Archive for February, 2009

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At some point in every small contracting business, a decision has to be made on how to structure the business for growth. Contractors seldom going into business with the goal of staying small. Tax and legal considerations are important decisions that should be thoroughly researched.

 

Taking a Contractor Business for Small to Large

Business structure has a lot to do with why some businesses grow and others don’t.

 

There are three types of legal business entities that should be considered:

1. Sole Proprietorship

2. Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)

3. S Corporation

 

Which of these you choose depends on what fits the best with your existing business. This is a discussion that should occur between you and a qualified attorney. We can only tell you how you shold think about the process.

 

As any good lawyer will tell you there will be certain trade-offs made on each of the three options. Consideration should be given to set-up costs, liability and investments. We will go into a summary of these trade-offs later in this article. The decision ultimately boils down to a few main considerations, including set-up, liability, investments. Trade-offs will be made regardless of what you decide. For extensive information on taxes and filing for different business structure, go to the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small. If you’re business is at the point where structuring decisions have to made, you should be looking into retaining the services of a lawyer, who can best explain the liability issues faced with each business structure, particularly as the pertain to your state. In short: starting a business? Get a lawyer.

 

Sole Proprietorship

From a set-up standpoint, establishing as a sole proprietor is the easiest way to go. If your choice is to become a sole proprietor, you own all the assets and profit generated by your contracting business. This also means you assume all the debt and liability. In a sole proprietorship you and the business are one and the same! This is an extremely important detail, as it means were the business to get sued for any reason, both the business and your personal assets are at risk. Think about the nature of your business and the services you provide. What are the chances of being sued? This question requires serious consideration.

 

In terms of tax preparation, the sole proprietorship is the easiest. Using the individual 1040, Schedule C (or C-EZ) and Schedule SE for self-employment tax is a necessary filing requirments for sole proprietorships. The full list of forms needed can be found through the IRS link above.

 

Partnership

It is understandable why some contractors would want to go into a partnership. Sharing the work-load, decision-making, and other responsibilities can make the task of getting a business off the ground seem much more bearable. But some planning needs to go into a partnership, specifically when it comes to laying down ground-rules for making decisions, establishing and defining roles and commitments, and how profits will be split. A beer and a handshake shouldn’t cut it. Especially since the law views partnerships as it does sole proprietorships – there is no difference between the business and its owners. Before establishing as a partnership, take the time to write up an agreement.

 

There is more than one type of partnership, too. There are general partnerships, limited partnerships, and joint ventures. Joint ventures are intended for a limited time or one-off situations, and most likely will not apply for a contracting business situation. Limited partnerships require that one or more of the partners assume a limited role in decision-making but also limited liability. These are common in situations when attracting investors, and might not suit the contractor business scenario.

 

When filing as a partnership, Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) may have to be filed, as well as any employment tax forms. The 1040, self-employment, and estimated tax forms for individual returns are a requirement of partnerships. Partners are not employees and therefore are not issued W-2s from the business. Profits pass through the business directly to the partners in this kind of business structure.

 

Corporation

Corporations are entities considered separate from those who own and/or run it. The owners are considered shareholders, and as such assume limited liability. Policy oversight and enforcement from an elected board of directors is a requirement for corporations. Corporations take a lot more work to set up and maintain, from the initial paperwork filing to the yearly taxes, which can end up being higher. Corporations also make it easy to raise capital through the sale of stocks to transfer ownership to another party. To incorporate, the business must be granted a charter by the state in which the business is based, and an assortment of expenses incurred for incorporation fees, legal matters, and purchasing of stock certificates can set the business back as much as $1500 or more. Furthermore, corporations are essentially taxed twice: once on the income earned by the corporation, and again on the income earned as an individual (shareholder/owner).

 

A subset of the corporation business structure is the S Corporation, or Subchapter S Corporation. In this structure, the earnings and profits of the corporation are passed directly through to the shareholders (owners) and their individual tax return. In this way the double taxation scenario is avoided. Many small business owners find that the limitations of an S Corp are with the limitations.

 

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Although neither a partnership nor a corporation an LLC combines a few features from both of those structures. The biggest advantage of an LLC may be the “pass-through” profit option that allows profits to be taxed only once on individual tax returns yet maintain the liability protection of a corporation. Setting up an LLC is easier than a corporation, although there is still more filing to be done than in a sole proprietorship. Paperwork and fees will apply, and specific state regulation may mandate written operating agreements that determine many of the same guidelines needed in a successful partnership, such as profit distribution, responsibilities, and rules to determine ownership changes.

 

Personal Experience

Josh Macmichael is the sole proprietor of a successful seamless gutter business based in New Hampshire, called New London Seamless Gutters http://www.nlseamlessgutters.com/title=”nlseamlessgutters”/>nlseamlessgutters. For Macmichael, business structure was a fairly simple decision. “Sole proprietorship is just a heck of a lot easier,” says Macmichael. “It’s easier to set up, easier to deal with payments, and doesn’t cost the money that incorporating costs.” Although he acknowledges that the nature of his contracting work (installing and working with gutter systems) is inherently risky, the conveniences of sole proprietorship far outweigh the risks of assuming full liability should an accident occur on the job site. It can cost as much as $3,000 or more for the legal paperwork to be an LLC. Obviously remaining a small business is not the goal of most contractors.”

 

What Should You Do?

Contractors, like any small business, are often caught between where they are today and where they want to be in five or ten years. Business growth for small contracting firms may depend on the business structure that he/she decides on. If you decide later that the legal structure of your business is not appropriate, it is possible to change it. This can be time consuming and expensive and confusing to the government.

Our advice is to discuss this thoroughly with an attorney and think through what each structure will require for record-keeping and how much protection they provide against lawsuits.

Another option you might want to check out is the ContractorBlab

 

With so many people in our nation trying to live out their dream of buying a home with finished basement for their family, there is often times the chance that they will end up with homes that are in need of some repair. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you have the elderly couple who have paid on their home for thirty years or so only to find that by then, the house is in desperate need of some work. In both cases, you may be looking at individuals or families that cannot afford to make the needed repairs to their homes and this is where home improvement grants come in.

The home improvement grants that help those in need are most times then not provided to the public by the government. These grants are designed to help people make the necessary repairs to their home in order to be able to continue living in it. There may be issues with siding or, which is allowing heat to escape or allow moisture in.

There could also be troubles with the roof or insulation in the home, which can make it unbearable to live in. These home improvement grants are designed to help cover the costs of the materials and the labor costs that will be involved for getting the work completed.

Why the Government Helps

There are numerous reasons for the government stepping in and helping with giving home improvement grants. One of the most important reasons is to help the economy by keeping people in their homes and off the street or in public housing.

While some may see these grants as a drain on the countries resources, it would be less beneficial to allow the person to leave the home, end up needing housing assistance somewhere else, and then that home sits vacant. A vacant home drags down property value of the area that it sits in and is generally a breeding ground for trouble.

Home improvement grants are also designed to keep those who want to take advantage of the system away. In many situations, the grants are given to the homeowners, who meet certain income qualifications, and they are given as a loan that does not have to be paid back unless they sell the home.

Generally, after about ten years, the balance owed is gone and no money is left owed to the government and the homeowner can sell their home with Basement and pocket any profit. The home improvement grants were designed in this manner to keep house flippers from taking government money to fix the house they intend to flip for profit. For the right people and for the right reasons, home improvement grants are an excellent way to keep their dream of home ownership alive.

Thanks to the popularity of home improvement programming on television, the last boom in the housing market and an influx of home repair magazines and media, the home renovation retail business is absolutely thriving.

After watching how-to design programs on television and reading how-to articles in design magazines, homeowners are rushing out for paint, lumber, wiring and anything else they need for their next weekend project.

Influences in the Market

Another factor contributing to the surging interest in DIY home improvement are the costs of labor and contractors which often require financing.

As the expense of hiring help goes up, homeowners are increasingly likely to take on a home improvement project themselves, thus sending them to their local hardware retailer to stock up on needed supplies.

These same local hardware stores have gone from small shops to major, national retailers with huge chain networks.

Examples of some of the larger home improvement stores include Lowe’s Home Improvement, The Home Depot, Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, Ace Hardware, Do It Best and Fred Meyer. These retailers can be found almost all over the United States and continue to expand into Canada, Europe and Asia.

The Best and Biggest Home Improvement Stores

As the largest in the country, The Home Depot is the hardware retailer of choice for the United States. Headquartered in Georgia, The Home Depot employs over 350,000 people and operates over 2,100 stores all over the world, including China.

Second only to Wal-Mart for retail power in the United States, The Home Depot is the giant of home hardware supplies.

Lowe’s is the second largest hardware and home renovation retailer in the United States. Focusing their business model on service, Lowe’s takes aim at retaining a local store feeling.

The Lowe’s chain began in North Carolina in 1946 as a single store and now operates over 1400 stores in the U.S. The chain is looking to expand into Canada and Mexico.

Other Market Options

Another competitor that focuses on customer service and local emphasis is The True Value Company. By concentrating on quality service and extensive how-to programs, True Value is attempting to win over customers from large competitors like Home Depot or Lowe’s.

True Value is also unique because it operates as a cooperative, meaning it is owned by its members. Essentially, it is a member-owned wholesaler and therefore is often able to deliver lower prices.

Finally, there’s Ace Hardware. A leader in global sales, Ace Hardware is also a cooperative, meaning most of their stores are owned and operated by a local dealer who owns a financial stake in the larger company.

What would cause sewage to reverse flow and come back out the toilet? No one was at home at the time so it’s not like someone made a “deposit” and stopped up the thing and caused it to overflow. My girlfriend said it looked like someones azz exploded in there. Thanks guys. There has been some work in the neighborhood lately and I am the lowest house on the street. Check valve huh, there goes my tax return.

Answer:
If you are on a pressurized sewer system rather than traditional gravity drained they may have been servicing the mainline & caused a backup. You may also be sharing a sewer trunk line with another residence before it dumps into the main utility line. Either way, the only way to prevent a recurrence is to install a “check” valve between your residence & the main service. A check valve is designed to allow flow out but not back in. Something like this would definitely need to be handled by a professional. If you live in an apartment or duplex they most likely have the mainline installed incorrectly. In any case if you rent, call the landlord. If you own, call a plumber. This is way above DIY.

Are you a homeowner? If so, there is a good chance that you may be a little tight on cash. As nice as it is to own a home, it is expensive to. Despite being low on financial resources, you may still want to remodel your home, particularly your kitchen.

Although you might not think that it is possible, there are a number of different ways that you can go about changing your kitchen around without having to spend more money than you need to.

Perhaps, the most obvious way to save money, when it comes to remodeling your kitchen, is deciding whether or not your kitchen really needs to be remodeled. As a homeowner, you have every right to remodel your kitchen, if you wish to do so; however, if money is tight it may be a good idea to rethink your decision, at least until your financial outlook improves. Although it may be a good idea to hold off on the kitchen remodeling, you may not necessarily want to. As previously mentioned, there a number of relatively low-cost ways that you could go about remodeling your kitchen.

One of the best ways to go about remodeling your kitchen without going broke is by taking it one step at a time. Although your goal may be to remodel your whole kitchen, inside and out, it can be costly do it all at the same time. By doing your remodeling in steps, it may make it easier for you to afford the overall cost of a kitchen remodeling project. Refer to kitchen for more information.

For instance, if you would like to replace your kitchen cabinets, it may be a good idea to start there first. After your kitchen cabinets have been replaced and you have additional money for remodeling, you may want to move onto the next remodeling project, say changing the light fixtures in your kitchen. Taking one step at a time may not only make it easier for you to afford the cost of remodeling, but it may also help to make sure that you are choosing the right materials, supplies, and designs.

Where you buy your supplies and materials from may also have an impact on how much a kitchen remodeling project costs. Whether you decide to do all of your remodeling at once or do it a little bit at a time, you will want to keep an eye on where you are buying your materials from. For more information visit kitchen

If you are looking to save the most money, you may want to think about shopping at one of your local home improvement stores. Most home improvement stores, especially those that operate on a national level, carry everything that you need to undergo a kitchen remodeling project. In addition to the tools needed, you may also be able to find the supplies or materials that you need, such as kitchen sinks, kitchen sink pipes, kitchen floor tiles, as well as kitchen light fixtures.

You can also save money, when remodeling your kitchen, by doing all of the work yourself. It may be easier to use a professional contactor, but it is also more expensive. Even if you are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of kitchen remodeling, you may be able to learn. There are a number of resources guides that can be found online, in your local book stores, or in your local library.

Depending on where you live, you may also be able to attend a kitchen remodeling class, course, or seminar. These resources, not matter what they are, may make it easier for you to remodel your kitchen yourself. In fact, most of the time, all you need is a plan and a set of directions to follow and you should be good to go.

Despite all of the above mentioned tips, you may still find it difficult to remodel your kitchen, money wise. If this is the case, you may want to place more of a focus on redecorating. Simply by changing your kitchen curtains, replacing some of your kitchen appliances, or even by changing your kitchen towel theme, you could get the new kitchen feel that you were looking for. While it might not be exactly what you had hoped for, it is an alterative that may just give you what you need.

I haven’t had heat all night, it’s 18 degrees outside. I called a repairman which can’t get here for another 3 hours, he told me to hit the reset button on my Coleman Evcon. The problem is I can’t find it, can someone help me to locate this reset switch, or button?? Please

Answer:
Did you check your breaker box to make sure it didn’t kick a breaker. The reset is inline with switch box just before wires go into blower motor Up near the blower (left side?) is a small switch with 2 wires connected & a red button between the wires. Try pressing the red button. If you hear or feel a click, the furnace was off due to it overheating. If the reset makes it kick on, you still need to get it checked. You need to find out why it overheated. If all fails, can you safely turn your oven on for a while?Stay in the kitchen area. Don’t leave the oven unattended. Don’t leave it on for over 30 minutes at a time. open the oven door to let heat into the room.Block off the other rooms by putting up sheets over openings or doorways or close doors to rooms that you can.. Try to keep the heat in the area of the kitchen. Don’t go to sleep with the oven on.

Whenever I go to drop the cutting blade to start cutting the engine cuts out. Please could someone help as the lawns are getting longer. Thanks Brett

Answer:
Not sure what you are saying. Does the engine continue to run when you engage the mower deck? You say it quits when you lower the deck. There is no safety switch for that. A little more information would be helpful. Have you checked to see that the blade turns freely? If the engine is dying when you engage the blade it could be that the blade is stuck, the belt is stuck or a safety switch is bad.

As I looked outside this morning and saw another 3 inches of snow fallen on my lawn here in Northern Indiana, I wondered, “Is this every going to end?”

Of course, the answer is “yes” and believe it or not, it will be very soon. Before you know it, daylight savings time will kick in and the snow will melt, leaving your lawn to awake from winter slumber. As grass plants start to stir, so do the dandelions, crab grass and other pests; threatening your investment.

That means you need to start making plans now, before these problems take hold and cause damage to your lawn and landscape. Here’s what I am doing, and recommend you do as well.

Lawn Fertilizing Treatments

Mowing your lawn is one thing, but what do you do to feed and protect it? Now is the time to make a plan and stick to it. Hiring a lawn care company like TruGreen is the first option many folks consider and they are on the right track. A lawn pro can tailor a program based on where your lawn is currently, and where you want it to be by summer. In addition, having trained professionals monitor the progress means you don’t have to. If you are thinking of using a service this year, sign up now and take advantage of pre-season specials.

If you plan to treat the turf yourself, then a trip to the local big box store is in order. You will notice they are already putting out the bags of fertilizer, fungus control and insect control and marking them on sale. It’s a good idea to buy your products early so you can apply them in time to prevent most issues.

Tree and Shrub Services

In addition to lawn care fertilization, you may want to take a look at your landscape trees and shrubs. Snow packed on top of them for months at a time means they will be under stress. A good pruning in the very early spring is a good idea anyway.

You may also hire a green industry pro who offers landscaping services like insect and disease control, as well as root zone fertilization specifically designed for ornamentals. You’d be surprised how vigorous your landscape will look with proper treatment.

To sum it up, now is the time to put together your plans for both your lawn, and landscape so that when summer hits, you’ll be enjoying them, instead of working to rehabilitate them!

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of how many seeds are in the small packages in the gardening sections of stores? Specifically for small wildflowers like the morning glories? I just need a rough estimate, I haven’t a clue.

Answer:
well i just happen to have a packet of morning glory seeds in my hand… after counting the contents there are 41 inside. i’m sure this # varies per pack but most are packaged by weight. so the # shouldn’t be off by much. i can send you some morning glory seeds for a sase. i have several colors and can send however many you need. i also have cosmos and echinacea and an “old fashion” cut flower mix pack.

When I was decorating my bedroom I found that contract furniture had the best range which was of good quality and didn’t break the budget.

They say you should never judge a book by it’s cover but we are all probably guilty of making assumptions about a person based on what their home looks like. Just like the clothes we wear, the d?cor in our home makes a statement about our personality. Our character and behaviour is quite often represented by the colours and furniture we choose to live with. A busy working life with long days at the office may be represented with a tidy, unlived-in kind of home, whereas a family home may have a large dining table and comfy sofas located centrally in the home indicating important quality family time.

Whilst you may think you know a person and can confirm that knowledge by the d?cor in their home, do you know what their bedroom looks like? When visiting someone’s home we are very often invited to use their living room, kitchen or bathroom but we rarely see their bedroom. We are brought up to believe that the goings-on in a bedroom are personal or private and it is for this reason that a bedroom is seen as a private area of a home and many will go as far as keeping their bedroom door closed whilst entertaining visitors. The actions of a person in their bedroom isn’t necessarily the same as their actions in a social situation and the difference in d?cor in this private room can confirm this.

Many will choose to decorate their bedroom with a little more luxury, this is after all, your private space. Fluffy rugs or carpets are a common addition to rooms where there is less traffic. Soft, luxurious cushions and pillows on your bed provide comfortable support. You are unlikely to furnish your living room with these as the risk of them being over used or damaged is too high.

Lighting is another way of putting your own personality stamp on a room’s d?cor. Whilst you may choose more practical lighting for your kitchen or living area, you can really go to town on the lighting in your bedroom. Soft coloured lighting is ideal for creating that sensual, relaxing atmosphere most people would attribute with their bedroom.