- This topic has 9 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hey everyone my name is Anthony Bullen. I live in Newfoundland. I spent 17 years in the Reg force, 8 years as a Vehicle Tech and the rest as a SAR Tech. I switched over to the Reserve side this fall and I am still a Op SAR Tech.
My level as an entrepreneur is absolute beginner. I have a couple business ideas however what I plan on focusing my efforts on is basically being a contractor for hire mostly for diving jobs (sea urchin diving, marina repair, search & recovery work) but also guiding Moose hunts or other outdoor adventure contract jobs.
An interesting fact about myself is I was raised in a remote part of Newfoundland. My hometown now has less than 50 residents.
Two burning questions I have for this course is;
1.How to get started in an organized manner without wasting time on things that are not critical to starting?
2.How do I keep organized electronically when it comes to expenses, revenue. Quick books? Is there something better?
Look forward to learning with all of you and hearing everyone’s personal journey!
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
It was great speaking with you briefly in our information session. I have my open water and love to dive, so I think that your business ideas are really interesting and have great potential. In the diving world; especially, in the East coast, I have no doubt you will be busy as a contract diver in any of the areas you mentioned. I also think your idea of guiding moose hunts or outdoor activities is very cool. I know my husband and I would be customers.
I was particularly interested in the ideas you shared with me regarding urchin diving and how they feed on kelp. Kelp is a species of seaweed that has been approved as safe and full of important nutrients for livestock, so I am very eager to learn more about what you know. If you interested, I would enjoy partnering for this course?
Cheers,
Laura
Hi Anthony,
There’s no right place to start in getting your business going. What I sometimes see though, is people spending too much time in the planning phase, hoping to get the design perfect. I’m a big time advocate to think about the smallest possible version of your business and use that as a ‘prototype’ to start testing your business in the real world. You will learn so much more by doing. It’s scary, I know, but hugely valuable.
As for the bookkeeping tools, I’ve recently switched to Wave myself and have been enjoying that tool. It’s free! And works across devices. You can link your bank account and it’ll important transaction for you. Super easy and straight forward.
e.
Hey Laura,
Thanks for the post. I am very interested in your Kelp farming idea and would love to partner for the course. Let me know what is the easiest method to keep in contact.
Anthony
Hey Erin,
Thanks for the advice. I have enough gear to get started in my business but could always be a little better equipped. More looking to set up the administrative section of my business before I start just taking payment from people and having to claim it on income tax. Thinking I would like to use a Limited Liability Corporation or incorporate right from the get go if that is a thing in Canada. Most of the business books I have read early on revolve around the US system. I’m not really worried about paying myself out of this business it’s more to reinvest any revenue back into the business in the form of equipment(Boat for diving) extra training or potentially pay others.
Hey Anthony,
I wish we had the same business setup as the US, but unfortunately we only have the basic three, sole-proprioter, partnership and corporate. the LLC concept is awesome, mix of sole-proprioter and corporate. Erin will have better explanation than mine here.
Hi Anthony Bullen,
You might want to take a step back and really consider if incorporation right out of the gates is the right move for you. Yes, many benefits, but the structure is aimed at reducing risk, by separating you personally from any fallout associated with your business. It makes a great deal of sense when you have large contracts, employees, investors, etc. And yes, you get a lower tax rate. But that comes at a much higher price to get in place and carries a large administrative burden. For many brand new start ups, it can be overkill. Some start ups can’t avoid it, because it’s a complex model right out of the gates.
If you’ve not tested whether or not you have a good business model yet, it might not make sense to start there. You can start small, start to learn from lower risk opportunities, and do this as a sole proprietor. If you’ve validated your businesses model and know it will work, well then, it might make sense to incorporate from there.
Either way, you’re going to have to tax file. As a sole prop, yes, it’s on your personal income tax. As a corporation, you file a corporate tax return AND anything you’ve paid yourself you still need to claim on your personal income tax.
Food for thought.
e.Anthony,
Adding to Erin’s points about incorporation, consider that you can incorporate at any time, so you can start as a sole proprietor and shift structures when the right time occurs.
How you determine that right time depends on: 1. if your customers will hire you as a sole proprietor (i.e. governments won’t hire sole proprietors as it does not align with their risk mitigation strategies, 2. when business profits are about $50,000 per year or higher, this is when the tax advantages offset the additional annual costs for being incorporated. In other words, point 1 is based on marketing considerations and point 2 is based on financial considerations.
Judy
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.