SB: Small Business Start Up Discussion

sdsmudge

hi, i am currently a part-time student in the final year of my studies. i currently have 2 student overdarfts one with natwest and the other with smile (co-op), of which both have reached there full limit overdraft capacity of £2000. my problem is this i have recently pitched an idea to investors who are willing to back the project providing that i can invest a fee of £15,000 for an equal share of equity.

does anybody have any advice for me of how i can raise these funds if i dont have any assets to secure the sum against. should i go and talk to the banks and tell them i have investment available, if so what should i ask for, business account, loans etc? can someone recommend a bank? is there any other way i could raise such funds?

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

taralou

Hi just like to reply to a couple of threads on here. Firstly Interest-Ed your friend can work up to 16 hours per week while still claiming benefits, and he should also speak to his Job Centre advisor about referring him to the self employed advisor who would help and support him all the way. I imagine he has been unemployed for more than 18 months so there is a lot of help available to him. :T
Secondly. Bargainaddict - beware - I have heard there is no jobs for driving instructors, there are companies taking your money to train you but no available openings as everyone who is being made redundant are starting up driving schools. You may have a client base already and if so good luck but just thought I would mention it. :eek:

Bunnykin

Dunno if this is in the right place, but..

We are about to open our shop on 3rd April and have run into a brick wall. We are a sole trader and need to be able to take cards in our shop with a PDQ machine. We applied 3 weeks ago to CardSave and were turned down due to the report from experian. We had no trouble opening a basic business bank account with Natwest, or getting our electricity and gas accounts up and running (they all needed credit checks but I dont know at what kind of level) but I am stumped as to which POS/terminal/PDQ company to approach regarding being able to accept cards and whether any one else has had this problem.

Our personal credit rating is less than amazing due to us being with a debt management plan for last 2 years when my husband was made redundant and we had to sort something out before we defaulted on anything. Our rating is about 545. We have no CCJ's or anything like that, our personal major bills are all up to date, no arrears etc.

Does anyone know of other companies that offer card services? I can see a lot on the web, but I dont know of them, and dont know whether they are good or bad or whatever...

If anyone has a list of companies that would take our situation into consideration, or has been able to open an account I would be greatful for their advice.

Thanks so much

bunny

miffyhugmuffin

Hi,

I am trying to set up a limited company, registering at Companies House. I thought I would do this in a 'DIY' fashion rather than pay someone else to do it. I have filled in the IN01 form and will adopt the model articles of association. I am ready to send off my £20 to Companies House. Is that all I need to do?

I understand that I need to issue share certificates (no problem I can mock up a template).

A lot of the advice online seems to be written by companies who want to charge you for helping with the set up process.

Can anyone who has been through this process tell me if I have forgotten or overlooked anything?

As a limited company is it compulsory to have a business bank account?
Thanks for any advice

Savvy_Sue

What you've overlooked is that a limited company is a legal entity, and if you don't fully understand what you're doing, you could be heading for a lot of grief. Yes, you do need a business bank account, and you also need an accountant, almost certainly, because filing accounts for a limited company isn't like doing your own self-employed tax return, and if you don't get it right first time you'll be fined for late submission while they go backwards and forwards a few times.

Might be worth taking a look at this thread for a professional take on it. OK, "they would say that, wouldn't they", but it is always worth considering whether you ACTUALLY need a limited company or not. When first starting a business it isn't necessarily the best model, never mind the only one.

rictus123

Can people look at my thread in the employment board, regarding going self employed as a bricklayer.

lb364

Hi,

I'm considering starting a business selling gift experience days. I know there are a lot of these companies around but have been reading a lot of reviews about disappointment with the customer service they offer.

Anyway, that aside - does anyone know where these experiences are sourced from? Are they negotiated and arranged direct with each individual provider or are they generally bought and sold on from a middle-man?

Thanks

chihuahuabear

Hi Folks,

Quick question - does anyone know whether it's easier to get funding / business backing for a company with a social enterprise slant to it.

I'm thinking of starting a company where something like this could be incorporated if need be...Just wondering whether it could both benefit me as a business as well as other people in the long run.

Thanks

Savvy_Sue

Even with social enterprise, you may struggle to get funding, and there will also be 'hoops' to jump through, so that's worth bearing in mind - it's not always worth it in the long run, IYKWIM.

trixietoes

Just a little bit of advice or a point in the right direction.

OH and I have set up a Ltd company which will specialise in property development and also offer letting agency services, project management and quantity surveying (we are all qualified and members of ARLA & RICS).

We know in the current climate getting a mortgage for the 1st development may be tough. However in the interim we already own (mortgaged) 1 house that is rented out so we are thinking of using that as the 1st project as it could generate roughly 40k profit (IF sold).

Question is ... the company doesn't own this property (I do as a private individual) so how can we get it to become part of the business? We'd like proceeds from the sale or rent to become part of the businesses portfolio/capital to then reinvest.