The First Steps to Starting Your Commercial Lawn Business

This article includes an overview of the steps required to start your own commercial lawn maintenance business in the state of Texas. Keep in mind that this list is always growing and that it should in no way be considered a final collection of everything you should or should do before starting your maintenance business. It helps you in the steps necessary to start your new business and can offer you information on items that you may not have thought of when planning your new business.

STEP 1: Creating Your Certificate of Specified Name

A false name certificate (also known as Doing Business As or DBA) is a certificate submitted to the county office that shows that a person is doing business in that county under a particular business name.

To file your fake name certificate, visit your local county office and ask for help applying for a DBA. Depending on the county, this is generally a simple one-page form that you can fill out at the county office and return to them. After paying your filing fee, which generally ranges from $ 10 to $ 20, they then check your database to verify that no other company in that county operates under the business name you chose. If there is no other company, your fake name certificate will be issued to you. This certificate is required to open your company checking account in your bank, which is definitely suggested.

STEP 2: Opening a Company Control Account

Having a company checking account is important for several reasons. Firstly, it makes it easy to separate your personal finances from your business expenses by having a separate business account. This is really a very critical step when it comes to tax, as you will be able to claim on your tax return the initial start up expenses, which you will incur when you start your business.

Second, since clients pay you for their services, you need a means to deposit your payments. Although it is a common mistake to think that you will be able to and only accept cash payments, you will lose possible jobs as people do not always have cash available to pay. Therefore, you will not receive a possible contract or you will be asked to return at a later time for payment. This is definitely something you do not want to get used to as it requires another trip to the home, which increases your non-productive time and costs you fuel and travel expenses ET Lawn Care LLC near Flint TX.

STEP 3: Create a commercial phone line

Although I have met several new companies that have tried to use their mobile phone or home phone as their business area to save money in advance, it is not recommended. Since there really is no benefit to doing the above, I just want to list the disadvantages of using your home or cell phone as your primary means of communication.

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Only almost immediately after you apply for your government VAT number does your phone ring for about two months with every Tom, Dick & Harry credit card company, marketing company, insurance company, etc., etc. trying to sell you something. Because state tax information is public, these companies scan all new businesses that have applied for a state VAT number and start bombarding them with promotional phone calls. If you use your cell phone as your business line, your cell phone bill can definitely cost you more money than the initial setup cost of a business phone line.

Second, if you use your home phone as your business line, you will get in trouble when you try to claim this as a business expense on your tax return. You can claim a dedicated business limit on your tax return as a hassle-free expense.

Third, if you do quality work and even do a minimal amount of business promotion, your business will grow. And as it grows and evolves, you will start receiving more and more phone calls. Since customers are not always the nicest when it comes to what time of day or night they decide to contact you, you will develop problems keeping something distant close to the normal opening hours.

STEP 4: Submit your state sales tax certificate

A big mistake is that a person who runs a lawn care company does not have to charge state VAT.