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Small Business Ownership For
Geeks
Cameron Childress•Native of Atlanta Georgia
•ColdFusion developer since 1942*
•Also Flex, AIR, iPhone, Development
•Founded Sumo Consulting Inc, 2003
•If you can beat me at foosball and I will buy you a tasty beverage of your choice
*by 1942, I mean 1996
How Do You ____?How do you handle accounting?
How do you write contracts?
How do you pay people?
How do you manage time?
How do you get organized?
How do you find time to write code?
I’m Not A Lawyer
(find your own lawyer)
I’m Not An Accountant
(find your own accountant)
Ask Questions
The Setup
•Employee vs Business Owner
•Technical Details
•Lessons From the Field
Are You An Employee?
(from: richdad.com)
What Kind of Worker?
•1099 - Contrator
•W2 - Employee (mostly)
What Kind of Business?
•Sole Proprietorship - Limited protection
•S Corp - Distributions aren’t taxed
•C Corp - Double taxation, lots of paperwork
•LLC - Less paperwork, flexible
More: http://www.themoneyalert.com/Corp-Entity-Table.html
LegalContractors
•Contractor Agreement
•NDA
•Statement Of Work
•W9
Clients
•Master Service Agreement
•NDA
•Statement Of Work
F*ck You Pay Me!Client Relationship and Contact Commentary by Mike Monteiro
Full video: http://vimeo.com/22053820
1.Contracts protect both parties
2.Don’t start work without a contract
3.Don’t blindly accept their terms
F*ck You Pay Me!Client Relationship and Contact Commentary by Mike Monteiro
Full video: http://vimeo.com/22053820
4.Anticipate negotiation, but don’t back down on
• IP Transfer on Full Payment
• Termination (kill fee)
• Liability
4.Lawyers talk to Lawyers
5.Be specific and confident about money
Accounting
•Cash Basis vs Accrual Basis
•Pre-billing and Unearned Income
Accountants Can Help
•Cash Flow Projections
•Payroll
•Tax Filings
•Bookkeeping
Accounting Tools
Business ExpensesEmployee Business Owner
Keep ‘em Separated
•Get business specific reward card(s)
•Get business checking account
•etc...
Business Expenses
•Computer Equipment
•Auto Expenses / Miles
•Mobile Phone / Internet
•Conferences / Training
•Home Office
Lessons From The Field
Unexpected Costs?•Office Space
•Signage
•Business Insurance (Liability + E&O)
•Accountant
•Attorney
Working On or In Your Company?
Project Overhead!
You will often spend the same amount of administrative time on a $1,000 job as a $100,000 job.
Live In The Cloud!
Be Careful Working With Friends
Be Extra Careful Working With
Spouses
The Math of Consulting•You can’t stay billable all the time
•Holidays mean you aren’t making money
•Training costs you twice
•Employment Taxes
The Unfortunate Math Behind Consulting Companies:(blog.asmartbear.com/consulting-company-accounting.html)
Resources•Rework (37signals.com/rework)
•Rich Dad Poor Dad (richdad.com)
•F*ck You Pay Me (vimeo.com/22053820)
•The Unfortunate Math Behind Consulting Companies (blog.asmartbear.com/consulting-company-accounting.html)
