SB: Small Business Start Up Discussion

yus786

Hi all

If this is the wrong forum - please feel free to move it..

I wish to register a new limited company where my wife will be a Director and i'll be the Secretary. (I shall be selling clothes on the web - HOPEFULLY)

Searching on google there's loads of companies out there that would do it for you.

Can anyone recomend a company i can use or should i do it myself?

Basically i wish to

1. Register as a Limited company

2. All Necessary documents completed, sent to the relevant agencies including the HMRC, and copies sent to me

3. Voluntary VAT registration (as my taxable income MAY reach the 60k threshold)

4. Domain name and email

5. A Business Bank Account with 18 months or so free banking

6. 0870/0845 telephone number (optional)

Many thanks in advance folks

robertbruce

Hi
If I can reply on the points I can help with as numbered in your post...

1-Exchange & Mart actually provides good contacts for this service in the Business section. For around £100 you can have your limited company set up with all the necessary formalities in place AS FAR AS THEY REQUIRE. Also, ask yourself if you need to be limited. eg Are you exposed to risky situations regarding credit given or credit requested (my wife's business has survived 10 years now on a CASH WITH ORDER policy with both customers AND suppliers... makes for a great price negotiator if you offer cash up front for supplies instead of 90 days credit) In Scotland, use Mabbott & Co in Mitchell Street Glasgow for a great service costing £125.

2- Learn HMRC yourself as it is good practice to know their rules when in business. You need to register for Tax and NIC whether limited or not.

3- Voluntary VAT registration makes most sense when you are dealing in a business-to-business environment, but if you are trading with the consumer directly, it is best to wait until you MUST register. This is because your selling prices will include an element of VAT, thus artificially inflating your price in the early days when you need to be more competitive. That is actually why the threshold exists.. to give smaller businesses a chance to get established.

4- https://www.cheapnames.co.uk or https://www.123-reg.co.uk offer a name search and great hosting packages to get you started. You still need hosting after you get your name. Just remember that in 2 years time NOMINET, who run the UK web, will charge you up to £100 for renewing your name. Better to find a service who will include this in their hosting charges for a small annual sum of about the same amount. eg https://www.lyndmar.co.uk

5- Business bank account- sorry I can't help ( I hate banks) but there are specific posts on this site about the subject.

6- 0870/0845 number. Be careful here. Other posts I have read appear to be mis-informed, saying that 0870 is like a premium rate. The fact is that 0870 is the exact same rate as Glasgow to Manchester for example, so if your business is local (within about 35 miles) you are effectively charging your customers too much for the call. Any further than 35 miles from you, and the caller pays the SAME. All that happens is that YOU get a rebate from BT. Check out the details for yourself on BT site. The 0845 rate is the local rate (within 35 miles radius) but you effectively offer this to your customers on a UK wide basis. You pay the difference for this type of call so watch the volume of calls. 0800 is the free call from UK land lines where you pay the entire call as well as your own phone bill, so proceed with caution if using this option.
In my opinion, just get a good phone number and get on with it as most of your business appears to web-based.
Best of luck with the business. regards. Bob.

robertbruce

Hi
The information I gave on 0870 is based on direct information from BT. They will quote you directly if called on 152 and asked about the rates applied to the various numbers. 0870/0871/0845/0844/0900 etc.

The confusion appears to arise from 0871 numbers which are very similar but the crucial difference I am told is that 0870 is NOT VARIABLE and is charged at the national rate of 7.91p/min while 0871 is VARIABLE and set by the operator of the line at a rate starting at 10p/min upwards.

The 0844 is similar to 0871 and should be avoided, while the 0845 is a saving for customers who pay less while the business pays the difference between the 0845 local rate and the rate which would have been charged normally for the call.

I can see that this is causing confusion already and the wording on the saynoto0870 site is not clear to me since it is a direct contradiction of the information supplied by BT. Maybe this is the real problem.

It is worth finding out properly as it affects a lot of businesses and clarity is definitely missing from the discussion. Anyone from BT or OFCOM wish to clarify?

The point I would take from all this is "HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY BUSINESS" and it becomes clear that 0870 numbers should be avoided while there is ANY hint of animosity towards them. Any inclusion of 0870 in marketing in this climate would be suicidal business, no matter what is actually right or wrong in the issue.

Best intentions to all. Regards. Bob.

robertbruce

Hi
Just shows the extent of the confusion. You are correct in what you say when quoting the national rate from that BT webpage which shows 7.51p, but on another page on BT it shows national rate to be 6.73p +vat = 7.91p. What are we poor consumers to do when something this simple is made so difficult.

As background to my info, I had an 0870 number for my business and terminated it earlier this year, but when I took it out last year, the rate for national was identical to what I was charging, so I gladly took the BT rebate since most callers would be calling more than 35 miles anyway. It was the confusion of 0871/0844 and even some of the new 0870 with extra prefix (0870 187 etc) which were making it unworkable.

Like I said, from a business point of view, it's best just to avoid the issue until it is all sorted out. All it does is get in the way of selling, so no more 0870 for me anyway.
Keep looking for bargains. Regards. Bob.

Chippy_Minton

For limited company formation/registration try http://www.uk-plc.net/companyformation/ - £34.99.

Or if you fancy the DIY method it'll cost £20 directly from Companies House. With this you'd have to write or acquire your own Memorandum and Articles of Association, however they tend to be very general (meaning your company can trade as almost anything) and there should be documents you can download from the web.

For cheap domain registration try http://www.123-reg.co.uk/.

Edna_Bucket_2

I've done DIY and through a company formation agent - if time and hassle is an issue Waterlow's are one of the most established outfits and don't appear to be too expensive these days:

http://www.companyservices.waterlow.com/doc.asp?catid=9&docid=24

grumpyoldgit_2

Business banking - search the small biz and charities board - loads of useful info there
Personally would suggest you look at Abbey - stay within their fairly generous limits and its free for life.

GoG

Interest-Ed

How would someone who has been on "the dole" for a number of years (having been made redundant) get himself out of the cycle of benefits - which he finds a 'comfortable' prison. He is 45 with no major qualifications.

He has no assets (though, I believe, no debts, either). He lives in a small market town with little decent public transport.

If he became self-employed (ie jobbing gardening) he would need transport and basic tools.

Is it likely that he could get financial assistance or business loans without any track record.

I know he's getting depressed about his situation, sitting in a position of fear of taking the plunge, losing a current level of financial security but also not knowing how to get himself out of his current situation. He has one dependant daughter who is now at college.

Mark7799

Are you able to tell us which part of the country this person lives in? There are some schemes of support whcih usually vary on a county by county basis and some others designed specifiaclly for the long-term unemployed (12mths+)

Interest-Ed

He is in Wiltshire.

Jenners

Hi, I have been in a very similar situation only slightly younger, in Glos we have a scheme called GDLF (Gloucestershire Developement Loan Fund) I managed to get funding to start my own business. There are similar loan funds around the country, they are community based and will help you get started if you can't get funding elsewhere eg Bank.

You get tons of support aswell so they could go through the benefits side with him, it could be that he can get some support for the first month or so.

Give him my good luck

Jen