Small Business
Ownership For Geeks
Cameron Childress
• Native of Atlanta Georgia
• ColdFusion developer since 1942*
• Also Flex, AIR, iPhone, Development
• Founded Sumo Consulting Inc, 2003
• If you can beat me at foosball and I will
buy you a tasty beverage of your choice
*by 1942, I mean 1996
How Do
You
____?
• How do you handle
accounting?
• How do you write contracts?
• How do you pay people?
• How do you manage time?
• How do you get organized?
• How do you find time to write
code?
I’m Not A Lawyer
(find your own lawyer)
I’m Not An
Accountant
(find your own accountant)
Ask Questions
The Setup
• Employee vs Business Owner
• Technical Details
• Lessons From the Field
Are You An
Employee?
(from: richdad.com)
What Kind of Worker?
• 1099 - Contrator
• W2 - Employee (mostly)
What Kind of
Business?
• Sole Proprietorship - Limited protection
• S Corp - Distributions aren’t taxed
• C Corp - Double taxation, lots of
paperwork
• LLC - Less paperwork, flexible
More: http://www.themoneyalert.com/Corp-Entity-Table.html
Legal
Contractors
Clients
•Contractor Agreement •Master Service
Agreement
•NDA
•
NDA
•Statement Of Work
•
Statement Of Work
•W9
F*ck You Pay Me!
Client Relationship and Contact Commentary by Mike Monteiro
1. Contracts protect both parties
2. Don’t start work without a contract
3. Don’t blindly accept their terms
Full video: http://vimeo.com/22053820
F*ck You Pay Me!
Client Relationship and Contact Commentary by Mike Monteiro
4. Anticipate negotiation, but don’t back down
on
•
•
•
IP Transfer on Full Payment
Termination (kill fee)
Liability
4. Lawyers talk to Lawyers
5. Be specific and confident about money
Full video: http://vimeo.com/22053820
Accounting
• Cash Basis vs Accrual Basis
• Pre-billing and Unearned Income
Accountants Can
Help
• Cash Flow Projections
• Payroll
• Tax Filings
• Bookkeeping
Accounting Tools
Business Expenses
Employee
Business Owner
Keep ‘em Separated
• Get business specific reward card(s)
• Get business checking account
• etc...
Business Expenses
• Computer Equipment
• Auto Expenses / Miles
• Mobile Phone / Internet
• Conferences / Training
• Home Office
Lessons From The
Field
Unexpected Costs?
• Office Space
• Signage
• Business Insurance (Liability + E&O)
• Accountant
• Attorney
Working On or In Your Company?
Project Overhead!
• You will often spend the same amount
of administrative time on a $1,000 job
as a $100,000 job.
Live In The Cloud!
Be Careful Working
With Friends
Be Extra Careful
Working With
Spouses
The Math of
Consulting
• You can’t stay billable all the time
• Holidays mean you aren’t making
money
• Training costs you twice
• Employment Taxes
The Unfortunate Math Behind Consulting Companies:
(blog.asmartbear.com/consulting-company-accounting.html)
Resources
• Rework (37signals.com/rework)
• Rich Dad Poor Dad (richdad.com)
• F*ck You Pay Me
(vimeo.com/22053820)
• The Unfortunate Math Behind
Consulting Companies
(blog.asmartbear.com/consultingcompany-accounting.html)
Questions?
Cameron Childress
cameronc@sumoc.com
www.sumoc.com