i quit

[sloth9669]

Well insureance strikes again. I was trying to bring my small firewood Biz legal pay taxes get insurance and the hole nine. Get the pricing spoke with a lawyer and guess what. I quit. its big or go home id need to do 250 plus cords a year to make it worth it. Was flying under the radar but getting big to the point of i cant hide it. Its just a shame that the product,work,sales,and money did not beat me. It was insurance. 500 bucks to become a legal company and then the would give you a quote. range told 4-7k per year IF they could find someone to underwrite it. thats just cutting to much wood to pay off before i get paid to make it worth it. Looks like ill just do my own 4 cords a year and be happy. Ill just miss cutting 50-100 cords a year. I really enjoy it and the company is taking off turning a way sales. Just really upset. Selling all the gear and will take the money on to the next venture.

 

[beerman6]

That sucks,I'm sure you've called more than 1 company?

 

[streeter]

Then advertise it as a delivery service. You just happen to deliver wood only. Just a thought.

 

[husky455rancher]

that sucks man where in mass are you located?

 

[cjnspecial]

Then advertise it as a delivery service. You just happen to deliver wood only. Just a thought.

Misrepresenting your operations to avoid paying the proper insurance premiums is considered insurance fraud in most states.

I can't imagine that a firewood business would be that expensive. Call around to a couple of agents, you may be surprised at what you find.

 

[Husky137]

You need to look around and shop your insurance through an insurance agent, not an attorney.

I run a landclearing business in Mass and don't pay those kinds of ridiculous premiums. Yes, I process and deliver firewood and the insurance company knows about it.

BTW, it costs zero to set up a legal business. No need for the ridiculous hoops of a corp or LLC in Mass since you are a small operation. DBA would be the way to go. Somedays all lawyers see is dollar signs and have no concept of how things are in the real world.

Don't give up because of bad advice.

 

[woodfarmer]

get a different lawyer

 

[Sprig]

^^^^Yup, what he said^^^^
Thats just a frikken crazy money-grab somewhere imho. What about seeing if there are any grants available through 'work-project' type programs etc.? There may be other ways to keep your business going and make a decent living, for profit charity for example? Who regulates your forestry programs? Is there a gov't agency that helps small businesses? Gotta be something out there for you, a person has gotta eat! Yikes & Dunno, it is much easier up here to have a business but many aspects are getting regulated to death also. Do a bit o' searching and do keep us all posted if you happen to come up with anything, I'm sure there are others wondering about the insurance aspect as well, something just doesn't seem right there mate
All the best and don't give up heart just yet!



Serge

 

[sloth9669]

thanks

Thanks all for the ideas. The prices were from insurance companies. 3 of the 6 we called would not even bother to give us a quote. The call it landscaping or trucking is fraud even tho all we are doing is driving wood down the road. For the money iam selling everything and will start up another company. Not the first not the last. I just really enjoy doing the firewood and in 2 years have all the eqip supplies and a list of return customers so large i cant even make enough. Just hate to be beaten down by laws and insurance. Owell. Maybe i should advertise for everyone else selling wood. Up the sales for everyone and can use my online skills ?? Can you say www.Firewoodlocator.com yea i own that one...coming soon. www.mvfirewood.com is the old soon to be shut down site. ill keep in touch.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

BTW, it costs zero to set up a legal business. No need for the ridiculous hoops of a corp or LLC in Mass since you are a small operation. DBA would ...

...put everything you own at risk. Everything.

If someone decides to sue you as a DBA and wins, they get whatever the court gives them right out of YOUR pocket. That could mean everything up to and including your house and everything in it. Cars, trucks, your son's truck that you have in your name, bank accounts, life savings, everything.

The only limit is how much the court decides you owe. Bankruptcy? No, it won't protect you. You can declare bankruptcy AFTER the court sells off everything, and talk to your creditors about it. There won't be any assest for them to seize.

With an LLC or a corporation, only the corporation or LLC gets sued (IF you do things right). It's legally another person. (Yes, that's what I said. A corporation is a legal person.) The court can only take what the corporation owns, not what YOU own, even if you own the corporation.

Unlesss, of course, you do something stupid like "piercing the corporate veil".

Don't know what that is?

Then maybe you shouldn't go around giving advice on DBAs and corporations.

Like driving without a seatbelt, operating under a DBA works just fine until that ONE time you need the protection. But by the time you know you need it, it's too late.

 

[sloth9669]

amen

...put everything you own at risk. Everything.

If someone decides to sue you as a DBA and wins, they get whatever the court gives them right out of YOUR pocket. That could mean everything up to and including your house and everything in it. Cars, trucks, your son's truck that you have in your name, bank accounts, life savings, everything.

The only limit is how much the court decides you owe. Bankruptcy? No, it won't protect you. You can declare bankruptcy AFTER the court sells off everything, and talk to your creditors about it. There won't be any assest for them to seize.

With an LLC or a corporation, only the corporation or LLC gets sued (IF you do things right). It's legally another person. (Yes, that's what I said. A corporation is a legal person.) The court can only take what the corporation owns, not what YOU own, even if you own the corporation.

Unlesss, of course, you do something stupid like "piercing the corporate veil".

Don't know what that is?

Then maybe you shouldn't go around giving advice on DBAs and corporations.

Like driving without a seatbelt, operating under a DBA works just fine until that ONE time you need the protection. But by the time you know you need it, it's too late.

Word for word what the uncle lawyer told me. So for the few bucks to be made its not worth the risk of everything else. Get llc and insureance. And the price of them 2 things make it not worth it. So good bye to it all. Anyone need a truck dump trailer and a tw5

 

[Hugenpoet]

...put everything you own at risk. Everything.

If someone decides to sue you as a DBA and wins, they get whatever the court gives them right out of YOUR pocket. That could mean everything up to and including your house and everything in it. Cars, trucks, your son's truck that you have in your name, bank accounts, life savings, everything.

The only limit is how much the court decides you owe. Bankruptcy? No, it won't protect you. You can declare bankruptcy AFTER the court sells off everything, and talk to your creditors about it. There won't be any assest for them to seize.

With an LLC or a corporation, only the corporation or LLC gets sued (IF you do things right). It's legally another person. (Yes, that's what I said. A corporation is a legal person.) The court can only take what the corporation owns, not what YOU own, even if you own the corporation.

Unlesss, of course, you do something stupid like "piercing the corporate veil".

Don't know what that is?

Then maybe you shouldn't go around giving advice on DBAs and corporations.

Like driving without a seatbelt, operating under a DBA works just fine until that ONE time you need the protection. But by the time you know you need it, it's too late.

+1 I'll rep you for the good advice contained in your post. Very well said, and I'm outside legal counsel to many Mass. Corporations and LLCs.

 

[Buckethead]

Word for word what the uncle lawyer told me. So for the few bucks to be made its not worth the risk of everything else. Get llc and insureance. And the price of them 2 things make it not worth it. So good bye to it all. Anyone need a truck dump trailer and a tw5

Hmmmm...a TW-5 and dump trailer? Where are you in Mass?

 

[Tim321]

...put everything you own at risk. Everything.

If someone decides to sue you as a DBA and wins, they get whatever the court gives them right out of YOUR pocket. That could mean everything up to and including your house and everything in it. Cars, trucks, your son's truck that you have in your name, bank accounts, life savings, everything.

The only limit is how much the court decides you owe. Bankruptcy? No, it won't protect you. You can declare bankruptcy AFTER the court sells off everything, and talk to your creditors about it. There won't be any assest for them to seize.

With an LLC or a corporation, only the corporation or LLC gets sued (IF you do things right). It's legally another person. (Yes, that's what I said. A corporation is a legal person.) The court can only take what the corporation owns, not what YOU own, even if you own the corporation.

Unlesss, of course, you do something stupid like "piercing the corporate veil".

Don't know what that is?

Then maybe you shouldn't go around giving advice on DBAs and corporations.

Like driving without a seatbelt, operating under a DBA works just fine until that ONE time you need the protection. But by the time you know you need it, it's too late.

If your the sole owner for the LLC and make all the decisions they can sue right though and still get into you pockets. Just makes more work for the lawyers.