Newarcher

Right, but again, you need to look at things from a best case scenario (which I understand isn't a day 1 scenario). If you were booked up entirely for a full year, would that be enough to overcome your expenses and end up with a salary for yourself which is acceptable to you? If you cover your fixed costs and the variable costs and have $750 a month after tax allowances and other costs....can you survive on that? Alternatively, you might find that if booked completely for a year, you would make $100,000. But that's what you need to find out. You really need to do the feasibility study before doing anything. If you can prove that a full schedule supports your family, then you have a volume issue and can maybe supplement with a part-time job until the business rolls in. If you can't make the numbers work to where even full booking supports you, then you have a business model problem that will not ever be right. New

Jim Fletcher Jim Dandy release with the velcro strap. Black velcro and the camo head. Like new Condition.....$30 to your door. Reduces the draw length lost to shooting from a D loop. Timberline archery no-peep (can't buy them any more). This is the second generation and is pristine. Mounting bracket included. $20 to your door. Cobra sidewinder sight (with the glow stick cover to light up the pins). Camo version with 3 pins. $20 to your door. PM me if interested. New

Oh no doubt...I am still waiting to see if my liver was damaged after my hernia surgery on 12/3 thanks to a doctor over prescribing tylenol. Some 64,000 people a year die in hospitals each year from something totally unrelated to what they went to the hospital about. From being given wrong meds, wrong diagnosis, etc. etc. etc. It is scary, I double check everything. My point was about the seeming pattern of strokes/deaths due to chiros. I can only go on personal experience and my wife seeing an otherwise healthy woman being wheeled out of the X Ray department under a sheet thanks to a chiro. The list seems to back up exactly what happened to this woman. New

I imagine it is a lot like the way I started my business. I work full-time on another job and started my Tax business on the side to supplement and act as a fail safe in case my job went away. I still work my full-time job because to replace my salary and benefits, I would have to do hundreds and hundreds of returns from Jan to April 15. I would absolutely take this lady up on her offer to shadow her and her husband. A smart business owner knows exactly when to take help. She echoes what I mentioned to you about avoiding debt entirely. If you don't have the debt, you can start up and grow slowly while working the other job (like someone very intelligent suggested, no names ! ). If you are carrying a mortgage payment sized debt payment, you cannot make it. If the only serious competition is old and ready to retire, you cannot possibly step into a better situation. I can't see any reason why you cannot make this job work. You need to do a fair analysis of your revenue and expenses. What I mean is, let's assume that you are fully booked every day with jobs. You will do X number of jobs each day x $XXX dollars per inspection. With drive time, write up time, etc. that means your maximum possible revenue per day is $XXXX. Next you have to figure out your cost per job for your expenses (taxes, insurance, gas, forms, advertising, business cards, etc. etc. etc.). Many clients make a very handsome revenue stream only to find out that they also have a very handsome expense stream to match. So while they are at capacity with what they can produce, they really aren't making any money. This is what you need to verify before starting the business. It would be a shame to become what they call a very successful failure---ever seen a restaurant that's always packed go out of business? You may find that the best possible combination is to do inspections during the day and to work at night while your wife writes up the reports based on your findings. You then review the reports before sending them out. I will tell you this about a small business. I encounter turds all the time....I can't count the number of times I call someone for HVAC work, plumbing work, etc. where I hang up because they answer the phone poorly. I'm talking about "yeah" or "go" or "giddy up" or even a marble mouthed "hello". I also cannot tell you how many times people have come out and been unfriendly or unprofessional....one man creeped my wife out very bad so I fired the entire service. Showing up without a uniform (or at least a uniform shirt) and failing to present identification is a big no-no. Carry a couple shirts and handy wipes so that if your last job got you sweaty and/or dirty, you show up clean and smelling good. Be extra courteous, friendly, professional, and jovial....I can't tell you how many people came to my home, never to come back because they had the personality of a butt zit! As we've seen here on these forums....one bad experience and people will tell everyone they know. One good experience, they may tell one or two people. Sad but true. You will likely be doing your inspections with either the current owner and/or the prospective buyers there....you will have to walk a fine line. You work for the prospective buyers so you need to anticipate time robbing questions and never treat them like they are bothering you (even though they are). Spend the time to explain your findings to them and show them the problems. On the other side of the coin, don't forget that as big of a pain in the butt as you will be to the seller (everything negative you find costs them money), they are prospective customers also. If you find a lot, a little sympathy goes a long way and as you leave, just say "You have a beautiful home and when you find your new one, I would love to be as thorough inspecting your new home as I have been here today". The fact is that the current owners KNOW everything that's wrong with that house and they know whether you found it all or not...if you did, they know you are thorough and will protect them when they buy. The inspector who inspected the last house I was selling didn't find real, obvious problems so I didn't use him when I needed an inspector. Okay enough from me. Do your homework and this revenue / expense analysis to make sure, even if successful, there's enough overhead to get into the business and provide for your family. New

I have no dog in the fight but I googled Chiropractor killed patient and this is what I found: http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html New

My wife worked in a Hospital's Radiology department, first as a Radiologic Technologist and then as the front-office Manager for the Radiology department. One day a lady walks in and says she's not feeling well. She was actually sent up from registration for an x-ray. She'd been to a Chiropractor who did a neck adjustment. 30-45 minutes later my wife hears a code call in the Radiology dept and it was this woman. She died. She was there just for general relief of stiffness and when doing the adjustment the Chiro severed one of her major arteries. Not for me. Just my personal two cents. New

That's pretty cool. However, when it comes to my taxes, I'd let Subway teach me to make a good sub sandwich and manage the business and a tax professional take care of my taxes. If a class were 24x7 for three days and only covered tax preparation, it couldn't touch on what a new business owner needs to know. Basics yes. You can certainly figure out how to capture your expenses and revenues but maximizing your setup to your business, your tax forms, etc. is a totally different story. Like I tell all the do-it-yourself clients who want to do their own Quickbooks setups.....you'll either pay to do it right up front or you will pay to have an Accountant / CPA/ EA redo your books at tax time. I would be shocked if a class on learning to do home inspections would cover anything relating to taxes and if it did, I would be highly suspect of it. It wouldn't be anything near what Kat would need for tax preparation, accounting procedures, business organization, quarterlies, reporting, remitting quarterlies and payroll withholding, etc. I go to a Brain Surgeon for brain surgery, not someone who went to a three day Biology 101 course. Not even a person who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night! New

One of the best opportunities you will receive, take it. Learning from someone in the business will help you with everything from billing to collections to marketing to...... New

B Be Bee Beeluuuu Christmas.....Porky Pig. New

I'll disagree.....you may not need a CPA but find a good Enrolled Agent or Tax Preparer ahead of starting the business. I cannot tell you how many times I have to look at a client and say "hmmm, sorry. You did XXXXX and it is going to cost you $YYYYYYYY and there's nothing I can do about it". People lose tax advantages, improperly convert assets, make too many mistakes to note...the biggest is choosing the wrong business type because it sounds cool to say "I have an S Corporation". Forget to withhold payroll taxes or remit them on time, forget to pain quarterlies. The list goes on. The time for an Accountant or EA is before you open the doors. New

It's almost 2011 and I am going to conclude that in 1968, this man had too much LSD! If tomatoes could scream, I think they'd probably have a voice that sounds like PeeWee Herman! New

I would strongly urge you to forget about the debt part. Save your money until you can afford to pay cash for the items you need up front---although I don't think that would take long. Getting a loan is the number one thing that sinks most of my customers....they have a good idea, passion, and many times a good business idea--but what they don't have is the cash flow to maintain the loan. Bad bad idea. Debt is the number one reason for failure of small businesses I deal with. Next, don't be surprised if you cannot find a CPA who is interested in helping you. Most of my most dedicated clients came to me from CPA's who didn't want to deal with the noob. To properly setup a new business properly, it includes insurance, accounting procedures, tax issues, business structure, etc. etc. etc. etc. It is hands on and takes a considerable amount of time. I have probably worked for $5 and hour doing new business setups with rookie (said admirably) owners--but I get a lot of satisfaction and dedicated tax clients out of the deal. I have also spent an inordinate amount of time undoing things that new business owners have done to themselves. I'll give an example.....a client didn't bother to consult me before starting his business, a partnership (I just threw up in my own mouth) organized as an S Corp for a PART TIME HVAC business. Next to debt, the number one error I see most new business owners make is to either create zero organization or go overboard (see the S corp above). You don't make your money based on what kind of business organization you use, you make it by your service you provide and controlling expenses. I'll send you a PM. New

Awesome news...forward progress and happiness. I hope she really likes the job. New

That's really easy...do it the way I do it.......believe me, guessing wrong or being attacked by both when only expecting one is a life lesson. I have always had an aversion to sticking my face in a toilet...too much bouncing and splattering! So the best way is to sit on a toilet with your face in a trash can. Problem solved. New

Definitely, even I am a little thin skinned about some things...and I tease everyone about everything. I've joked with people and couldn't imagine why they were upset--but at the same time I recognized they were and didn't tell them they were wrong. I remember there was a tall, think black lady at work and I just walked by and flippantly said "Hey skinny". Boy she got MAD. Apparently that isn't a desired thing in the black community. Lesson learned. Oh well no offense meant to either side. I am sure there's more to the story than just this post. New

No, I just ran across this post and took it at face value.......he seemed miffed that people were making fun of his typing and grammar (or grammer ). The subsequent posts looked a little mean. But perhaps he was just being testy. As for teasing, I do have friends who I might tease with a little bit face to face but then again I know there are some who I cannot tease with or I know topics I can't tease about. Anyway, carry on. New

Well for once, I had absolutely nothing to do with any of this! However, we all come from different backgrounds and education levels. I don't think that anyone would share a camp fire with this lad and make fun of him to his face....so I guess my question is why it is acceptable here on a forum? Just because you consider it teasing and lighthearted doesn't mean the recipient feels that way. Maybe he didn't have the education opportunities you or I did. That's just my take on the situation. New

I love the Tuna from Subway but I just don't see how they can keep it fresh and from spoiling sitting in that unrefrigerated bowl. Sure they may keep ice below it but that's not enough to keep the top part cold and prevent spoiling. Anyway, Tuna is the very worst sub (nutrition wise) you can have from there. New

I guess in every family there are so-called black sheep in every family. While we don't have any gays or lesbians.....we do have a flaming (gosh this is hard to say) Democrat! New

Pray for her, I guess that's all you can do. For some reason people want to single out being gay as the holy grail of sins....but to God there are no big sins or little sins. The Bible does say that being a homosexual is an abomination to the Lord but I think all sin is that way to the Lord. In any event, unless my life is a sparkling clear, clean life, I have no reason or ability to judge anyone else for their actions. Having said that, if she was at family events there would be no lovie dovey kissing and hand holding, especially if young kids are around. That's my take, New

I'd like to see some bikers take some metal baseball bats to those people......but vengeance is of God. Nothing in the teachings of Jesus supports treating people like they do. I am convinced that the so-called pastor of that quack church is GAY. Yes, no joke....I think that he's homosexual and just cannot accept it. So he strikes out against it. New

Sounds like you found a great home....a great place to let a kid roam free and grow up. Congratulations! New

Man....looking at the prices on those ranches makes me want to move back to my homeland. In GA you could spend $500,000 on a 3,000 square foot home where your eaves come within 2 feet of touching your neighbors! New

I'm going to write letters to the hospital, doctor (although he was flippant that I was even worried about it--said he prescribes that level all the time), and pharmacy. I'm not lawsuit crazy but if I had needed a liver transplant or had to go on dialysis for a year because of it, then we would need an attorney. I made detailed notes of what I took, I have the original prescription sheet from the hospital showing 4degrees (which indicates every four hours), and I have the bottle showing the instructions. I just got back from giving blood and the doc thinks I will be okay since the kidneys are functioning again well and I am not showing signs of jaundice. But I gave blood so that they could check my liver and kidney enzymes for signs of damage. I am in some moderate pain from the stupid belt pushing on the incision but there is simply no way I am taking anything with tylenol in it. New

Nice....mobile homes are competing hard for the most depreciating asset with boats. You will do very very well with a stick built home and those buildings are nice. The dollar in OK goes a LONG way. You'd pay twice that in GA for the same place. Just be sure to get a GOOD home inspector...don't use a friend, use a paid inspector. Check all windows for rot (very expensive to fix), doorjambs for rot, termites, appliances, look for leaks, etc. A good home inspection will save you a bundle of money of out of pocket repairs. New