What do I need to legitimate my business?

shoeless89

shoeless89

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Hey guys, I was wondering what all do I need to make it official? Such as licenses, certificates ect. And do you guys recommend insurence? How much does it usually cost? Any other tips or advice would be much appreciated :) :thankyousign:
 
Get a DBA (doing business as) fictitious business name statement done so you can open a bank account under your business name, Get a business license in the city/cities and/or county your going to be doing your work, get formal training, get covered by insurance..... then go out and make $$$$$$$$$$$$
 
You doing this part time or full? How long have you been doing detailing? Are you going up be mobil or fixed location? How many cars are you averaging a month? Not trying to be in your personal business just want to are what your goal is.
 
Part time, about a year (for $), mobile, 2 or so right now. It stared as just word of mouth stuff and I was on a medical treatment that was very physicaly draining so I wasn't wanting to do many cars. But now I'm all healthy again and wanting to really expand everything. I just got business cards, flyers posted places and passed out. I'm a student so and also have another job so I'm not looking to do this full time but maybe one day!
 
You can also contact your local Chamber of Commerce to find out what business licenses, etc are required.
 
shoeless89 said:
Part time, about a year (for $), mobile, 2 or so right now. It stared as just word of mouth stuff and I was on a medical treatment that was very physicaly draining so I wasn't wanting to do many cars. But now I'm all healthy again and wanting to really expand everything. I just got business cards, flyers posted places and passed out. I'm a student so and also have another job so I'm not looking to do this full time but maybe one day!
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If you are in school and already have a job - I would wait until you start pulling over a grand or more a month consistently before adding any overhead. Also if you start getting slammed, grades will either drop tremendously or the new business will suffer. I was in school and had a full time job when I started B & B. Had a 4.0 going into my 3rd year - after one semester dropped to a 3.8, then I had to drop out the next semester - I was failing cause I was getting slammed and couldnt handle the 2 together.

With all that said - I would wait and see what kind of response you get from the flyers, how it will affect your schooling, if it is profitable enough for you (being legit can be very expensive), etc. Not trying to stray you away, just tossing out some variables to think about.
 
B&B Tennessee said:
If you already have a job - I would wait until you start pulling over a grand or more a month consistently before adding any overhead. . . .being legit can be very expensive
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:iagree::iagree::iagree:
Good advice that I'm following myself.
 
Each state is different. Best thing to do is Google your state and starting a small business.
 
B&B Tennessee said:
(being legit can be very expensive), etc. Not trying to stray you away, just tossing out some variables to think about.
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What is so expensive about it? Most business certs cost about $100. I think it cost me a total of $175 to become a legit business. If you work from home, or are mobile the only other cost would be your products. Yeah you gotta save some for taxes, but it isn't "expensive".
 
Flannigan said:
What is so expensive about it? Most business certs cost about $100. I think it cost me a total of $175 to become a legit business. If you work from home, or are mobile the only other cost would be your products. Yeah you gotta save some for taxes, but it isn't "expensive".
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When you factor in insurance and taxes, they can be a heavy burden when starting out to add to the cost of products, marketing material, proper tools, gas, website, time dedicated to starting (opportunity cost), etc. My current fixed costs are roughly 600 a month before all of the mentioned above and employees - and I am completely mobile. The clients dont just pour in when you become legit either- it takes alot of time and money - IMO.
 
B&B Tennessee said:
When you factor in insurance and taxes, they can be a heavy burden when starting out to add to the cost of products, marketing material, proper tools, gas, website, time dedicated to starting (opportunity cost), etc. My current fixed costs are roughly 600 a month before all of the mentioned above and employees - and I am completely mobile. The clients dont just pour in when you become legit either- it takes alot of time and money - IMO.
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You're only paying taxes on money you make so that shouldn't be an issue. And you don't need products and tools just to be a legit business. You should already hav all of that if you have a business that just isn't legal yet. So you're just saying running a business is expensive, not that becoming a legit business is expensive.
 
Flannigan said:
You're only paying taxes on money you make so that shouldn't be an issue. And you don't need products and tools just to be a legit business. You should already hav all of that if you have a business that just isn't legal yet. So you're just saying running a business is expensive, not that becoming a legit business is expensive.
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I stand corrected - great job catching that error :props:
 
This was my operating cost for May (not including employees) for running my legit mobile business : 2,234.51 ...... not cheap :cry:
 
shoeless89 said:
Part time, about a year (for $), mobile, 2 or so right now. It stared as just word of mouth stuff and I was on a medical treatment that was very physicaly draining so I wasn't wanting to do many cars. But now I'm all healthy again and wanting to really expand everything. I just got business cards, flyers posted places and passed out. I'm a student so and also have another job so I'm not looking to do this full time but maybe one day!
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I did part time mobile detail and I am a student as well. I have been detailing for 5 years for another company but I got enough time working to build a reputation. When my former employer went out of business I started my own part time gig. Some of my old customers followed and I have pretty much been sustained by word of mouth. The first step is to get a fictitious name and any certs your state may need.

This is what I would do so that your grades do not fall. Now that it is summer I would advertise like crazy and send flyers since you do not have any full time unit load. Once you attend school again you will hopefully have enough clients to keep you sustained this way you will have more time to focus on school. Once summer hits again or you are on a break you can do heavy advertising or maybe tell your customers to refer you.

Insurance is another thing. If you tell all of your customers that you are a student detailing to be able to pay for a tuition they will hopefully understand that we don’t have enough money to pay for insurance. With that said you still need some sort of legal contract such as a liability waiver. You can get those waivers that have a car pictured on them and walk around with the customer and note all of the damage/scratches that are already on the car. However, having a liability waiver doesn’t mean that if YOU mess up a client’s car you will have no fault in the incident. You have to take accountability for your actions and pay for the damages you have caused on the vehicle.
With all that being said liability waivers will limit your work choices to single stage paint corrections, or the basic detail packages. Once you get on the full paint corrections it will be harder to do waivers since errors can occur while doing full paint corrections. Once you build a clientele and trust from your customers then they may let you do the bigger jobs. Just whatever you do keep your work environment safe and take every precaution when working on a customer’s car, all it takes is one screw up and it will spread like wildfire.

Hope this helps. This is how I’m currently running my company and nobody seems to mind.
 
All u really need to do is go to city hall or the city court or Annex and register your business after getting you EIN # with the IRS. once you do that if you plan on getting insurance depending on where your at it could be as little as $1200 for the year. That's all you really need to be "legit" after that the possibilities are endless, I'm just starting out and trust me working full time going to school full time and with a family it isn't easy but I'm doin it. I've already spent $3000+ just to start off but it really isn't much if you think about it! It might take some late nights and loooots of research but it can be done! Good luck!
 
I'm finding it to be rather inexpensive. But, it is an annoying process.

The bank and the city are giving me the run around.

Since I will not be selling products they told me I would not need a tax ID. I got my business license for about $20 at the city hall.

Today I tried to open a bank account with my business name, some banks apparantly will register your Fictitious Name for you. Turns out, mine doesn't.

So I had to go to the county clerk and pick up papers to file for a Fictitious Name which will cost 7 dollars.

Then I need to send a letter to my secretary of state with my new fictitious name and 10 dollars so that I can use it...

It may be cheap, but it's not fun. :eek:
 
MatthewM said:
I'm finding it to be rather inexpensive. But, it is an annoying process.

The bank and the city are giving me the run around.

Since I will not be selling products they told me I would not need a tax ID. I got my business license for about $20 at the city hall.

Today I tried to open a bank account with my business name, some banks apparantly will register your Fictitious Name for you. Turns out, mine doesn't.

So I had to go to the county clerk and pick up papers to file for a Fictitious Name which will cost 7 dollars.

Then I need to send a letter to my secretary of state with my new fictitious name and 10 dollars so that I can use it...

It may be cheap, but it's not fun. :eek:
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You are required by law to have an EIN (Employer Identification Number) so that they can get taxes out of you... Most banks require this as part of your business account and generally the SoS will need it too... Not hard to get... To be Legit you need this...
 
CrownKote said:
You are required by law to have an EIN (Employer Identification Number) so that they can get taxes out of you... Most banks require this as part of your business account and generally the SoS will need it too... Not hard to get... To be Legit you need this...
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I believe that the city and the bank are using/going to use my SoS in place of it.
 
MatthewM said:
I believe that the city and the bank are using/going to use my SoS in place of it.
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I have seen that be used in place a lot and it is ok but you then are fully responsible for any and all taxes that the business gets... in most states taxes are due quarterly and if you don't pay there are some serious consequences... Having the SoS paperwork will allow them to nail you not the company... Have a quick look into it it will be worth the money and worth the while... My wife does LLC's and such if you are interested PM me...
 
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