Tips for starting a business

debt_free_me

Hi everyone :hello:

Sometime in the near future I would love to start my own business . I know what I would like to do and I need to learn things first. It's started off as more of a hobby but I would like to take it further than that. (at first, atleast) I will still be working full time and I want to start it off as a business on the side of my full time job to see how it goes and I couldn't just jump ship and take that size risk! I know it's not a good time to start a business, but why not try, some people do and succeed!

I just wondered if anyone had any tips or know of any good websites or books etc that I could look at. I know of business link and obviously MSE. I know about business but I need to research into it more.

One thing that I am really unsure of what I am suppose to do about is that OH and I rent a flat and we are not allowed to run a business from it. I couldn't afford to rent somewhere else as a base but I was thinking about asking my parents if I could run it from there, until we one day own our own place.

Anything that anyone could suggest or put forward to me would be fantastic.

Thanks

DFM

misspoppy

Hi

Lloyds do a really good book on starting a business, you can usually get it in the library. I think the thing to do is to think about what hoops you'd need to jump through for a bank, even if you don't need their help its worth having a business plan to set you off on the right foot and look at it in the right way. Business link have loads of advice and support which is really useful.

think about how you are going to manage the admin of your business so will you need an accounts package, if not how are you going manage and record your transactions, you will need another bank account these things will be covered in the book.

Good luck

freightexec2009

Hey

How about you run from your parents address but under a PO Box account? Im unsure but you may be able to transfer this PO to another address ( once you have your own place ). Plus it would add a certain professional aspect to your business rather than changing address'? Maybe someone can shed some light on this for you.

Plus you have to collect the mail from the post office I believe.

Little_Maya

About the flat... depend what kind of business, if it's something which would involve customers coming to you or having frequent deliveries of stock then you won't be able to run it from your flat, however if it's something that doesn't involve these then there shouldn't be a problem.

Learn some basic accounting (even if you get an accountant!) And if you do get an accountant, find one who knows your type of business inside out - a good one should be able to save you more than what you pay them! Personnally, I don't use any accounting software (or accountant for that matter, maybe I should lol) because my stuff is fairly simple. Think about the structure of your business first: sole trader or company? VAT registered or not? as these will impact a number of other things.

I'll second what miss poppy has said about getting books out of the library - read through as many as you can as some are very generic while others are more geared towards a specific type of business.

How are you going to finance? If you need a loan then a business plan is a must, if you are self-financing then it's still helpful to have one for yourself anyway. Look at business accounts, most of them have fees for most transactions. I went with Abbey Business because as long as I keep below a certain number of transactions every month, it's free lol.

And the most important thing is... marketing - you can offer the best products/services in the world, but if no-one knows about it then it's useless. Marketing takes a lot of time, it's a right pain but is absolutely essential.

Oooops this turned into a rather long essay but that's the basics covered lol

misspoppy

Well initially you'd be self employed so technically you could run it from home so no real problem there I wouldn't have thought.

FerociousDave

LittleMaya has some good advice, although your contract bars you from running a business, unless it's customer facing or anything that your landlord or others would notice, it's unlikely to be a problem. If it is then a quick call to the landlord might sort it, they're likely to be using a standard contract so if you're on good terms with them then see if you can negotiate.

Open a seperate bank account (Abbey do free business banking) and all money that goes through the business create an invoice (for things people paid you) and keep recipets (for what you paid people). Learn basic bookkeeping and if you're at all worried about doing your tax return then hire an accountant.

But absolutely most importantly of all, save 1/3 of everything you earn. Do it from the start, put it in another account and never touch it. When you get to paying your first tax bill you'll thank me Later on when you get a better feel for how much your tax is or when you start paying it on account, you won't need to save as much, but get into the habit of saving from the beginning. Remember it's not all your money, at least 20% of it is the taxmans (unfortunately).

Also, check out what NI contributions you'll have to pay on top

Little_Maya

Ah yes, tax and NI... I knew there was something I was forgetting to ramble about :rolleyes:

Tip about NI: if you still have your full-time (employed) job when you start your own thing and you plan on doing both alongside for a while, look into requesting a small earnings exemption certificate... as long as your self-employed income is below (or expected to be below) a certain amount for the tax year you don't have to pay NI (you can if you want to though). You can ask for the certificate to be cancelled at any time if you then quit your full-time job or earn above the threshold.

Horace

The HMRC has a good website https://www.hmrc.gov.uk and when you phone them, they are helpful.

I run a business from home and as I don't have clients visiting me my landlord doesnt mind because I am not causing any hassle. There are lots of good books out there - some by Brad Sugars who is an action coach (you can look for free stuff from him on the internet too (https://www.actioncoach.com), I have a copy of Common Sense Rules by Deborah Meaden (she of Dragon's Den fame) - it is a very good business book and tells you what you really need to know about business.

However, you are wrong when you say that it isnt a good time to set up a business - it is in fact the best time because if you can weather a recession you can do anything.:D

debt_free_me

Thankyou all so much for all your comments so far, you are all being so helpful. I am actually self employed already, didn't think to mention it earlier, but I have done some mystery shopping which is why I am registered, though not done any this tax year yet. Still need to get my return done online. I think when i spoke to them when I set up I registered as a sole trader and i'm pretty sure they said I could earn money other ways through self employment but had to tell them if I went over the tax amount? Does that sound right to anyone or did I get the wrong end of the stick? I got a small earnings certificate too which I think last until 2010 or 2011.

Charco_2

I like this helpful business tip from Richard Branson:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I’ve always said the easiest way to become a millionaire is to start out a billionaire then go into the airline business![/FONT]

I hope this will not put you off your plan to buy out and dismantle Ryanair... if that is what you secret business plan was!

Pobby

I have run my own businesses for years and also managed other peoples. What are you thinking of doing?