starting a small excavating business

[CATmandew]

I am working on all the preliminary stuff.....looking for accountants and lawyers.

any advise?

If you had to do it all over again, how would you go about it?
Any particular questions for me to ask?
What sort of things should send up a "red flag"?

Thanks in advance fellas

[Hendrik]

Perhaps look for an good insurance agent first, you can worry about accountants when you start to make money and lawyers when you need to get out of jail.

[stock]

Record everything,materials,time,equipment. at the end of each job write down how it went and what went wrong and how much you made.
I have a friend and owner who has a written record of every job he ever did and he uses it to help him bid on work ,after 30years he has a wealth of knowledge of civil work and on the two occasions he was in court he was able to prove his compliance with regulations,when a wig accused him of forgery he offered to bring in all his records for the judge to examine .The judge asked how long he had been doing this and he said 22yrs or so. He the judge, told him to bring just a sample and listed 3 separate years ,so the following day fifteen boxes of records appeared at chambers, he won his case.
I myself do also keep records alas not as extensive as my mates but the do help.

[bill onthehill]

Stock has some good advice as far as keeping records. I Keep every receipt and every cancelled check. I once had a sitdown with the IRS and as I had every receipt for every penny I claimed as well as a logbook for mileage it did not last long. Apologized and sent me on my way. The burden of proof falls on the other party if you have accurate records. Had a similar dispute with a mortgage company regarding 2 payments from 9 years prior. They had never sent any notice about any late payments and a brief search in the attic produced the cancelled checks showing they had received payment. Judge in small claims court awarded me a nice fee and ordered them to give me a clean deed as well as remove it from my credit report and add a note that it was listed in error. Businesses will be hit hard if some of the things being proposed are pushed through so good records are essential.

[Red Bank]

The first thing I would look for would be the accountant. Look for one that has clients that have similar businesses as yours. And don't feel obiglated to take the first one you talk to. A good accountant with your kind of experience will be in a position to offer advice on lawyers and insurance. And if you can get anyone in the business around your area to talk to, that helps, although around here the competition does not like the "competition" and won't help much. It just the way things are. Other things to consider are you going to incorporate or LLC? The accountant will help you out with that. What equipment do you have or will you need to buy? How much work do you have lined up to do? Is this going to be full time from the start or part time? Depending upon how much work you have or plan to have, I agree with Stock, keep records on everything. For my dumptruck business I use one of those accordian type folders with segmented compartments. I buy a new one every year. It has enough compartments for bank statements, fuel receipts, insurance bills, invoices, load tickets, parts. I can go back and pick up last years folder and have everything I did in it. One more thing you need to find a good bank for a checking account. Look for a bank with a small business program with a decent deal on the checking account. Some banks want to charge for so many deposits, checks, etc. Shop around. Is any of this helping?

[CATmandew]

Yes...THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH....this information is helpful. I do plan on keeping good records.

I plan on starting this part time. I will OWN a dump truck and trailer and start out renting equipment. I would like to buy, but with the way the economy is, I think I will wait....

Thank you for the advise and keep it coming.

[Hendrik]

Yes...THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH....this information is helpful. I do plan on keeping good records.

I plan on starting this part time. I will OWN a dump truck and trailer and start out renting equipment. I would like to buy, but with the way the economy is, I think I will wait....

Thank you for the advise and keep it coming.
Do you need licensees to rent the equipment?

[pittedmess]

Just remember this:
1. Federal, State, and Local government get paid first
2. Venders, suppliers ,x wives, child support, and employees next
3. You get what's left over

[Red Bank]

:iagree

[Dominion 410]

:iagree x 2

A good,thourough,honest accountant in a must also.

Dominion:canada

[stock]

:iagree x 2

A good,thorough,honest accountant in a must also.

Dominion:canada

is this a contradiction in terms,A GOOD accountant can't be honest but he must be thorough,the judge of a good accountant should be able to earn his own wages.

[Static Design]

I have a problem with keeping up with everything, I wish I was more efficient where I could manage every dollar in and every dollar out. When I want to know exactly what I have it takes me about 3 days of paper work to see where I stand, I wish I was capable of doing it on the fly.

[Squizzy246B]

Static: I have been...nope...my wife has been using MYOB for three years now and if you punch good info in you get back good results immediatly. Quick Books is just as good. Before this we just ran a spreadsheet and it was just as accurate. While accountancy might be complicated good booking is just like........well, its nothing more complicated than in and out, and you don't need a degree for that. It simply comes down to bring the receipts home and punching them in...it really only takes minutes every few days. Check the bank statement (on-line) once a week and its a piece of cake.

I'm seriously over the old pile of paperwork stuff. Never let it slide and its no problem.

[Digger Dan]

Static: I have been...nope...my wife has been using MYOB for three years now and if you punch good info in you get back good results immediatly. Quick Books is just as good. Before this we just ran a spreadsheet and it was just as accurate. While accountancy might be complicated good booking is just like........well, its nothing more complicated than in and out, and you don't need a degree for that. It simply comes down to bring the receipts home and punching them in...it really only takes minutes every few days. Check the bank statement (on-line) once a week and its a piece of cake.

I'm seriously over the old pile of paperwork stuff. Never let it slide and its no problem.

My missus is into quick books and the paper end of my business couldn't be easier, highly recommend some kind of computer programme...

[Hendrik]

Unfortunately bookwork is a part of running your own show, you can either chase your paper trail, pay an accountant to work their way through the mess or in conjunction with a accounting software package do it yourself.
Having a whinge here is not going to solve it, just a matter of forcing yourself to sit down one evening a week and get on top of it. You will need a good filing system to keep everything in it's place, or you can do the shoe box under the bed trick, or the glovebox full of paper thingy but it is not going to go away. Not keeping good records will end up costing you money and may well get you in trouble with the tax man.
HOWEVER nothing wrong with being crap at bookwork but keep all paperwork in a place where you can store it until it is time to take it to a professional, even it is a shoe box under the bed.

[stock]

These are some of the factors that help us:

1.) I believe in organization. Good organization can help to eliminate potential problems from even happening, in the first place. I keep separate folders, for separate jobs. Everything is in that folder (in a ballistic computer type bag for the road), not spread out, all over the place.
2.) Fore-thought, and fore-planning are essential to any construction project. Even more so, if running multiple jobs. Regularly, review all facets of each current job, beginning to end. Make the time to do it. This is what separates the "wannabees", from the "ares".
3.)*Find*the right subs, and the right workers. The right sub contractors are the ones that you do not have to babysit. They are the ones that communicate. They are the ones, that have the ability to make good onsite-decisions and "calls".
The same can be said for workers.*
No job can run on automatic-pilot. There are times that you should be there, there are times that you should not have to be there. Train your help to work the way you need them to work, in order to be 99% self-sufficient, equip them to be as well.
Train your subs (without letting them realize it) to the way you need them to work, when on your jobs.*
4.) Personal scheduling: Work out a proper schedule to take care of all aspects of your business. Example: I do all my phone calls, with a hands free set on the road. It's down time = use it to your advantage.
5.) Mobile office: You need a "form" of one, if you are going to run, more than one job...period.
6.) C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
7.) All workers and subs are required to check in every morning, and every day's end....period.
8.) Note pads = always have one and a pen.
9.) Get up a little earlier in the morning. If you are used to the 8-5, it's time to change your schedule. Get up earlier, and you'd be surprised at how much more you can get done and how much more organized you will be.
10.) Develop a good list of suppliers and reps. If you have specific sales people, or reps, that you can do business with, on a regular basis, they can do alot of the extra work, and phone calls for you. They can even run materials and supplies out to your jobsites for you.
11.) Always be "networking". You will be able to find resources that can help you.
12.) Have a good office, or home office. Sometimes, you just need a nice big table to spread out the paperwork, until you can catch up to it.
13.) Keep track of your project expenses.
14.) It's a fact, more jobs = more driving. Be prepared for more gas use, and more wear on your vehicle.
15.) If you have a business partner, think about what his/her strong points are, think about what your strong points are. Delegate business matters accordingly. You will get more done.
16.) Always develop a system for everything. It will create efficiency.
17.) MANAGEMENT SKILLS: Good communication, written lists, forms, follow ups, inspecting, co-ordination, fore-thought, planning, all of the above....
To successfully run multiple projects, your are a manager first, and a carpenter, GC, or whatever.... second.
__________________


I found this on another Site A while back,I copied and pasted it to open office 3 to give out on such occasions especially to young engineers that still have collage water behind their ears. I advise y'all to do the same.

[Hendrik]

All of what stock wrote is good stuff but most important is to keep a diary and keep it with you.
You can use a diary to track income and expense, if so desired.

[Red Bank]

Stock, that was an excellent post. the only thing I want to add is I do my paperwork everyday at the end of the day with my trucking company. 30 minutes everyday is better than tying the last weekend of the month trying to sort through receipts, checks, deposits,etc to figure out where I am at.

[stock]

All of what stock wrote is good stuff but most important is to keep a diary and keep it with you.
You can use a diary to track income and expense, if so desired.

This is the one thing that I cannot reiterate strongly enough and I am sorry for omitting it I do it religiously, always have the diary and always fill it after every site visit,even if it only to report the weather.then at the end of the day or the start of the next sign it off ,close the page if you will then if required it can be used in court.

[Safety Mgmt.]

You will be over 10,000# GVWR and be regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Too much to go over here for you to be in compliance, call our office and I can help get you compliant, no matter what state you in. 231-823-8237 Skip at Safety Management Systems

[Safety Mgmt.]

Everyone has good points but the compliance tickets can mount up pretty fast when stopped on the road or in a compliance review by a state or federal officer. You need to be In Compliance as you start up a company...

[zhkent]

I like quickbooks. (2003) If you spend a little time and set up things
right.
I pay my bills by doing my checks on it, they are recorded into the proper expense category, and then printed.
The checks have the vendors address printed on, sign check, stick in window envelope.
By recoding them in the proper expense category the "bookkeeping" aspect is done.
At the end of year I copy the whole file to cd or usb stick and take to accountant.
Reports can be made at anytime from the bookkeeping data.
I would suggest if you try the program set up a fake company.
Then just take 30 or so bills, house bills, construction bills, whatever.
Enter them in placing them in there correct accounts. Print them as checks on blank paper just to get the hang of it. Also figure out invoice and deposits and your good to go.