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20 The Nevada Traverse Vol.51, No.3, 2024How to Stakeout Your Own Surveying BusinessBy: Trent J. Keenan, PLSAn abstract from a Roundtable Tuesday presentationHave you ever daydreamed about starting your very own surveying business? It might seem like a daunting task, but the leap can be well worth it.During a recent Round Table Tuesday series, five young surveyors shared their journey to entrepreneurship. They talked through the nitty-gritty details about:%u25cf%u0009 How their business entities are structured %u25cf%u0009 How they hire support in the form of employees and contractors%u25cf%u0009 How they determine what projects to pursue%u25cf%u0009 How they built a support system%u25cf%u0009 How they bill for work%u25cf%u0009 How they financed their businesses%u25cf%u0009 How they market their businessesMeet the panel of young business ownersAnna Rios: The owner and president of Aerios Geo LLC, Anna founded her company one year ago. Anna is the founder of the Future Surveyors Foundation and the Women%u2019s Surveyors Summit and is heavily involved with the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors. Eric Salovitch: The president of Northam Survey LLC in New Hampshire, Eric has been surveying for 12 years and founded his business in March 2021. He is active within the New Hampshire Young Surveyors Network and is the president-elect for his state association. Farrah Etcheverry: The co-owner of Etcheverry Land Surveying in Arizona, Farrah is a student member of Arizona Professional Land Surveyors and previously sat on the board for the United Land Surveyors of Arizona until they disassembled. She is an active advocate for the land surveying profession on social media.James Combs: The owner of Bona Fide Surveying LLC in Colorado, James founded his business last fall. He is the current vice president of the Colorado Young Surveyors Network. Jeanette Harley: The owner of Harley Surveying, Jeanette is the NSPS Young Surveyors secretary. At the state level, she is president of Wisconsin%u2019s Young Surveyor Network and participates on two WSLS committees (outreach and communication). She is a member of Clark County Young Professionals, a local professional organization. How to structure your business entityFounding a business requires you to think critically about how your firm will be legally structured. Different structures involve different tax implications, and what%u2019s best for your business may vary based on your state and personal situation.Your best first step would be to secure an experienced CPA who can guide you through the pros and cons of your various options. Over time, you may even find that it makes sense to switch from one setup to another. Common options include: 1. LLC filing as a sole proprietor2. LLC filing as a partnership 3. LLC filing as an S CorpJeanette, Anna, and Eric currently each operate under the first category: LLC sole proprietors. Jeanette recently downgraded from an S Corp structure since she never intends to have employees and found herself dealing with excessive paperwork. Anna also plans to keep things small and simple, hence the sole proprietor status. Eric plans to transition to an S Corp model once he has six full-time employees, a plan that was suggested by his accountant. James operates as an LLC partnership model as his partner assists with bookkeeping and will soon take on additional business duties. He keeps things simple with one business bank account linked to his regular bank account. Farrah joined her father%u2019s existing business, where he previously had a more formalized partnership structure. Once his original partners phased out and Farrah came on board, they dissolved the original partnership and transitioned to an LLC that files as an S Corp.When asked why they made certain decisions, the most common answer was along the lines of %u201cmy CPA said it was a good idea.%u201d You don%u2019t have to be an accounting genius to set up your own business, you just have to find someone trustworthy to advise you. How to hire help Whether you%u2019re operating as a sole proprietor %u201clone wolf%u201d by choice or plan to grow a large team in the future, you%u2019ll need some form of help to operate your business.Hiring full-time employees is a big investment, and it isn%u2019t your only option. In fact, of the five young business owners, only Eric currently has full-time employees. For fieldwork projects that require a team of two people, Anna brings on a field contact and hires him as a contractor. She does all of her own drafting.