Thursday, July 24, 2014

Business Oriented 'Anarchist Calisthenics'

As a follow up to Have You Done Your 'Anarchist Calisthenics' Today? ,an EPJ reader writes:
Jaywalking as an example is good & undermining with low risk, but let us contemplate for a moment also some financial beneficial ways for business people to exercise their anarchistic muscles in a way to make themselves more money.

So here are some personal things I've done that helps us all undermine the state while also making money:

1. Ignore regulations by governments(state, Fed, etc.) that inhibit money making. The people that compete against the truffle entrepreneur without getting the 'proper' license to sell truffles are a perfect example of this that you posted a couple of weeks ago.

In my case, I've ignored the following regulations that not only help to make/save me money, but have a very low fine if I'm caught, and I doubt I ever will be:

1. I moved my business to an area that wasn't zoned for my type of business. Why? It was in a less trafficked area (location isn't super important for my business) but more importantly, it had a more stable supply of 207 voltage, which is very important to my business.(stable electrical voltage is more difficult to find in industrial parks)

2. I ignored all the sign requirements within the city limits. The code required me to first pay someone to create a design, submit it for approval to the city(which accompanied a fee) and only after approval could I build it. Instead, I made the sign and put it up on my building. It's been four years now and no bureaucrats have stopped by to fine/complain me. I've researched the fine if they ever catch up, it's $50. (a lot less than the design & approval fees)

3. I routinely disable the safety devices on my machines(against OSHA regs) to do jobs more efficiently than otherwise possible. Also, since I started refusing entry to OSHA on visits(which is perfectly within your right to do, you force them to get an administrative warrant), they have only gone through the trouble once since and never been back(6 years and counting now)...I used to get a visit from them every year with around $1000/fine to go with it(once I was fined $500 for not having a spray bottle of water labeled "water")

3A. I routinely ignore building code in doing electrical work in my building, not in a dangerous way, but in a practical way. It saves me huge time and money. When I used to let OSHA in my building, they never once caught any of said work and if they do, those type of issues are usually a correction memo, not a fine.

4. I buy LLC's for my semi-retired employees. I've bought several of them. I go on to "legal zoom" and for a couple hundred bucks do all the paperwork myself for them and then have them do work for me and send invoices. It is sporadic work for them and it saves me substantial sums of money versus payroll tax obligations, it also happens to put more money in their pockets as well.

Pro tip: Are you unemployed and having a tough time finding a job? Buy yourself an LLC and sell yourself to a potential employer as a "sub contractor", it's a huge factor for many employers to reduce the risk of trying out new people and you make yourself far more marketable.

1 comment:

  1. The easiest way to resist the state--as it is now--financially is to use cash.

    They hate it when you use anonymous, untraceable payment methods.

    ReplyDelete