12000 extra a year. Easy to do sir. Especially with all those days off, you lucky SOB!!! Lol
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Thanks, I am very lucky. I need something to do on my days off other then working overtime at work. Get burned out some. I do love my job but I want to do something for myself. I think I am going to spend 100$ or so and buy nice door hangers for my town and then try a test with cheaper fliers that I can make at home and go to the next town over and see what interest I get off of those. I appreciate everyone on here. I could not do this alone.
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Where did I say I had a beef with you? Because I donâtâŚ
You are a business. You started it legit. I donât care if you are going at it part time, or itâs your sole source of income. Iâve got no problems with it either way.
You went into business the right way. Having 10K in tools has nothing to do with it. You formed your business on the right foundation. MANY DO NOT. THAT is what my beef is. Too many just say âOh well, itâs JUST window cleaningâ. Thatâs a short sighted, lazy, and WRONG way of seeing it.
A BUSINESS is a business. I donât care what you are selling. If someone canât be bothered to do things right, then they are a hack, a Bob, a putz. Iâm not going to change their minds, and Iâm not changing mine either.
Sole Proprietor
Here, a Sole Proprietor is a BUSINESS owner.
His BUSINESS is an enterprise, but not a corporation.
A Sole Proprietor can use a fictitious name (XYZ Services) for his BUSINESS.
You simply have to use the Doing Business As (DBA) disclosure at the top of any advertisement or publication using the fictitious business name.
Such as ⌠Robert Thorn DBA Bucket Bobâs Window Cleaning
Incorporating to an LLC or INC or LTD makes you a corporation, but that does not mean you are not a business if you donât incorporate.
You do not need a business bank account either using a fictitious name for your business as a sole proprietor. You can simply print âmake checks payable to Robert Thornâ on your invoice, or tell them in person if they are paying without the invoice.
The licensing will vary depending on the county/city/state where your businessâ headquarters is located.
Licensing may be a requirement for any given area, or not, but either way it has nothing to do with your enterprise being defined as a business. It is simply a requirement to legally do business in certain areas.
As far as the $100 start-up being an actual business or not, that seems to be a matter of opinion here.
If we want to distinguish a Business from a Hobby by the amount of income, then it is safe to say that the $100 start-up could be a business, and the $10,000 start-up could be a hobby.
IMO, the amount you start with is not going to determine the amount of earnings as much as the time and effort that will have to be put into it. Both are a hobby, if they are not full time efforts regardless of the earnings, and both are businesses if the effort is full time regardless of the earnings. Your efforts today may not yield any earnings today, but that doesnât mean they wonât lead to earnings later. For me, it is more about the time and effort put into it. Yes, if a person goes out and performs a regular service for monetary compensation then he/she has a business. The business can be a hobby if doing it for fun, or a venture if turning a profit, or a marriage if they are devoting their life to it because they love it. It still a business.
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I fail to recall where I said anyone wasnât a business ownerâŚ
All I said was âHEREâ is what I have to do, and no having a business name is not required to run a business, however also âHEREâ I cannot make a fictitious business name up, if I choose not to register a business name the only thing I am legally allowed to call my self is First name, Surname then a next line offering a services , I cannot even use a " 's " if I wanted to do that I would need to register that or someone else could register that name, even if it was found that yours was already in place the fact that you did not register it means you would be forced to not be able to use your own name. This is how it is âHEREâ. Which all my last post was to illustrate.
My previous comment was in not about who or who isnât a business it was more how a to project a more professional appearance for your business, when most of the people who start up are dealing with other small business owners who are aware of what you should or shouldnât need to have.
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ok thank you. I didnt think you had a beef with me. I appreciate your input on here I am trying to learn so much so I do succeed. Sorry for thinking you thought I was a Bob. I miss understood where you was coming from. I see window cleaning way more then a average person. As I have recently found out. Not everyone appreciates the services provided. I have had some friends and family members want to support my start up. Until they asked what the pricing was. Then clearly I could see it in their eyes they valued my services at 50$ or so. I wish people understood that this profession was more then Windex and paper towels.
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Lots of people have single malt taste, on a Keystone budget⌠Weâve all been there. I donât advertise my pricing, but if someone contacts me for pricing but doesnât want me to come for an actual estimate, I tell them my minimum. That usually sorts the wheat from the chaff pretty quick.
We are in business to make money (profits). We canât work for beer money and expect to pay overheads and make a profit. I run a business, not a charity. If they want that kind of person, let them look else where. Donât let it get to you.
Iâve come to the point I donât spend much time chewing the fat about the value of my services. My advertising materials do that for me, I feel. You just arenât going to convince someone who already thinks there is no value in what you are offering, to suddenly see what your value is. They have to see that for themselves. Sometimes theyâll never see it because the dirty glass just doesnât bother them that much. Sometimes they get the cheap guy who does craptastic work. But you should always end the conversation with âIf you change your mind, here is my card. Iâll be happy to schedule you if you decide to give us a try.â
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@Steve076
My entire post was not directed at you just because I quoted you.
I did see that you said here, and that is why I chose your statement to quote when responding to the general discussion at hand about licensing and the determination of a business (even though it is a bit off topic from the original post). I was not directing my comments at you, just using it as a base to say how it is here where I am to illustrate the differences of our situations pertaining to the name thing. It was in an effort that it might help someone else in my situation, not an effort to dispute or twist what you had said.
We all know who said what about a low start-up not being a business. And, while I disagree with some of the comments here, it is not to suggest that their ideas or opinions are wrong just because they differ from mine. I just like to chime in a discussion where there are contrasts of opinions if an effort to provide another perspective.
I guess I could have structured my post better as to separate the two parts of the discussion that I wanted to comment about. If my quoting Steve and then combining the two subjects into my response confused anyone to the point that they thought I was suggesting both parts were taken from his quote, then I apologize for structuring my post poorly.
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@cruzzer3 I have no experience with this kind of thing AT ALL, but the way I feel is that if you care about your business and you put your energy and care into something and you do what you know how to do to do it legally then you are a business owner in my book! Kid selling lemonade on his sidewalk for a day= bucket bob. Kid selling lemonade on his sidewalk all summer and possibly even franchising with other kids in the neighborhood= business owner. 
I know that there has to be a solution for you, there is no way that you shouldnât be allowed to pursue window cleaning on the side! So keep in there, I know youâll work it out!
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I am not sure if I missed it but how did the shop owner even know you are a fire fighter? Maybe do not wear clothing with the FD logo on it? Maybe do not mention that is what you do on the side? I would assume that as long as you or any individual follows all city, county, state, and federal level rules for running any business, and any union members follow all union protocols regarding outside and private employment or ownership you should be permitted to run a proper business or be employed at a proper establishment. Just make sure you have proper licensing and permits within your state, make sure you carry the proper insurance for the type of business you are running, some guys will cheat, get insurance for their business and list it as âjanitorialâ, and work on ladders that are at a working height not covered by some insurance plans. The proper vehicle insurance is also a consideration, commercial plates, signage, permanent ladder rack, etc. so many details to running a proper window cleaning business. Hope you figure this out, I would follow all the proper channels, and establish a proper window cleaning business, and I would not advertise my fire fighting at my window cleaning business.
I commented at the bottom, first time on here commenting. Just saw this, you seem to have everything in place to run a legitimate business, I am also in Ohio, you are a business. I mentioned in my other comment regarding the conflict of interest, simply not wearing a FD logo while conducting window cleaning business might suffice? Mentioning to clients if they bring it up seems acceptable? My family and I have been doing it here in Ohio for 3 going on 4 generations now, what other help do you need to get going? From your passages on here I assume you are lacking in gear, possible structure, and your advertising might need shaping up?
I have city and state business licenses that are required to operate in my state/city. I even have insurance that covers liabilities and even have unemployment and workmanâs comp for my own protection and the mindful customers. All that stated, in my mind I do not have a company and a business only on paper, what I feel I have is a J-O-B that will become each of the aforementioned entities with the implementation of systems. As long as you are not being an idiot and endangering yourself, employees and intentionally violating laws-keep at it.
