Help - need advice with setting up new business to help clear debt

Pili-Pala_4

Hello All,

Hope someone out there can help out with some advice. :hello: OH and I are trying to work out ways to increase our income and pay off our debt quicker. At the moment everytime we make a bit of head way another suprise bill comes and hits us right between the eyes (car repairs, boiler, computer) - you know? We've had really bad luck now since November and even though every spare penny goes to pay off the debt those bad little suprises mean that the debt hasn't really decreased

So I've been racking my brain :huh: trying to think where else we could make some money. I've come up with an idea but really don't know where to go from there.

There are a lot (about 800) new homes in our town most of which have families ...and pets. We have several cats and have had rabbits, rats, fish, dogs, gerbils, hamsters in the past. Other than the dogs all the pets when the family go on holiday could stay at home. We were thinking of setting up a business of feeding pets at their home - plus do some plant watering...whatever.

What do you all think? Would most people have neighbours doing this (people don't seem to know their neighbours anymore).

How would we go about it? I mean how would we set up contracts and insurance and register it as a business?

I have no real experience of doing anything like that (not the pet thing but the business thing ) but really need to earn those extra ££££ (don't we all).

Wizwoo

Big hugs Pili-Pala :grouphug:

Sorry to hear about all your bad luck, but welcome to MSE and although I have no advice with regards to the business I'm sure there will be someone here who can help.

lynzpower

dont know whether you would need to register it as a business per se, sure somone will be along to help in that dept soon.

BUt possibly I have seen people offering and asking for this service on gumtree.com

ONe thing you could do to get yourself a bit further forward and have a bit of a portfolio to advertise with is have a CRB check, which will show what criminal records you both have ( if none then great) just to give a bit of extra security for potential customers. It costs about a tenner and you can get applications from your local police station.

mountainofdebt

But my concerns as a potential client would be how would I know you're not going to run off with the family silver whilst I was on holiday,lol!

skintchick

I use a business like that and it is a lifesaver as my cat won't eat in catteries - somewhat worrying to come home after my week away to discover she hadn;t eaten a single mouthful for the whole time! Since then, sh'e stayed at home.

They also take in post, put out rubbish, water plants etc., which is a good extra touch.

They allow 20 minutes per visit, and at Christmas I was charged £9 for one visit a day, and £14 for two visits a day, if that helps you with costing.

Ref setting up a business, you can get lots of help from the Inland Revenue. I have just been on a free morning course about setting up as self employed, and they have loads of info on their website too.

Check out your local Business Link as well - they offer help and advice for free, and also run courses which are not free, but it also allows for networking opportunities.

You have to register as SE within three months of your first trade or you get fined.

I don;t know about insurance - I go to people's homes with what I do, but they are there so I don't have insurance. Maybe you would need it.

If you run the business from home you need to tell the planning authority. It will be fine, especially as it's just you and not employees, but they have to know anyway.

Hope that helps a bit - do check out the IR website as it has loads of info.

BobProperty

Definitely need insurance in case you break something or damage something by accident in a customer's house.

Pili-Pala_4

skintchick wrote:

I use a business like that and it is a lifesaver as my cat won't eat in catteries - somewhat worrying to come home after my week away to discover she hadn;t eaten a single mouthful for the whole time! Since then, sh'e stayed at home.

They also take in post, put out rubbish, water plants etc., which is a good extra touch.

They allow 20 minutes per visit, and at Christmas I was charged £9 for one visit a day, and £14 for two visits a day, if that helps you with costing.

Ref setting up a business, you can get lots of help from the Inland Revenue. I have just been on a free morning course about setting up as self employed, and they have loads of info on their website too.

Check out your local Business Link as well - they offer help and advice for free, and also run courses which are not free, but it also allows for networking opportunities.

You have to register as SE within three months of your first trade or you get fined.

I don;t know about insurance - I go to people's homes with what I do, but they are there so I don't have insurance. Maybe you would need it.

If you run the business from home you need to tell the planning authority. It will be fine, especially as it's just you and not employees, but they have to know anyway.

Hope that helps a bit - do check out the IR website as it has loads of info.

Thanks for all that - I just didn't have any idea of where to start.
My friend told me about this place - so glad. :T
Will start to look into it in the morning.

Spendalot_2

If your under 30, you might qualify for a start up grant of £1000 - ask your local enterprise trust.

MORPH3US

Check out https://www.businesslink.gov.uk for loads of help.

My suggestion to you would be to do some market research to see if people would use such a service / what their concerns would be / why they wouldn't use the service.

That will give you an idea if it is worth taking it any further or not!

Good luck

M