CATCH ME ON THE GRAM

Tax Tip Tuesday is back! Today I have a quick tip on business deductions. Have you ever thought or heard someone say, "the year is almost over. I need to spend some more money to lower my tax bill." I want you to learn that this is the wrong way to think about deductions. Deductions lower your taxable income, not your tax. Example: you make $100,000 and spend $10,000 on a deductible expense. Assuming you have a tax rate of 10% that expense would take your tax bill from $10,000 to $9,000, meaning you spent $10,000 to save $1,000. The key takeaway is this. If you need something for your business, you obviously want to capture that on your tax return. If you don't need it, you're just flushing money down the toilet. Next time you consider getting something, think about it this way. The tax deduction basically results in a 10-25% savings that thing. Then ask, do I still want to buy this?
Woohoo. I’m getting more contract templates added to my site. This week I added a salon booth renter agreement. Next week, I’ll have up a floral designer contract (thanks to @intentional_blooms and @champagneprojects ). What should I add next?
So a while ago my friend @mkwcreative.co , and co-author of @startupguide.biz shared how she was going to get a new hat every time she hit an income goal. I thought that was so fun! First of all, it's a great reward and it's actually great branding. Everyone knows Michelle loves hats. I bet she gets messages like "Saw this hat, made me think of you." I know my friend @auctussocial gets the same messages when people see products with succulents on them, and @letsgetyouorganized is known to have an affinity for La Croix. So this got me thinking. What's my thing that people know me for. Lulu? My obsession with notebooks? I have no idea. I also just had a big course launch and wanted to set a reward for my goal. I hit it! Woohoo! I decided I'm getting a new pair of birks. People know me for rocking them basically everyday. Although, I don't think I'll go too crazy. Don't think my husband would want me to be buying $140 sandals every month. Do you reward yourself for hitting sales or income goals? Also, do you have a particular thing that makes people say "O that totally makes me think of [insert your name]?"
Do you have a list of biz books you want to read but haven’t gotten around to yet? I got you. I’m starting a series of book reviews on the podcast. If you want to read before hand and book club with me, that’d be awesome. Or just subscribe and tune in to get the key takeaways. The first three books in the following order are: Purple Cow; Atomic Habits; and The ONE Thing. I’ll get up an Amazon link soon to get them easy peasyly 🤣 Any books you’d like to hear me chat about?
I have a free masterclass for you! We will cover when you know if you have a hobby or business, what that means for your taxes and liability, and shifting into an entrepreneur mindset. I'd love for you to join me. Click the link in bio or go to www.legalgbf.com
Fees, licenses, applications, IRS, FTB, EIN, CDTFA . . . the acronyms and the requirements can be overwhelming. That’s why I made my Small Biz Blueprint to give a checklist of what you need to gather to get your business in good, legal shape. Check it out to make sure you are compliant and have a good foundation to grow and kickass. What is one strange requirement you learned about after you already though you were good to go and up and running? Find the blueprint at www.creativepreneur.community/blueprint. You can also find the link in bio.
Let's talk about registered agents (RA). RAs are responsible for receiving service of process for your business, which is a fancy way of saying if someone wants to sue you, they must notify you by giving official documents to the RA. It's a pretty simple service, as it's rarely needed. The RA also can collect and forward other important notices that come from the state and feds. You need an RA if you have an LLC or corp. You can be your own RA or hire an outside company. In CA, you can hire a company to serve as your RA for as low as $50. Most will range around $75. I recently learned that Legal Zoom charges $300 annually to serve as RA. That's crazy to me. I don't believe they provide any additional services for that cost. My tip is this. If you need an RA, find one online in your state. Don't pay more than $100 a year.
This episode was inspired by one of my most popular blogs. I discuss the basics on how to start collecting client money, what to do with it, and how to get it into your own pocket while also paying your business expenses.
Curious on what an EIN is and whether you need one? Checkout my super short blog on the most frequent questions I get on the topic.
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 9th I'll be doing a live Q&A here on insta. Come join me. Ask any questions you like on small biz legal and tax. Plus, I'll be chatting about the Creativepreneur Community, and how you can come get personalized guidance on all your questions.
Doors are open and close end of day Friday! I'm doing a beta launch for my first membership site. At my law firm, I offer a monthly service called outside counsel for $300 a month. This isn't all the best option for newer or leaner businesses who have more general questions. That's why I wanted to create a community with weekly Q&As and a private platform to connect. The founding member rate will be $19 per month. Doors close Friday and the rate will increase when I do my full launch towards the end of summer. Comment below or DM me if you have questions. I’ll also be doing an insta live Thursday at noon pacific for a Q&A. I'd love to chat! The community will be a great place to get your routine questions on contracts, trademarks, business licensing, and taxes answered.
Do struggle operating your business because you have 9,002 ideas? Me too. As entrepreneurs, we have to gather all of ideas, sift through them, streamline and execute. Luckily there are business coaches that can help us with that. What I’m here to do is help with the legal aspect. In this podcast episode, I chat about my experience as a multi-passionate individual and how to consider legalities structuring a business with multiple facets.
Full time attorney and taxpert. Part time model. Always fabulous and always here to help you kickass in your creative biz. I love working with and talking to entrepreneurs. That's why I launched my podcast, and love chatting with all you fab entrepreneurs in my DMs. Why do you have your own business? What's your passion? And what's your entrepreneurial superpower? Let's kiki in the comments.
At Braden Drake Law, I have probably done about 50, one-hour consultation with small business creatives. I have each of my clients send me a list of questions. They usually range in topics from quarterly taxes, to contracts, dbas, and trademarks. I’ll answer any question I can within the hour. If you have been hording questions for a while and want to knock them all out and know you’re headed in the right direction, let’s schedule a consultation. It’s $150. Easy peasy. We can both pour a cup of coffee, hop on a Zoom call, and chit chat about all the things.