Blessed Love Idren
seestem, What a positive topic for InI to reason on! Give thanks for the opportunity. Hopefully I man Ispective is helpful in some way.
I man will say please dont take this as advice, I man just reasoning about I man personal Isperience.
The first thing I man would like to promote is the positive role community has played into I man ability to be self employed. I define community as a group of people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives, that are working towards some of the same goals. I man blessed to live in a place where the physical environment requires I and I man’s neighbors to trust and depend on each other for certain things despite coming from drastically different walks of life. I man realize these types of locations are getting more difficult to find, but seem to be more likely to exist in rural settings. I man think it is likely to still find evidence of community in urban areas, but it might be more difficult to find. Maybe some one in the Is family goes to a barber shop where people gather, or attends a church? Just some gathering place of people from different households can be a form of community I guess. Self employment is much easier to realize with the support of a community
Anyways, I man spent some time thinking about things that I community needed, and if I man would want to do those things. NUFF jobs out there that InI have skills for, that are dignified and necessary, and not getting done. It seems like in these modern times it is difficult to find someone who will actually do work, so if one is willing to put in the work, the work will come. Also, dont be afraid to try something out for a little bit to see if the I is even interested in making a living that way.
In I man specific instance that started as general repair of vehicles. I was always interested in old cars, and by coincidence all the mechanics in I community were getting old and didnt want to take on jobs anymore. I had no schooling but I would use youtube and internet forums and shop manuals to learn how to do the specific job I needed to do, and do it.
I man had the privilege to have I parents support in I man vision. I father bought I a beginning set of tools, and I could work out of their small garage. However, I man have some good ideas on how to find workspaces and ideas I might have tried to get access to shop space if that is an issue for the Is situation, but I man will try to just give more broad overviews of things and the I can ask for clarification if interested.
So think of the thing or things to do, find the space the I needs to run the business, and get to work! Dont be afraid to be honest with beginning customers and say that this is something I am just gaining experience in, but happy and interested to do the work. Explain how normally a person might expect to pay such-and-such an hour but I am doing it cheaper because I am just getting started in the field. That way InI can learn on the job and still earn a living wage, and it leaves room to charge more in the future when one becomes more skilled.
In InI modern world especially, InI need to be aware of the terrible dream squashing thing called LIABILITY, but this is where community comes into it again. In a community, one might be more able to find a person who needs a job done regardless of the circumstances of who is doing it. For a long time starting out I didnt even have liability insurance which is crazy but thats how it happened cause I man community was so in need of that service. Now I man have good insurance coverage, but as a self employed person be prepared to spend time dealing with insurance and know it might be a sticking point depending on the services the I is doing.
One can do a cash business where on paper the business doesnt really make any money which is good because you get to keep all your money, but its bad because on paper you arent going to be able to qualify for loans or look like a viable business.
At first I was really a cash business where I man didnt even trust the bank and would store all I money in cash. That doesnt work out so well in babylon to try be a ghost like that haha. I was stopped in a traffic stop once with a seasons worth of pay and under civil forfeiture laws the police were able to take thousands of dollars away from I man because I couldnt produce a bank receipt for the withdraw. In the scheme of things, small price to pay in a negative interaction with police. In retrospect, I man would have preferred to have the bank receipt. Side note, if InI can find good legal advice from a lawyer as a self employed person, embrace it.
At the start I chose to be strictly a cash business because I didnt want to pay any taxes. InI can do this legally in amerikkka by “itemizing deductions” when InI do our taxes every year. And yes it is a federal crime not to do InI taxes. Give unto cesar and all of dem thing. However it is not a federal crime to over report deductions. Go figure. But if the I wants a cash business than save those receipts and save every receipt (get tricky and ask your friends for every “cash” receipt for anything they buy that they dont want to save the receipt for haha) and list those as expenses at tax time. InI can even lose profits on paper repeatedly and nobody really checking up on that it seems. These are the same type of tricks the rich use. InI can be eligible for various social programs like public healthcare when InI income is low on paper. Dont be ashamed to make moves like this when getting started.
After I saved a lot of money I man invested in education to learn how to weld. This was a great way to avoid debt and further I man education only when it was necessary and when I knew a specific field that I man wanted to learn about. This is also an example of how InI can work to change and redefine InI business as InI see fit. InI shouldnt be afraid of letting the vision evolve so to speak. Fast forward to now and I man literally turning down jobs to just do what I want to do. Ever blessed.
Anyways, as time went on after I man education, I needed to make I man business more legit, to try and become eligible for loans. I learned in the state where I man reside, the service I man provided was subject to sales tax. I man registered I business with the department of revenue and report sales tax quarterly and have to factor that percentage for each customer and add that to the bottom of every invoice.
If one previously had a cash business but then makes more legit moves, this is when one should work to inflate that business income amount as high as possible. One can even deposit untaxed cash from previous years and add it in as legit income later. Having the business income look as high as possible will help the I get loans and look like a strong business. With that comes more taxes and ineligibility for a lot of social programs. InI need to weigh the pros and cons of each choice for InI specific situation.
As far as marketing goes, I man business is pretty much entirely word of mouth. Again, one of the blessings of a strong community. I do advertise in a local paper that allows I man to enter an ad for free because they support businesses in I community. I have seen random people at the gas station that had a broken car that I knew I could fix and politely and respectfully introduced I self and explained that I man would be willing to do the work that it appeared they needed done and offered I man contact info if they were interested in having I man do the work. There is something to be said for being a genuine and respectful person, and I think there are ways to “cold call” and offer one’s services in ways that are unobtrusive and welcomed even in today’s modern world. It might sound idealistic, but I man have proven it can work haha. I man have asked businesses that do similar types of work if I can display a business card and ask if they might be willing to refer customers to I man. Again community helps.
Another thing is further networking with other businesses that are doing similar or even the same work. If I man knew of one that was looking for work right now, that was honest, dependable, and actually wanted to do work, I man could provide that one with NUFF jobs. Maybe there is someone running a business nearby that has more work than they know what to do with. Maybe they have smaller jobs they arent really interested in doing. Maybe they have a type of job or service that they no longer want to offer, and are only doing so because their customer base relies on them for that. For a long time I had people basically begging I man to do general repair on their vehicles but they couldn’t pay I man enough because I man wanted to do welding and had already found a customer base for that type of work. A number of I man friends made good incomes from the general repair jobs I man turned over to them just because I man didnt want to do the jobs. Again, this is where community can be mentioned because of course it is easier for people to trust someone that is connected to a community. As a business owner I man might have to be selective about who I man refer I customers to, but maybe not if it is a service that only one person will do. Overstand? I know if a stranger walked up to I man as a business owner and introduced themselves and expressed a genuine interest in I man labor and seemed honest, I man would be willing and able to help them get paid.
Some other things I would say is invest in good safety equipment if one is looking to do potentially hazardous work. Self employed people are at a much greater disadvantage if hurt on the job.
I man know I can share some other knowledge but maybe I man have shared too much information for the I already haha. Let I man know if there are things I can expound on to share I man Isperience.
HIM HAILE SELASSIE I BLESS INI WORKS
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