Well it’s been long enough since my last post that WordPress has updated and now I have to learn everything again. Perfect.
So it’s been about 6 or 7 months now since I’ve made Fujupz an LLC with the help of LegalZoom, and light amounts of help from Plonker. Plonker started his own business a few years before I did and helped the push in making Fujupz a legitimate business.
While you might think that would be helpful having someone with experience give you advice on how to do things, it really hasn’t been. Plonker has given me contradictory information at times (oh I wouldn’t sign up for that”…..”yeah you should have signed up for that”), to not knowing how things work… (“I don’t know I just give everything to the accountant and tell her to fix it”).
I made the LLC with LegalZoom on a personal credit card, because as with most things I actually accomplish, it’s a spur of the moment act, like when I started this domain to begin with. I had zero dollars to put toward the business and only credit cards and whatever money I would have left over from my paycheck from my day job. I eventually put $100 into a business checking account. I also ordered a few small starter pieces of equipment on personal cards and accounts for the Printing Division.
I ordered a smallish “wide format” printer and a sublimation ink set for it (I find it funny that it’s considered wide format, when it’s only lightly larger than a standard all in one printer, I’m used to the printers I used at my day job, which I called wide format, but I guess are technically more large format). I also got a small heat press set that included accessories to make sublimated mugs and plates and such. I have yet to test those accessories yet.
My sole current customer, for whom I started the Printing Division to sell to, seemed like she really wanted to get into selling her prints fairly soon. But before I even had a chance to print anything on my new equipment she had an order for a sign. I had to print it at my day job, and it wasn’t the best. The material itself wasn’t great, I couldn’t get material in the size that she wanted, she wouldn’t change the size of the file to fit the size of material I could get. I ended up having to order larger material and cutting it down to meet her size. It was sublimatable aluminum, so it’s not like you can just cut it with a utility knife. I salvaged the job, but wasn’t extraordinarily happy with the results. I put my foot down and said until I could get a cnc router to customize sizes, you have to stick to what I could order. The sizes she intended on selling wouldn’t fit my heat press, so I ordered a larger heat press that would accomplish the size of signs she would like to sell.
Not that it’s mattered much, as she doesn’t have any pictures to print and sell like she planned on doing. So off to a great start.
In the mean time I start looking into bookkeeping and accounting. I need to keep track of my purchases and whatnot and have essentially zero idea of what the fuck I’m doing. I looked at Quickbooks, Wave, though about doing a spreadsheet, then a Access Database, and after researching HOW to do bookkeeping went back to Quickbooks Online. I was trying to get by with free considering I have zero income, which Wave is, Quickbooks just seems to be more prevalent, so I bit the bullet and got the minimum version of Quickbooks online. I had and still have little idea what I’m doing with it, and with Plonker not the most helpful, I sought out an accountant.
The first place I went to was in Quickbooks online itself where they recommended local accountants, the top one was cute, so I sent her an email (yes that’s how I chose her). I got a reply and made an appointment for a free consultation. The free consultations are practically worthless, I tell them about my company, what I plan to do with it, what I have now (basically nothing) and that at some point I want it to grow, but I’m just starting out. I have quickbooks, and managed to get my 4 purchases loaded into it. I don’t know if they’re right, but they’re in there.
Any they’re like, Ok.
Ok? Do I give you money now? Do you do anything for me now? Or do I just hope I’m not screwing anything up until tax time and them get slammed?
She offered a course for $500 to learn Quickbooks, but said I was small enough, and seemed to have gotten enough on my own, that I could probably do just as well watching YouTube videos. Then just call at tax time and they they could do my taxes (estimated starting price of $500).
Mind you, I have like $100 in the bank account at this point. Up to this point I always did my own taxes for free… until I bought my house and had to start paying for the slightly upgraded version of tax software so I could do my mortgage credit for $35.
October comes and I have to figure out how to file sales tax, though I made no sales, so it was pretty easy. At least I hope it was and that I didn’t just screw it up.
At the beginning of November. I made my largest purchase, a used Bridgeport Milling machine for the Machining Division. I bought it essentially sight unseen.. I saw pics, talked to the sales rep over the phone, and said screw it lets do it. After the deal was done Plonker and I drove up to the industrial surplus store and took a look at it and wandered around a but. It seemed pretty good all things considered. My day job picked it up for me so I saved on shipping costs. They brought it back to the shop, where I tore it down to manageable chunks to bring home. The larger pieces Plonker was going to help me move, but either he was sick at the time or it was one of the times he said he would help me but then I don’t get any replies from him. I can’t remember. In the end I got the few larger chunks onto skids and used to work truck to liftgate them into the garage. The driver moved the skids into the garage in probably the dumbest orientation, which made it more difficult to get the pallet jack out of the skid at the time, and harder for my to move and position the base of the machine later. It was just a pain in the ass that I have yet to do anymore to it. I need to finish tearing down/cleaning/painting/rebuilding it.
Shortly after that purchase, and with the end of the year coming up, I decided to look for an accountant again. I ended up going with Plonker’s accountant, figuring if she could deal with him she could deal with me. The free consultation was about the same as the first one I had. I learned basically nothing from it, and it comes down to just do what I’m doing and call at tax time. If my Quickbooks needs fixed it’ll cost me $125 an hour. So yay.
You would think that when you start a business people would be happy for you, or take some kind of interest, or pretend so show some kind of interest. Nope!
I’m fairly certain that the only people that read this blog are friends of Plonker and a person or two that found it because of the HP printer information. But no one that I know actually reads it. Or visits the YouTube channel. Granted, they’re mainly time lapse videos from our bike trips, so they’re not the most entertaining. But I’ve tried to improve each one, adding more to them, learning more about the programs as I go. It gets to me mainly because everyone expects me to help them with everything or listen to their dumb ass bullshit, but watch a 15 minute video and subscribe to my channel? Whoa too much effort, man.
Even talking to my dad, I try to tell him about my business, what I want to do with it, where I want it to go. But I generally get the feeling no one really understands what I’ve trying to accomplish. Even his wife, after they talked, mentioned to me they wanted to give me some money toward my business because I “was thinking about starting a business sometime.” No, I have a business, it just doesn’t make any money yet.
Winter in Western PA has finally hit after a mild November and December, and the full brunt of winter depression has set in. Early evenings and coldness aren’t the best working conditions for me, but I’m hoping to start making accomplishment soon.
