New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

BigAl127

A good site to check your main benefit entitlements like WTC, HB and CTB is here.

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Just be careful with the tax year(s) it asks for your income. Usually the previous year.

fay66

Thanks yes I can claim rtw grant is £40 it's if you've been sick for 13 weeks or more and on ESA . I didn't do the new enterprise allowance . You also get 4 weeks run on hb, but not benefits

fay66

If your self employed you don't have to earn minimum wage for it. I was about to bin the form .

pinkypoopydoo

I think I'm tying myself in knots here, and after a look for info through the night, I'm after some clarification.

If I put forward a potential launch date in my business plan, do I, or do I not need to have EVERYTHING in place for the launch (website, bank account, etc), or is it acceptable to spend the first weeks on NEA actually working on them? My brain is fried from so much mis-information and contradictions about what needs to be done before the transfer over from JSA to NEA, and my mentor is on holiday until a week on Monday.

sun_shine_2

pinkypoopydoo wrote: »

I think I'm tying myself in knots here, and after a look for info through the night, I'm after some clarification.

If I put forward a potential launch date in my business plan, do I, or do I not need to have EVERYTHING in place for the launch (website, bank account, etc), or is it acceptable to spend the first weeks on NEA actually working on them? My brain is fried from so much mis-information and contradictions about what needs to be done before the transfer over from JSA to NEA, and my mentor is on holiday until a week on Monday.

I am with you on this one! i keep being told different information, my personal advisor told me i could start accepting work as long as i wrote it all down and then someone has said no i can't. When i signed on last week i told them i might be offered a bit of work, fine she said just fill in this form but then yesterday i got a booklet through the post from the JC about my self employment! I will not have a lot of start up costs for my Business but i really wanted the help and advice from a mentor, so now i am thinking about just signing off completely and going it alone, although this scares me :mad: I have already been working on my Business Plan and doing market research so i could be ready to launch my Business in less than 4 weeks but i might be waiting longer than that for a mentor!

WantToBeSE

pinkypoopydoo wrote: »

I think I'm tying myself in knots here, and after a look for info through the night, I'm after some clarification.

If I put forward a potential launch date in my business plan, do I, or do I not need to have EVERYTHING in place for the launch (website, bank account, etc), or is it acceptable to spend the first weeks on NEA actually working on them? My brain is fried from so much mis-information and contradictions about what needs to be done before the transfer over from JSA to NEA, and my mentor is on holiday until a week on Monday.

I was told by 2 different people at the JC (my advisor and the NEA advisor) that you dont have to have everything in place by the launch date, you can spend some time working on websites, advertising etc.

sun_shine wrote: »

I am with you on this one! i keep being told different information, my personal advisor told me i could start accepting work as long as i wrote it all down and then someone has said no i can't. When i signed on last week i told them i might be offered a bit of work, fine she said just fill in this form but then yesterday i got a booklet through the post from the JC about my self employment! I will not have a lot of start up costs for my Business but i really wanted the help and advice from a mentor, so now i am thinking about just signing off completely and going it alone, although this scares me :mad: I have already been working on my Business Plan and doing market research so i could be ready to launch my Business in less than 4 weeks but i might be waiting longer than that for a mentor!

I was told that i CANNOT start actually working until i have been through the process and signed off JSA.
Again, this was by my advisor and the NEA advisor.


I think my plan will be to have everything ready to go (website done (but not going live until the launch date), flyers ordered and at my house ready to do leaflets drops, products ready etc. A continuation of those things (e.g. doing leaflet drops, spending time making/sourcing products, visiting potential clients)) can be put down as hours for claiming WTC i think.

The 'Revenue Benefits' says this about Tax Credits and SE:

Calculating working hours

Under the Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rates) Regulations 2002, the number of hours which a self-employed person is in qualifying remunerative work is defined as ‘the number of hours he normally performs for payment or in expectation of payment’.

The HMRC compliance manual states that any hours which will be costed to the client/customer as spent in producing/providing the individual order or service count when working out hours for self-employment. In addition, the following activities also count:

• trips to wholesalers and retailers
• visits to potential clients for giving quotes etc
• time spent on advertising or canvassing business
• cleaning the business premises or space used specifically for business purposes
• cleaning a vehicle used as part of the business, for example a taxi
• travelling for the purposes of the business, but not from home to their business premises
• book keeping

• research work, for example where the claimant is an established author.

Research carried out be persons who are not established authors, but are working in the hope of one day becoming established will not count.
It goes on to say that:

'The amount of time being spent on these activities may also depend upon how established the business is. If a business is in its early days, it is more likely that the claimant will have to invest large amounts of time and effort in building up business contacts for little or no outcome. However, over time the amount of unproductive time spent in this way reduce considerably. If it does not, it may be an indication that the work is not genuinely remunerative.'

The compliance manual also acknowledges that particular trades may present claimants with more difficulty in calculating their working hours and guidance is given for bed and breakfast owners, artists, writers, property renovators and door to door sales people.

Lady_strange

I am amazed at how different the NEA seems to be run across the country. I did mine with ST Helens Chamber of Commerce, who were one of the pilot schemes, and they gave us business plan templates, we just had to fill the boxes in, and they also run a course that you go on every monday for 7 weeks, which talks you through writing your business plan, marketing, book keeping etc... which was great. I also got a level 2 city and guilds out of it in business start up.

I thought this was the way they were all run? Guess I was wrong.

bellkat

I'm also in the process of applying for the NEA allowance. I have been referred to a company called Blue Orchid!!!
My first Appointment was last Tuesday and I thought I was seeing an advisor, but it turned out to be a group session, which they have decided to do because so many people are being referred to them from the job centre.
The next step is to attend a business plan workshop, which the earliest date is the 15th May! After that I get to see an advisor.
They say the whole process shouldn't take any longer than 8 weeks. I'm hoping to be ready to go before that so fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

I've found reading this thread to be really helpful, and I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on.

BigAl127

Lady_strange wrote: »

I am amazed at how different the NEA seems to be run across the country. I did mine with ST Helens Chamber of Commerce, who were one of the pilot schemes, and they gave us business plan templates, we just had to fill the boxes in, and they also run a course that you go on every monday for 7 weeks, which talks you through writing your business plan, marketing, book keeping etc... which was great. I also got a level 2 city and guilds out of it in business start up.

I thought this was the way they were all run? Guess I was wrong.

That sounds very much like what I had to do in Nottingham. Mine's a SFEDI level 2 qualification. Though I've not received my certificate yet.

Lady_strange

BigAl127 wrote: »

That sounds very much like what I had to do in Nottingham. Mine's a SFEDI level 2 qualification. Though I've not received my certificate yet.

I got my certificate about a month ago, and had my business plan signed off in Jan. So they take a while to come through