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- 2. You are a business. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 3. A Gig A Business Temporary Hanging Out “Fun” Passing Time Reliable Working “Love” Building Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 5. Getting Legit Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 6. Apply for a FEIN irs.gov Quick and free Don’t give out your SSN Use FEIN for all legal interactions Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 7. Get a business license Need to apply for city and county Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 8. Get a separate bank account Keep your church and state separated Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 9. TN Sales & Use Tax Register to prevent an audit Filed quarterly even if no tax collected Only applies for code on servers in TN www.tn.gov/revenue Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 10. What’s your structure? Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 11. Sole proprietor Easier Cheaper More liability Wednesday, October 30, 13 LLC Harder to setup More expensive Less exposure
- 12. Contracts!! Do not work without a contract in place Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 13. Get a deposit Do not work without covering your costs Half up-front is standard Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 14. What’s Your Work Mode? Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 15. Contract Single project Fixed duration More billable hours Depth Wednesday, October 30, 13 Client-to-Client Many projects Variable duration Less billable hours Breadth
- 16. Service-based Project-based Steady work Difficult scheduling “Tickets” Wednesday, October 30, 13 Irregular Better scheduling “Projects”
- 17. What Should You Charge? Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 18. Hourly Fixed-cost Hard to estimate Interval billing All time spent is billed Always held to time standard Easy to estimate Start & finish billing Not all time is recovered More freedom with your time Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 19. Use your hourly rate to position yourself in the market, but quote jobs on a fixed-cost basis to keep clients from “running up the meter”. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 20. To determine your rate, estimate the hours you’ll work in a week (~25 hours billable) x 50 weeks. Be sure to remember biz expenses and taxes will take a good portion. $50/hr = $62,500 $65/hr = $81,250 Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 22. Plant Your Flag Once you’ve determined your business structure, plant your flag. Stick to it and communicate what you do consistently. This helps people refer clients to you. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 23. Find your niche. Don’t chase everything. Be sure projects fit your company. Refer projects that don’t fit back to your network (and they will return the favor). Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 24. Always hone your client list It’s natural for long-term clients to grow in a different direction than your company. Don’t hang on to a badfitting client out of nostalgia. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 25. Build your ecosystem Grow your community Attend meetups Share with your peers Contribute Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 27. Self-employment taxes Save at least 20% of every check for taxes. This is the biggest pitfall... it’s hard to remember when you get that big check. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 28. Hire an accountant It will pay for itself Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 29. Use accounting software It will pay for itself Track your progress, rates and efficiency Adjust your workflow or rates as needed Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 30. Give clients a realistic expectation of your time They think their project is the only one you have. Don’t be afraid to push back and give them perspective on how they fit in your schedule. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 31. Be honest Be open about scheduling conflicts. Life happens and good clients understand. Wednesday, October 30, 13
- 32. Enjoy your business! Wednesday, October 30, 13