I am working on starting a pressure wash business in Florida. My plan is to start out small as a side hustle, and eventually work my way to full time. I plan on starting with a 4gpm washer and a surface cleaner, staying away from chemicals until I get more experience. I am going to start by advertising door to door with flyers and word of mouth, since I have some older family members in town that can spread the word around their neighborhoods.
What I am debating currently is whether or not I should get an LLC and insurance before starting the work. Or would it be better to first get some small cash paying jobs, see if I can build up some sort of clientele/schedule and then get official? Any advice is appreciated.
You definitely need insurance regardless, but an LLC is completely unnecessary. It’s just a bunch of extra expensive paperwork and tax filing that will not protect you in court from liability. The liability of the business would just be passed on to you. The reason being is that an attorney can easily prove that the business is not truly separate from you as the owner/operator.
If you are planning to hire employees immediately, it might be a good plan. But if not, I wouldn’t bother.