Advice for starting up self empl or as business

Zombies

I want to start up as a business and have clients (sounds dodgy but its in property).

My missus is reg'd with tax for her temp work.

I have a website and if I send out invoices I want to use the web name.

What do I need to do?
Reg as PLC, Ltd or as a one man band, although I need to let the tax know there are two of us in this.

I did a brief business starter course but covered none of this.
Any pointers to get me started.

All help appreciated.

paulwf

A good place to start is to read the guides on the Business Link website as these explain things clearly. Obviously check your national equivalent if it doesn't cover your country. You can also call Business Link for a chat and they do free start up courses, these will explain the various legal structures of businesses.

The three most likely structures your business will take are:

Sole trader - basically you and the company are the same thing, you will register with HMRC as self employed and will do a yearly return.

Partnership - like self employed but there are two of you. Partnerships can get very messy when one wants to get out or change the conditions. If you go down this route you may want to get a solicitor to draw up a contract first even if you are married. Basically take advice before going down this route.

Limited company - this takes a bit of getting your head around as the Ltd is a separate legal entity to you, so you own the company but it also employs you! There are benefits to being Ltd but they are also hard to dissolve once they are formed and there is a lot more paperwork involved. Don't be fooled by the fact that you can set up a Ltd in 10 minutes for £25 online, they shouldn't be seen as an easy option.

What some people do is start off self employed then if it all works out switch to Ltd, as it is easy to switch that way but much harder to go from Ltd to self employed. It is really worth spending an hour with an accountant and taking their advice, they're professionals at this and can give you specific advice depending on your exact circumstances.

Zombies

cheers

I have some paperwork that I stopped at where it mentioned putting in money as a guarentee (cant remember exactly) but thought it was far too advanced for my current needs.

I dont make enough at this moment in time to be able to live on which is preventing me from registering but atthe same time I want to play the game properly and I do know that once registered I will be 'proactive' (hate that word) in getting more business because I know it can work, just wish my OH was as keen sometimes!
We get itchy feet easily and so move on without a thought, which wouldnt be so easy to do once fully reg'd and into the business so have to work on that as well.