Get the legalities taken care of.
Do this up right, and you could eventually make enough
doing it that you'll attract the attentions of state and local revenue authorities - currently it only takes
$600 to convince the local agent to put down his cappucino and ring you up to ask you to dance.
Trust me on this - and this is a basic tenent I teach all my students - treat your business
like you're already making a million dollars a year. Track expenses, set aside a space
in your home for nothing but sewing so you can take advantage of the home office deduction,
start dividing household expenses between personal use and business. Utilities, laundry supplies, coffee and soda -
though strangely not bottled water - can all justifiably be counted for your business. Even if much of
it is only in theory, if you keep the books early on when it doesn't matter life will be much
easier down the road.
Should you incorporate? Only if you have employees, make costumes that could injure
someone, or your accountant tells you to. There's no reason to make your life
any harder than it has to be.
Seamlyne Reproductions started out as a sole proprietership, now it's a
corporation for the tax benefits: I am paid a "salary" and Seamlyne writes that off as an expense. It
pays rent to me for about two hundred square feet of space which I claim as income and Seamlyne
writes off. It pays a portion of the utilities and phone.
The caveat to this is that you need to have an accountant who is good at this sort of thing because,
while perfectly legal, we're sailing close to the edge of gray territory. Totally worth it, if you have
an accountant you can trust.
Now, you need to become recognizable.
Back To "Sewing For Others"...
