I would like to get opinions and information on going into to part time business for one's self.
What type of liability insurance would be needed for someone doing strictly property surveys?
How do you deal with taxes?
Should you incorporate or form a LLC ?
What type of equipment would be best for starting out, would a robotic be better than a conventional reflector less total station?
Also, what other important things should I like for?
Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Liability is different across state lines. When you are right you do not need.
Taxes depend upon how many hours your helpers have each week.
INC and LLC separates your personal things from your business.
Equipment is a budget item, buy what you can afford to make money to buy better.
good luck
You will soon discover that the most common answer on this board to almost any question is, "It depends."
When you say part time do you mean every Saturday or two days per week or just whenever you land a client that needs something done you are capable of doing? One fellow I knew who tried the part time approach found he had to struggle to find time to do proper courthouse research as we are in an area where there are lots of surveys on file and you REALLY need to dig through a lot of stuff. It's next to impossible to train someone else to do it for you without personally spending a lot of time with them first. You might get lucky and find someone who would do that for you for a reasonable fee, but that is rare.
Being part time you really don't want to have employees. All of the paperwork and foolishness that goes with that isn't worth it until you jump in with both feet and get serious.
Insurance is a tough decision. You can buy insurance based on some industry average as you don't have a track record for them to evaluate or you can do without and be very, very careful about who you work for and the level of difficulty and importance of the work you are doing. If you are part time and only doing 10 or 20 jobs in a year's time the insurance could eat up a huge fraction of your net income. Here again, that depends on the market in your area. If lowballers are only charging $300 for jobs that are worth $1200 you are going to have a problem. If there is a true shortage of quality surveyors and more work than is getting done by them, then you have a shot at making some nice money for each job.
WARNING: If someone who has multiple survey projects routinely wants to throw jobs your way without knowing hardly anything about you..................RUN!!! There is a reason they are willing to do this and it's probably based on something that you will learn is not good for you in the long run.
You are asking the right questions. I would suggest trying to keep things very simple. If you don't have many assets to protect stick with a sole proprietorship. In the future you may want to switch to an LLC taxed as an S Corp to save yourself some payroll tax. I wouldn't worry about insurance for part time boundary work, but others might disagree. Set aside some money for taxes, but try and accrue as many legitimate write offs as possible to reduce your tax burden. Track all mileage, equipment, and office expenses. Invest in a decent accountant come tax time. Rent per job or buy a good quality used robot/GPS and avoid having any employees. Keep your overhead low.
Good luck with your endeavors, nothing beats being your own boss!
-Will
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I started out trying to do the part time deal. It wasn't long before I had to decide to jump all in. It is pretty tough to get jobs done working part time only. Another thing I see that happens is the part timers around here charge way to little for the work they do and that hurts the full time guys. I have learned that when you are running a survey business that (90hrs=full time) and (45hrs=part time).
Legal advice I was given in TN was that a LLC or Corporation offered no asset protection for a "Professional" and for a small operator no tax break. Just added expenses and more tax papers to file out. His advice for me was to be well insured both to protect me and protect those I might harm through accident or mistake.
It is hard to justify spending a lot on full time gear for a part time job. Most any instrument will work for small property surveys. I have done quite a few surveys with a simple instrument and bipods.
Keep your tax stuff straight. Don't forget to make quarterly payments on your taxes.
Regarding hours mentioned above by Adam. I have been in Business for 25 years and at times have ran multiple crews and have worked the occasional long week, but on average have worked less than 40 hours per week. If you are working 80-90 hours a week, you are doing something wrong.
Sam Clemons, post: 356906, member: 212 wrote: Legal advice I was given in TN was that a LLC or Corporation offered no asset protection for a "Professional" and for a small operator no tax break. Just added expenses and more tax papers to file out. His advice for me was to be well insured both to protect me and protect those I might harm through accident or mistake.
It is hard to justify spending a lot on full time gear for a part time job. Most any instrument will work for small property surveys. I have done quite a few surveys with a simple instrument and bipods.
Keep your tax stuff straight. Don't forget to make quarterly payments on your taxes.
Regarding hours mentioned above by Adam. I have been in Business for 25 years and at times have ran multiple crews and have worked the occasional long week, but on average have worked less than 40 hours per week. If you are working 80-90 hours a week, you are doing something wrong.
I have been in business about 4 years now and the work comes in waves. Some weeks it's 90 hrs and some it's none. But never an even 40 hrs every week.
Far Sam Clemons:
Welcome back! You've been absent for too long. This is an excellent example of where your experienced background can really help out.
How is your family doing these days? How many are still living at home...................or next door?
Step one. Marry a nurse.
Brad Ott, post: 356940, member: 197 wrote: Step one. Marry a nurse.
Ugh, so hidebound and narrow-minded. How about a doctor, lawyer, or CPA instead? Or how about, "Someone with a stable job that includes health insurance?"
mkennedy, post: 356971, member: 7183 wrote: Ugh, so hidebound and narrow-minded. How about a doctor, lawyer, or CPA instead? Or how about, "Someone with a stable job that includes health insurance?"
Ouch?
Don't want to stomp on his thread. 6 children at home, all help me with the survey work. 9 grandchildren and 1 on the way. Oldest Daughter and family are living just down the hill. Oldest son has had is on Law firm for about 6 years and has 7 children with one on the way. He would have made a great surveyor, but by early 20's was already tired of it. Full scholarship to Lee University, Scholarship to Vanderbilt.
If you are working 80-90 hours a week, you are doing something wrong.
You're probably right. When I don't have any work to do, i probably spend that much per week trying to learn, think about sturff that needs thinkin about, on this forum raking in all the knowledge I can get from ya'll. When I worked for the man, It wasn't like that. I worked and went home. It is a lifestyle now with no set hours.
If your moonlighting without your employer's permission...forget your own company.
You will end up "cheating" your current employer of time, resources, and your attention. That's not fair to them or to yourself.
Now if you want to start your own business, go for it!
But take a small business class at the local junior college so you will learn the business and accounting basics.
Also, talk to as many people as you can that have done what your planning to do. Get the facts, Jack!
sur04, post: 356867, member: 10101 wrote: I would like to get opinions and information on going into to part time business for one's self.
What type of liability insurance would be needed for someone doing strictly property surveys?
How do you deal with taxes?
Should you incorporate or form a LLC ?
What type of equipment would be best for starting out, would a robotic be better than a conventional reflector less total station?
Also, what other important things should I like for?
Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
1. Experience and/or education in business.
2. Adequate capitalization.
3. A solid business plan.
4. Hire an attorney to do your legal work
5. Hire an accountant to do your financial work.
Great questions.
Along with all the responses above make sure to research each business question you posed with the respective government authorityÛªs web page. Especially the IRS and state business requirements.
I have been a Sub-S corporation for 28 years and have it to be most beneficial for my business.
Wish you success! B-)
About six years ago I considered going into business for myself, I attended a class at the local community college put on by a group called SCORE. They were great and really opened my eyes to what was really involved. Each class they brought in a group of local business professionals that provided insight and training on what was involved with starting and running your own business. I recall the class running 4 weeks, 2 nights per week.
As a result of the sessions, I prepared myself for my own business, including developing a support team (accountant, lawyer, mentor, etc...) and drafting a business plan. In the end, I learned enough to know I was not ready to start out on my own, and quite honestly, the classes probably saved me a great deal of headache.
Find a local SCORE chapter in your area, do more homework. If you follow-thru with the decision, best of luck!!!
Independent business is not for everyone. More fail than succeed. Many who succeed only do so because of some outside support that carries them when the business is running in the red. It will run in the red from time to time. Self discipline is as critical as anything. It is too easy to stop what you are doing to do something else that seems more important at the time. You know, something like an Andy Griffith Show rerun from 1961. Or, running down to the coffee shop for a three-hour break.
Holy Cow, post: 357303, member: 50 wrote: You know, something like an Andy Griffith Show rerun from 1961.
GREAT; NOW I'LL BE WHISTLING THAT SONG ALL DAY....
[MEDIA=youtube]Lli9ABUFZCU[/MEDIA]
I am a part time surveyor. Three days a week. Formed a sole-proprietership 4 years ago. Slow beginning since I was very selective on the scope of jobs I chose to make sure they matched my skills/knowledge. Many years of office experience, limited field experience, licensed in 2008 (also civil engineer, licensed 30+ years). Purchased $1M of E&O insurance (surprised by the reasonable premium-based on estimated revenue and type of work). Started with an old Topcon, moved up to a Sokkia reflectorless (all bought on eBay) and now using a Focus 30 robotic. The latter purchased new from a retail survey shop. Have been busy every weekend for the better part of two years. Have developed a small repeat client base. Advertise thru website, Craigslist and Thumbtack. Maintaining website is the only marketing cost. Have one part time employee that works full time during the week elsewhere (as surveyor-instrument man). One part time employee to run to and from agencies during the week when needed. The vast majority of survey records are available on-line in my area so the vast majority of research can be done in my recliner via the laptop. I use PayChex for payroll and taxes. Have been very satisfied with the equipment purchased from eBay. Since I have a job during the week (civil engineering) to support the family/pay the bills; I have been able to reinvest 80% of my profits back into the business. Will be retiring in twenty-four months and plan to survey nearly full time. Positioned equipment wise to accomodate two crews when I make that change. I oversee every job in the field and do all my own mapping.
Happy to answer any specific questions.
