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This is highly country and legal environment dependant. Very difficult to scale. Often a tradesperson can secure a lien on a property as part of their permit

This is highly country and legal environment dependant. Very difficult to scale. Often a tradesperson can secure a lien on a property as part of their permit for that job. If the tradesperson gets paid,then the security on the debt/loan is gone. In my own case of endless home renovation, a bigger issue is you have to front the workman etc the $$$ to buy the supplies/lumber/etc.

RobKanda 5y ago
Whilst the main concept itself is subject to local legal variations, the idea of contractors being able to make their jobs more accessible and more affordable to the average homeowner resonates around the world. What Kanda aims to do is to take this legal restriction minefield away from the contractors, so they can continue to do what they do best, whilst offering their customers an affordable payment plan. Securing a lien when doing smaller work, such as fitting a boiler or rewiring a house, is not ideal when you want to get paid as soon as the job is done. If the customer instead arranges finance with us, the payment can be immediately paid out and the contractor can continue on with their business without worrying if they will get reimbursed. Finally, the concept of fronting the money for the materials arises from the fear of the contractor not getting paid at all; if the job isn't paid for, at least the contractor won't be out of pocket. With us, the money is secured before the job starts. They don't need to worry about being out of pocket from a customer refusing to pay or being unable to pay.
- stormqloud 5y ago
  Fronting the money for the supplies usually comes from the fact the tradesperson went on a bender after you paid him last time! Also in the area where I live, most home trade jobs are done with as much cash as possible to avoid taxes. The pay cash tax savings is greater then any bank financing. When you pay 50% income taxes you can see that the incentive to work cash is much much greater then formal financing. If a car repair was going to cost $1000, the tradesperson keeps $500 after tax. He's better off to offer you $750 cash. Take $500 now (he's paid up). Then if he still collects the $250 cash that's pure bonus. I didn't even factor in the 20% sales taxes on the work the buyer would have to pay. All I can say is don't try to expand to a newly third world country like Canada. I just can't see it working here.
  - sterwill 5y ago
    I understand the desire to avoid paying tax by taking cash, but is it common that a tradesperson is paying 50% income tax? I only have a US resident's perspective, but that rate seems very high.
    - bombcar 5y ago
      If you count the 15% self employment tax (social security) it can easily reach 50% after state and federal.
      - sweeneyrod 5y ago
        In which country?
        hervature 5y ago
        The USA, the second highest bracket for federal (greater than $160,000) is 32%, then you have the 15.3% self-employment tax (social security + medicare), that alone is 47.3%. The minimum state income tax in most states will push you over 50%, but at $160,000 in California, that would be an additional 9.3%, so 56.3% total. Of course, we're ignoring credits but I assume $160,000 for a contractor in SF is pretty regular.
        boulos 5y ago
        Fwiw, those are marginal rates and you deduct the “employer half” of self-employment taxes. So a (filing single) contractor making 160,000 in California would pay more like $60k in total taxes (which is still 37.5% effective). But given the number of UK folks for this topic, the “Social Security” and FICA amount (~15%, so nearly half of “tax”) is effectively similar to National Insurance.
        hervature 5y ago
        Sorry, I thought I put marginal in there (that's why I mentioned brackets). There was lots of stuff I omitted like the SALT deduction. But I lumped all that stuff into "credits". For those reading, if you are paying 50% in tax in the US, you're probably doing something wrong even if all the marginal rates add up to that.
anonu 5y ago
You only need to be successful in one big county to get scale you need to survive. So you can focus in the early days and scale as you get traction
arcturus17 5y ago
> Very difficult to scale. Are you an expert in international legal environments for contractors, or are you just assuming that because it's difficult in your jurisdiction (also, tbh, your arguments in that sense are not that persuasive either), it's difficult all over the world?

RobKanda 5y ago

Whilst the main concept itself is subject to local legal variations, the idea of contractors being able to make their jobs more accessible and more affordable to the average homeowner resonates around the world. What Kanda aims to do is to take this legal restriction minefield away from the contractors, so they can continue to do what they do best, whilst offering their customers an affordable payment plan. Securing a lien when doing smaller work, such as fitting a boiler or rewiring a house, is not ideal when you want to get paid as soon as the job is done. If the customer instead arranges finance with us, the payment can be immediately paid out and the contractor can continue on with their business without worrying if they will get reimbursed. Finally, the concept of fronting the money for the materials arises from the fear of the contractor not getting paid at all; if the job isn't paid for, at least the contractor won't be out of pocket. With us, the money is secured before the job starts. They don't need to worry about being out of pocket from a customer refusing to pay or being unable to pay.

stormqloud 5y ago
Fronting the money for the supplies usually comes from the fact the tradesperson went on a bender after you paid him last time! Also in the area where I live, most home trade jobs are done with as much cash as possible to avoid taxes. The pay cash tax savings is greater then any bank financing. When you pay 50% income taxes you can see that the incentive to work cash is much much greater then formal financing. If a car repair was going to cost $1000, the tradesperson keeps $500 after tax. He's better off to offer you $750 cash. Take $500 now (he's paid up). Then if he still collects the $250 cash that's pure bonus. I didn't even factor in the 20% sales taxes on the work the buyer would have to pay. All I can say is don't try to expand to a newly third world country like Canada. I just can't see it working here.
- sterwill 5y ago
  I understand the desire to avoid paying tax by taking cash, but is it common that a tradesperson is paying 50% income tax? I only have a US resident's perspective, but that rate seems very high.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    If you count the 15% self employment tax (social security) it can easily reach 50% after state and federal.
    - sweeneyrod 5y ago
      In which country?
      - hervature 5y ago
        The USA, the second highest bracket for federal (greater than $160,000) is 32%, then you have the 15.3% self-employment tax (social security + medicare), that alone is 47.3%. The minimum state income tax in most states will push you over 50%, but at $160,000 in California, that would be an additional 9.3%, so 56.3% total. Of course, we're ignoring credits but I assume $160,000 for a contractor in SF is pretty regular.
        boulos 5y ago
        Fwiw, those are marginal rates and you deduct the “employer half” of self-employment taxes. So a (filing single) contractor making 160,000 in California would pay more like $60k in total taxes (which is still 37.5% effective). But given the number of UK folks for this topic, the “Social Security” and FICA amount (~15%, so nearly half of “tax”) is effectively similar to National Insurance.
        hervature 5y ago
        Sorry, I thought I put marginal in there (that's why I mentioned brackets). There was lots of stuff I omitted like the SALT deduction. But I lumped all that stuff into "credits". For those reading, if you are paying 50% in tax in the US, you're probably doing something wrong even if all the marginal rates add up to that.

anonu 5y ago

You only need to be successful in one big county to get scale you need to survive. So you can focus in the early days and scale as you get traction

arcturus17 5y ago

> Very difficult to scale. Are you an expert in international legal environments for contractors, or are you just assuming that because it's difficult in your jurisdiction (also, tbh, your arguments in that sense are not that persuasive either), it's difficult all over the world?