I actually took out a very low interest line of credit with the bank, but using it sort of feels like failure, so I hate using it.

Don't be. This is one of the main reasons that banks exist. If you're only borrowing against money you're sure you'll be receiving, and not digging yourself into a hole, then there's nothing wrong with this.

Thanks, Tom. The line of credit is actually secured by cash that I have in the bank, but it works out better this was for accounting. So yeah, I shouldn't feel bad using it - it's my money already earned. The brain is a crazy, frustrating place.

The brain is a crazy, frustrating place.

Yep, THIS.

I don't know what legal precautions you guys take, but I was just reading an article on dealing with deadbeats that owe you money, and one of the commenters (uncoincidentally, I'm sure, a lawyer) said:

Also, if your business budget doesn't include something for legal costs, you're not really running a business; you're making some money on your hobby.

Which I think does have a point.

Glad to hear I only have a hobby.

That's not totally fair, I will pay for advice when I need it, but it's not like it's a line item in my budget.

Advice when needed, sure. A solid contract, business entities, etc., yep. Paying a retainer just so some douchebag on the internet will stop being mean and calling it a hobby? Nah...

Yeah, I got lucky because I know some lawyers, and I got advice and feedback on contracts pro bono.

If I ever need a lawyer, or decide to go LLC, I will get a lawyer.

But right now, I can't even pay the fucking water or cable/net bills.

I guess I DO just have a fucking hobby. /stressed.

ETA: Nope, that stressed tag ain't closed.

A solid contract, business entities, etc., yep. Paying a retainer just so some douchebag on the internet will stop being mean and calling it a hobby? Nah...

I think that's a little more defensive than the quotation called for. It seems you have budgeted for legal spend, so why the "douchebag" and "mean"? What's he saying that's wrong?

I will pay for advice when I need it

Then isn't it within your budget?

I didn't expect bristling. I think that legal situations come up for people (who own businesses or do not) more than people wager for, and if it's your primary source of income, you can't afford to freewheel it and make stuff up, because things go wrong very easily.

Also, lots of actual douchebags out there who are trying to get money out of you or avoiding paying you some, as opposed to what struck me as just advice that can be taken or left.

I suppose for me it means that I don't have it counted as a recurring annual expense. There have been a handful of times over the years that I've needed to talk to a lawyer for the business. So it tends to fall in my budget under general expenses, not a line item for legal.

I think the bristle is because that's a pretty unilateral statement to make. If one doesn't have a line item for legal fees then your business is a hobby. The term hobby denigrates the business.

I'm sorry if the bristle seemed out of proportion or at all directed at you -- but it is genuine, and there for a reason. "Hobby" is a very common way of undermining just the kind of businesses that I (in particular) and a lot of others who hang in this thread do: freelancers get it constantly, but so do many other one- or two-person businesses, even more so if you work online or out of a home office rather than a fixed place like a shop. It goes right along with "when are you going to get a real job" and "so this is a little thing you do on the side?" and "but your spouse must be making good money, right?" and a hundred others like it.

So, yeah, making sensible legal precautions is a part of any business. But "hobby" is kind of a third rail.