Questions about starting a business on the road

[SerendipitousDe]

Hey everyone!

My name is Jacob and my 2 business partners recently came across funding for our online jewelry business to go on the road. The business is in it's infancy and we have yet to register it outside of opening the online store. I have looked in to the essentials of proper accounting and managing business miles/expenses and Schedule C tax forms. I was wondering if anyone experienced in running a business "on the road" state to state would be able to give me some advice. In particular: Do I assume it would be an LLC , do I need to register the business within a state or do I just need to keep proper accounting and simply fill out the proper tax forms at the end of the year? Also, would you say it is considerably worth it to track finances and account spending within an accounting program such as freshbooks or quickbooks, or could I get by for the most part with excel? It is a jewelry business so we really just need to track material/gas/misc expenses and profit. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing some beneficial information!

Ciao!

[debw241]

Are you going town to town at farmer's markets/booths etc. or are you selling on the internet?

Also - may make a difference too re who you get your jewelry through and how much bookkeeping they do for you.

I would think at least in the very beginning just keeping track on an excel spreadsheet would be fine. Some banking institutions also have special programs for keeping track of debits/credits. You may find PayPal helpful as they do invoicing etc.

NEVADA is very good state for me but don't know the ins/outs and especially nothing re YOUR business. If you need mailing address I recommend Maillink Plus in Las Vegas as I have had them for 2 years and they follow me all over and are very inexpensive (http://www.maillinkplus.com/). Also believe they do Registered Agent. IncSmart.Biz also does Registered Agent for every state and they are based in Las Vegas as well (http://www.incsmart.biz/).

I do virtual business services and my products are handled through Market America so lot of that is done FOR me (and just got the product website) I would love to do what you are doing though. Will be watching this thread to hopefully learn some tips.

The lawyer advice was spot on. I loved the advice above as well re Honey Shellman. I know re state it is something you need to be aware of. Good Luck! Keep us Posted! Some of us here want to learn too!

[bigred1cav]

Understand you will owe sales taxes and possibly other retail related taxes for each sale in the state and county you made the sale.

Most likely you will be required to have a state vendor license for each state you do business.

[SerendipitousDe]

Along with consulting an attorney, this is probably the most honest and helpful answer I could ask for. I appreciate it as I was merely looking to find people who had first hand experience at this sort of thing. Much appreciated. Anyway. I assume advertising ones business on the forum is prohibited so if you would want to check us out send me a PM.

Thanks Jack,
Jacob, Ashley and Megan

[AdirondackJack]

Jacob,
If you are serious about having a business you run from your RV on the road then you might consider talking with Honey Shellman. We do run our business from our RV and Honey has shared tips, suggestions, answers to all of our questions, and prepared our taxes the past 3 years,

She, and husband Bob, are down to earth people and are avid RVers themselves and have many clients that are full-time RVers.

Check out their business site at http://www.rvtaxhelp.com/ and their RV travel website at http://www.popeyexpress.com/.

Sometimes it helps to have someone in your xorner that really knows what you need to do and how to help.

Best of luck with your new business venture,

Jack

[Sprink-Fitter]

path1 wrote:

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing some beneficial information!

I would seek legal advice on a RV forum like I would do my own heart surgery after looking it up online.

Or they could post the question on a tractor forum, seems like a lot of smart guys on the one I am on.;)

[path1]

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing some beneficial information!

I would seek legal advice on a RV forum like I would do my own heart surgery after looking it up online.

Hope you got a good business plan.

[SerendipitousDe]

naturist wrote:
You have asked some very specific legal questions best answered by a lawyer, and you should NEVER take legal advice from nameless/faceless folks on the internet.

And I am no lawyer, so what I am about to say should not be construed as legal advice of any sort.

That said, it varies from state to state. You will need to deal with taxes and licenses on a state by state basis, and you very definitely need to know the requirements for each state you visit. I will tell you now that the tax boys have NO sense of humor and would as leave throw you in jail as spit. What's more, if they catch you in violation, they tend to make a wild guess as to how much business you could possibly have done in the state, and then assess you a tax burden based solely on that. And pile penalties and interest on top of it. If you don't pay up, you will go to jail.

And before anybody crabs about "the Obama Administration," be aware that this has nothing whatever to do with the feds, it is strictly state law, and it has been this way ever since I started in business in the 1970s and no doubt long before that.

Thanks Naturist,

I see you are from Lynchburg! That's cool, I grew up in Richmond and have a home out in farmville. I am just new to the whole work/camping thing. I absolutely agree with going by state to state laws when it comes to taxes and making money in a particular state. And I understand any "advice" or information someone may give me on a forum would need to be verified, I was just looking for a few people who have perhaps owned their own businesses on the road/traveling about to festivals or whatever and get a general idea of some of the things they had to establish during their start up.

Thanks,
Jacob

[naturist]

You have asked some very specific legal questions best answered by a lawyer, and you should NEVER take legal advice from nameless/faceless folks on the internet.

And I am no lawyer, so what I am about to say should not be construed as legal advice of any sort.

That said, it varies from state to state. You will need to deal with taxes and licenses on a state by state basis, and you very definitely need to know the requirements for each state you visit. I will tell you now that the tax boys have NO sense of humor and would as leave throw you in jail as spit. What's more, if they catch you in violation, they tend to make a wild guess as to how much business you could possibly have done in the state, and then assess you a tax burden based solely on that. And pile penalties and interest on top of it. If you don't pay up, you will go to jail.

And before anybody crabs about "the Obama Administration," be aware that this has nothing whatever to do with the feds, it is strictly state law, and it has been this way ever since I started in business in the 1970s and no doubt long before that.