who to talk to for starting a company

[swing blade]

Hi,

I am a freshman in college, and I have been in landscaping for 5 years now. I have moved away to study Horticulture, and my old crew wants to keep working, and start doing lawn care. The "company" so to say was never licensed, taxed, insured, or so on before, because i only worked in my own subdivision for friends of mine or my parents. This kept me busy during the sunmmer and after school as well. Now I need to know who to talk to, what to do, where to go, and what I need to do to establish the company properly. I need to do this because before they start cutting next spring, I want to have liability insurance for them. They will be located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, outside of Cincinnati, and may work a few jobs in Ohio as well. One of them is a partner, and the other an employee. my partner plans on using his vehicle and trailer, and i am fianancing the equipment. I need all the help i can get


Thanks
milo

[Alan Bechard]

Professional help such as lawyer, banker, insurance agent and accountant.

For me, the accountant is the best bang for my buck, after several bookkeepers and such and one IRS audit we went with a guy that has CPA after his name.

IMO, I would look for a CPA, working his own business, with a couple of employees, that had been around a while, that was willing to sit and talk with me while I paid a reasonable hourly rate. He will direct you to the appropriate other professionals as needed has been my experience.

Our accountant has helped us out more times than I care to admit when we did something wrong, or did not do something we were supposed to with our taxes and such.

Al B

[bubble boy]

perhaps any friends, relatives etc who have a biz. i've had many ask me for advice...

when i started got most of my info from a local business development centre. 3 years later i still go there to ask questions.

government publications are plentiful up here

tax offices often have info

accountant and lawyer are good to have, but before seeing them do some research. that way you save money because they didn't have to explain the easy stuff for an hour, at $100 / hr.

[MPhillips]

Try http://www.score.org these guys are retired execs who can help you with basic questions and refer you to someone local for complex isues. I'd have a lot of questions for you...my main one would be why would you want to change anything from your current business structure, and are you saying that you want to manage a business, long distance, while you're away at college? If that's the case why would these guys need you, and do you really need the hassle right now...

Lawyers and accounts are good when you get large, but I think the money they'd cost would be better spent elsewhere during a start-up phase. If you need help though go with the accountant first.