My husband’s copywriting business is off to a good start. He was given his first assignment over the weekend: writing a 60 second radio ad. It didn’t take him long to write, and his client loved it! Now we just need to send an invoice, and the client will cut my husband his first check.
My husband’s day-job, on the other hand, isn’t going so well. We think his boss is trying to get him to quit. If they fire him, he’ll be able to collect unemployment, and they don’t want that. So they’re making it difficult for him to succeed, thus forcing him to quit. In radio, it’s standard practice when a salesperson takes a call from an account that isn’t on any other salesperson’s account list, the salesperson who takes the call gets credit for the sale. My husband has had three such calls taken away from him this week. That’s just not cool.
Anyway, to make a long story short, my husband wants to get his copywriting business of the ground as soon as possible. It will definitely be a while before we can rely on that income full time, but the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll get there.
And that brings us to a financial dilemma. To start this business, we have to invest some money. Yet, with hubby’s job not going so well, we need all the money we can muster available in our emergency fund. And credit cards are not an option.
Fortunately, the costs for starting a copywriting business are pretty slim. A web host is a must, as well as a domain name. We bought a domain name and added it to the web hosting package I already have for my blogs. Not bad for a start. It only cost 10 dollars.
Next, we need business cards. Vista Print is running some great deals right now. I haven’t ordered yet, but I will soon. The cost should be minimal.
We already have a desktop computer and a laptop, so that’s taken care of. Our printer is also pretty good, so that’s taken care of, too. My husband is using his cell phone as his business phone, so we don’t need an extra phone.
That leaves us with our two biggest expenses. Microsoft Office and Quickbooks. Virtually everyone my husband will work with will require things in Word or Powerpoint format. So Microsoft Office is a must. We already have it on our desktop computer, but we don’t have it on the laptop. Unfortunately my husband does a lot of work on the laptop.
Instead of jumping right in and buying Microsoft Office, we’re going to try an open source application that my mom’s boyfriend uses. It might be Open Office, but I’m not sure. My understanding is that it’s compatible with all the Office programs. The way we figure it, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it a try. If it works, we save big bucks. If it doesn’t, at least we tried.
I’m not sure what we’re going to do about Quickbooks. Does anyone have any ideas? Is it worth the money? Is there something less expensive that will work just as well? We won’t have to put anyone on a payroll, but we will have to create invoices and billing statements. We need to get on this soon. My husband still has to create an invoice for his first job. We’re going to try to do that by this weekend.
I’ve learned a few lessons from our experience this week. What are we doing right in our effort to start our own business the frugal way?
First, we’re shopping around for the best deal. I could have gone to our local printing shop and had business cards done up right there. But it’s less expensive to shop online, and I’ve heard good things about Vista Print. Research always pays off when you’re trying to save money.
Second, we’re willing to try something new. The open source office program might work for us. It might not. But if it does, we’ll save at least $150. For a savings of $150, I’m willing to give anything a try! Almost anything, that is. It never hurts to try something new, if the new something might save you a ton of money. And you never know if you like it unless you try! (I’m talking in my best mom voice here).
Finally, we’re willing to ask for help. I don’t know if there’s a good free or cheap accounting program out there that does what we want it to do. But before I plunk down $200 on Quickbooks, I’m not afraid to ask around. If I don’t find anything better, I’m only out a little bit of time. When it comes to saving money, taking time to make decisions usually pays off.
Do you have anything to add? Do you have a tip for starting a business frugally? Do you have any advice to pass on? I’m in unchartered territory here. This is scary, but oh-so exciting! I can’t wait until the day that my husband is self employed, and we can get out of the rat race!
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Open office is pretty good, although if you are receiving edited documents, I think things like version control and comments and so on aren’t so compatible. But if you are sending documents out, then its ok.
Can you mimic the functions of quickbook with an excel/open office spreadsheet (for now). If all you want to do is create invoices and billing statements you should be able to do that in a spreadsheet.
I don’t have any advice as I have no experience with having my own business just wanted to give you and your dh a “cheer” :). That has got to be so emotionally draining to have to work in an atmosphere such as your dh works in. I just don’t understand how some people can be so cruel. People are People and we all have feelings and a heart.
I have seen co-workers/ management treat other co-workers such as this while working in management myself in the past and I have put my foot down and nipped it in the bud as soon as I was aware of what was happening.
Sounds like you have an excellent Plan! I love the way you and your family take time to figure out your options opposed to jumping in blindfolded as many people have been known to do.
plonkee – you are obviously better at technology than I am. I have no idea what version control is! :) My mom’s boyfriend has been using whatever program it is for a while, so we’ll pick his brain on the program to see if it will work for us.
Heather – our slow approach was born out of too many “rushing in” mistakes in the past. Live and learn! lol
Plonkee is right. With a little extra work and some organization, Excel and Word will do the things Quicken/Quickbooks does.
Excel can be set to track/separate out different types of expenses through labels and pull-down menus, and Word has templates for invoices and many other business documents.
Best of luck!
You will also need a business license, and if you are operating out of your home, you will need to wait for a hearing. They will notify all your neighbors of the nature of your business, and if anyone has a complaint, it will be addressed at the hearing with the City people. Then once its approved you will get your license. From there you will need to get a Tax ID number and if you or any of your children will be employees of the business, you will need to get an Employer Identification number. If his work is taxable, you will need to get set up for sales tax as well. All this will probably cost you $200-500 total, but the sales tax administration usually just requires a refundable deposit that you get back after a few months.
You will also want a separate bank account and credit card specifically in his business name, and if his business name is anything other than his first name, you will need to register an affidavit that that name represents him-if you are going for a sole proprietorship. If you are setting up an LLC, you will need to set that up as well.
This is a little unrelated, but do you guys both do mypoints? I know I’ve seen vista print ads on there, and if you’re already buying from there, you could earn points and then redeem later for gift cards you need.
If you don’t have it – let me know. I’ll refer you both.
Do you know anyone who is a college student, professor, or otherwise affiliated with a university? You might check with them to see about Microsoft Office. At my school (and others in my state) the university receives a huge discount on software–including Microsoft Office. I paid $10 for my version.
Ditto to the zoning thing. Our area requires a Special Use Permit and a DBA (Doing business as) plus you might need a sales tax number if you don’t already have one.
I haven’t tried Quickbooks, but they do have an affiliate program. I would wait on purchasing it though, you don’t need a whole software program for a couple clients.
That sounds like quite a challenge! Good luck!
See, I’m glad I have you all to think of things that I don’t think of right away.
Jennifer, thanks for all that great information. Fortunately, since Oregon doesn’t have a sales tax, we don’t have to worry about that. I looked up the process for starting a business on our city’s website, and it sounds pretty straightforward. It seems like they’re pretty liberal with home based businesses, though we definitely have to let them know.
Megan, we do mypoints, and I was definitely planning on going through them to order the business cards. :)
Kacie, thanks for the tip! We live in a college area, and we do happen to know a couple of professors. I’ll check that out!
I just talked to my husband, and we are putting off buying any software for now. We will spend our money on the necessary regulations we need to do to become official! I’m starting to get excited about this!
Look on Microsoft Word on your computer you can probably find a decent invoice there for starters. I would also recommend MYOB for a software program that is real easy to use!!! If he has clients with email he can use that to send invoices directly to their inbox!!
MYOB? I’ve never heard of it. I’ll have to check that out. Thanks! I like the email invoice idea.
You all are very brave! Best of luck, I will be praying for huge successes!!
Hi! I enjoy your blog. My husband is very interested in free webware, and I just asked him about Quickbooks. He said to check out Freshbooks. It’s free at least for the basics. He also says to check out FreelanceSwitch.com. He may find some work there. Good luck!
@boomeyers – thanks for the prayers! I sure appreciate them!
@Lynnelle – thanks for the tips! I will check out Freshbooks, and I will send my husband to check out FreelanceSwitch.com!
Wow, Lynnae, this is exciting news!
The only thing I can add is to keep receipts of everything you buy for the business. Keep rent receipts, utility bills, cell phone bills, gas and car maintenance receipts and car insurance bills(if you’ll be using the car for the business) as you might be able to deduct a portion of these expenses on your tax return.
If you’ll be using the car for the business, you will want to start a mileage log now. Business use includes trips to the bank to deposit checks from clients, going to the store to buy business supplies, meeting with clients, etc. I think if you used the car more than 50% of the time for business that you’ll be able to use it as a tax deduction (but check with a tax preparer).
Good luck!
Lynnae: that is great news. This is an area where I get terribly over-excited as both my husband and I are self-employed, and I adore running our own businesses. I would highly recommend investigating opensource software as an option. There are certainly opensource options for accountancy software too – google the phrase “opensource software acountancy” or similar and you’ll get tons of information.
I highly recommend Vistaprint as well – they seem to be permanently offering a special deal on business cards, postcards etc., and you only have to pay postage. I got 250 business cards, 50 postcards, 25 giant postcards (these last two are great for leaving on coffee tables etc. wherever you go), 25 magnets for under £7 postage. It worked brilliantly for me, and I’ll be repeating the order for my husband’s business as well.
If you can live with the fact that it isn’t particularly ethical (although it is legal), you can also use a program called BitTorrent to download software. I tend to use it as a way of downloading fully-functional demos: I’ll download the software, try out the full version for a month or two and then decide whether to buy. I’ve bought several things this way, rather than using the disabled demos which are usually offered. You’ll certainly be able to get the programs that you want this way, but if you’re anything like me, then you’ll probably feel bad and want to pay for the full version eventually, which isn’t as frugal as just going opensource to start with.
This is a subject that I’m really excited about, and some of my posts on the subject are here:
http://indebtnet.com/blog/?cat=13
If you need anything I can help with (even if it’s just prayers and cheerleading) – I’m always available on my email. Good luck on this exciting adventure!
Lots of GREAT tips so far…
Just wanted to add that I *think* I have a couple programs that came with my new laptop that will do all the accounting stuff you want. I only use one of them, but have licenses for both. Let me see if the invoicing thing is an option, and if you want the other one I’ll put it in Sam’s package. I *know* it will do everything you could possibly want accounting-wise…even sync up with your online banking. You can break line items down by category, even split categories if you have a purchase that goes into multiple categories (like shopping at Walmart for instance…groceries, home supplies, clothing, etc all on one purchase).
Praying for you guys, always!
@Hilda – Thanks! I need to put together a system for saving receipts. That’s one thing I’m not very good about doing, yet I know it’s going to be important. I don’t think we’ll be using our cars that much for business, but having a mileage log in the car is a good idea.
@Annie – You’re so excited, you’re making ME more excited! Thanks for all the great information! I don’t think there’s anything unethical about using BitTorrent, as long as it’s just to try things out before you buy. I may look into that. That’s a good way to make sure you know you’ll use a program before you buy….and that is most definitely frugal! I’ll definitely email you if I have questions along the way, too! Thanks!
@Kandy – I am most definitely interested in the program, if you can find it! That would be a huge help! Thanks!
I started my own business about a year ago, and I have had very good success with the Open Office applications.
I was also able to get a free copy of Quickbooks Simple Start, which has been more than adequate for the basics — recording expenses, creating invoices, basic financial reports, etc. The software was an offer directly from Intuit (so it was all legal and everything), and it was listed on one of the “freebie” sites a while ago. Sorry I don’t have a link for you. Perhaps a web search would still turn something up.
Regarding business cards, I don’t know about their more expensive cards, but I’ve found that Vista Prints’ “free” cards aren’t very good quality. I much prefer Overnight Prints.
Good luck with everything!
@Sheri – I’ll definitely look into Quickbooks Simple Start and Overnight Prints. Thanks for the info!
What a coincidence! I’m a copywriter. I’ve been freelance for two years now, and write about copywriting frequently on my other blog.
Your husband might be interested in the topics I write about: how to write copy, how to get clients, etc.
I won’t put a link here. Just Google my name.
Anyway, I read the post about him losing his job. Not fun. I hope he’s able to get his business going quickly. I was in a similar situation two years ago.
In terms of accounting, I’m not good at it, so I have a CPA do it for me. Don’t know if that’s the best way… it’s just what I’ve done. Runs $250 a quarter, not counting annual tax returns: one for the corporation and one personal.