So I'm doing my research watching youtube vids and doing the normal internet research, but I'm hoping to get some personal insight from people who actually own/run small businesses.

So I've got a steady job which gives me a ton of free time. And I have no debt and lets say about 50k cash to play with. I would like to use my free time & capital to escape the normal work routine and maybe one day have a successful business. I have a few random ideas I would like to explore IE: selling a pickled condiment I make, buying a trailer to rent which serves drinks/foods at events, maybe doing some photography as its a hobby I really enjoy and think I have some skill doing, etc.... Obviously I would focus on one project at a time.


1) What do you business bros recommend someone does who is starting to work for themselves from scratch? And tips/things you wish you knew/did at the start?

2) I know I need/want to open an LLC. Can I just use this as a base to "Try" multiple business ideas? Essentially this would just be a formal/legal way for me to collect money/tax purposes/limit liability etc regardless of what "I'm doing" business wise? Anything specific to know regarding opening one?

3) Is it important to accept credit cards payments early? Just use something like square to start out?


I may have some more questions to add. Its something I've been mulling over and really want to put some of my free time into action.

You just get a business license and all the other licenses you need

For example, if you have a power washer and a business license, you can legally charge people for services as a self-employed person and legally hire people as well

Blue collar businesses are low cost in general, like landscaping and drywall and demolition and moving services

So when I started my first business I kept things as simple as possible and always encourage other people to do the same thing. For example (and I don't know the laws where you are), an LLC is overkill unless you're making a decent amount of money and/or have assets vulnerable to liability. And it's very expensive to set up and maintain.

Most new ventures can be set up with a simple web site (do it yourself with templates), no need for commercial space and no staff. Photography as an example you can use outdoor settings or set up a basic studio where you live with minimal equipment, most of which can be purchased used. Selling something like you described again only requires inventory and a place to accept orders. If you build it to going to farmer's markets then you can get a Square reader which is relatively cheap. Marketing materials and you will probably need an ad spend as well but again, not expensive. You want your operating costs to be as low as possible at the start.

I also advocate something you can do in your spare time, not like a trailer that requires high investment up front and also a ton of time and probably staff as well. At least to get your feet wet and earn a bit extra if it's a side gig. If it turns into something bigger eventually, then you can quit your day job but keep it at the beginning and focus on your other stuff in your spare time. It can be really fun, especially if there isn't any major pressure right away to make money.

A guy at my job married a horsey girl. She had a barn and liked to ride horses.

He started a side job doing pony rides taking a miniature horse around to kids birthday parties. Blew up into a decent sized business renting out bounce houses and stuff. Eventually built a whole entertainment complex to rent out with everything on site.

Farmer's markets are also 40% cheaper than supermarkets and sell fresh local produce, they just lack manufactured processed foods and imports

Family farmers in general are small businesses, compared to factory farms and big corporate farming entities like Tyson or food corporations

Farmers grow the food, and really nature grows the food cause the good Lord provides and this pays peoples bills as well

The produce is sold as a business with regulation to ensure the food is safe for public consumption

The hunter doesn't raise animals, they just go into the wild and harvest the animal

A lot of hunters just sell the game straight to the processor, including commercial fishermen who bag tons of catfish and the like or hard to catch giant deep sea fish

But some of them bring the goods to farmer's markets and fresh catch markets, process their own game, market their own goods

A lot of people feeding this country and you only see the finished product on your shelf or on your plate at a restaurant

Some really nice restaurants bring food straight from the farm or wild to the restaurant and on your plate

That is why a lot of wild caught game can command a higher price than farmed or factory farmed meat

Thnx for the replies guys good info so far. Leads me to a few more questions. Lets use the selling pickled condiment for example...

1) I know there are certain regulations to selling pickled food. For example: It can't be made in a home kitchen. Some farmers markets might not even let you in to open a stand unless you are following certain guidelines. Obviously this is a bit much for a business that doesn't exist/might not be successful. Are you saying I should just start it as blue collar as possible? Make a website, make some product, sell it word of mouth until I get "In trouble" and required to follow more formal steps?

2) What do I do with the income? I'm uninformed when it comes to finance law and tax laws etc. Assuming it all goes under my LLC do I just go to an accountant at the end of the year to do my taxes and learn that way?

3) Do I need to worry about sales taxes etc when starting out?

Dropship to test concepts. Once concept is validated, produce your own product and sell it.

there is a guy who has vending machines at workshops and similar places and he makes some good $$ as a filler for his main work
I guess it would be good to find something that is somewhat close related to your work that you can do extra, like use the things you learned from work to profit more from
that is what I've seen the trend to be

You can make your own cheese or whatever as long as it meets FDA regulations for food safety and inspection

Which requires licenses that you can apply for if you pay the fee

Every state has their own business licensing laws and taxes

And there are also zoning regulations, or licensing for commercial fishing, for constructing buildings that are up to code, etc.

Basically, you can produce/buy/sell/resell anything within the law as long as you have the proper licenses required

I don't think dropshipping is something im currently interested in.I work in I.T. I've thought about selling IT services but seems like a hard barrier to break through. Not something I've completely given up on though.

A lot of this depends on the regulations where you live. If you already have an LLC for another business, at least where I am you can't throw another business underneath it. State sales taxes are probably required, but what some people do is include it in the cost of a good to make round numbers. But you still likely need to declare it. All of my businesses (and I have three) go under one umbrella at tax time and I pay taxes based on the total income - but I also don't have a salaried job as well. Obviously you can do anything under the table if you choose, just be prepared to deal with the IRS if you get caught, which is never a good idea.

As for your income, you can set up a business account separate from your personal expenses to pay for your costs and to pay your employees

Let's use the power washer as an example because it's so cheap and I keep seeing them pop up

Gas powered pressure washer: $350

Business license from the state: $200 (price varies)

Total cost: $550

Power washing service cost to clients: $60 to $100 per hour, $80 for the average

8 hours of hard, honest work: $640 revenue

License paid, pressure washer paid, $90 profit for a hard day's work and $640 for the next

Not accounting for the cost of gas and transport and lunch or whatever which can be deducted from taxes

You can see how you can also hire people and delegate tasks and expand

Just need to market your services and find clients, this is also work and time and skill

This is also a great example of something you can do on a weekend or whenever you like because it doesn't require people to really be home.

- Right I'm not trying to mess with the IRS. Just wondering where it really starts to get formal as my 1st few hundred dollars id assume would come from word of mouth sales to friends, family, etc.

- And what I meant by other "businesses" was, assuming I don't make a food company. I just open an LLC and sell this one product, under that same LLC I could offer photography services as long as I had all the proper licenses? I guess this varies by state as you said but just trying to validate my idea as a whole there. I could do all of these things under the same "company" i guess is what im trying to say. like if they just had different "departments" or whatever.Yeah this im aware of. thnx broskiThis is a great example. I have been wary of trying to offer a "Service" because it would require me or employees working actively. Selling a product seems like the type of business model I would enjoy more & easily more scaleable if sucessful.

I've worked as a contractor online for cybersecurity services and I always billed as a self-employed contractor

My process was to do the work then bill my time in an invoice with my rate and total amount owed

This way I always get paid in full before income taxes

Ok.... If you don't actually know what business you want to start, why would you even entertain this idea to start a business.

Starting a business can't be done in reverse the way you think it can.... What I mean is, you can't say "hey, I want to make $70k, what business can I run that does that?"

Even if you know exactly the business you want to run because you have a passion for it, you STILL won't know what the income will be for a very long time, and even after you get established, something like covid will happen and you will be turned upside-down again.

Starting a business begins with a passion, and/or deep interest in the product/service you intend to sell.

Being a bean counter is so much less important it's actually surprising.

Start as small as you can, and build from there. If you can't do $5k of revenue in a year, then don't take on debt as if you will be able to do $250k of revenue in a year.

For example, let's say you want to be a massage therapist.... Buy a table, and go to people's homes to start. If that succeeds, consider renting a retail space for cheap. If that succeeds, consider hiring employees to work for you. If that succeeds, consider franchising.... Etc etc etc.

Or if you want to make food, start at the farmers market, then a catering service, then a food truck, THEN a restaurant.

But none of these steps matter if you have no passion, so just remain a wagie or you WILL fail.

3d printing is probably the best startup to do right now as long as you know how to design yourself.

I'm not trying to start in reverse I know it will start on my kitchen counter hopefully selling the 1st few things I make to friends/family/ word of mouth. I'm just trying to do my research and be well informed. Along with not break any laws. Im not going to take on 300k in debt with no buisness started lol.

I have various passions in life. One of them happens to be good food. And the one idea I have (currently) which I think could fill a niche is said pickled condiment.

People are legally 3D printing functional firearms and rocket launchers pretty nuts what they can do

I own and lawn and landscaping business. I literally started out with my 2005 pickup truck, and a POS mower i got out of the trash and fixed. Today i own 2 trailers, a Duramax diesel Silverado, and several mowers. No brag, but if you are committed to the business, there are SO many opportunities to make money. Start small, keep your day job, work nights and weekends on the side hustle, and most importantly....STAY OUT OF DEBT! Chit will kill your momentum especially in the beginning when you're trying to get new customers.

From the legal side, start off as a sole proprietor. You don't need anything to start as this. That said, You MUST keep good records. Save every receipt, log every business activity/expense, and track every mile you drive. This is all stuff you can write off on taxes. Also, anything you buy for the business can be written off on taxes. First step is to have a system where you keep extremely good records.

An LLC is what i have, but i operated as a sole proprietor for 2 years. I would recommend getting liability insurance for the business. Also, depending on your business and state, you might need a license to operate depending on what you do. Business insurance and an LLC are crucial. People are SUE HAPPY! I had a kid ride his bike up on my trailer gate while i was mowing a client and bust his head on my trailer. Luckily the little fuker took off, but his parents could have easily attempted to sue my LLC. The beauty of an LLC is that it keeps those assests you own personally out of the sue happy persons reach typically. Legal zoom is a scam... you don't need them. All you need to do for an llc is go on your secretary of states office website to register. Fee is usually $100 bucks. Skip the legal zoom nonsense. If you can't figure out how to navigate the SOS website, then you probably shouldnt be running a business in the first place lmao.

Finally, Get an EIN and open up a business checking account. It makes things much easier to keep track off. I operated my bank out of a fuking shoebox for 2 years before i got legit.

As far as getting clients, utilize social media, pass out door hangers, post on apps like next door and ********. Once you get a good reputation, word of mouth starts to really work. Get a free google my business page where people can leave you reviews.

Running a business is an awesome experience if you are committed and organized. Seeing mine grow from a pos truck and mower to what it is today has been awesome.

Out of curiosity how did you start this? Did you work in Cyber security and make contacts which were your 1st customers? Or did you go door to door offering businesses your services? And how did you advertise & standardize if it was small businesses and not larger companies which already had certain expectations?

google is your friend bro when it comes to finding out local laws and regulations for your business

yeah a lot of people make their own sauces and bbq spice rubs and chit like that just gotta bottle it and package/label it for supermarkets and farmer's markets

I ran a small business for a while and I learned one thing from the process.

If you simply communicate and do what you say you will do, you will absolutely smash your competitors.

I ran a small satellite dish installation company back in the late 90s. I was hammered with work while others was starving. I didnt do any better job at installing satellites, I just actually communicated with the customer.

If you can get communication and service down it doesnt really matter what product/industry you choose.

You should read the book "dirt don't slow you down" by Magnus walker. He is a great example of starting TINY and chipping your way up. He has reinvented himself through entirely different businesses over his life time, but it has always been related to art/design.

Basically he started out selling grungey clothes on the boardwalk, and now does movie set rental real estate lol.

Every time he started small.

I lived in DC and did private contracting for the Department of Defense

Also worked with cybersecurity providers for other federal agencies

There is a lot of demand for cybersecurity services in the public and private sector as well

big boy parts...not trinkets

Thnx for the input fellas. Lotta good tips in here. I'll post more questions if I can think of any. Really appreciate all of the knowledge and experience shared