Story
I’ve been self employed for over 14 years. Oh how I wish I got out of my own way. I think back to all those hours I spent learning about corporate tax structures, how to register then file my taxes with the various tax collectors, setting up bookkeeping processes, and learning about how money flows through the business to myself, and so many other “chores” related to running a business. In fact, I’m an expert at doing the chores related to business ownership / self employment! Fellow Travelers is something I wish I had when I was starting out! I would have been doing the work my clients want me to do and growing the business, instead of housekeeping work.
Then in 2014 health insurance rates skyrocketed for most people. Ours went up 40% that year! Soon there were 2 insurance markets, one for people with representation and one for individuals who did not get benefits from their employers. For several years I saw this HUGE gap and I just had to gnash my teeth… I’m paying an extra thousands of dollars a year for the exact same insurance!
Fellow Travelers was created for us, and hopefully for you as well. As entrepreneurs, we understand your journey. Yes us entrepreneurs are nimble and clever, but there’s also all the stuff we don’t have access to, don’t have the bandwidth to stay on top of, or have the desire to learn entirely new skills outside our business core competencies. None of us started working for ourselves to learn how to become a pro at figuring out how to calculate our unemployment tax rate, how to compete a form 941 or 1120, or how to get reasonable benefits for ourselves not in the context getting benefits through a large employer. We’re here to make that happen for you. After having spent (and “wasted”) so many hours doing “chores” and “housekeeping” related to being self employed, we want to do your housekeeping work, or help you spend a lot less time on it. And because we’re all fellow travelers on this planet, a small portion of our revenue will go towards a pool that will help our members pay when high cost claims are incurred. We’re all in this together.
Businesses don’t exist in vacuums, they exist within the context of the owner’s & employee’s daily lives, hopes and goals, and their place within the communities they operate in. We can help with all of that.
Matt Tae