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The Business of Land Surveying...continued from previous page
Save money before you go solo:
The best advice given to Will? Do not start a
surveying business if you don’t have enough
money to survive for one year without
getting a paycheck.

“If you’re going to get good jobs, these are
with cities, with towns. And they don’t pay
every two weeks,” Will cautioned. “They pay
when the project is done, and the surveyor
is usually the last one on that list to get
paid. So you really need to understand that
before you start out, because that’s a rude
awakening.”

Hire an attorney and accountant

This is a must-do for any new business
owner. Even better? Hire professionals who
are somewhat close to your own age, so
that they can grow with your business and
service it for many years to come.

Says Nolan, “You need an attorney, you need an accountant. On top of that you need a bank. You need financial backing. There’s other
things to think about besides just, ‘I can go out and survey this tomorrow because I have a license.’ Nobody’s questioning whether you’re
a surveyor when you start your own business. You gotta be a businessman first, and then a surveyor second. Because otherwise you’re
not gonna make it in this world.

Pay yourself like an employee:

You don’t want to be worried about meeting your minimum expenses as you grow your own business. One way to alleviate those basic
pressures is simple: pay yourself a salary. An accountant or financial advisor will likely tell you the same thing.

“I have overhead of $54,000 a month, and it’s a lot of pressure. You got to hit that minimum target in order to make money. But I don’t
worry about it too much, because I pay myself. That’s very important if you’re going to be a small business professional is pay yourself
first,” says Michael.

“Don’t get into this idea that, ‘oh, I can get tax savings if I just live off dividends and run my company this way.’ No. Just treat yourself
as an employee, and everything gets a lot easier. Some months you might lose money, some months you might make money. If you’re
losing money more often, then you have a bad business model and you just have to look at it. But once you pay yourself and you know
that you have that set salary, then you can make proper business decisions without having the emotional rollercoaster of am I going to
be able to pay my mortgage this month?”

Follow your passions:

The great part about surveying is that it can feel equally like work and play.

“The hardest part about being a business owner for me is separating the love. Because I absolutely love surveying. I get jobs that maybe
I wouldn’t do, but ‘God that’s a fucking awesome area, and I really want to go check that shit out.’ So yeah, I’m going to do that job,” says
Will of a potential new job site.

“I’ve always wanted to get up there and work in that area and now I’m going to get paid to ride my quad up there all day long and go dig
around and look for this shit that I’ve always wanted to check out? Like it’s awesome.”

Make sure that you find a good balance of projects that make money, and projects that you enjoy. Hopefully, they will be one and the
same.

Be sure to join the Business of Land Surveying group on LinkedIn!

34 The Nevada Traverse Vol.49, No.1, 2022