[APG Public List] Genalogy business plan

[Dave Liesse]

Debbi,

My business actually has two separate lines of work: tax preparation and 
genealogy, neither of which has a great chance of generating income 100% 
of the year (certainly not enough to depend on either one as a sole 
source of income!).  Thus, using simultaneous career #1, I'll address 
your first question about simultaneous career #2.

You may not be able to recoup costs directly, but if you do it right the 
cost of the convention, including travel and lodging (and partial 
meals), can be a business expense.  The important phrase is "if you do 
it right."  The expenses need to be ordinary and necessary for the line 
of business (conventions for professional genealogists qualify), 
reasonable, and so on.  You can check with your tax adviser for more 
details.

Dave

(Completely off topic: does anyone know when "adviser" replaced 
"advisor" as the spelling acceptable to computer programs?)



On 6/10/2011 20:04, Debbi Lyon wrote:
> Hello,
> I need help writing a business plan for my genealogy business. I would 
> appreciate some insight either publicly or via e-mail.
> 1) How are professional genealogists able to recoup travel and hotel 
> fees when the are not paid for a speaking gig at the convention?
> 2) How do the pros get reimbursed for the time involved in writing an 
> article that is published in a scholarly genealogy publication?
> 3) Is there room for one more genealogist to make a decent living (and 
> pay for medical benefits) or is the field already too crowded?
> I have worked as a freelance writer/photographer in the music industry 
> and I wonder if genealogy vendors comp trips, tickets, supplies and 
> subscriptions like the record labels do.
> Thank you,
> Debbi
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