Day 2
The Mason SBDC Seminar
Skip To The Key Takeaways & Action Items
The 100 Days of Business continued with another small business seminar. This time, it was a FREE class called Legal and Administrative Steps to Start a Business courtesy of the Mason Small Business Development Center.
Sidenote: The Virginia SBDC (Mason Chapter) is a government funded organization that provides professional business counseling, training, and business resources to small businesses. It is a partnership between the United States Small Business Administration, George Mason University and other partners.
This course had a slightly different tone from the previous CBP class I attended. It was a little more in your face with the deep intricacies of the different types of companies and how they are taxed. The instructor, Bernard Ferret, had actually started and sold several businesses in his life and he had some interesting insights that I think other teachers might not say.
Some of the topics that were particularly interesting were business insurance, business expenses and business accounting. All that nitty gritty financing stuff that makes my head hurt but is essential to protecting the business.
The instructor also covered the main reason I was taking these types of classes; to make sure I did everything right when I created Fire Toga LLC. It turns out I actually did it right, although I found myself wishing that I knew about the SBDC before I stumbled through the business creation process.
There were 3 key takeaways from the class which led to a few new action items that should help me going forward:
Takeaway #1: A Business Checking Account Is Mandatory
When I was running my business before it was an official business, I considered getting a business bank account but never got around to it. The idea is that it keeps your personal transactions separate from your business transactions. From what I learned in both the seminars I went to this week, it is the best idea to make sure everything is organized, not just for the IRS, but more importantly for the business.
There are a few other financial things I need to look into like a credit card, and ways to accept payments, which I will consider once I get the initial account started. There was also a lot of talk about Quckbooks or accounting software in my 2 seminars, and I need to address that.
Action Items:
Start A Business Checking Account
Take A LinkedIn Course on Quickbooks and/or Quicken
Takeaway #2: Insurance Is Something To Strongly Consider
With a business that is just getting started and is not raking in the cash, insurance is one of the items I hadn’t even considered. However, as the instructor pointed out (specifically to me), there are a lot of different things that could possibly go wrong.
The three types of insurance that the instructor said small business owners get are general liability insurance (in case I bump into someone while filming and they hurt themselves), errors & omissions insurance (since my actions will be involved in huge money transactions), and property insurance (because I have a lot of expensive photo & video equipment).
Action Items:
Find Insurance Salesperson via Referral
Get quotes for the 3 types of insurance from 2-3 different people
Takeaway #3: Organizing Expenses For The IRS Is Essential
This concept is not new to me at all. For 5 years I was an independent contractor keeping track of milage and business expenses to report to the IRS. But running my own business makes every single cent even more important, and I need to stay organized for ME. If the IRS comes, I’ll be ready. But by monitoring my business expenses on a weekly basis, I’ll make sure I’m not wasting valuable time or money.
Action Items:
Create & Update 2019 Expense Spreadsheet
Create & Update 2019 Milage Spreadsheet
Update Each Sheet on a WEEKLY (if not daily) basis
I enjoyed the class and learning about some of the other businesses. (One guy was starting a business to sell waffles!). I thought the instructor was very good. Once again I was NOT good at the networking aspect and I didn’t make any connections…I really have to work on that (he types again).
My experience with the SBDC was great. I will soon be working with one of their counselors in a one on one session. And the best part…it is all FREE! If you are thinking about starting a business (you don’t even need an idea) then go check them out right now. While you’re doing that, I have some action items to accomplish.