Business Contents Archive

At what point do you stop marking occupation as “Self-employed”?

I was in the bank yesterday setting up a join account for my wife and I and had an interesting discussion with the banker when it comes to the occupation line. For most personal finance things they normally ask you what is your primary occupation, employer, salary, etc. The “Self Employed” answer has normally been what I go with but led to a conversation about at what point do you stop using that answer and use your actual occupation? Both the banker and I pondered that a bit, does it come down to the business entity type, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp? How about the number of employees that you have? Or does it come down to annual average revenue the business brings in? The entity type and how the business files it’s taxes, whether you get pass through income and report it on your personal taxes was where we left it. But I’m curious as to what other thoughts people may have, it’s not a big deal one way or another but made me ponder.

Question About Selling My Business

My wife and I are selling a business and planning on moving abroad for a few years after that. However we've been burned before when it comes to buying and selling as far structuring the deal and planning for taxes - and now we're throwing moving abroad with that money into the mix. My question is - is there any one person that can help us optimize the sale of the business, taxes from that sale, and managing those assets while moving abroad. We've talked to cpa's and financial planners but they can't seem to be able to give us any relavant advice or strategy beyond "just sell it and see what happens..." Are we looking in the wrong places or is that actually the best way to go about it?

Help with W9 and 1099 for Contractor

Hello All - I haven't been able to find an easy explanation to this process. I have a very small business with one contractor who I pay by check (under $1,00 annually). I've already collected a W9 from them. * Do I file the W9 with the IRS? * At the end of the year, how do I give them a 1099? * Do I have to file and submit the 1099 to the IRS? My business is very small, under $8K net annually so I am trying to avoid using paid versions of Quickbooks and such. Thank you for your help!

New accountant firm we hired to do our federal taxes filed late (US). Now we have a penalty. What are our rights and options?

Business has existed for 10 months. This was for 2022 which had 3 months in business.

New successful digital small business, no or very little expenses. Possibly odd request for help!

Created an online business and already seeing great success, can't get into details because it's a highly competitive field. I work from home, no travel required, no driving, no entertaining customers, most of my work is done through my existing laptop (or phone) in about 10-15 hours per week, no rent, no inventory to keep/store, and no advertising or marketing needed as I already have an existing relationship with the several customers I work with. I just figured that outside of paying myself -- I also have another major source of income and a big 401K in place already -- I will have no expenses to reduce my profit line, other than few measly monthly accounting software and such. I will probably be in one of the highest tax bracket the way things are going so I could use some help and advice from seasoned small business owners here on legitimate (even if creative) ways to increase my expenses?

What is the lowest fees for accepting credit card payments? Sure it depends, let's say stripe vs Spoton vs ....

Is accepting credit card payments through phone is cheaper than online payment of stripe or square or something similar ? as starting out. yes, those fee difference may be tiny for companies have stable revenue and it may also bring huge benefices for tiny fee differences. BUT would like to learn What is the lowest fees for accepting credit card payments? Thank you.

Which name do you like best?

My sister has a blog and is creating a digital recipe book for ice cream recipes. These are the two names she’s deciding on. Which is best? [View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/1539msf)

Struggling with Advertising

For the past 10 years I have owned a well-established outdoor landscape company in California with hundreds of reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Yelp. My advertising efforts include Yelp (Organic), Yelp (Paid Ads), SEO, and Google Ads. Despite positive reviews and reputation, I've seen a decline in business this year, and the return on investment from Google Ads is not covering its expense. Yelp has been a good source of leads, along with organic leads and word of mouth. However, I'm frustrated that I am spending more on advertising and getting less in return. I wonder if others are experiencing similar issues this year in terms of marketing and leads, especially with Google Ads. I'm open to exploring other marketing outlets to grow my home improvement company. Any advice would be appreciated.

Business license for commercial building?

I own a cleaning business in NJ. I started the business about 2 months ago. We just got our first commercial building, a high rise condominium. I’ve sent over all my paperwork so we can be added as a vendor with the property management company. Now they’re asking me for my NJ business license. In NJ, janitorial companies are not required to have a license. Is she just looking for my llc formation docs from the state? Or am I missing something here

Is a line of credit a bad option?

I have a business that is a little over a year old so we arent old enough for an SBA loan but we are looking to expand soon and made great profits our first year. We were looking into american express and think a line of credit sounds like a flexible option as we like the idea of only paying on what we have spent. Has anyone else had experience with this form of financing and is it worse than going through a bank and getting a traditional business loan? I am not the most financially savvy person so go easy!

Who do I reach out to?

Hi, so I’m a small business in Ohio, I work out of a home studio kind of small. I’m so lost when it comes to book keeping and taxes. I need help in what I should do on the finance side of things. Iv googled business advisors but I’m not sure if they would be any actual help or should I just reach out to an accountant. I just wish I had someone that could help me through these task and teach me how to manage them.

Who prints foiled business cards?

Hi all - I’m looking to find a place to print my business cards. I wanted some specific sections of the business card foiled. Is that possible? Has anyone done anything like this before? I’m actually hoping this would be a square as well as opposed to rectangular with print on the front and back. (Foil would only need to be on the front with the logo.) Thanks in advance!

What apps or software do you all use for tracking expenses and invoicing other than QuickBooks Self-Employed?

I'm a small biz of just me and I don't make much so I can't afford this new annual PCI thing QB is forcing on us. I need expense tracking that will integrate with my bank & credit card and invoicing & payments online. I usually only take ACH payments. Mileage tracking would be great but I can also just use MileIQ. Time tracking also a nice to have. Thanks!

Buy and Rent-out Warehouse/Any sort of storing space to new small businesses, at an affordable/attractive price.

Title says it, feel more than free to comment and start a discussion

Both of my businesses just won awards

Hey everyone! I am a business owner of 2 small businesses. One is a mobile pet care/grooming business with 2 employees and myself and my other is a B2B custom shirt printing business I do on the side. I just realize that both businesses won 2023 best business awards for NextDoor. My pet care business won in numerous neighborhoods for "Best Pet Service" as well as won for "Best Home Service" and my shirt business won for "Best Clothing Store or Gift Shop" I started the shirt business last year and this is the first year for my pet care business. This is full humble brag and makes me pumped that I have those bragging rights now. Tell me if your businesses have won anything so we can celebrate together!