so i grew up with a mechanic for a dad, he was always fixing something or other that had a combustion engine.
i ended up workin on a lot of my own stuff as a kid and adult which meant through the years id acquired a handful or ten of tools and developed a sense for taking things apart seeing how they work and maybe repairing it if i was able before putting it back together.
well i got married and my wife thinks im quite handy but also knows that im incapable of working for another person because i will show up at your house after we clock out and deal with the problems we might have.
cut to me deciding to post ads on craigslist years ago just offering easy mechanical work, oil change, tire rotate, brake jobs, tire repair, etc
i could make as much money as i wanted a day while i lived in the city and never left my home cuz everyone would just come by to my house and get the work done real fast, no wait times for me to get to your car or truck.
well my wife decided that this was something i should continue to do but larger scale, cut to me with business cards, magnets on my truck advertising.
i reckon my thoughts are this
what do you have that you dont particularly hate doing and have the necessary tools to do for other ppl?
in the end we spent about 150$ for cards and signage for the business not sure on insurance cuz the wife aint here to tell me but not too much at all.
i feel like for some of ppl who might read this that they can look around and say “yea i gotta thing i do well and like doing, that i could maybe profit off of.
and the tax write offs yall
even if you dont make money, you can still use your “business expenses” as tax write offs to get more money back end of year if you are also working a payroll job.
new tool box, new tires on your “work” vehicle, fuel, mileage. you name it it can be written off even if you didnt make but a few bucks. got a buddy with a broken lawn mower? well maybe a few trips to his house were for consulting to help him fix his mower, fuel mileage write off. going to visit family in another state? damned if you didnt have to turn a wrench when you got there to help your padre on his tractor. now you just drove 350 miles for work.
in the end my wife has an MBA and i just work when i want. and at the end of the year all my expenses come back to us. this year we got about 2500 more than we would have from the feds due to my expenses.
what it comes down to is i have an intelligent wife who knows the loops, if it aint for the mobile auto repair business, its for the farm. i dont do anything that i cant write off. Well except for one thing, and even then i expect im gonna find a way someday to get paid to go fishing.