I am business dumb, but I have a very unique mix of skills I would like to turn into a side hustle. Needless to say, there is going to be a huge learning curve for me.
Sure, I could just sell 3D prints on Etsy, but I would rather focus on B2B type work with a more hands on approach than the Chinese print farms/PCB manufacturers. (I’ll start an Etsy shop for practice, but that particular market seems extremely saturated.)
So, if you have started a business before, what are some basic things that you wish someone had told you before you did? Are there good books or other references I could use?
I worked for 20 years as a marine canvas and upholstery guy. I’ve since quit and started running my own show. If I was trying to learn the trade and learn businessing at the same time I’d have totally failed. The business part isn’t really hard, but it’s meticulous and a bit unforgiving. I find you only find out what you’re doing wrong after you’ve done it for a year. Getting the taxes wrong will absolutely fuck you up, six ways from Sunday. The best advice I got was from my brother (who fucked up his taxes) was to save 30% of everything you make in preparation for a tax remittance. I’ve found that to be higher than necessary, but that just means I saved money.
If there is a major pitfall for me, it’s the numbers bit. While proper accounting could resolve any tax issues before they happen, I’ll play it safe and probably also put back +20% extra for taxes, at least for the first few years. Thanks for the info!
I couldn’t find an accountant would take me on for the first few years so I had to bumble along myself. I started out using quickbooks and honestly, most of my problems were from using it wrong. I should have taken classes and read books and stuff but I was a bit overburdened and stressed out from trying to manage it all.
I’ve settled on 20% as a good number. Even that may be high, but I like the forced savings.