Hmmm, you’re going to college and you don’t know how to do research?
21 years old and you learned nothing about taxes, responsibility, ethics?
You’re not a kid running a lemonade stand for crying out loud.
Certainly someone on campus has some (even minor understanding) of how to begin and run a business.
There is certainly a ton of solid information available with Google Search
Oh look what I found with this simple group of keywords for a search “how to research starting a business on the internet”. research starting a business
Sorry if that seems harsh, but being in college and not asking for assistance from a guidance councilor is wasting an opportunity for a wealth of information.
Bro, if you’re only making a couple hundred, cash, a month, don’t worry about it.
If you start hitting 4 and 5 figures, yeah, then you have to start getting legit.
However, don’t sell yourself as fully insured if you are not. Small retail generally doesn’t care. Homeowners do. It WILL come back to bite you in the ass if you aren’t insured when you said you were. Its (thankfully) never happened to me, but I have seen it happen. Sometimes in a grandiose way.
Are you a business? Do you sell a service or product? Do you name the price, or is someone else just giving you what they feel like giving you for the work you did?
I’d say you are conducting yourself like a business, and you tell people you are a business. At 21, you’ve never paid taxes?
You are trading your time/effort for money. You don’t think you should act like and be a professional?
Seems like you are feigning ignorance, but you are old enough, that you know better. I don’t believe that you are only making 50 bucks a month. I don’t believe that is your plan either. Makes no difference to me, but sooner or later you’ll get pinched. I hope for sooner, rather than later.
I know it seems like some of our comments are harsh - please don’t take it personally. Unfortunately, most of us are directly competing with guys that do not run legally and that directly affects the prices we are forced to compete against. After all, if I’m charging and collecting 8% sales tax and my competition does not - automatically they can cut my prices by nearly 10%.
That said - find out what the laws are in your state and municipality are. You may not be required to collect sales tax, but you may need some licenses or permits. Insurance may or may not be required as well. Start off with good habits in business. If not, expect more icy comments from those of who are trying to do it correctly.
Meanwhile, 5 years later my company did mid 6 figures, entirely legit.
@anon82274079 I like you, but at the same time I think you would be hard pressed to find many people on this forum who started legit, unless they had seed money.
I started legal - license and reporting federal taxes. Fortunately, I didn’t have state sales tax where I started. I bought 200 worth of equipment and financed a small route that I bought from a friend.
Didn’t have insurance because it wasn’t required.
It’s not hard for new guys to find out what basic legal requirements they need to follow.
Finally someone with a comment that I was looking for: “Bro, if you’re only making a couple hundred, cash, a month, don’t worry about it. If you start hitting 4 and 5 figures, yeah, then you have to start getting legit.”
I also don’t tell them I’m insured or anything and I only do small retail stores so I’m not doing false marketing. I’m going to do a couple residential homes and make money here and there but by next spring I plan to do everything legit.
Right now I’m just experimenting with business and doing personal selling which I’ve never done before. I do quite like it.
Also you said 5 years later your company did mid 6 figures? As in you made $500k revenue a year? If so congrats and keep at it!
I like you as well, but there is a lazy way to start a business, and a proper way to start a business.
Lets be serious for a second. Anyone who buys into the 50 dollars to start a business scam, is destined to fail. I understand desperation, but I don’t understand thinking it’s ok not to do things right.
I did things properly, because I built the foundation of my business on solid ground. I didn’t have to worry about a lawsuit, nor did I look over my shoulder for the IRS. Tax evasion is a crime. Is that a good place to start a business?
To each their own. But I am not going to stop pointing out doing things wrong, is wrong.
Well here’s where I’m at. Business exists in order to make it possible for people who have nothing to make something of themselves. Are you saying that someone who wants to start a business to make themselves some money because they are starving and need to make something of themselves should not be allowed to spend $50 on a mop, a bucket and squeegee and some rags and get started? The way I see it, I am thankful that I had enough money saved up to pay the $15 dollars it required here in SD to make my business official and pay taxes and the $200 I needed to have the basic equipment to maintain the small route I inherited, but some people are not that lucky. @1984, I would say this: I encourage you to get official as SOON as you are able, for a couple of reasons. One, it will make life easier later on when you already know how to keep your books when you get bigger. Two, it will keep you out of trouble, and Three, it will give you an actual goal to achieve. If you truly want to build a successful business then you have to try and build a good foundation so figure out your state laws, make some calls to the government, ask your professors or any trusted older person who can give you sound advice, and build up your capital in your business until you can afford to be certified. Go after paying your sales tax ASAP and giving your customers real bills so that you can be official and they can do their taxes, you will feel so good when you get this going, believe me! You’re not going to grow your business if you don’t have a good foundation, and your aren’t going to grow if you don’t have something to shoot for, so make being official your goal. As soon as you can afford it, make it so, you will be happier later on if you do. @anon82274079, I appreciate and believe to the same degree as you that running a legit business is extremely important, especially if you want to stay out of trouble, grow, and be trusted as a business, but at the same time, I believe that every person has a right to start a business and call it that, even without their paperwork, as long as they work towards that goal. The government exists to serve us and keep us safe, not the other way around, so respect the government and do what is right, but don’t worry about the government losing a couple bucks if it doesn’t do you both any good. That’s my two cents.
@ibprofen98@1984 Hopefully you kids aren’t using this same justification to drive uninsured and with out a license. Either you are doing things legally or your not. Don’t rationalize illegitimacy - take ownership of it. And wear the badge proudly. Don’t make excuses and try to pitch everyone else.
Or even better, as has been mentioned to many of your generation - don’t post every stupid thing online. Keep it to yourself if you want to function illegitimately. But, should you decide to post the fact that you are skirting the law - expect the pushback and criticism. It’s merely a consequence of broadcasting everything.
There we have it…at 45, I’m officially an old man shouting “get off my lawn!” Somewhere my folks are laughing at me.
One of the biggest problems is with store front work it is only a few bucks here and a few bucks there until you book enough to be classed as a route.
The problem here lies in store front work you have about 100000 times more liability than residential for example, so thinking " oh I’m only earning $100, I don’t really need to worry about it, I’ll just be super careful"
Its not about you breaking something…
most rookies or newcomers to window cleaning tend to use A LOT more water than is needed, when doing store front work, you are working in public though fares. The public ALWAYS has the right of way, unless you properly barricade the area off you are working in however for general storefront that is just out of the question, its for high or danger type work.
So dropping water on the sidewalk is you highest liability or hitting someone with a pole.
On my second day of work back in 1999 working for a commercial window cleaning company, I dripped dirty water on this guys canary yellow shirt, he went off his nut, my boss had to buy the guy a new shirt and pay for 1/2 a days pay for 3-4 drips of dirty water, imagine if an elderly person slipped on your mess, you are liable for all medical bills and what ever else if you have no liability insurance.
A few months ago I had to pass on a flat work job in a hardware store’s nursery. I did it several times during winter months and there was no one around, then they get me in to do in summer and they would not allow me to close off lanes or sections and only would allow me to do the job from 5pm til 9pm. I knew if people tripped on my hoses my insurance company would not cover me as I am required by OHSA laws to not allow people to be in that situation.
I probably should have mentioned the fact that I bought insurance as soon as I could, and I’ve paid my taxes from the get go. I’m 19 years old, turning 20 this summer, but I am not doing anything illegal. If I didn’t word my post correctly I meant to encourage him to get to the point of full legitimacy ASAP, and I take at least a little pride in the fact that I am doing things right and have from the get go. It does sound to me that @1948 probably has the money to invest for insurance and such, and I DID encourage him to pay taxes starting now, I would never encourage otherwise. I do very much respect your opinion, I do not have very much experience, but I also think that to say that someone with zero dollars shouldn’t be allowed to go make a few to buy some dinner because he can’t afford insurance is rediculous. Business is the lifeblood of this country, and although doing it right is crucial, it is not, and in some cases can not be, necessary for starting off right away, although it should be at the front of your mind and you should not delay doing so. I hope I’ve made my point more clear.
I understand where you are coming from, but reasonable people don’t see it the same way.
Can you call yourself a surgeon and act as one, without the proper training and licensing? I suppose you can, until you get caught, right?
Reasonable people won’t likely be very comfortable working with a “business” who is not properly set up as one. Unless you are upfront and telling people “I have no license, no insurance, so if something happens, you are out of luck” most people will presume you are legit. People who aren’t legit, just aren’t telling people this.
That’s my two cents. 
