starting new business (home based) need help!!!

[civicrice]

hi guys! i just got fired from my detailing job (yes!!...no not really). currently i am going to college full time at night yesterday i got a business name registered with the county and a bank account opened. i did it under a proprietorship. should i have done it as an LLC? most of my work will be consisting of dealership cars and i will be doing the installations in their bays, so its a mobile service. also do you guys think i will need any kind of insurance? i'm willing to sign off any waivers on their part (am kind of hoping they do the same for me lol). just don't know if liability insurance is absolutely necessary. the plan is to gain enough capitol so that i can rent a building in the spring and start a more formal business with a broader band of services. work got slow at the tint shop so i took up detailing. i do have a non compete agreement with my boss, a veteran tinter (improved my tint game drastically) so i will not embark on his territory. figured with little overhead i could charge fairly cheap and since its just me i would'nt mind getting 100-140 dollars a vehicle. hence the reason why i'm targeting the dealerships. i do clean quality work and am using the suntek hp series line... if you can deal with dealership headaches you can deal with any customer headache lol http://www.tintdude.com/forum/style_images...cons/icon8.gifl. i would appreciate any input. thanks guys.

[Roach]

(civicrice @ Oct 6 2011, 02:09 PM) [*]993111

figured with little overhead i could charge fairly cheap and since its just me i would'nt mind getting 100-140 dollars a vehicle.

Honestly, you're overhead should have nothing to do with what you charge. Let your market and your skill decide. If you are an expert tinting, and shops are charging $250 a car (for example) there is no reason you shouldn't charge the same. If you charge $100, then even though you might be fine with that, you're bringing the prices down for your area, which will have a negative effect on everyone.

Charge what you are worth.

[Guest OneTen]

The shop I am working at has a $99 shop across the street, we still charge 50 - 60 % more

[vquestfilms.com]

LLC if you ever decide to sell your business, your buyer will actually have something of value to purchase. SP's are not easy to sell because they are tied to your personal name.

[Guest Mario]

Sole proprietor ...

Until you get big enough to give most of your hard earned money to the gov. via workmans. comp, etc...

:gayfight

[civicrice]

figured with little overhead i could charge fairly cheap and since its just me i would'nt mind getting 100-140 dollars a vehicle.

Honestly, you're overhead should have nothing to do with what you charge. Let your market and your skill decide. If you are an expert tinting, and shops are charging $250 a car (for example) there is no reason you should charge the same. If you charge $100, then even though you might be fine with that, you're bringing the prices down for your area, which will have a negative effect on everyone.

Charge what you are worth.

i understand where your coming from roach. but dealerships are some of the best low ballers on the market. If priced right dealers can provide me with constant work despite this crap economy. if anything with a larger volume of cars I'd have to learn to be faster while retaining quality and develop my peoples skills since i will be dealing with non-humans (something just always seems of with car salesmen). all of the above are positive attributes and the price of the install can a bring about all of it.

the median for tint is $220 for a four door vehicle. there is one reputable shop in a 60 mile radius.

[civicrice]

thanks for all your opinions guys! i just gotta figure out whether or not i should get insurance.

[coast2coasttinting]

thanks for all your opinions guys! i just gotta figure out whether or not i should get insurance.

don't think about getting insurance. Just get it. No matter how big or small your bisiness is you should always keep atleast 500,000 in insurance.

I'm a one man shop and because I do commercial and residential I keep 1,000,000 in insurance. And if you ever have to use it you'll be really glad you have it.

Besides insurance is not as expensive as some people might think.

[civicrice]

thanks for all your opinions guys! i just gotta figure out whether or not i should get insurance.

don't think about getting insurance. Just get it. No matter how big or small your bisiness is you should always keep atleast 500,000 in insurance.

I'm a one man shop and because I do commercial and residential I keep 1,000,000 in insurance. And if you ever have to use it you'll be really glad you have it.

Besides insurance is not as expensive as some people might think.

awesome! state farm and all state have it? it would be a piece of mind.

[ricksautotint]

Safeco is a good one to look at and very resonably priced.