#146: Big Changes on the Horizon for the Podcast!

I just wanted to let everyone know that the podcast will return in the next few weeks. I'm trying to put something together that will make it way more interesting. I've taken the last couple months off from doing the show because, well, it's winter and there just wasn't that much in the news.

This new format should not be so dependent on news and will include other topics and segments. I'm hoping that this will be the definitive CRM podcast! That shouldn't be too difficult since I'm pretty sure it's the only one right now.

If you'd like to help out with interviews at the 2013 SAAs in Hawaii, let me know. Also let me know if you'd like to guest blog about presentations you see at the SAA's.

Stay tuned for details and be sure to subscribe on iTunes or using whatever podcast listening device you use.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field!

#144 How to Start a Consulting Business, Part 1

In 1000 Easy Steps...

Sure, there are lots of resources for starting a small business.

Starting an archaeological consulting firm, however, has it’s own set of challenges. I wish I wasn’t doing this by myself so someone else could shoulder some of the responsibilities but that’s not the case. It’s likely that I’ll make mistakes along the way and I hope they aren’t big ones. Maybe my experiences can help someone else go through this process with a little less pain and suffering.

Order of Steps

Starting a company is going to be different for everyone and depends upon where you are starting and what you want to do. First, you need to decide what your company is going to do. Out here in the Great Basin you have the option to just do survey and not do any ground disturbing activities. We generally don’t do shovel tests on Phase I surveys. Having a survey permit from the BLM is easy and requires little gear. Generally all you’ll need are pin flags and safety equipment. Vehicles, sub-meter GPS’s and other electronics can all be rented. As a company that focuses on surveys you might not even need formal office spaces. In the world of Archaeology 2.0 most activities outside of fieldwork can be cloud based, so, save money, be green, and dump the office cubicle model. If you absolutely need storage space just rent a storage unit. They’re cheap and easy to get.

If you want to bid on testing and excavation projects you’re likely going to need a lot more equipment. There aren’t generally any places to rent that stuff from, either. Although, that may change for some places in the near future. More on that later. Doing excavations will also mean having lab and storage space.

Since I’m starting a survey only company for the time being that’s what I’ll focus on for this post.

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Permits

Out here in Nevada you need to get a Nevada State Museum (NSM) Antiquities permit and a Cultural Resource Use Permit (CRUP) from the BLM. I wanted to get those out of the way right away since you can’t do anything else without them. What I didn’t know was what the BLM was going to require of me. More on that in a minute.

The NSM permit is pretty easy to get as long as you meet the requirements and have experience as an archaeologist. I applied for one and had the permit a week later. It’s also free.

The BLM permit is a bit more difficult. At my last company I was on their permit as a Principal Investigator for both prehistoric and historic resources statewide. So, naturally, I thought it would be easy getting my own permit from the BLM. Not so much. I filled out the application and submitted it with my CV, my NSM permit, a curation agreement for artifacts (also from the NSM) and a supplemental page detailing the type of company I have, or plan to have.

Since I’ve never held my own CRUP before the BLM wants to see some sort of proof that I’m serious about having a real company and that I’m not some quack with a degree trying to mess up arch sites in the Basin (I will delete any comments relating to this statement. You were warned.). So, I’m about to give them all the things I’m going to talk about next. Then, they’ll sign off on the permit.

To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate

That’s not the only question. There are a few ways you can go when forming a company. There is a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a Limited Liability Company, a C-Corporation and an S-Corporation. Since I’m not a lawyer I’m not going to tell you which one to choose. What I will tell is to do your homework and check out each option. They all provide a level of protection should you get sued or cause a bunch of damage to a client’s site. Attend a SCORE class. They are free and can be found nation wide. I chose to go with an LLC because it provides me the level of protection that a small company like mine needs.

You can, and should, have a lawyer set up the paperwork for whatever type of company you choose. Since I’m setting this up as frugally as possible I did my own research. Here in Nevada there is a state website for setting up companies and obtaining business licenses. It’s called Silver Flume (I know, right?) and it’s real easy to use. I was able to set up the LLC, apply for a State Business License, and get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) all in about 30 minutes. The cost to set up the LLC was a total of $200. It was $75 to Charter the LLC and $125 to submit the list of officers (which has to be done within 30 days and since I’m the President, Owner, Principal Investigator, Report Writer, Project Archaeologist, Field Technician, and Janitor it was easy).

If you are worried that your LLC (or whatever you chose) isn’t set up right because you did it yourself, don’t worry. You can always have a lawyer look over the paperwork and make any changes later when you have more money. As soon as I have a few contracts behind me and some money in the bank I plan to have a lawyer look over all of my documents.

Business Licenses

Notice the plural: business licenses. Here in Nevada you have to start with the State Business License. The application is easy and can be done on the Silver Flume website. The cost was $200.

After the state license, you also need a city license and county license for wherever your business is located. The costs vary, depending on where you are. Here, it’s another $200 total for my current city and county. An additional challenge for a statewide consulting firm is the need for business licenses in other cities and counties. If I land a contract in, say, Elko County, I’ll need to contact the county and get a business license quickly. The turnaround is fast and the BL should be less than $200. The good thing is that most BLs are good for at least one year.

Employer Identification Number

This is the easy one. You can get an EIN from the IRS quickly and for free on their website. You need the EIN to pay taxes and to pay employees. If you don’t know what an EIN is, it’s the number on the W-2 you get from an employer that you have to put down in the tax software that you use. I got mine on the Silver Flume website while I was doing the business license and the LLC Charter.

That’s enough for this post. Check back in a future post for the remaining steps in the process, including writing a Business Plan, setting up insurance, and doing all those little things that you take for granted at other, established, companies.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the field!

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#140 Post College Life

[I’m working on a side project and was looking through my old college notes for some information I thought I had. While doing that I came across the following little gem. My university had a final course for graduating seniors called “Senior Seminar”. It was a great course that was designed to put your life in perspective so you can evaluate where you have been and what you want to do. The following is from an exercise where we had to evaluate where we came from and what we wanted out of life after college. I didn’t quite hit the mark but I feel like I’m still somewhat on course. This was not edited and is presented in it’s original form. Enjoy.]

What do I want to do in my post-college life?  That is a good question.  I’ve already lived through my twenties and had the starts of a few good careers.  I’ve been in the Navy, and I’ve been an aircraft electronics technician.  I’ve been a quality assurance inspector and a supervisor at an international corporation.  Throughout all those jobs I always felt that there was something missing.  Passion.

I really enjoyed being in the Navy.  When I was in high school I never even applied to any colleges.  I was signed up for the Navy before my senior year even started.  At the time, my passion was going into the Navy.  It’s all I thought about and it’s all I wanted to do.  From day one I had planned on making a career out of the military.  I’m not sure why I felt this way.  It might be in part because I knew that I could never afford college.  Not that I would have known what to do in college had I gone.  My parents were broke all the time and no one ever told me about government student loans.  Gotta love those guidance counselors.

When I got to my squadron in the Navy I had responsibilities and shortly after arriving I had people under me.  I was hooked.  I didn’t really like working on planes but I loved being in charge.  I enjoyed that fact that everything that happened on that shift was my responsibility.  I loved having a task to do, delegating the people to do it, and coordinating the efforts to get the task done efficiently and timely.  I also really liked the chain of command in the Navy.  The only time I didn’t like it is when someone over me was doing a bad job or making bad decisions.  I had a hard time taking orders from people that didn’t know what they were doing or that I didn’t respect.  In the end, that’s ultimately why I got out.  I knew that it would never get better in that respect.  That’s when I went to flight school.

In flight school I discovered that I really liked to fly.  I also discovered that I didn’t like to fly on a rigid time schedule.  I didn’t figure that out until I moved to North Dakota and transferred to UND.  When I got to UND the flying atmosphere was so rigid and sterile that it put me off flying completely.  I still enjoy flying but I could never see myself flying for a commercial airline or even for a corporation.  It would ruin flying for me.  I wouldn’t mind flying tourists for sightseeing or flying smaller planes in Africa on safaris and other trips like that.

Luckily, I was taking anthropology classes at UND when my taste for flying started to go sour.  I have always had at least a casual interest in anthropology, especially human origins.  I have to admit that I’ve always been somewhat of a cultural anthropologist too in that I enjoy observing people and trying to figure out what makes them tick.  I do that to people I know too.  When I’m having a conversation and I hear something that doesn’t sound right, I’ll press them to cite their sources for the information and back-up everything that they have to say until they are blue in the face and get mad at me.  I’ve always enjoyed going to coffee shops, or even just to work, and sitting back and observing people.  Seeing how they handle the situation they are in or watching the little things they do with their hands or the way they shuffle their feet when they are uncomfortable or when they are lying are all things that I’ve done for as long as I can remember.

It’s this varied job history and my personal interests that lead me to believe that my passion is truly anthropology and scientific debate.  Every time I’m with people that enjoy talking about topics in anthropology, I just let the time slip away.  I don’t even notice it.  I love reading about history and texts on early human origins.  I can’t see myself doing anything else for the rest of my life.  I might not end up in a classroom but I’ll certainly be involved somehow in the search for our ancestors.

I’ve only recently made these decisions in my life.  Prior to the start of last semester I didn’t really know what I was going to do.  I had just started a job with FedEx and I was actually thinking that a career with them might not be so bad.  I’m not sure what triggered the change but something happened shortly after the school year started, a light bulb went off in my head, and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.  I’d figured it out.  I would go to Arizona State, get my Ph.D. and work in the paleoanthropology field for the rest of my life.  I even have a back-up plan.  If ASU doesn’t accept me on the second try, I’m moving to Africa.  I’m not sure where yet but probably Kenya.  That doesn’t even scare me.  I’ve moved twice now to cities where I didn’t know anyone and didn’t even have a place to live or a job.  I know it’s possible if I put my mind to it.  I’d rather go to Africa with my doctorate because I know what kind of significance the scientific community puts on that sort of thing but to me personally, it’s just a check in the block; something that I have to do to get to where I want to go.

I’d like the career path that I have chosen to eventually take me to a nice university where I can have a big office and a big cherry wood desk with books everywhere.  I’ll be teaching classes, doing research and enjoying life.  It’s something that I really look forward to.  I picture the situation where the old professor walks everyday from his house to his office in the picturesque setting with leaves falling and students rushing off to class and think, that looks nice.  Maybe I’ve seen too many movies but I don’t care.  It’s my dream to have all that and if I even get a fraction of what I dream for, I’ll be happy.

Well that was fun. The writing isn’t too bad but I’ve seen better. As you can see I didn’t become a paleoanthropologist. Just didn’t have the grades for those schools. ASU wanted a 4.0 and I didn’t have it. Also, I didn’t know the world of CRM existed or that contract archaeology was even a possibility. I thought that academic archaeology or TV archaeology were the only ways people in that field made a living. Lessons learned, for sure.

I think I’m still on the path I set for myself. It’s nine years later and I’m still in archaeology, have a Master’s Degree, and I’m starting my own company. It’s not a cherry wood desk and an idilic, ivy-covered, college campus but I have no regrets. I still have passion, though, and that’s what counts.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!