New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

Andy2013

BigAl127 I really feel for you, you are a prime example as to why NEA is in the large part hopeless because you came into the scheme full of hope and motivation and with the guidance and help you SHOULD have got you could be a lot more happy in your current situation , and instead your thinking of quitting your dreams which I think is really sad.

It is hard work and no one else will take that aspect away but NEA could have really helped you keep moving upwards and like me you got basically no help at all.

Very sad ,

WantToBeSE

Andy2013 wrote: »

You really need to forget about JSA being " better off" starting a business will leave you stressed , broke and screaming blue murder as all manner of bad stuff happens with only you to sort out.

But when it does start coming together it is the best feeling in the world , except for child birth and a good tax rebate !!

In short yes being on JSA will leave you financially better of, madness I agree but blame Cameron , the real point is being self employed is wonderful if not hard work and yes the first few months will be harder but it makes you work harder also.

I was in the same place as you in January and I had to just take the jump and forget the benefits system so please don't think I am preaching but look forward , not back .

In theory until you earn a reasonable profit then it should not make very much difference to your HB but don't be scared, just work hard and focus on sensible goals that are achievable each month and maybe you will have to cut back in other ways to cover a bit of HB but you are self sufficient and that surely is much better.

Twelve months ago I was on JSA thinking of starting my business and this month I had my best month ever with a profit of near £3000 so it can be done.

I wholeheartedly agree with this whole post, Andy.
I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen when i signed off JSA and put Ads up for my service.
I just had to try it. It may have gone so wrong, but with a lot of hard work, research and a bit of luck, it is going really well.

It isn't going exactly as i had planned though. I wanted to set up my own business instead of just being self-employed. But to be honest, i am very happy for the time being just being self-employed and leaving the harder work (finding cliebts etc) to the agency (although i do have private clients as well).

I am not earning loads of money yet- i earn about £600 a month (and get top ups from Tax Credits) but i feel so much better working than being on JSA.

Andy2013

Hey £600 is a lot of money when you consider how much JSA gave you , and on top of that its money YOU earned from your hard work, well done WantToBeSE its so good to see nice results from all of the hard work over these last few months , keep it going aim for that £1000 a month , its not far away. :j

As humans ( im getting all philosophical now ) we have to take massive risks from early life, otherwise we would all be crawling around and dribbling still , drunken Saturday nights don't count !!!

Starting a business is a huge risk , but when all you have is the benefits system and hand outs , lets be honest we didn't have much to lose really did we.

Set an achievable goal , aim for it and don't stop or let anything stop you until you reach it.

treenie01

I've just had my meeting at the job centre after having my business plan signed off so will be signed off from jsa.

To be honest I'm not convinced. I think I'm still going to have to look for work to supplement any selfemployment income which to me seems to make the scheme pointless.

My main issue was there was no support on how to market yourself. It was all just about writing your business plan. Now surely marketing yourself is far more important because without being able to market yourself you won't get any clients

Andy2013

Everyone makes such a fuss about this fabled business plan as though it will make a business much easier and in reality it is just a reference to your hopes and dreams.

Mine was 1 side of A4 and my hopeless mentor signed it of on our induction, without taking any real interest in it.

It will be used to gain the loan aspect of NEA but otherwise don't expect it to be much help.

Your business changes so much each month that you constantly have to evolve and adapt to suit the current situation , and I learnt quickly that what ever expectations you have are in reality very different .

I don't even know where my business plan is , and if I need future finance or investment I would write a new business plan to outline the true current state of my business at that time, the one I wrote in November 2012 is totally out of date.

treenie01 , it depends on what sort of business you are going into but social media is a fabulous free marketing tool that can get through to lots of new potential customers.

Local media is good if your working close to home and word of mouth and a good reputation are a priority in getting the business out there.

And don't be ashamed of saying you may have to work elsewhere, do what ever it takes to build your business slowly , because the pressure of having to make ends meet can be a real stress, a little part-time job is a great idea.

Remember you may be able to get working tax credits also, contact HMRC to find out as that can be a big help.

TrueBlue1965

Andy2013 my experience of NEA is so very different to yours. My business plan covers 7 different sections. 1) Business summery. 2) Background and proprietors. 3) Aims and objectives. 4) Risks. 5) Marketing and selling. 6) Organisation and control. 7) Finance. All secions have several sub-sections!

There are two questionnaires to support the business plan and a cash flow forecast. The whole business plan template is more than 20 pages in length.

I,ve attended 6 workshops covering how to write the business plan, marketing, finance, book keeping and Tax, NI and VAT and Website optimisation!

I,ve had a mentor since day one of pre NEA and see him every Friday. I get regular e-mails, texts and phone calls from my mentor. My mentor does not know it all. He comes from a very different area of business to mine. However, he has been there to answer my questions if he can. More than anything else. He has been there to lissen and allow me to play around with my ideas and has given me that little extra bit of confidence in my business idea. He really wants my business idea to work and for me to have a better life though my hard work!

Not everything has gone as planned. Nothing ever does in this world. However, I have done the hard work in getting my business idea ready to become a reality. NEA and a mentor dont do the hard work for you. You have to go out and do that yourself. However, everthing i,ve experienced over the last couple of months while doing pre-NEA has given me a much better chance of my business becoming a success!

treenie01, you have identified that you need to do some work on marketing yourself. So, do the research on the web on the different ways to market yourself. As Andy2013 suggests. There is a massive amount of free marketing tools out there. Google is your best friend. Ask and you will find all the answers your after.

Andy2013

TrueBlue1965 , its really good to hear you are having a positive experience of NEA because the vast majority of comments on here are negative which gives an overall poor review, but obviously there are some good mentors out there which is great to hear.

Going back to my business plan , it covered all of what you have said but I was advised ( probably the only advice I was given ) to be concise and to the point as many investors / banks don't want long rambling plans that can be boring at best , and as a start up business we have little to go on except our research and our aims and goals.

It was excepted by NEA and the loans company so it did the job I needed it to do.

The cash flow forecast was also done but of course this is a good estimate of your hopes and dreams and over the last 10 months not 1 single month has matched my " forecast" so I am not sure how useful this is either.

I am not sure in all honesty whether in 3 or 4 months time you will be regularly looking at your business plan , we are told we would but in reality we don't and we adapt our business as it evolves .

We all want it to succeed and make lots of money, we don't need a plan to remind us of that !!!

I once read that Richard Branson has never written a business plan as he lives for the moment and looks forward not back .

treenie01

I've googled stuff (ironically I used to teach music business) but because working towards community music workshops the best way to do marketing is to have examples and case studies. Unfortunately without doing the work I don't have those.

I just feel like after being signed off yesterday I've been cast aside as another job centre statistic.

I definitely think too much focus is on the business plan and not about starting off.

Andy2013

Well I don't mean to be negative about a business plan , I know business moguls go mad for them but I agree that to much time is spent on something that will get cast aside and there is so much more to do when starting of a business.

To have written a 20 page business plan must have taken a hell of a long time and the time could have been better spent researching the idea and preparing to get going earlier as opposed to having to write this statement of dreams desperately hoping some chap will give you the go ahead to start a business.

This_Year

I've just had a second letter to provide proof to the Jobcentre that I'm still trading, last one was 4 weeks ago. I've not heard a dicky bird from my business advisor. My business plan I re-wrote after the course from Ixion, but I haven't referred to it once in the 2 months.

So far the NEA just seems to be the money side of it. Which is useful but the advisory side of it - appears non-existent.