New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

Andy2013

s450 please stop worrying its not any hassle in the grander scheme of things.

At the point your business plan is agreed by your mentor they contact the JC and advise NEA is to go ahead , you visit the JC to sign on as normal ,but by now you know as does your advisor that NEA has been approved and you sign off JSA ( sign a form tick a box ) and sign onto NEA ( sign a form tick a box ) and in theory your JSA claim ends and the NEA 26 weeks starts and the transition between JSA / NEA money takes between 1 and 2 weeks to happen.

It really should be that simple so don't worry.

The HB then get informed by HMRC that your JSA has ended and from then on you are self employed and are required to provide on request an estimate of earnings for a period ( 2-3 months) so they can decide how much HB to award.

Point1 , your NEA payment is not an issue and is not counted for HB, just NET PROFIT ( which will be tiny to start with.
)
Point 2 , you first months are hard so you can put very small amounts as Net Profit ( or buy stock , equipment and supplies for your business so there is no profit in the early stages ) , and when they reassess your claim after the 2-3 months they then use your Net Profit figure to award your next 2-3 months HB payments.

This goes on until at some point you make to much Net Profit to get any HB award at which point you become completely self sufficient , which is a great feeling .

I know your worrying about how money will all work out, it will be a bit harder but I can assure you that once its done you will smile as to why you worried so much.

And yes I was just given a back to work payment without my request , which I believe was given to all NEA apps at that time , ( maybe different know )

s450

@Belkat & @Andy2013 many thanks for your answer.

Yes you are right, I am quite worried at the moment but you were able to motivate me and instill in me positive energy :j

On my next sign-in appointment I will
1) inform my JC-Agent that my business plan has been approved (though I think that he has been already informed, isn't he?)
2) smile and try to ask for some financial support for the start, bringing a short list of things I would need to start my business - as my business adviser suggested me
3) sign-off and and sign the NEA
By the way, when I sign off, am I also signing the documents for the NEA there at the Jobcenter or I will have to go to my business adviser again?
4) register my business

and above all: Keep on my motivation :rotfl:

Thank you guys!!

Andy2013

Hey your welcome , I understand your concerns, but you will be fine

I signed off JSA and onto NEA in one go at the JC so hopefully your the same.

And smiling is always good but I find flattery works even better !!

Otherwise your bang on , keep pushing , think money and happiness and enjoy it most of all.

TrueBlue1965

As fare as I am aware. Back to work payments where £100 for single people and £250 for couples claiming benefits who moved in to full-time work. That included self employment. However, the information im getting suggests that this payment has stopped.

You could still be entitled to a payment for work related clothing and boots that are needed as part of your job/business. Not sure how this works, yet. If your manufacturing a product. Overalls and boots would be needed. So, its possible that a claim for these is classed as essentials and a payment made.

Anything is worth a try to give a head start and reduce costs in the early stages of starting a new business!

BigAl127

The £100 payment ceased as from 1st April 2013, that's why I started my self employment a week earlier on 25th March.

It was my original intention to start from the new tax year 6th April but I would've missed out on the extra £100 for the sake of a couple of weeks.

Return to work Credit of £40 per week for upto 52 weeks, I believe ended from the 1st October 2013.

So I suggest you ask your adviser at the J/C if there's other schemes in place in addition to the NEA.

As for signing off, I was told to ring the Fast Track number in my signing on book, to cease my claim as it was quicker than my adviser doing it. But due to the fact my JSA was a joint claim with my wife, who was exempt from signing on (Doctors paper) there was some confusion with JSA ending, which delayed my NEA for around 5 weeks.

Hopefully, yours will be less of a problem though.

As for HB, I got an initial 4 week run on from JSA ending, and had to take my accounts into the council around week 13. As my accounts were showing a loss at this stage, the council assessed that my income from self employment would be £0.01 per week ( yes 1 whole penny) for the rest of this financial year. However, as soon as I was making a reasonable profit per week of around £100, I was told to update my info with them so they could re-assess my entitlement.

Hope this helps a little.

BTW I had a phone call today from the company that did my mentoring, just to see if I was still in business.........the first i've heard from them since my business plan was accepted. It was only from the admin staff though, not from my so-called mentor.

amy8191amy

TrueBlue1965 wrote: »

Im having fun this weekend. Making changes to a copy of my business plan and cash flow to show how i would use the new £2,500 loan from Startup to finance my business in the early months of trading. My NEA business plan is finished but im having to hold off signing off benefits and signing on with the NEA payments for a few weeks. Should be a simpler way of accessing the new Startup loans with NEA payments!

amy8191amy, are you having to amend your NEA business plan and cash flow to show the differences between the two starting loan amounts?

Hi there, I had started my business plan and cashflow using the NEA templates and then when i was told by my NEA advisor that i was being transfered to StartUp (as at the time NEA loan was £1000, higher interest and shorter repayment etc) i was given a new/different template from StartUp for the business plan and cash flow and had to start again using that template. I was going to just ask for the £1000 NEA loan as I thought that was all I culd get and I could have probably made it work, but now im with start up im asking for 2500. I was told by StartUp advisor to say £500 is for "miscellaneous" anyway as its good to have some back up for extra stock etc. So in answer to your question I havnt really had to compare, I just started a new plan/cash flow and over estimated my costs and added the £500 to make sure I've shown i need the 2500.

s450

@ Andy2013, @TrueBlue1965, @Bigall127
Thank you all!

Today I met my Business adviser. He is very kind. We had a chat at his office. He said that my JC-agent will be informed that they have approved my Business Plan so that the documents for the NEA can be prepared to be signed. He said that he assumes my JC agent won't be informed next week on my sign-in day yet. So I should not mention that the plan has been approved but that is going to be approved for sure by my next sign-in day and tell him that I want to be sure that the documents for NEA will be submitted immediately because I do not want any delay with the payment.
In addition, he said again, that I should try to bring a list of items I would need for the start of my business.

I will keep you informed.
:beer:

andyscott

I have started to write an article on the NEA experience and was wondering if everyone could tell me how they felt when going onto NEA.

Did you always feel confident that it would work or maybe you were scared and at a point felt that getting a job would be a better option.

Andy2013

When I heard NEA existed I was very positive because I felt it was the help and guidance I needed to give me the best chance possible in my idea working.

All the info lead me to believe it was geared towards mentoring and advice , and the finance was a bonus.

The reality as you are aware is very different and my experience was diabolical with not a single mentoring email or phone call during the 6 months and in the end I was determined to make it a success just to prove I didn't need NEA at all.

This time last year I was full of optimism , and twelve months later I am disgusted at what turned out to be a total waste of time run by idiots who were of no use to me at all.

BigAl127

When I first approached the jobcentre about NEA, i was extremely optimistic and really wanted to give it a go. During the initial meetings, and the 8 week period writing my business plan, i was given quite alot of encouragement, and the tutor who took our course for the Business Plan was a great help to those who were there for the right reasons, and weren't constantly popping out for unscheduled tea/coffee and smoke breaks.

Where I feel I was let down, was with the jobcentre, who only seemed to be interested in getting me off JSA, and they didn't do the 6, 11 and 19 week support meetings after starting my business.

There's also the non existant support from my mentor, who I have seen or spoken to three times in around 10 months. None of which were arranged by him, it was a case of having to chase him all the time. The last time, was when he approved my BP and i've heard absolutely nothing from him since that day in March.

I'm still self employed and plodding along, albeit alot slower than I had originally planned, and feel that this is mainly down to the lack of support.

At the end of the day, If I do make a raging success of my business, I can mainly say, it's through my own self determination. Like Andy 2013, I am also disgusted at the idiots running the scheme, who were in the main, totally useless.

If I am able to find full time employment elsewhere, I could very well be tempted to take it, as self employment is extremely hard work. As i'm in my early 50's maybe i'm not really cut out for it, as the learning curve, as been an extremely long one, and I find it difficult to switch off. At least with paid employment, i'd have more time for myself and my family.