miserable. If it's just a matter of discipline of setting aside tax money from each pay check, I have to imagine there's plenty of ways to do that so that come tax season, you're no behind the 8-ball.
 
Some questions I have for you:

1) what will be the hourly rate compared to BestBuy?
2) who will be covering the expenses? (all the equipments, waxes, polishes, etc). If it is yourself, is the hourly rate still higher than BestBuy?
3) who will be covering the insurance? how about shop insurance? I imagine shop insurance on him if he opens and owns the shop
4) how well do you know him?

You have steady income from BestBuy at the moment and not paying taxes on detailing jobs. Personally if it was myself and the option is really attractive, I would take some time off BestBuy and go work with him for a week or two to get a good assessment on the volume of cars and how many I can detail in the same number of hours I work at BestBuy.

Very excited for you though, whatever you choose good luck!
 
Last edited:
Zelfiris said:
Some questions I have for you:

1) what will be the hourly rate compared to BestBuy?
2) who will be covering the expenses? (all the equipments, waxes, polishes, etc). If it is yourself, is the hourly rate still higher than BestBuy?
3) who will be covering the insurance? how about shop insurance? I imagine shop insurance on him if he opens and owns the shop
4) how well do you know him?

You have steady income from BestBuy at the moment and not paying taxes on detailing jobs. Personally if it was myself and the option is really attractive, I would take some time off BestBuy and go work with him for a week or two to get a good assessment on the volume of cars and how many I can detail in the same number of hours I work at BestBuy.

Very excited for you though, whatever you choose good luck!
Click to expand...

My hourly at best buy is $8.50 and he is going to pay $12. He will be covering expenses as well since he can get a lot of products at cost through his mechanic shop. He will indeed be covering the insurance side of things. I feel like I know if pretty well. The first day we talked, we talked for a good 5-6 hours and then we talked for another 3 yesterday while I worked on one of his cars before I had to go to work at BestBuy.

That is one downside, being that I work part time at BestBuy I can't take any sick time off since they only do that for full timers. So it's on of those things where I do it or I don't. You can see where the conundrum is lol
 
ph16 said:
My opinion: go for it. Anyone with any common sense will tell you that you have to like what you do for a living otherwise you'll be miserable. If it's just a matter of discipline of setting aside tax money from each pay check, I have to imagine there's plenty of ways to do that so that come tax season, you're no behind the 8-ball.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is the thing. As of now I'm miserable at BestBuy, days take forever and I can't stand walking in the place anymore. Whenever I do detailing I love getting to the place early just to get a good look at the car. And being able to step back at the end of the day and see what you did feels amazing as well.
 
Your form of business determines which income tax return form you have to file.

The most common forms of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and S corporation, and limited Liability Company (LLC).

There's also Medicare and Social Security taxes that may have to be considered.

Business Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance,
Health Care...

IMHO:
Now's the time to contact a CPA, the IRS Hotline, a Business oriented Insurance representative...

How about asking your prospective Boss if you can talk to "his people".

Bob
 
I would do an IRS calculator to see where you will be. I am guessing at $12/hr you are probably looking at less than $10 after you pay taxes on it.
 
Go for it! U r making more as well? Heck ya. Just save 25% of every check or whatever he gives u. Put it aside until tax season
 
it is not like you are giving up some premier position at Google. Take it and get a ton of experience.
Worse comes to worse you could probably get your job back at bestbuy if things fall apart.
Taxes...talk to an accountant.
 
Ok, so he just got back with me and said he can hire me on as an employee of his other shop and then I would just do the detailing for him. So he would be taking care of taxes. So that takes any guess work out of it. Look like I will be putting my 2 weeks notice in at Best Buy today.
 
stilltipping3 said:
Go for it! U r making more as well? Heck ya. Just save 25% of every check or whatever he gives u. Put it aside until tax season
Click to expand...

:iagree: and get receipts for every penny you spend toward the work you are doing, to include pads, polish, towels, work shoes, socks, pants for work (you get my point), gasoline and mileage for work travel, any expenses you incur in pulling in any new clientele etc.

All that stuff will be a write off against what your tax liability would be, heck..write off toilet paper if you can... Your accountant will tell you what you can or can't use as a tax write off.

You only live once...
 
That's awesome. I'm glad you're gonna jump on this. This is an opportunity you could take and run with, meaning the skies the limit. Enjoying what you do is 90% of the battle, the rest will fall into place. Good luck.
 
So your going to be the Detailer for his other shop? It's a mechanic shop right?

That's cool that's how I started off, but not for that much. It was a lot lot lower lol a lot lower.

Good for you and keep us updated. Might want to ask if you can take pictures and if says it's ok take some and keep us updated.

Or get a GoPro, so you don't have to stop.

Congrats!
Art
 
I would go for it only on a couple of things.
1-Is he paying for supplies
2-You get a better life in general-better pay, easier financials
3 You like what you do there
4-You are able to do quality work

I was in a similar situation as you. I was working in a place for a couple of days. Im younger than you probably but, anyway I was not getting paid alot. People have been asking about auto detailing and I just did a job for around 50 dollars in 3 hrs. Thats 16 dollars an hour at least which is is good pay and almost double what I was making
 
iMuf said:
Hey everyone, so recently I started do some detailing on the side and it has been going really well. On the last car I did the owner of the shop where I did my work, saw the work and wanted to talk with me about hiring me to do his cars and company cars and possibly some other things like the Ferarri's, Porsches, And Lambo's that are all in some buildings across from his shop.

Well a couple of days ago he called me and told me to come over to his place and talk. He offered me a pretty good hourly pay to start off with and we would just spend some time perfecting what I already know and learning anything new, basically just to make me an even better detailer than I already am. Well today I went over and we started to do some work on one of his cars and he asked me that if he could promise me that he could keep me busy, if I would come and basically come work with him full time that way we didn't have to work around my schedule at Best Buy. I think he can keep me busy, with how many cars he has and how many company cars he has for both of his companies. I should always have work. He even plans on opening up another shop just for detailing. So needless to say the guy has money, so I don't see work or money being an issue.

So here is where I need help. For now I'm going to be considered working for myself until he opens up his shop. My question is if you had an opportunity to do something you loved but when tax season rolled around you would probably have to pay a decent chunk of money would you do it? Basically what is holding me up is I have always worked at Best Buy so I really have never had to worry about taxes in that sense since it has always been taken out for me. I currently make about $16,000 to $18,000 a year. With what he is going to pay me, I would be looking at around $25,000 to $30,000 depending on how much I work obviously. Does anyone know about what I would have to pay, percentage wise, in taxes? I did kind of a high number (at least I think it was high) and it came out to be around $3,000-$7,000 in taxes. Again I may be way off so if someone knows more around what it would be please let me know. But if I'm making $25,000 to $30,000 a year in the whole scheme of things isn't to much. And as long as I save up it should be fine I would think.

Let me know what you guys think, this is something I really want to do but it's tough to make that jump when you are so used to something and currently have that security if you know what I mean. But I could be making so much more money doing this vs doing Best Buy. Any help will be much appreciated. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong area, I wasn't sure where this would fit in best.
Click to expand...

In general, never say "no" to a deal based on taxes. The fact that it is confusing is not a strong argument to reject an offer.

Assuming you will be a 1099 Contractor, then figure 25% of what you make will go to taxes and you will probably receive a tax refund. That said, consult an accountant and from there you can fine tune your tax strategy, establish a corporation, set up retirement accounts, understand what expenses are deductible, budgets, etc... You can file tax returns quarterly and if you put some money aside every month in a separate bank account (dedicated solely to paying taxes), then you won't run into any foreseeable problems. Last, but not least, you should seek to have a contract with Mr. Moneybags. As a 1099 contractor you have no employment rights with Mr. Moneybags :-) and you probably carry some liability so you may need insurance. You address this by establishing a contract with him.

Assuming you will be a W-2 employee, paid hourly then this arrangement would work just like Best Buy.
 
Only thing I would make sure of is that he doesn't expect you to do a car in 2 hours. Let him know realistic timelines so he understands the care that really goes into doing it the right way if he gets it. Then GO for it!! Sounds like it would make life much more enjoyable for you. I have been contemplating going out on my own and actually work for the same company as you but I do make more than double what you make and work full time so I don't have much time to do it on the side while trying to maintain my ride and a few others.
 
hernandez.art13 said:
So your going to be the Detailer for his other shop? It's a mechanic shop right?

That's cool that's how I started off, but not for that much. It was a lot lot lower lol a lot lower.

Good for you and keep us updated. Might want to ask if you can take pictures and if says it's ok take some and keep us updated.

Or get a GoPro, so you don't have to stop.

Congrats!
Art
Click to expand...



If your going to get a camera, get it before you quit Best Buy.

LOL
 
get a DSLR and a GoPro (black edition)

Might as well and get an SD card too.

Oh and a backpack, tripod, extra battery pack for each camera too.

Program to edit the software, I have 2 programs.

Might as well :dunno:

Wow I've spent a good amount of money on my camera equipment lol

For starters :props:
 
I used to work in Geek Squad at a Best Buy store for a year until I went to work for Best Buy Corporate for a little bit. I hated the politics and bs in the store too. Management wasn't good but luckily my Geek Squad team was great.

You seem to love detailing and this could provide the opportunity to learn more and practice more of your skills. Eventually you can branch off and start your own company if you wanted and make it into a successful career.

It's hard to make a career at Best Buy. I was one of two people that ever left my store for corporate, so moving up isn't very easy.
 
I will only say one few things. Make sure what ever you agree on is in writing and cover all your base so you don't burned. Make sure you are doing the kind of detailing you want todo and never settle for less. Last of all don't let him take advantage of you detailing is very hard work and long days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top