The Self-Employed Man

Be your own boss and still pay the bills: clients, pricing, taxes, tools and time for your family.

The BRO Code. What to do, what not to do, and a few laughs on the way.

Do's & Don'ts: Men Do's & Don'ts: Business Owners

← Newer articlesPage 11 of 201

Pay for the wedding in cash or move the date

The guest list is the budget. Everything else is decoration, and most of it's negotiable if you run the numbers first.

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

The food truck costs that aren't on anybody's spreadsheet

The truck is the cheap part. It's the commissary, the generator hours and the days you don't sell that decide whether you're still open in year two.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

Ask it

GuideSkillsWes DunbarSep 23, 20265 min

Purify Backcountry Water Without Guessing What's In It

Pick the source, strain the grit, treat it right, and keep the dirty bottle away from the clean one. The order matters more than the gear.

Shirts.com — Design it with AI. Wear it this week.

PartnerShirts.com

Money6 min read

Read your home insurance policy on a Tuesday, not after a fire

Six numbers in your policy decide what you actually get paid. Most people meet them for the first time standing in a wet hallway.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

The family cleaning business runs on roles, not goodwill

Cleaning is one of the few businesses a family can start this month for under a thousand dollars. It's also one of the easiest to quit by March.

GuideSkillsWes DunbarSep 23, 20266 min

Sew on a button and mend a seam so they stay fixed

Eighteen inches of thread, a needle and a toothpick. Ten minutes of work that outlasts whatever the factory did the first time.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

PartnerDelicious.com

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

What actually moves your credit score and what doesn't

Two things do most of the work, a dozen things do almost nothing, and one common piece of advice costs people money every month.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

Buy the tool before you hire the person

A second set of hands costs a lot more than the paycheck. Run the payback math on the machine first, and be honest about what it can't do.

GuideSkillsCal BrennanSep 23, 20265 min

Choking rescue for an adult, a child and a baby

The hands go in three different places depending on who's choking, and the one that works on a grown man will hurt an infant.

Ask BRO

Build me a 30-day training plan around two sessions a week

Ask it

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

The second income is smaller than the paycheck says

Before one parent comes home, do the subtraction that tells you what that job is actually adding to your family.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

PartnerNames.com

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

A five-page website is all a local business needs

Your site has one job: make the phone ring. Most of what agencies sell you actively gets in the way of that.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

GuideSkillsWes DunbarSep 23, 20266 min

Replace a broken window pane without butchering the sash

The glass is the easy part. Skip one step and your fresh putty cracks out by next winter.

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20266 min

The phone call that empties a family's savings

It starts polite, it starts urgent, and it ends with somebody at a Walgreens buying $500 gift cards. The defense takes four minutes.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

PartnerCoconut.com

GuideBusinessRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20266 min

What to check in the books before you buy somebody's business

The seller's P&L is a sales document. The bank statements are the truth. Start there and work outward.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

Skills6 min

Hang a ceiling fan that doesn't wobble, hum or fall

Money6 min

The side income tax bill nobody sets money aside for

Ask BRO

Rewrite my CV so it actually gets read

Ask it

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20266 min

Your Farmers Market Stand Isn't a Hobby, It's a Business

The Saturday math that decides whether the market pays you or quietly bills you, and why half the stands are gone by September.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

Skills6 min read

How to get a fire going when every stick is soaked

Wet wood isn't wet all the way through. Here's the order of operations that turns a soggy woodpile into a fire that stays lit.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

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