A customer is asking for proof of insurance and a W-9. What do I do?

Don't panic, and don't change the subject — this is the moment your work got real. What they're asking for is boring: a certificate of insurance (your agent issues it — you ask, they send it, often the same day) and a W-9, which is the form that tells their bookkeeper who to pay and under what tax ID.

The W-9 is where a lot of one-person shops feel the pinch: without an EIN, you're handing a stranger's accounting department your Social Security number. An EIN is free from the IRS, usually issued in minutes, and it keeps your personal number off other people's paperwork. Get one before the next request, not after.

If you're being asked for these, you've outgrown the cash route: somebody wants to put you on their vendor list. That's the difference between favors and a book of business — and it's exactly the moment folks wish they'd registered a year earlier.

Builders, not lawyers or accountants — your agent issues the certificate, the IRS issues the EIN, and neither of them is us.