Small business owners / Contractors / Sub-contractors, see inside.

[pickardracing]

Kind of an open invitation for anyone who runs their own business to throw some advice/knowledge out there if they feel charitable.

My brother and I are seriously considering going out on our own and starting a flooring installation business, doing both residential and some commercial work in addition to subcontracting from retail stores.

We honestly dont know the first place to begin as far as the business end of things, i.e., getting started, financing, the legal red tape, etc.

Wondering if anyone that has done it would be willing to post up some information to point us in the right direction to get started, or throw up some info on what you've done.

Thanks in advance.

[whistlin six]

I started my own handyman business a year ago, it's been great working
for myself. I'm no business expert by any means but I'll try and help.

A good place to start would be talking to someone at SCORE, they
help guide you in the right direction when starting a business. They
will talk to you on the phone or you can attend a free seminar.
There is a SCORE office in Milwaukee, they can also send you a huge
packet with helpful info.

You'll need to register your company name with the state.
Decide on your legal entity... LLC, CORP. ect...
Check on business liscense and insurance.
Create a formal business plan if getting financing.
ect..ect...
Lots of paperwork and homework to do first.
I would suggest hiring a lawyer and accountant to get you set up
properly.

Good luck! Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Mike

[GRNDNL]

My accountant helped me set everything up....

[Nickerz]

get the business registration stuff done, do the the research for that. Work on the side until you have the realization that you really do know EVERYTHING you need to make it work. And even then be prepared to work your ass off to make it.

[Waver]

mickey, we sell the legal forms that you need at work, along with all the invoices ect.....if you need any of them let me know

[juicedimpss]

a good accountant is a valuable asset

[Flight_740]

All I can say is be real with yourself when putting the plan together. Write down your overhead. I mean everything including insurance, your wages, supplies etc..... EVERYTHING. be sure this will work and how much business you will have to do in a month just to crack your nut. Good luck.

[Flicktitty]

as long as were on this topic, where would one go to get a ID Number?

[Waver]

what like a FEIN #?????

[Slow Joe]

www.incorporatetime.com

[Nickerz]

you can file electronically for a FEIN and resellers permit electronically through the state of Wisconsin. It's pretty straight forward and when I did it was like $150 with priority and a resellers permit like 2 years ago.

[pickardracing]

I guess the best thing to do would be to start with that SCORE thing, and contact an accountant/lawyer type person.

So far as we can figure we would need about 10K to get up and running, half of that towards a decent cube van.

I know there are greants/programs and whatnot to help out, I'll have to work on finding out what we qualify for.

The nice thing about this particular setup is that we really don't need to have any product on hand right away, per se. It's just a matter of having the truck and tools, then getting out there and pushing our name with the retail flooring outlets that do the subcontracting, and having samples/examples of work for first-party jobs.

My brother has almost 10 years experience doing this, and has been doing it professionally for 5-6 of those. I've been in sales/customer service most of my working life plus I've been helping him on side jobs for years, so this (to me) looks like a winning deal for us two to team up and make it on our own.