...to help out a friend who would have had to eat the cost of an extra ticket. Getting away from home for a couple of days turned out to be a great way to get some perspective on my new situation. Here's my elegantly simple plan:
1. design anti-Bush shirts on my PC
2. have shirts printed at a nearby shop
3. sell shirts on an Internet site
4. ship shirts from the nearby post office
After returning from Coachella, my first task was to "create" my new company by registering it with the city, county, and state governments (no federal filing is necessary for sole proprietorships, which are companies with only one owner/employee, like mine). My small business start-up book from Nolo helped me figure out exactly which offices I needed to visit. With this list in hand, I headed to downtown San Diego at 9AM on a Tuesday to dive into the bureaucracy.
I was home before lunchtime. In quick visits to three different government offices, I registered my business name with the county ($20), paid the city its registration fee ($70), obtained a seller's permit from the State of California (no cost), and arranged for a local newspaper to publish a small notice of my county filing for four consecutive weeks ($20), as required by law. In all, these visits took less than 3 hours, mainly because the people I worked with at each office were notably fast and friendly. I was particularly grateful to the woman who helped me get the California seller's permit, which allows you to collect sales tax from California customers. She expertly explained the nuances of the sales tax rules and made sure that I understood how to remain in compliance.
After witnessing the efficiency of the government agencies involved in registering my business, I couldn't help but think of George W. Bush, his fellow Republicans, and the anti-"big government" theme that permeates much of their thinking. As a first-time small business owner (with admittedly only one day on the job), I was impressed and reassured by the operations of each of the government agencies I worked with today.
