License in my own name, insurance quote three times what I expected, and no jobs yet
Nine years wiring houses for somebody else. Passed the exam, filed the entity in March, and I have now been a business owner for six weeks without doing a single hour of paid work.
The insurance is what stopped me. I called the first agent expecting a number like the one my old boss used to grumble about and got a quote roughly three times that. When I asked why, he talked about what I'd told him I might do, which included a bit of light commercial, and said the commercial piece changes the whole picture.
Then a general contractor I've known for years said he'd put me on a job if I could send a certificate naming his company as additional insured, and I had to look up what that meant on my phone in the truck.
Still open: whether I need workers comp with no employees, which my state seems to have opinions about; whether to carry my tools on the policy or eat a theft if it happens; and whether to get bonded now or wait until somebody asks.
What did you actually buy in year one, and what did you skip and regret skipping?