Legitimate Home Based Businesses

Archive for October, 2008

Question: Is a business license the same as a reseller's license? if not, what is the difference?

I live in California and want to open a small, Home Based Business that resells items at festivals and fairs but mostly online (eBay). I want to do it right so I don't run into problems later, but really not sure where to start. Do I have to charge a sales tax for online purchases? my partner thinks I don't have to. If we decide to sell packaged food items, do I need any special license for that too? Any info from those already in business would be greatly appreciated!
If we decide to add packaged foods later, it'll be on the theme of organic baby items (baby food jars, teething biscuits, formula, etc) that are made by other companies such as Gerber and such.
A bit more info: Our theme will be organic, earth friendly or harder to find baby items: such as clothing, shoes, cloth diapers, cloth wipes, blankets, toys, etc.

Answer: A business license and a reseller's license (seller's permit) are different. Below is a sight offered by the state of CA for info regarding small businesses.
In general, if you sell tangible personal property in CA, you will owe sales tax on the items you deliver to CA. However, the sale of cold food items that are not eaten on the seller's premises are exempt from sales tax, so if all you are selling is food, you will not need a seller's permit.
You will need a permit for the other items. You are required to charge tax to the items you ship to CA addresses.
There is a link to the Board of Equalization, which is the organization that issues seller's permits in CA.

Contractor State License Service

When the economy is not in its best shape, companies are cutting back, and people are losing jobs, stay at home jobs become much more important. The need for people to be able to find legitimate stay at home jobs escalates. While legitimate stay at home jobs do exist, there are also as many or even more stay at home job scams that prey on people falling on hard times. 

Stay at home jobs vs business opportunities

Most people get stay at home jobs mixed up with work at Home Business Opportunities. Stay at home jobs are jobs that you can do at home for a company.  The company that hires you then pays you hourly wages or salary. Some stay at home jobs have benefits while others do not.

In contrast, work at Home Business Opportunities are businesses that you can start yourself with the help of other companies. You usually do not receive salary or wages. Compensation is usually in the form of commission payments. 

You are effectively a business owner, operating and running your own business without a boss. You will need to file your tax return with a Schedule C in addition to your 1040 form. Companies that pay you often send you a 1099 Misc Form for tax filing. 

Where to find stay at home jobs?

Stay at home jobs are harder to find than stay at Home Business Opportunities. Jobs are already hard to find but stay at home jobs are even harder. To find stay at home jobs, you will have to look in newspapers, classified ads, jobs ads, help wanted ads, online job databases, as well as applying directly to companies. When applying, you can specify that you are specifically looking for stay at home jobs. 

Drawbacks of stay at home jobs

Stay at home jobs usually do not pay as well as regular office jobs. Stay at home jobs also usually do not have medical, dental or vision benefits. Unless your skills are rare and very marketable, pay will be negotiable and result based.

Question: Becoming a heli-ski pilot?

Hi everyone,
My second year at university really didn't go the way I had expected it to go. I didn't enjoy it at all and decided to take the year off to work and find out what it is I want to do as a career for the rest of my life. This summer I really started doing research into becoming a fixed-wing pilot but all the travel and time away from home isn't my kind of thing. It's the stresses it puts on family life I don't like. Anyhow, I read that helicopter pilots tend not to travel as much and usually work from a home base. Now I have always been an avid snowboarder and I have been wondering what the path is to becoming a heli-ski pilot. I assume that you have to build a lot of flight hours before working at a heli-ski business, but what is the typical timeline and work needed to be put into becoming a heli-ski pilot? Thanks for your help!

Answer: I first want to caution you that the career of a helicopter pilot can be just as stressful on family life as it is for fixed-wing pilots. It is true that you will usually operate out of one location, because helicopters do not travel very far. However, the career will present its own challenges. For example, helicopter pilots are likely to switch jobs more frequently. Furthermore, you will often have to move or commute a long way to get the jobs you want. The pay is generally less than a similarly experienced airplane pilot, while the training is more expensive. Finally, it is a long and hard road to get to the job you really want (for both). It's not like you take a few lessons, get your pilot license, and immediately go to work as a heli-ski pilot. The road to becoming a pilot can be just as stressful as the job itself.

Obviously there are plenty of people who are happy with their careers as both airplane and helicopter pilots, but this career will definitely tax your family life. Just be sure to carefully investigate and consider the type of lifestyle you will be looking at in this career. I second the recommendation of talking to heli-ski pilots if you get the chance. I have never done that myself, so I can't give you details of their lifestyles. I can tell you that it will take years to finish basic training and build the experience you need.

Someone else recently asked about heli-skiing and you can read my answer here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmBe6cwUlyQbl3i0NlTSlwHty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080927185207AAPZ1eQ&show=7#profile-info-HIDOyAE6aa

You can also read a couple of my general answers about training, which include links to other information sites:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As2Wwty4B1EvurUTrYUIFZ_sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080811202405AAwLlDA&show=7#profile-info-tN6rs6O8aa

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlX2ga4RC3Hz13q9b9dO_fPty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081002161008AA3tqEF&show=7#profile-info-2B7pHrwWaa

Note that I am in the US, and so it may be a little different if you are in another country.

You can find flight school listings here:

http://www.sacusa.com/1directory/states.asp?category=FS

http://www.verticalreference.com/MoreStuff/HelicopterSchools/tabid/79/Default.aspx

http://www.helicopterschoolinfo.com/

Good luck!

Dani Johnson First Steps to Success October 2008 Success Stories Home Business Training Mentor