Luthier Quick Tip 12 Is Your Luthier Business Legal?

This video explains why it's important before you open your business making and/or repairing guitars, to make it legal with your government, your tax collecting entity, liability insurance providers, and potential lender/investors.
Buy a guitar or tool plan(s) and support this channel. Visit www.eguitarplans.com/

[@cheezmonta]

Very good advice. It's one thing to make a few guitars per year and sell them online. It's another to do this as a serious source of income. It's more time consuming than costly to run all over filing and paying fees for everything. Another point; Some places it may be illegal to run a business out of your home requiring a commercial/industrial zoned shop space. Check your State and Municipality laws. Costs for starting a small biz in WI. Business License: $130 A registered Agent (yourself for free or a pro for a cost): $0-300 Sellers Permit: $20 Small Business Liability Insurance (varies greatly): $400+ It would also be a good idea to have a Paralegal draw up legal outlines for your product Warranty, shipping liabilities for damages, outsourcing contracts, etc. This is where your real costs will come from. The thing to remember about a business, is that it is a business. Do your due diligence, cross the T's and dot the I's. Cover your keister...

[@walterhambrick8705]

Thank you for sharing.

[@omniscienteye8880]

Denver, Colorado!! 🤟 Thank you again and again for your videos and luthier tips! I've learned so much from you

[@HighlineGuitars]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@davedupuis2069]

Good advice.

[@wheelerdavea]

Great advice. I added my luthier business to my existing LLC, as a DBA. Getting an LLC here in Washington state is very easy, and inexpensive.

[@HighlineGuitars]

Well said!

[@scottakam]

Well said. You can't ignore the business part of a business! If you do, there is a 99% chance you will go out of business even if you are very good at your craft.

[@ADFinlayson]

Interesting stuff and very relevant to me. Something you didn't mention is where you're working - I recently had local government phone me up because someone I don't get on with (I won't get into that) reported me for building in my garage and suggested a change of use, referencing my website. Fortunately I build for friends and don't make any money by the time I've factored in wood/tool acquisition and my website is just a professional looking portfolio. Though the UK is fairly flexible now in tax terms as they've introduced the "hobby business" where anyone can run a side business and earn up to £1000 without having to register for self-assessment. Tool insurance is difficult if you're not a registered business though - I really had to hunt around for a company that would insure my workshop and I'm having to pay a lot for it as dedicated tool insurance policies won't cover anyone that isn't a registered business.

[@HighlineGuitars]

That's a subject for another video.

[@patrickluley555]

So I wanted to ask, and maybe I missed it, but what are the legalities with body shapes. I see a lot of guys who have been selling strat, tele, and even les Paul body shapes for years! How are they getting around the trademark and copyright issues?

[@HighlineGuitars]

I don't know much about the legalities for this issue, however, it seems to hinge on how aggressive and consistent a company is about enforcing their protections.

[@user-dy3st2le5f]

Wow what a nightmare the guy who started teaching classes wit no insurance... ouch

[@mr.keebler7927]

Your local chamber of commerce can help answer many questions and introduce you to their network.

[@milesmanglos1583]

Good advice given here but this video is way too ambiguous. Wish you would go into more detail in general here. Particularly about what “legal business” means in terms of selling or repairing guitars. What your thoughts are on LLC vs sole proprietor, etc. And how to understand sales tax laws. Otherwise why make this video in the first place? As just a warning?

[@HighlineGuitars]

By law, I can't dispense legal or tax advice as I am neither an attorney nor a certified public accountant.

[@GalaxyStranger01]

When you pay an attorney to set up your LLC, you're paying for their expertise - saving YOU the time to figure out what you're doing legally, which is almost never a good idea for non-lawyers... You can do it yourself, but don't act like it's a waste of money to immediately have someone tell you exactly where you stand vs spending weeks of your time doing it yourself - on the off-chance that you might be taking a legal misstep in the process and having tax problems with the state. Because everybody wants that.

[@HighlineGuitars]

It took me less than an hour and cost $50.