Now that you’ve got those basic things out of the way and have an official email/phone number, it’s time to start setting up all of the various accounts you’ll need to operate your business.

IMPORTANT: One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is mixing personal banking/credit with business right off the bat. This is a HUGE mistake and your accountant will hate you for it. Avoid this mess by getting these things taken care of one day one.

We’ll be covering what to consider when setting up checking, credit, and vendor accounts below.

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Step 1: Banking/Checking

This isn’t an overly complicated topic here but there are some important things to consider when going through initial admin set up. By far, the most important thing you need to do:

Go to a bank and set up a dedicated checking account in your businesses name. DO NOT USE YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT.

I realize when you’re starting a “side hustle” that you may not think it’s overly important to do this. However, you want to be as legitimate as possible from day one and that means having all of your ducks in a row.

When you get setup with accounting software, you’re going to want to have all of your banking linked online and you do not want to be intermixing personal/business transactions.

The process for setting up a business checking account is simple and does not take a lot of brain power. You’ll need:

• General Business Info (name, number, address, email, etc)

• Federal EIN

A Few Considerations:

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Whether it…

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Before you can even think about working for a customer, you have to get the “office” organized. I really want to emphasize this because it’s important: take your time here and do things properly. Setting up some basic workflows and general organization will do you wonders in the future. If you don’t, things can get chaotic in a hurry.

You might think some of this isn’t necessary, but I AM TELLING YOU that you will thank me later. Business requires organization and this is the last chance you get to work ON the business before you have to starting working IN it at the same time.

In this post we’re going to cover:

• domain purchase

• email setup

• phone number

• desktop organization

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of this may change over time and that’s ok. What we’re trying to accomplish here is basic organization so your operation isn’t total chaos behind the scenes. BONUS: This will also impress your customers/vendors.

Let’s get started.

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Step 1: Acquire Your Domain

We live in a digital world, there is no getting around that anymore. If you’re starting a business from scratch, you HAVE to be online. This includes having a website, social media pages, Google Business Page, and more. You’re also going to be communicating via email (a lot).

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By now readers should have a good general idea of how they will approach starting their own business. Regardless of the strategies they will pursue, the initial administrative stage is still the same. What exactly does that mean?

You have to actually start your business.

For those of you who’ve never done so, this can be a bit of an overwhelming process. In this next series, we’re going to be discussing some (admittedly) boring but important things you need to get done.

Consider this a sort of “checklist” for the things you need to get done before you can actually get out there and start getting jobs. We’re going to start from the beginning in this post:

• choosing a name

• structuring/filing the business

• acquiring necessary licensing/insurance

We’ll be keeping this series somewhat short as we don’t want to develop analysis-paralysis for the reader.

Don’t waste any more time. Take action.

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Choosing A Name

As you may have expected, before you can do anything you’re going to need to choose a name for your business. You shouldn’t spend a ton of time overthinking this, but it is important to get right. After all, this is the start of building your brand and there are some important things to consider:

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Something prospective business owners need to understand is that a customers willingness to pay for certain service varies significantly. Two people may need your service, but one of them is probably willing to pay much more. You need to identify that customer and focus your efforts there.

In future posts, we will go into more detail on this topic. But for now, we’re going to cover what you can actually expect to make before you target that customer. These will be general numbers here for Solopreneurs & Entrepreneurs. Please understand that this is to set expectations and is HIGHLY dependent on a wide variety of factors.

(This will also serve as a way to approach or evaluate business performance on a per employee basis.)

IMPORTANT: The numbers we discuss here are *general* and not indicative of every market. Your location may vary. The point of this information is to give you an insight into potential incomes for your chosen service. What you are willing to charge/attempt to charge for your work is up to you.

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Solopreneur vs Entrepreneur Incomes

Before we get into specifics on a per-service basis, we need to go over some general principles to work off of and that starts with once again distinguishing between Solopreneur & Entrepreneur mindsets.

This is the most important concept to grasp (and too many it’s probably rather obvious):

1. A Solopreneur’s potential income is going to be capped. There’s only so much work you can get done by yourself.

2. On the other hand, as an Entrepreneur your potential income is technically infinite (although it’s important to be realistic here).

If you’re still not quite understanding why this is the case, it’s because a solo-operators income is based solely on their own performance.

Those who choose to scale their business (Entrepreneurs) make their money based on their employees performance.

You can have an unlimited amount of employees, but there’s only one of you. If you want more money, you have to get more jobs done and you can’t do that without hiring employees.

Whether the extra income is worth the additional work/risk that comes with managing employees is up to you. All we’re trying to do here is to get you to understand the difference in potentials.

So what exactly is a realistic number to shoot for? Let’s break it down.

(Before we do so, understand that ultimately this all comes down to how much you want to work.)

This will be our first paid-subscriber only post. If you are still on a free subscription, you can use the one-time teaser/preview option to get an idea of what paid content will look like.

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However, there’s more to it than that. You’re not just serving “homeowners” in a Home Services company. You need to narrow it down and t…

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Step 1 is really quite simple: choose a service & define your strategy.

While those two details are important, you also need to decide what your goals are for the business in general. So …

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We broke the varying services into two different categories:

• Trades

• …

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Alright guys, time to get the most basic information out of the way as quickly as possible. We’re going to be starting from zero here and there’s a lot of ground to cover. In this introductory series, we’re going to keep things as “to the point” as possible.

Before you actually start your business, you need to figure out which service you’ll be offering and if the businesses model is going to be Project-based, Service-based, or a combination of both.

A brief description of both should give you a rough idea of how you’ll want to approach getting things off the ground. We’ll also be covering what you should consider before creating a plan of action.

Let’s get started.

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What Exactly Are “Home Services”?

There are a wide variety of options available to you for providing a service to homeowners. We’re going to break it down into some categories here so you can narrow it down quickly based on your interests and skillsets.

Before we do so, you need to understand there’s a technical difference between a project-based business and a service-based business, even though both are still technically a service you’re offering.

What’s the difference?

Projects are longer, involve more planning, and do not result in recurring revenue.

Examples include:

• general contracting

• hardscape

• roofing

• painting

• & any other non-recurring service (generally speaking)

Service is quicker, tends to be smaller ticket, and depending on the specific service may be a recurring revenue model.

Examples include:

• landscaping

• cleaning (all kinds)

• pest control

• plumbing

• electrical

• HVAC

IMPORTANT NOTE:

There are some specific trades or services that fall under both categories. For example, a plumber can have both a Project side and a Service side in their business.

Projects would be considered re-plumbs and other such remodel work, while Service would entail repairs and fixture upgrades.

This applies to others like Electrical, HVAC, etc.

What’s important to understand here is that your trade will dictate if you’re primarily project-based or service-based. A hybrid of both can be great but they have to be approached differently.

Service Options To Choose From

It should go without saying there are a wide variety of options to choose. While my experience is primarily in renovation & repair (trades) the same basic concepts we’ll cover in this publication will apply to most, especially at the beginning stages.

For the sake of organization, we’re going to break it down into categories. Please understand this is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all the options available. We will cover all of these in detail in future posts.

Trade Services:

These will require real experience and generally come with heavier licensing/insurance requirements as well as (relatively) substantial risk.

• Plumbing

• Electrical

• HVAC

• Roofing

• Painting

• Carpentry

• Hardscape/Excavation

• Window/Door Install

• Flooring/Tiling

• Fencing

Maintenance/Luxury Services:

These are more simple to get off the ground with a lower barrier to entry. They’re also generally speaking a recurring revenue model (with exceptions)

• Exterior Cleaning (roof, window, house, etc)

• Interior Cleaning

• Pool Cleaning

• Landscape

• Pest Control

• Christmas Lights

Hopefully you get the general idea now. You do NOT have to be a skilled tradesman to run a home services company. There are all kinds of options available to you to choose from.

They all require some skill and knowledge to an extent, but Maintenance & Luxury/Seasonal services are quite a bit simpler and can often times be learned in a matter of months as opposed to years like a Trade business.

IMPORTANT: Yes, there are some maintenance/luxury services that are more technical than they seem.

Deciding Which Service To Choose

With so many options available, how does one decide which is best? The answer is, of course, that none are “best”.

There’s only what’s best for you and the goals you’re looking to accomplish by starting a business.

Here’s what you should consider before getting into a service business.

1. What skillset do you currently possess?

2. How much capital do you have to deploy?

3. What size of company are you looking to build?

The above listed questions are extremely important. You should not be getting into business “casually”. If you’re considering it, there must be some reasons.

Identify them.

Do you:

• Want more money?

• Want more freedom in your schedule?

• Want to build generational wealth?

Whatever your motivation is behind starting a business, identify it and figure out how you’re going to channel that into a defined plan to accomplish your goals.

“Do I need a written business plan?”

Probably not.

But it depends on a few things:

1. Are you having to borrow money to get this started and/or to purchase an existing business?

2. Do you already have experience in business management at a previous company?

If those apply to you, you’ll need one and frankly will likely benefit from writing it out. You’re probably that type of person.

If you’re another tradesman just looking to become your own boss, don’t bother. You’ll be wasting your time.

How one approaches starting a business is entirely based on the factors I’ve described above. In my experience, most people looking to start a trade business typically fall into one of the two categories listed below.

Guy A:

• Mid 20’s to 30’s

• Solid income but no real room to move up at work

• A decent chunk of capital ready to deploy

• Probably in some sort of management or sales position

• Have read all the gurus & Huber

More than likely they’ll be looking to buy a franchise or an existing business because they “don’t have time” to start something from scratch. (They’re going to be in for a rude awakening soon.)

Guy B

• Mid 20’s to 30’s

• Works a trade job but company sucks

• Knows he could do the same exact work and double his salary for himself

• Just wants to at least get his own license and be his own boss

This guy has an advantage because he’s worked in the industry, and when you’re starting from scratch you need to know the basics and be able to perform the work. The problem is they’re going to have to start working with their brain instead of their hands. (This is not an insult for what it’s worth.)

Whichever “Guy” you are doesn’t matter. Both have their place.

A prospective entrepreneur needs to identify the motivations behind what he’s looking to accomplish and the skillsets required to get it done. That’s where you need to start.

The work required to become a Solopreneur tradesman is a lot different than the work required to build a $10 million/year service business. They are NOT the same thing, even if they’re in the same industry.

Either way, everybody starts from zero. My goal here is to give you the foundational information and context you need to make the right decisions for the goals you’re looking to accomplish. (To be perfectly clear, if the goal is $10 million/year, I can only get you so far. Remember, this publication is for the basics.)

The next post will provide more context into the Pros & Cons of Trades vs Maintenance/Luxury service offerings.

Until next time,

- HSG

A quick note:

The first few articles will be free, as will others occasionally down the road. However, paid subscribers will have full access to all content as well as direct access to me in the Substack Chat Room, where I will answer any and all questions readers have as it pertains to business. Consider your subscription a recurring consult fee for a fraction of the normal cost. If you’d like to become a paid subscriber, you can do so below.

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