Hubs still pays MASSIVE "child" support to his ex (goes to 21 here and not 18)
I have about 4-5 more years before I can technically retire and we can move out of the state. And of course, the personal relationship suffers when you are the business owner/boss. . .
Anyone else have this experience?
(end pity party rant)
He also has a 2nd part time job for 8 hours that covers about half the “child support” and I also do work on the side.
Liberals rant about corporate power then make it impossible to compete against it.
That does sound horrible. I’m sorry it’s working out like this. I hope you guys can find some trick or addition to the business that snaps it out of its current success level into something phenomenal. It’s your only hope, with the NY taxes and all that child support.
Seven+ years owning running my own business. Six days a week. No vacation beyond a day or two here or there. No change in sight. I feel your pain.
Sometimes “being your own boss” just means you’ve created a crappy job for yourself.
Oh well, the good news is that you can work half days anytime you want . . . whichever 12 hours of the day you want to work.
Living the dream. Living the dream.
I’ve heard of NY (New York) and NYC (New York City) but where is NYS?
I would never expect to see a post like yours from the spouse of an HVAC contractor.
Just do like google does and create a service company in the bahamas that charges your new york company... all of a sudden you will have no profit in the state to tax.
I wouldn’t mix child support into the equation. That is not the fault of the business or whether it is making good money or not.
You are very brave to operate a small business. I doubt I could do it, which leaves me workin’ for “The Man.”
Many years ago I started a business. My wife kept her job. As things got busy, she quit her job (against my wishes) and stayed home answering the phone, dealing with the kids, and doing the in-house part of the business.
Well, those were some of the happiest years we’ve ever had. We struggled sometimes financially, and weren’t rich by any means, but we were pretty damn happy. She would even get up early and make me poached eggs in the morning.
I don’t know, that was our experience, but it worked.
I remember their ads to come to NY for a great deal for businesses.
Sounds like they lie.
I live in Western NYS and i’m just on the way to the plant to mfg. seats to install at a customers on Monday morning, on my time off i’m leaving at 4:00 am to go to Maryland to pick up a dually truck I bought to flip.
So yes Virginia the joys of single business ownership in NYS are endless.
A few things:
1. Bite your lip about the child support. You married into this situation of your own free will. (I’d assume?) It is what it is. Let it go and I’ll bet you’ll see a lot of tension go away between the two of you, too! (Speaking from experience, here...)
2. Get yourselves a good tax man. There are a number of LEGAL ways to get around outrageous taxes in any state. How do you think the rich keep so much of their money? Employ the same strategy for yourselves! I’ve always had ‘multiple streams of income’ and there are tons of ways to save on taxes. I actually made it a priority of mine to do so. I retired at 57 partially due to that. And, also having no debt and living below my means and making $ in real estate (easier to do in the Midwest, for sure!)
3. Look into cutting expenses wherever you can to create a better cash flow each month and/or pay off any debt that you have. Really simple things like packing lunches, cutting out take-out coffee, lowering your thermostat, changing insurance policies/companies, cutting out Dish or Cable TV, staying out of restaurants...there are dozens of places on-line that have suggestions. It truly pays off in the long run! Also, make a plan and show your husband what you’re doing to help HIM be successful, but not in any sort of condescending way. Be a Team Player!
4. Dave Ramsey. My hero! Look him up.
5. Good Luck!
What is a NYS?
As one who has owned two pretty successful one man show kind of businesses, perhaps I can supply a piece of insight. Interestingly, I have just become very good friends with a fella who who has a one-man show HVAC business, and he absolutely cleans up. I believe he has between a 250k and 300K income. And I am in California so I would be right behind you in the taxation rates.
Z first as someone else said upthread , do not confuse the child support which is like a giant piece of overhead with your business operating conditions.
One of the things that happens to sole Proprietors is that they become habituated to particular ways of doing things and they may have had to have done those things in those ways when they were small but now that they are more successful, those ways of doing things may in all reality be choke points. And those habits can be hard to break.
In essence, what I am recommending is to have someone come in and look at your business as you operate it and perhaps make some suggestions. I am not suggesting a long-term relationship with an expensive Consultant. You can contact your local branch of score which is service Corps of retired Executives, and there are people in there who will advise you for free just because they’re retired, and they like the engagement of being involved and they like helping people. I have drawn on that resource a time or two and I was very surprised, there were some very sharp people I ended up meeting with and they made very pointed suggestions to me, and this was over coffee in the coffee shop. However you must bring them accurate information as to how you run your business, in other words garbage in garbage out. You are not asking them to come and live with you for a week while you run the business, so you must develop an accurate profile as it were of how you run your business. And it is entirely possible that they will make a couple of suggestions that will make an enormous difference. For example the HVAC guy I know has a rule. And the rule is is that every time he goes out on a job he makes $2,000 and if he doesn’t do that he doesn’t go do the job. It may be more complicated than that or it may not. Your husband may have run the business in a very folksy manner when he was small, to develop his clientele. And he can not any longer afford to chit chat for 3 hours with a customer while doing the job, he has to become more brutal. That’s just one idea.
can he raise prices?
I own a small business and before I started I never realized the amount of taxes you pay in order to hire employees! Payroll taxes are the worst!
NY State doesn’t make it easy for small biz. They are still in love with their progressive friends and their many welfare supporters. Producers and middle class are not welcome.
All I can say is - make sure you are maximizing expenses through the company to reduce profits. Auto, gasoline, rent, electricity, travel costs, entertainment, etc... you have wide latitude on that.
Being your own boss is still the best way to go, and if he builds a regular, steady book of business, you/he can sell the business when he is ready to retire, and hopefully pocket some nice $$
“NYS constantly grabbing for more and more taxes,”
Sometimes taxes aren’t about making money for the State. A lot of times it is controlling the Subjects. Six cents to produce a pack of cigarettes, more than $13.00 for a pack in NY. It was meant to control/stop smoking!
Taxes on Small Businesses may not really be about the State making money? Maybe(Ha)the large Corps. don’t want competition(see Lobbyists).
Another view:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laffercurve.asp
Once I had the business set up, I made sure I covered my expenses with year-long contracts for repeat business. After that, I handled all the customers I could in the rest of the time available until I had enough to hire assistants.
Possibly if the child is over the age of 8 or 10, he or she could learn some of the skills and do some of the work because it's a family business and that's part of being a family—whether it is as a mechanical helper, distributing flyers, office work (accounting, filing) or ramping up your social media (under CLOSE supervision). Make it a fun and learning experience for a limited time per visitation period. If you pay him or her a stipend, you can write it off. If the child shows real interest and wants to work half a day or so, try to negotiate an informal reduction in child support of the amount you pay the child, backed up by a signed letter from the ex.
If your husband is trying to do all the mechanical himself, you will never make money. The main jobs of the owner are 1) sales and new client contact and 2) quality control over every job performed by workers.
If there are reasonable-cost ways to get your name around, do it. My small city has several online forums that list the names of contractors, and the higher quality ones review the lisence and recommendations, provide customer comments and award stars. The big name is Angie's List (even tho she's a liberal). There are also PennySaver-type newspapers and a company that sends color coupons in a packet or a booklet every month.
My hvac vendor sends me emails 4 times a year to remind me what needs to be checked up, and offers a discount for your next service for every new customer referred by an existing customer.
Don't forget grocery store or church bulletin boards or business card spots all over your area, the office bulletin boards of friends and family, and also make up a flyer to leave with the hardware or tool rental desks of Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. Send a fact sheet or flyer to any renovation contractors in your area, or the kinds of real estate agents who buy distressed homes for quick renovation. Also, house insurance agents often make recommendations of trusted suppliers for covered repairs. Strip mall stores are also in need of fast and reliable repairs, and they are easy to canvass with business cards and a brief chat with the manager. (You didn't say what size your business is; I'm assuming residential and smaller units, not necessarily the 20-floor apartment or office buildings, but you get the idea.)
Make a plan and work your plan! Your husband should set aside one or two days a week for sales calls on potential customers, emergency calls and advertising stops, and perhaps you, too, can work out a time when you always canvass with flyers or business cards. Map your area, identify your targets, and do territories, checking off whom you've leafleted and the date. Three to six months later you can do those again if you've done all the others.
The costs of printing and mailing are tax deductible, but if you attach your leaflet runs to another weekly trip, such as after church, you could conceivably write off the whole trip. I hope you are keeping mileage logs for ALL your business-related trips.
As for customers being cheap, don't be afraid to turn down business. Once an estimate is given and an order written, your business materials would already have listed the prices. Presumably you have a printed agreement form (that small gray type on the back of an order sheet) that details what makes an additional charge, etc. Also, if you set priorities for getting your name around, target the higher-priced neighborhoods firs.
And make sure your husband and his workers have a very clean presentation. There are companies that make polo shirts or caps with a logo for as little as $20 apiece. One of the great online suppliers of all kinds printed materials and promotional gimmicks is VistaPrint.com. I've used them for several things.