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Moved to Scottsdale, Growing a Web Design Firm

GuitarManDan

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Hey everyone,

It's been about one year since I joined the forum and thanks to the great advice of some members of the community, I've been able to completely change my life and move in a better direction.

To keep it simple, I was working at an investment bank in NYC and absolutely hated my life / how I was treated.

This week I just moved into my apartment in Scottsdale after making the cross country drive solo. A few months back I started my web design business with the help of Fox's course which has provided tremendous value and I've already closed a $1250 and a $4000 sale so far (a few other possible ones in the pipeline too).

When I was trying to find my way, I probably cold emailed 250+ businesses and cold called 150+ with lots of rejection, but it was a great learning experience.

I know a lot of members are from the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, and as I'm new to the area, it would be great to meet up if anyone is interested to grab a coffee/drink sometime.

Thanks!
 
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Vigilante

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Hey everyone,

It's been about one year since I joined the forum and thanks to the great advice of some members of the community, I've been able to completely change my life and move in a better direction.

To keep it simple, I was working at an investment bank in NYC and absolutely hated my life / how I was treated.

This week I just moved into my apartment in Scottsdale after making the cross country drive solo. A few months back I started my web design business with the help of Fox's course which has provided tremendous value and I've already closed a $1250 and a $4000 sale so far (a few other possible ones in the pipeline too).

When I was trying to find my way, I probably cold emailed 250+ businesses and cold called 150+ with lots of rejection, but it was a great learning experience.

I know a lot of members are from the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, and as I'm new to the area, it would be great to meet up if anyone is interested to grab a coffee/drink sometime.

Thanks!

Welcome. How did you settle on Scottsdale? It's becoming somewhat of a commune there of Fast Lane Forum members.
 

GuitarManDan

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Welcome. How did you settle on Scottsdale? It's becoming somewhat of a commune there of Fast Lane Forum members.

Thanks, my main criteria was cheaper standard of living (not hard to do coming from NYC), warmer climate, and a decent population of people around my age (im a 27 year old guy).

I also was looking to check out a city in the western part of the US (lived in New Jersey and New York my entire life). I really liked San Diego but it was way too expensive when I’m just starting out my business.

I saw Scottsdale recommended on here multiple times and I had friends who used to live here who couldn’t recommend it enough so I figured why not.
 
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Vigilante

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Thanks, my main criteria was cheaper standard of living (not hard to do coming from NYC), warmer climate, and a decent population of people around my age (im a 27 year old guy).

I also was looking to check out a city in the western part of the US (lived in New Jersey and New York my entire life). I really liked San Diego but it was way too expensive when I’m just starting out my business.

I saw Scottsdale recommended on here multiple times and I had friends who used to live here who couldn’t recommend it enough so I figured why not.

Scottsdale is beautiful.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Welcome the neighborhood!! We have about another two months of great weather before your meddle will be tested.

BTW, can I put this outside or do you want it to remain private on the Inside?
 
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Jamie T

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Welcome to AZ!

I'm also from NY (upstate). I'll send you a PM.
 
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Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm in the metro area a bit further south - don't worry too much about the summer, its a dry heat ;)
 

MHP368

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Hey everyone,

It's been about one year since I joined the forum and thanks to the great advice of some members of the community, I've been able to completely change my life and move in a better direction.

To keep it simple, I was working at an investment bank in NYC and absolutely hated my life / how I was treated.

This week I just moved into my apartment in Scottsdale after making the cross country drive solo. A few months back I started my web design business with the help of Fox's course which has provided tremendous value and I've already closed a $1250 and a $4000 sale so far (a few other possible ones in the pipeline too).

When I was trying to find my way, I probably cold emailed 250+ businesses and cold called 150+ with lots of rejection, but it was a great learning experience.

I know a lot of members are from the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, and as I'm new to the area, it would be great to meet up if anyone is interested to grab a coffee/drink sometime.

Thanks!

Welcome to Arizona!
 

GuitarManDan

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Welcome the neighborhood!! We have about another two months of great weather before your meddle will be tested.

BTW, can I put this outside or do you want it to remain private on the Inside?

Thanks MJ! Of course, more than happy to have this on the outside. I've been a lurker on the inside for a while so I wanted to have this be a kind of introduction as well.

Not going to lie, it's extremely inspiring how much wealth there is in Scottsdale. Other friends I know who lived here said it's intimidating, but it makes me want to hustle my a$$ off.
 
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MTF

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Welcome the neighborhood!! We have about another two months of great weather before your meddle will be tested.

Just curious: can you stay active during the summer and spend time outdoors or do people mostly stay indoors during the day and get out only in the mornings or evenings?
 

SteveO

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Just curious: can you stay active during the summer and spend time outdoors or do people mostly stay indoors during the day and get out only in the mornings or evenings?
I am outside all day, every day. Still run during the summer but usually in the early mornings. We would play softball tournaments that would consist of four or five games straight. There would be 30 teams out there in the summer sun.
 

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Just curious: can you stay active during the summer and spend time outdoors or do people mostly stay indoors during the day and get out only in the mornings or evenings?

My mentor died a few years back, but lived in Scottsdale.

He would call me from the 8th green in the heat of the day, when it was 110 degrees in the sun.

Life is what you make it.
 
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Vigilante

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Just curious: can you stay active during the summer and spend time outdoors or do people mostly stay indoors during the day and get out only in the mornings or evenings?

I would tell you though in Tampa in July and August the heat plus humidity is rough during daylight hours. Most people retreat to the conditioned air and/or pools/Gulf of Mexico to find relief during the worst of what Tampa has to offer.
 

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My hometown is Mexicali, Baja, which has the same weather as Phoenix I believe. And I can verify. Humans adapt. Although, I'm not sure how healthy is to expose yourself to extreme heath every day.

I'm pretty sure that it's much healthier to expose yourself to extreme heat than to extreme cold. And humans, as animals coming from the tropics, can more easily adapt to high temperatures and full sunshine than low temperatures and no sunshine.
 

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Watch out for scorpions! lol
Lived in Arizona for 18 years. Saw one scorpion in all that time. F*cker was 10 feet tall. Had to use the light saber and auto rifle at the same time to take it out. Or, flick it with my finger. :hilarious:
 
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steelandchrome

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The heat is bearable for short bursts but I cannot stand to be outside in the summer for more than an hour or two at a time personally. I had heat exhaustion about 8 years ago and now I overheat a lot faster than I used to. Just have a good A/C system and park in the garage and you will be ok.

Oh, and as far as scorpions I live on a golf course next to a mountain area and I have had 4 in two years including one that actually crawled over my foot while I was in bed! Luckily no stings, but it all depends on where you live if you will see them. Closer to the desert or the older the area the more you will see.
 
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I'm pretty sure that it's much healthier to expose yourself to extreme heat than to extreme cold. And humans, as animals coming from the tropics, can more easily adapt to high temperatures and full sunshine than low temperatures and no sunshine.

Living in the cold does have some advantages and I think I finally figured out why I'm always hot. It's the brown fat. Didn't know this existed before but it checks alot of boxes as to why I stay skinny and am always hot. How do I get brown fat in Phoenix, well winter still gets below 60 and I'm still wearing t-shirts and shorts.

Cool Temperature Alters Human Fat and Metabolism
 

MJ DeMarco

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Just curious: can you stay active during the summer and spend time outdoors or do people mostly stay indoors during the day and get out only in the mornings or evenings?

late June / July / August you can't be outdoors during daylight, but as soon as sun is down, the temps are bearable.

I don't mind the summers much anymore, love the summer nights. I love cruising down the street, windows open (or top down) and not getting cold. 105 in the dark will do that.
 

GuitarManDan

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In NJ/NY, we always had a good deal of humidity in the summer months, the buzzword I keep hearing since I've been here is "dry heat" so we'll see!

From a business perspective, this week I'm working on setting up an LLC (seems like electing to be taxed as an S-corp is my best bet). Just set up a PO box in case I move from this apartment in AZ and spoke with a law firm to get more details around the AZ LLC process.

I also joined a sports league in Scottsdale - figure it's a good way to meet people when I'm new here.
 
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CareCPA

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In NJ/NY, we always had a good deal of humidity in the summer months, the buzzword I keep hearing since I've been here is "dry heat" so we'll see!

From a business perspective, this week I'm working on setting up an LLC (seems like electing to be taxed as an S-corp is my best bet). Just set up a PO box in case I move from this apartment in AZ and spoke with a law firm to get more details around the AZ LLC process.

I also joined a sports league in Scottsdale - figure it's a good way to meet people when I'm new here.
You can hold off on the S election if you want, until you see if it makes sense.
S Corp traps you into payroll and an additional tax filing. A single-member LLC will show up on your personal return. You might want to wait until the added cost of running payroll and having another tax filing outweighs the cost of self-employment tax that is being saved.
 

GuitarManDan

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You can hold off on the S election if you want, until you see if it makes sense.
S Corp traps you into payroll and an additional tax filing. A single-member LLC will show up on your personal return. You might want to wait until the added cost of running payroll and having another tax filing outweighs the cost of self-employment tax that is being saved.

Thanks! When I create the entity, will I need to make an election or is there a default that would make more sense?

This is the info I really need to dig into so I appreciate any advice. I’ve currently just been invoicing using FreshBooks and making it paid to me personally.

Need to investigate business bank accounts and all of that jazz too.
 

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Thanks! When I create the entity, will I need to make an election or is there a default that would make more sense?

This is the info I really need to dig into so I appreciate any advice. I’ve currently just been invoicing using FreshBooks and making it paid to me personally.

Need to investigate business bank accounts and all of that jazz too.
The default for a single-member LLC is a disregarded entity, so it would just show up on your Schedule C. You would need to elect to be treated as an S Corp.
Technically, if you want to be an S Corp, you have to elect within 2.5 months of entity formation (or year-end for the subsequent year), but the IRS has historically been extremely lenient on late elections.
 
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@GuitarManDan
Arizona heat can be brutal - and so can the cold - but the one consistently amazing time here is sunset/sunrise.

It's beautiful out during these times and honestly is the best time to be outside. Personally I try not to miss a sunset any time during the year and get up for the sunrise when I can. Nothing will capture the beauty of the desert more.
 

GuitarManDan

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@GuitarManDan
Arizona heat can be brutal - and so can the cold - but the one consistently amazing time here is sunset/sunrise.

It's beautiful out during these times and honestly is the best time to be outside. Personally I try not to miss a sunset any time during the year and get up for the sunrise when I can. Nothing will capture the beauty of the desert more.

I've heard amazing things! Any recommended spots to catch a good sunset view? I still need to do some hiking while I'm here too, I've only checked out Pinnacle Peak so far, but have heard great things about Camelback and Tom's Thumb.
 

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