[joe]

I am kicking around the idea of starting up a solid surface repair business in coastal south carolina.  Just myself.  Do you need the license for a contractor?  Its kind of a niche business and most jobs would be under $500.  I would like to do 2-3 jobs a day and basically refinishing tops.  small operation and low overhead.  Not building anything, for now, and no plumbing or electrical.  I live in PA now and my employer takes care of all the business stuff.  I would rather not have to hire anyone and stay small.   Anyone else do this and how is it working for you?

  The tax part would all be up to par and on the books.  I am thinking that if I got in with some real estate agents, builders, TILE GUYS, there would be enough work to keep busy without having to fabricate or work for a fabricator.  Lots of vacation homes and rentals along the coast, and I have the skills.  *humbly spoken*

[Andy Graves]

It sounds great in theory but it may be difficult unless you have connections to get the jobs. Figure for the first couple months you will have nothing because you will need to spend some time marketing.

You will need a nice looking vehicle, preferably a truck, probably a website because you don’t have a physical business and some nice collared shirts with a business name or logo.

Although you could probably perform three jobs a day, you need to keep in mind that some of your day will be eaten up selling. For example you are on the first job which may take three hours but you needed to stop and answer the phone twice to sell the next jobs.

This is typically done by your boss. It takes nothing but time to sell. Unless you have a bunch of companies that are happy with you and just give you a address, time and date, three job will probably not happen.

You will also have to sell yourself at the end of each job talking with the customer, explaining what you did and the like. Then you have to collect a check which seems to take customers a good fifteen minutes.

To be safe, I would set up a business plan for more like eight to twelve jobs a weeks and see if that works.

My one advice is to discourage credit cards as much as possible. They seriously eat into your profit margin and most people are willing to pay cash or check if there is no cc option.

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