Re: Thoughts about Whether to Become Independant

Regarding the Israeli Tax Authority:

My wife has her own business and is therefore independent.  The Israeli Tax
Authority will only accept computerized information from specific expensive,
non-open source, non-linux based applications.  Otherwise you have to keep a
paper, handwritten ledger.  My wife keeps her books in a spreadsheet and
then copies it into the ledger once a month.  Then she can send her reports
or copies or whatever to her accountant.  Also important in Israel are the
receipt books.  As far as I understand, every transaction needs to be
written in the receipt book so the customer gets a receipt.  This is my
understanding, the business is not mine, I just get to offer advice when
requested. ;-)  Hope this helps you guys.

  Shlomo

On 7/18/06, Gadi Evron <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>   On Tue, 18 Jul 2006, Chen Shapira wrote:
> > I've been thinking about becoming independent as well.
> > I add some of my thoughts below.
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > 1. I'll have to do my own accounting, taxes, etc.
> > > -------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Not necessarily. One can work with an accountant. It is even
> > recommended, since I'm not sure if GnuCash covers the Israeli tax laws.
>
> Yes, but the Israeli Tax Authority would never ever forget about you.
>
> >
> > > 2. I can do what I choose
> > > -------------------------
> > To some extent, this is true. However, you may have to take projects you
> > prefer not to simply because you need the money, want to get a foot in
> > the door with a specific client, etc.
> >
> > A friend of mine is an independent interior designer and she had to be
> > back at work few days after giving birth, simply because her clients
> > needed her and she didn't want to risk them turning to someone else.
> > This is something employees don't worry about.
> >
> > > 3. I would need good contacts and publicity
> > > -------------------------------------------
> >
> > I think this is the most difficult point.
> > It is not enough to be known, you need to be liked as well. People will
> > hire you only if they think that they'll enjoy working with you. I don't
> > know of anyone who hired a consultant they didn't like. In fact, the
> > consultants I know are the nicest people ever.
> >
> > Forgive me for being frank, but you have a knack for pissing people off.
> > I think you can name more than one person who will never ever hire you.
> > This is not the right direction.
> >
> > > 4. More time to do the things I like:
> > > -------------------------------------
> > Not sure about this one. Independents tend to be more busy than
> > employees because in addition to their main job duties, they also need
> > to do marketing, chase clients and force them to pay, etc.
> >
> > > 5. I can see the world:
> > > -----------------------
> > Anything prevents you from going to conferences right now?
> > The only plus side is that the travel expenses will be tax-deductible.
> >
> >
> > I think you can make a rather good consultant if you can only improve
> > two things:
> > 1. People skills. Actively try to be very nice and accommodating. You
> > tend to annoy many people, and those you annoyed will not hire you.
> > Don't fool yourself - No matter how good you are, people will not hire
> > you unless they will enjoy working with you.
> >
> > 2. If you want to train people, you'll need to improve your public
> > speaking skills. I saw you are already working on this.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Chen
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
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> > __________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>  
>



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