Charge enough for your paintings that you can hand deliver them and get shorted $10 with a smile on your face.

Take his contacts, cut ties, and build your own business. He’ll be too busy dealing with his other lawsuits to be able to do anything about it.

Sorting receipts from major retailers and splitting items by category accurately for a chart of accounts. Documenting how-to tutorials for quickbooks accurately, fact checking that the buttons actually exist. Sort mileIQ data and parse it into “time spent at location x” to aid in job costing. Scrape data from home depot e-receipts and generate a spreadsheet. Batch generating qr codes. Programming stacks of nfc chips with a duplexing and labeling device.

All these types of services are sketchy. I think they rely on new business owners in construction being both desperate and gullible (I’m NOT saying you are). You don’t need them. I promise.

Just own in. Start dressing like Mr. Peanut.

To help prevent this next time install a kensington lock. If it’s highly sensitive data, 2-factor authentication is important. There are programs that will remotely wipe your hd as well.

Ok so you don’t have any capital or skills and want a portion of other people’s money and other people’s skills to pay your bills. How do you think this is a good idea?

What is your trade? How proficient are you in that trade?

You manage your business. They manage their feelings. You do your job and they do theirs.

It comes and goes. I have to remind myself what a mentor used to tell me when I needed to hear it: nobody is going to treat you any better than you treat yourself. When you need time, take it. When you need a doctor, go. The work will still be there once your needs are tended to.

What’s your minimum viable product that will start generating revenue? For instance i manufacture cabinetry, but I didn’t start out buying machinery, I found a ready-to-assemble product that I could retail and install and grew from there. Initial investment of $5k saved up working a 9-5. There’s probably a similar path you could pursue.

If you run a construction business with a lot of first year apprentices working in new construction, it’s hard to beat the ryobi tool kits. Nobody’s going to steal them. They work well enough.

We’re all dying for some good help and you’re sweating this kid over $300?!

Call him a journeyman and hire a newbie for him to train. He’s sitting on top of the fence. Shake him in or shake him out.

Not sure where you’re located, but some municipalities allow for special event liquor licenses so you could maybe sell keg beer up to a couple times a month. Event halls are a regular need. In my region, quinceañera parties, wedding receptions, and film festivals keep some venues going. EDM / raves are popular in some areas. Drag shows perhaps. LAN parties. Tetris tournaments. All kinds of possibilities.