Small business with no profit, how to set up?

matt_baker

Hey guys, im sorry if something similar has been posted on here before.

I am interested in setting up a company that would not generate profit. The general outline of what the company is to be and what it is about is really quite simple.

We will be a paranormal investigation group that will conduct paranormal investigations at peoples requests. We will not charge for this but the option will be there for them to make a donation.

Also we will be holding events and large haunted buildings. These buildings tend to have a charge for us to hire them, with a usual charge of around £600 - £800. For us to conduct these investigations we would open the doors to the public and charge them a fee to cover the costs of the hire of the building. Any non intended profit that is made would then be held onto for the next big investigation and used to pay the deposit and fee for that hire.

Our intentions of the donation monies taken would also go towards the hire of the buildings for the bigger investigations and towards costs of equipment needed.

As you can see there will be no team member that would get paid and it would be strictly voluntary work. Hence why i say non profit. Am i right in saying this or would this kind of company / business be regarded as something else?

Is there anywhere we can get grants from to help aid us in setting up the business / company? By help aiding us set up i mean to help get the relevant equipment and overheads that will be needed to be paid for.

Any information that is given will be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Matt

Horace

You might raise the suspicions of the taxman if you don't make a profit.

If you are in your 20's then you could apply to the Princes Trust but to be honest I don't see anyone giving you any money for equipment etc to investigate something that is non-existent. If there is supposed 'paranormal' activity then I would be inclined to employ a priest to perform an exocism rather than some people with cameras.

borders_dude

matt_baker wrote: »

Hey guys, im sorry if something similar has been posted on here before.

I am interested in setting up a company that would not generate profit. The general outline of what the company is to be and what it is about is really quite simple.

We will be a paranormal investigation group that will conduct paranormal investigations at peoples requests. We will not charge for this but the option will be there for them to make a donation.

Also we will be holding events and large haunted buildings. These buildings tend to have a charge for us to hire them, with a usual charge of around £600 - £800. For us to conduct these investigations we would open the doors to the public and charge them a fee to cover the costs of the hire of the building. Any non intended profit that is made would then be held onto for the next big investigation and used to pay the deposit and fee for that hire.

Our intentions of the donation monies taken would also go towards the hire of the buildings for the bigger investigations and towards costs of equipment needed.

As you can see there will be no team member that would get paid and it would be strictly voluntary work. Hence why i say non profit. Am i right in saying this or would this kind of company / business be regarded as something else?

Is there anywhere we can get grants from to help aid us in setting up the business / company? By help aiding us set up i mean to help get the relevant equipment and overheads that will be needed to be paid for.

Any information that is given will be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Matt

Do some research on social enterprises. That should help you.

matt_baker

Horace wrote: »

You might raise the suspicions of the taxman if you don't make a profit.
but to be honest I don't see anyone giving you any money for equipment etc to investigate something that is non-existent. If there is supposed 'paranormal' activity then I would be inclined to employ a priest to perform an exocism rather than some people with cameras.

Forgive me if this sounds harsh but i really do not care for that comment of investigating something that is non-existent. Without making this an argument i would like to ask you for proof that it is non-existent. I can certainly provide evidence that would without question indicate that there is paranormal activity.

Borders_dude, thank you for your reply, i will certainly look into that.

Mahmood_Reza

Good luck with the venture, you may want to see if there are any similar individuals/organisations doing work of a similar nature (partenership working etc). Consider a membership based organisation. Whatever form it takes make sure that you do some planning, eg as a mimimum produce a cash flow forecast.

inmypocketnottheirs

An interesting concept.

However, to run a business on such a basis will likely make a loss. Would this not create a problem, and how would the losses be covered? If it doesn't make a loss then what is the problem with it being profitable?

jexygirl

Why does this need to be set up as a buisness in the first place?
If you have a group of people interested, form a society or group on an amateur basis, and ask for membership fees. It would be like for example an am dram group, who pay membership, which pays for rehearsal space and equipment, and also pays to put on shows, the proceeds of which fund the next one. I am just not sure why it has to be a buisness.
Jex

Gertie_Walker

You do need to set up a formal structure other wise HMRC could say you were a business. I think you need to set up a simple association with a consitutition, such as the institutions whcih are set up to stdy chemisty, engineering, etc, except that yours would not be charitable. Easiest thing to do is use the Charity Commission model constiution as a basis, but omit the use of the word charity throughout. This would prevent the distribution of any 'profits' and retain control within the organising committee.