Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

[DetailinByDustn]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I just bought general liability for my business, and im am not a registered business, Im 19, they do the form under personal, Since your starting off and you have an excellent turnout, I would go ahead and get a llc, insurance, and start saving records of transactions such as buying equipment to buying gas to all income under your business it beats trying to find everything later or getting the irs on u (which is *itch), once a month do your taxes, total your expenses and income for you business, and write off as much as you can, such as new equipment and chemicals, just keep every transaction you can, also combined your bank statements too, when doing your taxes, you may want to open a checking account for your business and savings if you are doing good, that way you can monitor transactions better and have a seperate account to do with your business.

[Cole Ziegler]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

sorry to hear about that maksimum, had to be one tough phone call to make to the owner. I dont trust my parking skills, so whenever i detail the garage is empy and i have two car widths to pull in to

[JuddGA]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

. you pay taxes on your supplies and are providing a nontaxable service, insurance is EXPENSIVE, and it just depends on the work your doing... good luck!

That is not true in all areas. In FLorida I owned an office equipment company and we did alot of service work besides other sales. We taxed ALL labor. Florida said if we included/used ANY chemical or product with our labor, such as cleaning solutions, rags, lubricants etc, the labor was taxable.

Georgia seems to be a little different. It depends how you figure in parts.


Insurance is wise. I had a little car wash (did car washes, basic waxes, etc) at a gas station when I was 17-18. Thankfully I never damaged a car.

Find an accountant and barter. That means trade your services for his. I did that and my accountant was a HUGE asset for years in my office equipment business.

There may be one other issue. You are 17. You are not legally allowed to own anything, sign contracts etc as far as I know. So check into that.


Good luck

[MaksimumAutoDetailing]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

So last Saturday, I was backing a Lexus GS out of the garage to check my final work in the sun. Long story short, the door got caught on the side of the garage, shifted from it's hinges and got dinged. Free detail +$300 out of my pocket which I was extremely happy to pay since it should have been upwards of $800 for the damage. Sometimes you just need to roll with the punches. Luckly it wasn't a Lambo or a Ferrari.

[Cole Ziegler]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I have to say it seems pointless... you pay taxes on your supplies and are providing a nontaxable service, insurance is EXPENSIVE, and it just depends on the work your doing... good luck!

[SD_Racer]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

Keep track of all your costs. You should be expensing EVERY MEAL, EVERY THING YOU DO that costs $$$$. Read up on taxe laws and figure out how to categorize everything into a business expense, know the gray areas WELL. Your vehicle, gas, supplies, computer to post this question, etc... The last thing you want to do is start your adult life with back taxes.

Also wanted to say GOOD JOB KID! You're going to do just fine as long as you continue to work hard and pursue your dreams.

[MyFirstES300]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

You sound like a smart 17 year old. Good luck. Yes, it is a hassle but do it right and behave like a professional.

You can use the fact that you have insurance to sell yourself against those that do not.

+1 Bunky well put!

[Bunky]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I've made my decision to attempt to get licensed and insured. I will only get insured if I can afford it. And worry not, I'll be filling my taxes and not hiding anything. I won't be making more than $10k so they won't be taking a substantial amount anyway. Thank you guys.

You sound like a smart 17 year old. Good luck. Yes, it is a hassle but do it right and behave like a professional.

You can use the fact that you have insurance to sell yourself against those that do not.

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

Get a the licenses you can! and You should always pay your taxes.
You are serious about detailing aren't you?
You are driving peoples 2nd largest investments.
Get Lic., Bonded, Double Insured and very legal.
All of this will help you beat your competition!
And you don't want to get into legal trouble with your customers.
All of this will pay off in the long run.

[MyFirstES300]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I think for our age, it is pointless.
Since we are so young.
I am not licensed, and I have thought about it on and off, but to me it just seems like a waste of time.

Sorry Carfire, but that is not too sound advice.

Again, it only takes one small mistake to mess up a customer's car. Are you prepared to make up for the damage? Insurance is helpful if you plan on having a regular business going on.

[starchland]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

Like many trades,etc, You can have a day job lets say 9-5 (where you pay taxes) and then of course job on the side/weekends all under the table cash. thats what id do.

[10degreesbtdc]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

.

What exactly is the difference between liability and garage keepers, and do you need garage keepers if you don't drive clients' cars?

Liability protects you from people getting injured because of your presence. Tripping over extension cords, buckets, slipping in water, etc. Basically personal injury for everyone else except you. That's $100k coverage.

Garage keepers covers the cars in your possession, whether you drive them or not. Once you are handed the keys or even given access to someone's vehicle you assume full responsibility for what happens to it until you are finished and/or hand back the keys. It only covers up to a maximum amount no matter how many cars you have in your possession at the time. If you damage a car and it costs $80k to fix it, the other car(s) are only covered up to your maximum policy coverage. For me that's $100k, so the second car would only be covered for $20k. That is for a one year period. If you damage a $100,000 car the first day, you have no coverage for the rest of the policy year. I think the max for any one vehicle is also only $80k and not the full $100k coverage. One company I considered only covered $50k on any one vehicle, so it varies. I got a cheaper rate (by $3.00) and the higher per vehicle coverage of $80k from the third company I contacted so I went with them.

They don't cover acts of terrorism, mold, asbestos and other odd occurrences.

If something happens to their vehicle as a fault of some else, even though you have control of it it's on the owner's insurance. Say, for example, someone runs up in the driveway of the vehicle owner and smashes into the car or a hurricane hits it while you are working on it. That's the homeowner's/car owner's responsibility. If it's at your house, though, it's on you and your homeowner's policy or the owner of the property. I don't think Garage Keepers covers someone else damaging it if it's at your house or wherever.

[MaksimumAutoDetailing]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I've made my decision to attempt to get licensed and insured. I will only get insured if I can afford it. And worry not, I'll be filling my taxes and not hiding anything. I won't be making more than $10k so they won't be taking a substantial amount anyway. Thank you guys.

[Ivan Rajic]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I don't know if you should or not. Depends on many factors and your risk comfort level. Personally I am both . Liability and garage keepers policy for $1,397 per year. $100,000.00 coverage. License $30.00. I can drive customer's cars without having to worry about some idiot on a cell phone, drunk driver or just making a mistake myself. (knock on wood) Also covers burning the paint or dropping the Makita at 3,000rpm! Not that I use it on that speed nor do I plan on dropping it on a hood of a BMW. Nice to have that safety net though. Also, how can you sell yourself as a professional and justify professional rates without it? First person that asks if you're licensed and insured either hears a lie or learns you are not prepared. Bad word-of-mouth advertising gets around faster than all the good references and reputation you may have worked hard to get. Some people are extremely lucky, though, and don't have any insurance on anything and never need it. All it takes is one time...

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What exactly is the difference between liability and garage keepers, and do you need garage keepers if you don't drive clients' cars?

[10degreesbtdc]

Re: Should I Get Licensed and Insured? I'm 17.

I don't know if you should or not. Depends on many factors and your risk comfort level. Personally I am both . Liability and garage keepers policy for $1,397 per year. $100,000.00 coverage. License $30.00. I can drive customer's cars without having to worry about some idiot on a cell phone, drunk driver or just making a mistake myself. (knock on wood) Also covers burning the paint or dropping the Makita at 3,000rpm! Not that I use it on that speed nor do I plan on dropping it on a hood of a BMW. Nice to have that safety net though. Also, how can you sell yourself as a professional and justify professional rates without it? First person that asks if you're licensed and insured either hears a lie or learns you are not prepared. Bad word-of-mouth advertising gets around faster than all the good references and reputation you may have worked hard to get. Some people are extremely lucky, though, and don't have any insurance on anything and never need it. All it takes is one time...