Self-Employment

Doomcow

Dear all,

Looking to set up my own business to do a bit consulting work, however on reading up on self-employment, this is a bloody minefield!

any hints / tips / dos / donts? insurance / registration?

aaaaargh!

Cheers,

Sorry if this has been asked before but i had a good scan and couldnt see any threads, which i may have missed.

Cheers again!

ESKIMO

'Doomcow'

Ok first of all you should take a good long and hard look at your personal finances.

Identify any assets you might have - ownership and equity thereof in, say your home, car, 'tools', bits & bobs, furniture.

Total it all up to generate your 'Capital Wealth' (you can even inclue the shirt off your back if you wish to account for every single bean and penny to your name.)

Now ask yourself, can i 'AFFORD' to be or live without ANY of this?

Am i comfortable?

In a nut-shell ask yourself; "is all of this worth risking"?

If you are adamant that you wish to keep your most cherishe posessions and roof over your head i would highly recommend starting up as a Limited Company. It's relatively cheap to register on the Companies House www.companieshouse.org.uk

There is a plethora of insurance products out there:

* Limited Liability Insurance
* Employers Liability Insurance
* Product Liability Insurance
* Public Liabilty Insurance
* Commercial
* Car, Van
* Life Insurance

List goes on and on. You don't actually have to have any of the above insurance (other than your car/van - like home and contents insurance, you just have to have it only because it's the law.)

Sole-traders relatively easy to start, all you need is a telephone (home/work/mobile), e-mail, address and you can give the Yellow Pages a ring to say "hello, i would like to regiser my business in your free listings please - called 'Joe Bloggs Consulting, in a matter of 5/10 mins you've got yourself started.)

Check out:

Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk
British Chambers of Commerce www.britishchambers.org.uk
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) www.fsb.org.uk

Although you should think about joining some specialist industry bodies that may regulate the trade you wish to participate in, some membership is mandatory only say for really specialist regulated trades like sparkies and gas men - 'Gas Safe Register' which used to be 'Corgi Qualified' or IFAs, the FSA Chartered Institute of Architects, Accountants, Business Practitioners etc, there's OODLES of them!!!)

Don't worry about it.

Just get out there and do it. Offer your free (WRITTEN!!!) quotes to generate leads and take it from there.
Build up a small reliable customer base, word of mouth gets round and your away.

Good luck either way. If there's anything else (more specific) you would like to know just ask.

I could write a whole dissertation and thesis on how to set-up a business but no doubt you'd fall asleep by the end of it.

How the above helps, PM if any problems.

paulwf

Doomcow...going self employed is actually very easy. One call to HMRC can get you registered or I think you can do it online now. They can also arrange for your Class II national insurance payments to be done by direct debit.

You then keep a list of expenses and income (strongly recommend a separate bank account) and do your yearly return online. Put some money aside each month for tax as you pay it all in one lump after your return.

To get more info check out the Business Link website...it is clearly written so make some time to read it properly. Then give them a call and you can book on their free local startup courses which are worth going on.

Although it may seem that there is a lot of red tape for some professions it usually isn't as bad as it seems...make a list and work through it, a broker should be able to sort out all your insurance needs for your profession with one phone call for example. People get intimidated by rules and regs but you can sort it all out in a couple of hours at most

I'm not sure whether you intend this to be your main job but if it is bear in mind that there is no safety net with self employment. You don't get sick pay, holiday pay, maternity leave, redundancy pay, a guaranteed minimum wage etc. This package is worth a huge amount so when pricing yourself you need to aim for 25-50% higher than the actual wage you would like. It goes without saying you have to be self motivated and be prepared to work through sickness and without holidays when starting up...it certainly isn't an easy option, though it can be very rewarding.

Doomcow

hey all,

Thanks for the info - i guess i should have given some more information in the first place!

Current situation is that i have a FT job, however a friend has asked that i do a QA consulting role for his company on a day here, day there, basis.

Reckon i'd need professional indemnity insurance, a separate bank account and book for keeping info & receipts.

Ultimately this is more a hobby than my actual job.

paulwf

Doomcow wrote: »

hey all,

Thanks for the info - i guess i should have given some more information in the first place!

Current situation is that i have a FT job, however a friend has asked that i do a QA consulting role for his company on a day here, day there, basis.

Reckon i'd need professional indemnity insurance, a separate bank account and book for keeping info & receipts.

Ultimately this is more a hobby than my actual job.

Sounds ideal then...half a day to set up, a couple of hours each month for admin and a couple of hours at the end of the year to do your return. Simples!

Make sure you read up on allowable expenses...you can offset legitimate expenses against tax. Basically your tax bill at the end of the year is based on your net profit (income minus expenses) not just your income.

Doomcow

professional indemnity insurance is expensive

Savvy_Sue

Doomcow wrote: »

professional indemnity insurance is expensive

Only until you need it ... think what it would cost NOT to have it!

Doomcow

Super true Savvy-Sue.

Gona try and get on the books of the company, other than self-employed i think after taking advice from several streams (CAB mainly).

That is until i know more about this self-employment lark and can get to grips with it, for the time being.

Discussion tomorrow at the place, looking forward to it but quaking in my boots! "Everyone has to start somewhere Doomcow!"

ESKIMO

Doomcow, although the CAB is brilliant in every respect, they are more specialist when it comes to debt, legal, benefit advice not necessarily business.

I can't more highly recommend Business Link. I've used them on numerous occasions and the folks there are always chirpy and more than happy to help. I consider it as the Business 'Mecca' - your one-stop-shop really.

Give them a call on 0845 600 9 006 and ask for an information pack. - Specific to your field of enquiry (industry sector).

Alternatively visit their website. - Can be a little daunting at first with sooo much info to take in, but it's very well organised and user orientated.

Also give the others in my prev post a try. Good luck with it either way.