Thinking About Going Out On Your Own? Tips for Starting Out

Owning a business and working for yourself is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting and exhilarating things you can do. But it's also hard work: you often Don't get days off, so unless you maintain a strong work/life balance, you can find yourself feeling as though you're working ?round the clock.

Transitioning from crew member to independent contractor is a big step. you're no longer just focusing on the physical work of getting a job done, but you're now responsible for inventory, purchasing, money management and funding, resource management, human resources and more.

If you're ready to make the leap and strike out on your own, here are a few tips:

Know Your Legal Needs

There are certain legal requirements for working as a contractor and those needs vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Do some research to find out if you'll have to be bonded, insured or both. What type of insurance are you legally required to carry? you'll also need to register yourself as a business and file the appropriate paperwork if you're working under a business name instead of just your name. Having the appropriate documentation and satisfying legal requirements prior to going into business for yourself isn?t just recommended ? it's a necessity.

Make a Plan

A business plan isn?t just necessary when you're filing for a loan or grant ? you should have one as a matter of course. Spell out what your goals are as a business and where you hope to be in a year or more down the road and how you plan to get there. What needs must you fulfill in order to get your business off the ground and how do you plan to meet those needs? Write out an informal business plan that will lay the framework for a formal one should you need it for investors, creditors and more.

Your plan doesn?t have to be set in stone. Plans change over time as needs arise and goals evolve. Revisit your business plan from time to time and make any adjustments as needed.

Evaluate Your Strengths and Weaknesses

As an independent contractor, you're going to have to do it all. And just because you can do it all doesn?t mean you should. Take stock of your skills, abilities and time. Pick the tasks you're best at and delegate or outsource the rest. You might be the best person to refinish a customer?s roof, but if you aren?t tech savvy, Don't try to build your website and maintain your social media presence by yourself. The same should apply for taxes, record keeping and fielding client phone calls. Sometimes it's worth hiring an outside professional.

Hone Your Communication Skills

You are the face of your business, online, over the phone and in person. it's essential to communicate with people clearly and effectively. If your speaking skills aren?t up to par, practice in front of a mirror to perfect your skills and improve your confidence. If you aren?t comfortable speaking on the phone, write out a go-to script for fielding inquiries from potential clients. If your grammar, spelling and punctuation could use a little work, brush up so that you can communicate online and on paper. The more effectively you communicate, the better your business will run.

Be Honest with Yourself

Perform a self-evaluation. For example, are you expanding into business for yourself because it's something you want to do or because you think you'll end up with a bigger paycheck? If it's the latter, going it alone might not be the best choice. Working for yourself doesn?t necessarily mean more money ? especially at first.

Businesses take time to build, especially if you're starting out cold and possibly at the bottom. When working for yourself, you answer only to yourself unless you have a partner. This can be a relief at first, but there's no guaranteed paycheck unless you have another source of income. At first, there will likely be no guaranteed client base, which means no surety of steady work. There will be no paid time off and no sick days without a backup plan. If you're busy, you can?t take time away even if you want to without subcontracting to someone else.

Anticipate how you'll handle these problems and decide whether you'really, truly want to work for yourself. Working solo and owning your own business can ultimately result in great rewards, but it often takes resolve, dedication and can involve financial risks. Don't quit your day job unless you're completely certain that it's something you want to do for the right reasons.

Is it Time to Revise Your Business Plan?

When you Don't make a plan for your business, the vagaries of the business cycle will make one for you. If you made a business plan when you first opened your doors, break it out of the file drawer and give it a once-over.

Your Company?s Potential

?Someone?s sitting in the shade today because someone (else) planted a tree a long time ago.?

~ Warren Buffett

Whether you want profits now or a legacy for your family and your employees, your business plan provides a roadmap to achieve your goals. it'should include short-term and long-term goals, plus alternatives that allow you to respond to market and business-cycle changes without obstacles.

Investors want to see an accurate valuation of company assets. Your business plan helps you show potential investors what return to expect on their investment. Lenders want to see where your predicted profits and income streams lie to ensure your ability to repay the loan on time. Both lenders and investors want you to have a realistic grasp of your goals, strategies and potential challenges. Your business plan does all of this while enabling you to make corrections as needed to maintain profits and viability.

Do I Need a Plan?

?In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.?

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Chances are, what you are doing today has veered away from your original business plan. You may have learned that your typical customer needs services you Don't provide. Your best potential customers may be spread farther from your business office than you want to travel. If you're one of only two or three companies in the region, you may have more work than your crew can handle.

If these variances from your original plan have brought greater success to your company, congratulations. If not, it's time to make a new one.

Isn?t a Vision Enough?

?You can?t plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind.? ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Vision allows you to think ahead and to dream big. it's what takes you from one or two contracts per season to year-round work. Vision applies the information from last year?s projects to next year?s potential.

If you made $100,000 on three contracts last year, how will you make $500,000 this year? How many more clients will you need to accomplish that expansion? How much additional manpower will you have to hire?

What is your debt-to-income ratio? How will that fixed overhead need to change as you scale up or down?

What equipment did you use most often last year? What repairs or upgrades do you need to make to avoid downtime? What equipment would have allowed you to squeeze in another contract this year?

Where did you find your employees? Do you have a large-enough pool of trained workers to handle all your expected business this year? If not, how will you'recruit new staff, and where will you find people with the right skills? How much time will it take to train these new employees?

Did you have any compliance issues in the time between drafting your original plan and now? How much did that non-compliance cost you? Did it cause delays, cost overruns, or penalties? Did it lead to any threatened, pending or settled litigation? Include all of this in your current plan.

Consult a legal professional when making your business plan. They can help you head off potential liabilities before they become a problem.

Vision Without Action

?If you pray for potatoes, you?d best grab a hoe.? ~ Mose Yoder

The best plan ever made won't do you a bit of good if you never act on it. You can invest time and money now or spend it later in downtime and unemployment compensation for you and your workers.

Example

Your business plan helps you decide whether to rent or buy that new piece of equipment. Suppose you lost ten work days due to breakdowns last year. you're wondering whether to buy a new backhoe or just rent one as needed.

You can depreciate the cost of a new backhoe over six years, according to IRS Publication 946: How to Depreciate Property. you're able to write off about $25,000 per year if the backhoe costs $150,000. That means you need to do $125,000 worth of paid contracting this year to break even on the purchase. Add the cost of licensing, registering, insuring and storing your backhoe and rental might be a better option. Rented equipment gets deducted in the same year the expense occurs, says Tax Advisor Laura Chapman of Strojny Financial Services. If you've had a profitable year, your rental costs may help offset your tax burden.

Tip: Always take the final draft of your business plan to a legal or accounting professional for a final once-over before you implement any changes.

Top 4 Trowels for Masonry Work

If you've been a bricklayer for a while, you probably have a brand of trowel you prefer over others. But what makes one trowel better than another? The short answer is: it depends. At its core, a masonry trowel is just a handheld tool with a flat blade used for spreading, leveling and scraping mortar. Yet for a mason to prefer one trowel?s shape, size and design, they'll have to look at their specific needs for the job at hand.

The Right Shape for The Job

The shape of trowel you select is generally due to the demands of the job. Most brands use the same terminology when describing trowel styles, to standardize products for consumers. The main types of trowels produced are the Narrow London, the Wide London and the Philadelphia.

? A Philadelphia trowel is ideal for blockwork, rather than brick, because it can hold more mortar on the blade due to its square heel
? A Narrow London is considered the standard brick trowel. It has more of a diamond shape, which is more suited to standard brickwork
? A Wide LonDon'trowel is advertised as a trowel able to handle brick and blockwork, however it's more popularly used for blockwork. Its rounded heel holds mortar further down the blade than a Philadelphia trowel

What'size Works for You?

Bricklaying trowels can come in sizes ranging from 9 to 13 inches, but 10 and 11-inch models are the most commonly used. The general rule for choosing a size is how the trowel fits in your hand. Is it comfortable or unwieldy? Does it weigh heavily on your arm while using it? If your arm or shoulder starts to hurt after a day of bricklaying, get a smaller trowel. Your joints are important, so Don't damage them by using the wrong equipment.

Don't Forget Your Trowel Handle!

Handle size and material can greatly impact comfort. Size doesn?t vary much, with brands offering handles from 5 to 6 inches, but some masons claim that a longer or shorter handle may help with overall balance and fit. Handle material can impact a mason?s work and safety, as well as the price of a trowel. Many masons swear by wood or leather handles, claiming that they provide better grip than the less expensive plastic and rubber handles. Yet many brands are working hard to create strong, custom, rubberized handles to help maintain grip, even when wet.

The Top Trowel Brands

Many trowel brands provide a variety of sizes, shapes, and details to meet any mason?s preferences, however it's the minute details that set some brands above others. One element that sets the top brands apart is that their trowels are forged in a single piece of steel, rather than separate pieces, to increase the longevity of their products. If you're shopping for a new trowel, or just curious to see where your current trowel stands, then check below at the rankings for the top four brands of masonry trowels.

1. W. Rose ($40-60)

This brand offers the most diverse options for brick trowels, with any size, shape, and handle you could need. It is also considered the most expensive, but not by much when compared against other brands. If you're on a tight budget, there are plenty of secondhand options online that can provide you with similar styles for less. W. Rose is known best for long-lasting products with strong, durable blades, and they won't require replacement as often as some other brands.

2. Marshalltown ($35-55)

Marshalltown is the most popular brand of trowel used today due to its variety of styles, mid-range price point, flexible blade design and variety of styles offered. The company works hard to offer the same amount of choices as their primary competitor, W. Rose, but at a slightly lower price point. They are most recognized, however, for making even their standard trowel blades more limber than normal. A limber trowel will feel better in hand, especially when working with blocks. However, some masons have reported problems with these trowels breaking on the job, and while these are anecdotal incidents, they could be a symptom of a recurring issue.

3. Ragni ($15-35)

This brand is less expensive than others, but it'still delivers on quality. Each trowel has good balance and flexibility, whether for block or brickwork, as well as hard edges for brick cutting. Unfortunately, because Ragni is from Italy, They are not as readily available in the United States as other brands. They also seem to offer fewer options in size, style or handle type online. But if you're able to find a Ragni masonry trowel in a size and style that fits your needs, you'll be pleased with the work you can do with it.

4. Ox Tools ($30-40)

The Australian company, Ox, is comparable to Ragni as another moderately priced, international company. However, Ox?s trademark for their brick trowels is their DURAGRIP handle. This is the only material currently available for their trowel handles, because the company trusts in the value and protection of their design. The grip is intended to be easy to hold even when wet and it includes finger protection for comfort. They do limit the customer?s choice of trowel, however, by only carrying select sizes of Narrow London and Philadelphia styles, and omitting the Wide London design altogether.

There are plenty of other brands that create quality brick trowels, but these four provide the best quality and variety on the market. If you're still unsure of which brand to choose, then think about your needs for a trowel. Certain elements, such as size and style, can point you in a direction, but you won't truly know which is best suited for you until you hold one in your hand and use it for a while.

What's an IRA, Anyway? Retirement Funds for Contractors

One of the perks of being self-employed is that you call all the shots. You Don't have a boss breathing down your neck, questioning you about where you've been, why things are taking so long, and why your TPS report cover sheets are missing. However, the downside to that is you have to make all the decisions about everything.

One of the biggest dilemmas you face is about retirement accounts. If you had an employer, a benefits package might be part of the deal and investing would be a matter of letting your boss take money from your check and put it into your investment account automatically.

But since you're self-employed, you have to do that for yourself, and although you might be a genius when it comes to remodeling a living room or adding on a deck, and you can calculate measurements in your head while you're sleeping, knowing the difference between an IRA and 401k baffles you. So, here you go; a quick primer on retirement accounts so you can start sticking some money away for when you're ready to hang up your hammer and enjoy your retirement.

Let?s Start with the Basics: What Is an IRA?

IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account. It is a special type of savings account that is made up of different kinds of investments, from 401(k)s, stocks and bonds to even CDs and cash. You choose how much money you want to dedicate to the IRA up to IRS limits and you choose the investment type. You can open an IRA with a brokerage firm or the bank you already deal with most likely has an investment arm as well.

Different Types of Retirement Accounts

There are four types of retirement accounts that best suit'self-employed people: Individual 401(k), SEP IRA, Defined Benefit Plan, and the Simple IRA. Let?s go over the differences below.

Individual 401(k)

There are two types of these plans: traditional and Roth. With a traditional 401(k), you make contributions up to plan limits with gross income (pre-tax dollars), and then pay taxes on the amount at the time of withdrawal. With the Roth 401(k), you invest after-tax dollars up to allowable limits, but then you won't have to pay taxes when you'retire and are ready to withdraw the money.

If you aren?t sure which option is best, consider this: if you think your tax bracket is higher now than it will be when you'retire, choose the traditional 401(k). If you think your tax bracket will be higher when you'retire, do a Roth 401(k) and pay the taxes now. However, you'll want to check if you are eligible to open a Roth because there are income restrictions. There are no such restrictions for a traditional account.

SEP IRA

A SEP IRA is similar to a traditional IRA. All investments are made with pre-tax dollars and are deductible from personal income at tax time. However, it allows the investor to invest both the employee and employer portions into the account. So, an employee can set how much they want to invest up to allowable limits and receive up to 25 percent of their investment as an employer contribution. This is ideal for a sole-proprietor that wants to bump up the amount to invest or a small business owner who wants to offer retirement benefits to his employees.

Defined Benefit Plans and Simple IRAs

If you're over the age of 50 and are just starting to invest, these are good options for you because you can invest more than with traditional IRAs. For a defined benefit plan, you set the amount you want to have when you'retire and you invest accordingly, generally up to $100,000 per year.

Simple IRAs allow individuals 50 years and older to invest up to $14,500 of the income each year. Keep in mind that the amount can be used to purchase stock or other investment tools, so that initial investment could grow quickly.

Now that you have some beginner?s knowledge about retirement plans, stop into a brokerage firm or your bank and ask them about the available options that are best for you.

Can Specializing in Masonry Give Your Future a Solid Foundation?

Have you ever thought about steering some of your contracting experience into a more specialized, yet highly profitable niche? The masonry industry is ready for a new influx of skilled workers and business owners, especially in the repair and restoration fields.

Most large masonry firms have jobsite overhead requirements that limit them to bidding only on larger, more complex jobs, which has left a manpower gap in smaller residential jobs, such as concrete walkway and stair repairs, brick repointing, creating custom stone or brick driveways and fireplace restorations and installations. By starting your own masonry business or subcontracting your services to one of the larger companies, you can make a comfortable living or give your present income a substantial boost.

Learn More About the Industry

Chances are you've already performed some basic masonry work as part of your construction duties or you've worked with masons on one or more residential or commercial jobs. Maybe there's a Local in your area that can offer insight and advice on training and other industry requirements. With the economy on the upswing, there's a growing demand for masons in residential and commercial construction.

Employment opportunities for masons is growing at a rapid pace, but the number of trained masons now available can?t begin to meet the current demand. Many older, experienced masons are retiring and there just aren?t enough qualified workers to fill those positions.

However, many of those retirees are business owners who may be interested in selling you their business. It might be relatively easy to find an available, established masonry contractor?s business or even a franchise that fits your personal and professional requirements. Even better, you might find a business with experienced masons willing to stay on and work with you.

Build Your Masonry Skills

Every niche in the construction industry involves specialized training and equipment. Masonry is no different. If you intend to expand your current contracting business into masonry, it's vital to expand your knowledge and training ? especially if you plan to be an active participant in your new venture. Industry labor unions often work with local community colleges to arrange training and apprenticeships for those interested in becoming masons.

As a working contractor, you probably Don't have the time to invest in full-time training for yourself or those of your employees interested in masonry, but contacting either of the above institutions in your area might be a great help in setting up a training program. The Mason Contractors Association of America offers live webinars, on-demand educational opportunities, training programs and masonry certifications.

Why Masonry?

In addition to being a potentially highly profitable investment of your time, money and efforts, there are reasons why masonry has endured for thousands of years. The materials are readily available, fire-resistant, durable and sustainable. Additionally, masonry construction provides an exceptional energy-saving advantage because of the natural thermal mass of the materials. For your clients, masonry construction offers long-term savings ? an excellent marketing point.

Insurance Costs: Insurance companies acknowledge the fact that masonry provides the best fire resistance of any building material. They typically offer lower premiums on buildings constructed of fire-resistant materials. Masonry construction offers the best protection against fire risk.

Maintenance Costs: The natural materials used in masonry construction Don't rust, dent, rot or shatter. They Don't require repainting, re-staining or even regular cleaning. A masonry building requires minimum maintenance because it can easily resist most man-made or natural abuse.

Construction Costs: Because the system of construction used by masons is so exact and the materials are so readily available, even last-minute design changes rarely slow or stall a build. In addition, there are no delays while waiting for off-site fabrications or drawing alterations. Everything can be done quickly and on site.

Specializing in masonry work ? of any type ? allows you to learn a craft with great historical significance while expanding your expertise, your business and your income. Masonry has endured throughout the centuries and promises to do the same far into the future. Your opportunities are waiting.