Small Business

Office Space for Rent in Union NJ

ALL RENTS ARE NEGOTIABLE AND I WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT DEAL ON THE MONTHLY RENT!

Are you looking to rent office space in Union NJ?  I have quite a number of rentals available right on  Morris Avenue in Union NJ just a block of off Union Center.  The larger units have at least 1 parking space and most of the smaller units have 1 space.  There is street parking as well as a public lot next door.  Some of the highlights include: 

• A beautiful street level with a private 1/2 bathroom roughly 1100 square feet
• A 3rd floor office space over looking the very scenic Union Town Hall
• Another large third floor space which includes a secretary/greeter space with an attached conference room
• We can also combine several spaces to make even larger offices

This would be great space for anyone in the medical professions, accountants, or lawyers (we are right across the street from the municipal buildings).

Contact me (908.500.4801) or my Coldwell Banker real estate agent Alan Rasmussen (908.624.2113) for details.

Eric

P.S. Again - looking to make a deal this year.

Pricing Your Services

I get this question a lot which is how do you determine your prices?  Now, I'm not going to give you advice on how to price a hard good that you sell, but I can give you pricing advice for starting your own consulting business.

So where to start?  It seems so difficult, but if you've been in a corporate job it is a piece of cake to figure out how to price your consulting services.  Here's how to do it.  Basically you need to come up with what your true compensation was at your last job.

• Total Salary+
• Bonus+
• Whatever salary you think you were underpaid+
• Social security (your business pays part of it)+
• Medical (that you'll pay now)+
• Dental (that you'll pay now) +
• Taxes (depending on how you setup your business) +
• Insurance (that you'll pay now)- business, life+
• Any other benefit you were getting

That number equals your base annual compensation.  However, you're not done yet.  You should probably increase that amount by 25% to cover yourself when you don't have any work.  So let's call that new number your total annual compensation.  Now you need an hourly rate.

To get your hourly rate, divide your total annual compensation by your number of hours you think you'll work.  Obviously you'll go with around 40 hours per week, but how many weeks?  52 weeks implies you won't take any vacation, so I'd go with 48 weeks.  So in my example, if your total annual compensation was $150,000 you'd come up with an hourly of $78, so I'd try and price myself out in that example at $100 knowing that I'd have a lot of room to negotiate.

Now that you have your hourly rate, you have to figure out if you can actually charge that and the only way to know is to meet with other folks who do similar work and see if your dollar amount is competitive.  Also, when you speak with your potential customers you'll have plenty of room to negotiate on your price because you built in a 25% premium plus your vacation time.

That's how I priced out my hourly rate and that's how I negotiate a final price to the client.  Good luck.

Eric

Your Accountant - The Most Important Step in Starting Your Business

Yes, I decided to start another.  This time it is regarding starting your own business.  You see when I left E*Trade after it acquired Harrisdirect, I decided to go off on my own rather than look for another corporate job.  It wasn't that I hated corporate America, I just was tired of driving into Jersey City every morning and I wanted to get paid for my experience in marketing instead of being paid for being someone's good soldier.  So off I went into the business world, but didn't know where to begin.  Sure I could have visited some other sites and read up some more, but I spent time with my most important asset, my accountant.

Yes my accountant.  You know why he is important?  Here's why:

1. He can file your incorporation papers; sure you can too, but they know whether you should be a LLC, 2+ person LLC, or what type of Corporation.
2. Your accountant will, umm, file your taxes and he'll know what he wants tracked and how to log things into Quickbooks or whatever software you'll use.
3. Do you know what is deductible?  I don't, but your accountant knows.  Do you record lunches? How about your cell phone?  How do you account for your travel?  Do you write off part of your home if you are a home based business?
4.  What happens if you own office space and decided to rent it?  You'll need advice and guess what your accountant can help with that.
5. Do you set up a 401K or a SEPIRA?
6. What happens if you have a tough time collecting your invoices?  Your accountant can help.
7. Finally, if you have an experienced accountant, don't you think they've been involved with other small businesses?

For me, the most important first step in starting or running a small business is hiring a good accountant.  Good luck,

Eric