Justin Harter of America » Business

When Becoming a Freelance Web Designer

Justin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:37:57 +0000

I’ve learned a lot lately since becoming a full-time web shop owner with Justify Studios. But, I did some homework before I came to the conclusion of quitting my old job with the Court.

One of the things I did manage to forsee is that working a solid 8 hour day is stupid. I’ve always thought the idea of working a set timeframe for some days and not others was stupid anyway. Work doesn’t always happen at 2:12 PM. I’ll work when work needs to be done for as long as I can do so in a healthy way. The result is that my clients get a better product and I get to live my life.

For anyone thinking about doing your own business, don’t assume you can work 8 billable hours a day. Instead, do this:

Figure out how much money you need to make in a given month to cover all the necessary bills. Then add 40% to cover the extra taxes. Lastly, figure out how many hours you need to bill for to make up that amount. For me at my rate, it comes out to 32 billable hours a month, or about an hour a day. Now you have a goal.

Good work, if you can get it.

We’re number 12! We’re number 12!

Justin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:49:10 +0000

Indiana ranks 12th in the annual State Business Tax Climate Index:

The states are scored on these taxes, and the scores are weighted based on the relative importance or impact of the tax to a business. Keeping a state competitive in today’s global marketplace can be difficult, but there is one factor lawmakers have direct control over: the quality of state tax systems. The Index measures how well a state’s tax system encourages investment by maintaining a broad tax base and low rates.

Where do other states rank? Glad you asked…

The top 10 states in the 2010 Index, from 1st to 10th, are South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada, Florida, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware, Washington and Utah. The bottom 10 states, from 41st to 50th, are Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Maryland, Iowa, Ohio, California, New York and New Jersey.

Maybe instead of looking for business investment in China, Gov. Daniels should just go to New York, California and New Jersey.

Zooom!

Justin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:13:27 +0000

We’re on our way to another good list!

Indiana ranked 13th on CNBC’s annual list of top states for business, a vast improvement over the 26th place last year. The biggest jumps occurred in the categories of economy, business friendliness, transportation and cost of doing business. The state’s ranking for innovation and access to capital were stagnant. States were ranked on 40 measures of competitiveness available from public data. [IBJ]