Hello, I am in the process of setting up my Coastal Business and I wanted to make sure I have everything in place before I start. Can anyone give me any advice as to what I may need to do in my state to be legally considered a business for tax purposes etc...? I live in Virginia and have looked at the SBA website for info, but it is rather confusing. Any information would be greatly appreciated!! Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, Welcome to Coastal. I'm not from Virginia or even the States for that matter, so I don't think I can give you the specifics regarding local laws. But overall, I'd say start with minimal. Meaning, don't go get a merchant account and such yet. Those can be easily added on at a later time. Focus on setting up your business for functionality at this point. That might include, but not limited to, registering your business with the government (sole, partnership or corporation; depends on you; talk with a lawyer if you have questions about the benefits of these), tax planning (e.g., claiming part of your home expenses as business expenses, etc...). Remember, don't spend too much time and energy on these yet. They can be adjusted and added later. I'd focus more on learning the business and getting started on the right foot. Best of luck to you Cheryl. Thomas
Hi Cheryl, I also live in Virginia - the information is hard to find around here isn't it! The business laws vary depending on the County and City where you live. I can tell you about Sussex and Southampton County. My Mother-in-law is in Sussex and I am in Southampton. The laws are totally different for each of us even though we only live 30 minutes apart! Which County/City do you live in? If I have come across the laws for your location I would be happy to share them. Lora
Wow, you are lucky I love Virginia and i"m stuck up here in NY! Cheryl, the most important thing right now is to do your training. REad, read, read and get a couple notebooks. One for expenses--they come real fast the first month or so....get your short url from GoDaddy or wherever; record your expense for your package, your short url. Get your website up and running if it's not done. In your second notebook record on the first pages all the forumsyou join. Use the same user name and password for every forum, but writ them down anyway. Save all your forums in your favorites in a folder marked "forums". Sounds easy but if you don't and you don't keep your favorites organized..yikes! Forums have different rules for how often you can post, so keep track. After those first few pages, put in a tab. That secdtion is for you to keep track of which forums you placed an ad in, and when and maybe a note aobut what it said. Keep all your advertising websites in a favorites folder too; like if you pay an ad co op or agency to place ads for you..those kinds of sites. Insert another tab for PAID ads and keep track of where/when you placed ads and how much they cost. Once you pass up your two sales and are in the black, then worry about the local paperwork. Get that money rolling in first!!
Hi Beckie, it seems quite clear you've done this before so thank you as well. Keeping a record of what we do is important and we must always remember this is a business! Roger
Lora, I live in Chesapeake, VA (eastern coast by the VA Beach). If you stumble across anything I would GREATLY Appreciate it!! Beckie, Thank you so much for the wonderful advice! It is exactly what I needed to help me get started on the right foot. I truly, truly appreciate it. Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, I live in Southampton County, just on the other side of Suffolk. I'm about 45 minutes or so (totally depends on the traffic) from Chesapeake - it's a small world The best thing to do, after Beckie's advice, is to contact a local CPA, preferably one who specializes in small and home based businesses. Your local Chamber of Commerce can probably put you in touch with one. Welcome to Coastal! Sorry I'm not more help! Lora
Hey, thanks for the compliments but don't get carried away! I'm actually really UN organized by nature and I"m getting old...learned from a lot of mistakes!! It's also not my first business, I used to do the books back in my married days!! A goat farm!! I'm just paranoid about an audit someday, and every time we advertise it's a deduction so you want to be able to prove it. Quicken is a great, easy program!
