Things I Love About Running An Online Business

I'm sitting here at 1am on a Wed (well, OK, I guess it's Thurs now) loafing time away listening to music on Pandora Radio (Pandora.com -- very cool! Check it out!) and reading my latest issues of Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Diesel Power Magazine and relishing some of the cool perks of owning an online business.

Here's a few I thought I'd share:
1) No Commute.
Well, ok, does a flight of stairs to my in-home office count? I absolutely LOVE not having to drive to work. For 5 years I commuted back & forth to Salt Lake or to some remote clinic I had to work at and I'm telling you, I hated it! There I sat in an iron box on 4 wheels wasting time away, burning up money in gas, and devaluing my car by rolling over the odometer mile after mile.

It got old really fast and I've not missed a single moment of the drive since quitting "the day job" to do my business full time. These days a tank of gas in my Toyota Tundra can last nearly a month and then some. Heck, we put more mileage on mini-van than my truck ever see's.

It was funny, we recently got a letter from Allstate wanting to know how in the world we could drive SO LITTLE in a years time (when I quit the day job & sold the Accord I had my agent adjust the mileage estimates on my insurance because it lowered our premiums). Anyway, I calculated the mileage we now travel using their form and found that we put about 8000 miles a year on the minivan and only 4500 on the truck. How's that for savings?!

Not having to commute to work just totally rocks!

2) My Business, My Hours
About six months into running my business full time I made a decision to close my business on Wednesday's. At that time we were doing lots of Biodiesel demo's and it was easier for some reason for people to come & see them during the middle of the week. I also did some research & found that that was my lowest call volume day and emails were the slowest on those days.

I was also looking for a way to get my weekends back since I was just about burning myself out trying to keep up with the business (we had a REALLY busy year last year). One day when I was just about at my wits end I made the decision to not answer the phone on Wednesdays and just get "the other stuff" done so I could have a weekend all to myself for family time instead of being a slave to the business.

I'd also remembered reading a Benjamin Franklin quote at a vendors place that read, "Run thy business or thy business will run thee". So, I bit the bullet (I was really nervous about losing sales) and said to heck with it. It's my business and I'll run it any dang way I want.

And so from that day on, Wednesdays were MINE! Granted, I technically am still working on Wed's, but it's usually doing stuff like updating my site, photographing new products, paying the bills, working with vendors to develop new products to offer, and other "non-sales driven" stuff. Oh yeah, and not answering the phone right in the middle of a really brain-consuming project.

My customers have all gotten used to it and are just fine with it. They still ask occasionally what in the world I do on Wednesday's and some even wonder if it's some "religious thing with Mormons". I just laugh & explain.

I still get people that'll call on wed's...today someone from Puerto Rico rang the line at 7am! But I just ignore it & let the voice mail catch it. Ah....life is good!

3) Employees Rock!
I spent the first couple years doing all of the business as a one man show. I did the packing, the shipping, the bills, everything....and it got old. For about 6 months I fretted over hiring an employee because I'd heard so many horror stories that small business owners had shared, but, I finally bit the bullet, plunked down my hard earned cash for workers compensation insurance, signed up for Paychex (it's a payroll service), got registered with the state to hire employees (it'd blow your mind all the crapola the government makes you go through to hire someone "legally"), and hired an employee.

That was in March of last year and oh my gosh do I love having an employee around! I must be spoiled because I think I have the best darned employee out there. He's from next door, just graduated high school last year, and is an incredible worker. He's incredibly good too! He handles all the shipping, stocking, and printing of new orders. He also does our inventory, and basically makes it so I can concentrate on running the business and bringing in more sales. I love having him around!

It also means I can now go on extended vacations and the business continues to operate. We went to Lava Hot Springs last summer & he ran the place while I was gone. In July I also went on a business trip & yep! He kept it running! It rocks!

I don't know what I'd do without him (well, yes I do, I'd cry....he went to a NASCAR race last week & I had to pack again...let's just say he can pack out the orders 10 times better than I can!) The guy's amazing!

Also, a little tip...if any of you out there do start a business and need an employee, spend some time finding the right one, then train them really well, and treat them well. He's paid really well (he makes more than the managers at McDonalds do working for me--I noticed it one day when I took him out to lunch & saw their "help wanted" sign, "Hey, look! You make more than the managers here make! Cool, huh!") Find great staff, train them well, pay them what they're worth, and they'll make life for your business rock!

4) Online Sales At All Hours Of The Day, 24/7
Because my business is online, I'm technically "open for business" 24/7. I literally make money in my sleep. I'll go to bed with all the orders cleared and wake up to several more. It's amazing how many orders come in overnight.

You just can't beat sales like that! It's just so cool to wake up & see orders that have come in through the night. Weekends are even cooler! By far, the best "sales day" of the week is Sunday. AND I DON'T EVEN WORK ON SUNDAY! Is that cool or what?

Tonight while I was lounging around reading my Motor Trends & Car and Driver two sales came trickling in. Now how many Brick & Mortar businesses do you know that can pull that one off? The internet is so dang cool!

5) Low Overhead
Because nearly all of my sales are generated online, I don't have to pay for a fancy showroom or a retail space to house the business. I bought a 10 x 20 storage shed to store the inventory we stock here and I use a converted bedroom in the basement for my office space. And I even get to write off the space used for the office on my taxes! How cool is that?

The internet has truly made it possible to operate a full fledged business from your house. Trust me, it's possible. Very, very possible! I'm now headed into my 5th year and it's been growing every one of those years too!

6) Layoffs? What Layoffs?
About 7 years ago I worked for Iomega (you know, the guy's that make Zip drives). I worked there for 5 years and in that time I lived through nearly 7 rounds of layoffs. We went through 5 CEO's in that time too.

After getting married, buying a house, and basically taking on a ton of responsibility (both financially and mentally), the prospect of losing my job as each of those rounds of layoffs happened just about made me go crazy. For weeks I wouldn't sleep at night and I'd have visions of "the grim reaper from HR" knocking on my cubicle to "come and visit with him about something" (which meant you were losing your job) It drove me crazy!

I finally quit that place (never did get laid off, I quit on my own terms), and went to work for Intermountain Health Care (a MUCH more stable company) and did that gig for 5 years. In that time, even IHC had layoffs. I even had to help determine who did & didn't get to keep their jobs at one point; trust me it's not fun. Nobody likes telling an otherwise useful worker that they're losing their job knowing that they have kids at home they have to feed. I remember my boss hated it too. It wasn't pretty.

One day I read a book called "The Millionaire Next Door" that changed my life. In it they basically interviewed lots of lots of millionaires and asked them questions about what they'd done and how they got so rich. In one section of the book it talked about that most of these millionaires owned their own businesses. Also in that section one of the millionaires said something that really resonated with me that sunk deep to the bone.

He said, "When you work for someone, you have one boss that controls your ability to make money. If you screw up, one person can determine whether or not you can pay your bills. If you own your own business, you can spread that risk over literally hundreds of people; your customers. In other words, when you work for yourself, your "boss" is your customer base. If you lose one customer, so what? You'll have 99 others to keep you going. And chances are if you're at all good at what you do you'll get another 100 after that. However, if you fail, you have no one to blame but yourself."

It was that and a couple other points in the book that really stuck with me and got me started on this whole "own your own business" gig. And I gotta tell you I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Yep. The economy is going to pot. Yep. Lot's of my friends & relatives are losing their jobs. Yep. It sucks. I've been there, done that. But, the good Lord up above willing, we're still here & kicking and still doing pretty good. Definitely not as good as last year, but still not anywhere near to the point of having to shut the business down either.

You see, I have literally thousands of customers (I did a count earlier this year for a newsletter I publish just how many customers I had last year. It tallied in at well over 5,000!). Those wonderful customers of mine (and believe me, I LOVE my customers! I think I've got the greatest customers in the world!) take good care of me & I take good care of them.

Because of them, I've been able to spread my "job-loss risk" out quite a bit and at least for now, we're doing fine.

7) S-Corps
If you've read some of my previous posts, it's pretty obvious I'm not a fan of taxes. I think if most people had ANY CLUE how much businesses pay in taxes; and particularly small businesses, it'd make their heads spin. You see, the majority of the US population works for other people for a living. All they see is the money they get in the form of a paycheck.

What they don't see is that the business enterprise they work for is paying taxes through the nose just to keep afloat and to provide them with a job. Taxes suck. I realize what they're for, I realize that we all need to pay our fair share, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. I haven't seen a tax refund in over 5 years. This year I paid more in taxes than I ever MADE in a single year working for someone else (yes, that's a lot!).

(OK, small rant....I was reading in the Book of Mormon tonight about King Noah's people getting taken over by the Lamanites. When Noah & his cronies beat it out of the land and the Lamanites came in & took over, the Lamanites imposed a 50% tax on everything King Noah's remaining people made. Did you know that if you calculate the taxes levied on a small business in some cases they're paying nearly 45% of what they make in taxes? And we're happy about this? Excited to live in the land of the free, the brave, and the taxed? Now you get a feel for where my attitude about taxes comes from...ok, now on with my post...rant over)

But, wait! There is hope! It's called an S-Corporation and it's what helps keep small businesses from being taxed to the point that they all go belly up.

Here's how it works.
If you work for yourself as a sole proprietor then at the end of the year, everything you make is subject to income tax in the form of self-employment income tax. This not only means Federal & State income tax, but it also means FICA, Social Security, and Medicare taxes too (the ones everyone seems to FORGET ABOUT but the ones that'll absolutely kill you).

(It's been said that the middle-class in America are the ones that REALLY foot the tax bill in the form of Medicare and Social Security.)

Now, here's where an S-Corp comes into play.

When you're a corporation; and particularly an S-Corp, you "hire yourself" as an employee of the company and you "assign yourself a salary" (hence another reason for me needing a payroll company; they get to deal with all the crap that goes with Payroll--ie. Payroll taxes anyone?)

Anyway, the kicker is that once that salaries in place, I don't have to "pay myself" more than that salary regardless of how much the company makes. While the business can make tons more than my salary may be, I only have to pay myself the salary I designate (within reason; there's certain stipulations, but you get the idea).

When you "pay yourself a salary", you still have to pay Medicare & Social Security on the "salary wages", but not on the rest of the profits the corporation makes.

The S-Corp becomes it's own "entity" if you will that can pay it's shareholders dividends. Dividends aren't subject to Medicare & Social Security. They are subject to Federal & State Income Taxes (and trust me, those aren't any walk in the park either), but by using an S-Corp you can reduce the amount of money you pay out to Medicare & Social Security and can greatly reduce your tax burden.

Most CPA's will tell you that it doesn't make sense to move to an S-Corp unless your profits are expected to be higher than about $50K/year. We hit that magic number two years ago & so last year we opted for the S-Corp option and saved quite a bit this year.

Granted, when you're an S-Corp, there's a lot more paperwork & documentation you have to do, but it's well worth it. According to my CPA, by moving to an S-Corp, we saved over $12,000 in taxes that we otherwise would've had to have paid out if I was still running the business as a sole proprietorship. Yep! That's a lot of dough! I don't know of many people that wouldn't want to save $12,000.

There's also a liability benefit to having a corporation too. If the business ever gets sued, the liability is born by the corporation and not by it's officers (if you've done your documentation properly and haven't done something terribly illegal that is). Granted, there's ways around everything when it comes to lawsuits, just ask my brother in law, but an S-Corp does give a bit of liability protection when administered correctly.

So, to me, having an S-Corp this year was well worth it. It also means we can have our own 401K plan; which also is kind of cool (but somewhat EXPENSIVE to administer though!)

And, there you have it!
7 reasons why I love running an online business. Granted, the last two are more about me running my own business & not necessarily tied to it being run online, but they're still things I like.

So, while it's now 2AM and many of you won't be making money until you go into work in the morning and punch that time clock, I'll probably still get a few more sales in before the nights through.

Not a bad thing if you think about it.

Just a note though for all those out there that are now dreaming up ways to quit their jobs and start their own businesses. It's REALLY HARD WORK! This hasn't come overnight. I started it part time and sacrificed an awful lot of personal time and still do to keep it running (just ask my immediate family how much they saw me over the last couple years; it's getting better, but for about 2 years there I didn't do much else).

You'll work many more hours than you ever worked working for someone else (I probably work about 60-70 hours a week on the business) and you never get to really get it out of your mind (I posted something the other day about a business owner and how he was pretty much married to his business 24/7. You eat, sleep, and dream about it all the time. It's hard to get it out of your mind. It's like a needy, hungry child strapped to the side of you that you can never get rid of). But, that's why I chose something I enjoy.

There's a quote out there about doing the things you enjoy for work and you'll never work another day in your life. That's somewhat true. I took a hobby that I absolutely love and somehow figured out a way for me to do it all the time and still pay the bills and it's turned out to be a pretty good gig.

If you'd like more advice on that topic, go pick up a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door". It just might change your life too....

Well, I'm off to go make some money in my sleep. Gotta catch some Zzzz's....

Is it Daylight Savings?

I went to bed late last night. Graydon has a cold and had gone to bed earlier. I knew it was late and that I would have to get up early for church. Well, I slept through the alarm and got up an hour and a half late. I was rushing!

When 8:30 rolled around and we had everyone ready and everything packed, I couldn't believe that we had made it on time. We got to church right before 9 am. Or so I thought.

The chapel was unusally full and someone other than a member of the bishopric was speaking. I thought it was odd, but really didn't think anything else. When we sat in our usuall bench in the front of the chapel (Where all could see us come in)my friend, one row behind, leans forward and tells me that it was DLS. We were an hour late!

DLS had never even crossed my mind. I received joking comments about how bewildered I had looked when we walked in. Oh, Well. Sacrament Meeting was very easy today.

Trampoline

Well, we got a trampoline today. A woman in our ward gave it to us because her adult children have outgrown it. We have a few repairs to make on it, and we have to get a safety net, but the kids were very excited. I am glad that Graydon allowed it. It was very sweet of him.

Fun With Fire...

Because of my business, I get to do a lot of fun things....one of them is that every now & then I get to play with fire.

Below are some pictures of me spraying Biodiesel into a blow torch flame to show the burning characteristics of this great renewable fuel.

Flame Broiled Biodiesel anyone?

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Aye from GA. This guy should run for President one day...

"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other bed-wetters.

We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."

ARTICLE I:
You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but No one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II:
You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is Based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; But the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool Manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

You also do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the Creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:
You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE IX:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X:
This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

ARTICLE XI:
You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!!!!

A Little Dose Of Reality Never Hurts....

This was emailed to me and I absolutely loved it!

This is one of the greatest responses to the requests for bailout money I have seen thus far. As a supplier for the Big 3, Gregory Knox, President of Knox Machinery, received a letter from the President of GM North America requesting support for the bailout program. His response is classic and has to make you proud of a local guy who tells it like it is.

By the way, this is for real too....
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/knox.asp

Here's the letter GM sent out...
Dear Employees & Suppliers,

Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis. As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard. Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke, President General Motors North America

Here's the response...

Response from:
Gregory Knox, President
Knox Machinery Company
Franklin, Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers, please consider the following and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah," President-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream." Believe me folks, The dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the world's most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities . . . .. . this dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.

Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states, "There is widespread sentiment throughout this country and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management -- which it certainly is not."

You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST management . . . . . how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40-hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift and for being too productive. (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea, "over the last few years we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit .

I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research , surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money." "Yes," he said, "this would cause short term problems, but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day . . . . . and the following day a very important thing would happen. Where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up That is how a free market system works . . . . . it does work . . . . . if we would only let it work."

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in and "save us" Save us my ass! Hell, we're nationalizing and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really happening. But they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams Yeah that's really important, isn't it?

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country? How can that be? Let's see . . . . . Fuel efficient . . . . .. Listening to customers . . . . . Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul . . . . .

Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning. Treating vendors like strategic partners rather than like "the enemy." Efficient front and back offices. Non-union environment. Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into. My children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way). I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh? Am I there for them in the wings? Of course, but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news people. It's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied, "We really might not do it in a year . . . . . or in four . . . . ." Where the hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office.

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks. That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000. People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits. That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year. We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe.

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home. Let the market correct itself folks - it will. Yes, it will be painful, but it's gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has . . . . . and doesn't live beyond its means . . . . . and gets back to basics . . . . and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world . . . . . and probably turns back to God.

Sorry - don't cut my head off. I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news." I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin , Ohio 45005

Just Amazed!

I have to tell you about an amazing change in Emily, which I hope will last. Recently she has determined that she doesn't like to have a messy room. She cleans it up in the morning before school and just tonight she was cleaning it up in the dark after being put to bed.

This is an amazing change. Before we had to fight her to pick up anything and now she does it willingly, of her own accord. I love her so much. I think it may have been sparked by a book that we read one night about a girl who was talking about how neat and clean she was, but that her sister was the messiest ever. Emily has said that she is like the clean older sister.

I am going to enjoy this time while it lasts.