New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

Stevenb

Its got to be sensible to take the chance with NEA , for some it works but for others it doesn't, at least you get some finance during the 6 months and although the start is very slow for many , once on the scheme you lose nothing and if your really unhappy drop out.

If you have money behind you then going it alone is not so bad , there are plenty of mentoring schemes out there , but for most coming of JSA they don't have cash at hand so NEA is better than nothing , just !!!!

shinkyshonky

I have a friend who went through the start up loan process not NEA, submitted business plan, cash-flow plan, met the delivery partner who recommended a loan for the business , quite small around £3,500…and submitted all details for her.she is now in the stage of waiting feedback/info, has been for three weeks…so she is unsure if she has been granted a loan or not , apparently they are extremely busy

dktreesea

Andy2013 wrote: »

The simple question you need to ask is , am I cut out to work for myself , do I have the logic, determination ,self belief and character to make it work.

It would be an improvement if the DWP encouraged people moving into self employment to ask themselves this rather than the kinds of things that have happened to not very happy self employed people in my neck of the woods.

Two I spoke with recently seemed to have been given a hobson's choice - go self employed or get sanctioned. Maybe it depends on the skill set, because one was a joiner, so could set up as an odd jobs guy and the other had been a driver for a courier firm, but they downsized/moved people onto self employed contracts, and he didn't fancy it so went on the dole instead. The DWP were okay, he said, for the first 3 months of his claim, but then they started getting heavy and his advisor was saying to him "You are qualified to drive commercially, therefore why aren't you doing that?"

In a way they were unlucky, because if they had had access to some self employed people prior to taking the leap, they could have had some real life advice, especially about how hard it can be to make a living self employed.

Andy2013

In a way they were unlucky, because if they had had access to some self employed people prior to taking the leap, they could have had some real life advice, especially about how hard it can be to make a living self employed.

You hit the nail on the head dktreesea , your quote is so sensible but its something that never happens.

Before you sign up to NEA the very top of the page should read " SELF EMPLOYMENT IS ****** HARD , YOU LOSE SLEEP, YOU WORRY DAILY AND NO ONE ELSE IS TO BLAME WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG , DO YOU FANCY IT NOW "

Being self employed sounds wonderful but the reality of making it pay your living expense and life style are truly hard , anyone can make £5 a month on eBay and think they are Alan Sugar , but making £1-2 k a month to pay the bills is ridiculously hard .

cougar30

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and am waiting for my Business Plan to be approved. A question if I may?
Can anyone tell me what forms when you are approved on the NEA scheme have to be filled out at the Jobcentre when you go and sign off from JSA?
Many Thanks.
Andy

TrueBlue1965

Welcome to the forum, Andy (cougar30).

You complete the section in your jobseekers agreement (dole card) and hand that in to sign off JSA or whatever benefit your on. You sign a NEA form with your personal adviser so you can be paid the NEA payments and agree to have checks at JCP to prove that you are trading every now and again. Thats it, your on NEA!

I had evaluation forms to be signed or completed for my NEA provider on the day my business plan was officially passed but not to many to be worried about. That may be different depending on your NEA provider.

The checks on your business at JCP are only quick checks of your books every 6 weeks (3 checks in total).

Next step is regestering your business with HMRC. Then, make a claim for Working Tax credits. Once you get a letter from Housing Benefit saying that your Housing Benefit is about to end (you get 4 weeks payment after your claim finishes ). Get yourself off to The One Stop Shop to sort out your Housing Benefit and Council Tax reduction. It all seems complicated but quite simple really with only a little paperwork.

Did I also say. Start trading and have fun?

dktreesea

What happens if you go on NEA and then it doesn't work out? Can you just close the business down and go back onto jobseeker's allowance?

firestop

If your new business depends on the enterprise allowance then it will be underfunded and it will fail as the vast majority do.If you have a good business plan you'd be better off going to a bank. If the bank won't touch it then chances are it is not as good as you think/hope it is.
Even if it is the greatest idea, if you don't posses the right qualities - determination, tenacity and sheer bloody mindedness - then again it will fail. Don't underestimate the difficulties of running your own business especially a start up.

dktreesea

firestop wrote: »

If your new business depends on the enterprise allowance then it will be underfunded and it will fail as the vast majority do.If you have a good business plan you'd be better off going to a bank. If the bank won't touch it then chances are it is not as good as you think/hope it is.
Even if it is the greatest idea, if you don't posses the right qualities - determination, tenacity and sheer bloody mindedness - then again it will fail. Don't underestimate the difficulties of running your own business especially a start up.

If you are on the dole and get a job, provided you do it for at least 4 weeks, if you finish within 12 weeks, provided it's not for misconduct or you aren't sacked, i.e. just because it isn't suitable, you just go straight back on the dole, with no stand down period.

Talking to someone planning to become self employed via NEA recently, in a similar line to our own, they were saying to me that, while the DWP guidelines/gov.uk site is clear about the process for employees, there's nothing about if you go on NEA and can't cut it.

I think that's a worry for people contemplating self employment. They're entering an unknown world, and they don't want to come out the other end, in 6 months time, scratched and bruised, realising self employment is not for them, but not able to go straight back on the dole.

dktreesea

When you're going from the dole into employment, you are going from a certain income you can rely on - and know how much it will be - going forward, to another kind of income, hopefully equally certain, and you usually know (unless it's a zero hour contract) how much that income will be.

Going into self employment, you may only know what sales money you have coming in a couple of weeks in advance, e.g. money in paypal that you are yet to draw down. You don't have any results yet for previous years, so you can at least map the trends in your income.

I would advise anyone in self employment to have a fall back position. If, by chance, you have a month where you can't meet your obligations, how are you going to make up the shortfall? This could be something like doing a car boot sale every week, or doing a few shifts at night in a friend's pizza parlour. If however, your solution would be to live off the credit card until the situation improves, then I agree with StevenB and Andy2013...that's a road to financial hell.