New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

treenie01

Update on the JC/NEA payment crisis.

I went in this morning. Sat there for nearly 2 hours (before I had to leave because I had a meeting to get to). Left another message for my adviser. She finally got back to me after lunch. Turns out she never received the other messages (that doesn't surprise me). She said she'd look into it and then get back to me.

She finally got back to me at about 4.45 to say that she hadn't been able to the process the payment because the system wouldn't let her so would have to have another look at it on MOnday. However, the paperwork to make sure I get my £33 has gone through fine!!

This_Year

s450 wrote: »

As far I could understand you have to work at least 30 hours per week.
But what is meant by that.
Let's assume at the beginning of my business I will have only 40 pounds per week. Would it be enough? Do you get WTC only if you have enough income or is it about the amount of working hours that you declare. But how can you prove that you have been working 30 hours per week as a sole trader at the early stage of the trading of the business? Leaflets dropping and so on?

Believe me, you will be eating, drinking and sleeping your business at first! I have even tried to work in my sleep. At which my OH tells me to go back to sleep and try again when it's daylight. :rotfl:

It's very difficult to cut off and "finish for the weekend" but also for your own health, you must learn to - this will not happen immediately as you are so keyed up and enthusiastic that you will be going to bed at 2am and getting up at 6am.

I did start to keep a record of hours worked for tax credits, but when it was obvious that I am putting in well over 45 hours a week I decided that I didn't need to.

Tax Credits will only ask you to confirm that you will be working full time, and for the amount that you anticipate earning until April 5th this year (and any benefits you've received/other pay from employment) to calculate the award.

This is your way forward - you've got your business idea, you're now trading... I love the freedom to have a lazy morning if I feel like it - and to work later if I know I will want tomorrow off.

And if something now occurs to me while watching tv? I note it and work on it tomorrow.

Hope you've got it all resolved now and good luck! :beer:

p.s. I didn't receive a letter to confirm I was on NEA either.

This_Year

treenie01 wrote: »

Update on the JC/NEA payment crisis.

I went in this morning. Sat there for nearly 2 hours (before I had to leave because I had a meeting to get to). Left another message for my adviser. She finally got back to me after lunch. Turns out she never received the other messages (that doesn't surprise me). She said she'd look into it and then get back to me.

She finally got back to me at about 4.45 to say that she hadn't been able to the process the payment because the system wouldn't let her so would have to have another look at it on MOnday. However, the paperwork to make sure I get my £33 has gone through fine!!

Hope you get it sorted!

treenie01

This_Year wrote: »

This is your way forward - you've got your business idea, you're now trading... I love the freedom to have a lazy morning if I feel like it - and to work later if I know I will want tomorrow off.

And if something now occurs to me while watching tv? I note it and work on it tomorrow.

Hope you've got it all resolved now and good luck! :beer:

p.s. I didn't receive a letter to confirm I was on NEA either.

This is me at the moment haha. I'm working on some literature/resources so I get up, don't bother getting dressed and get to work. I find getting dressed means that the ideas in my head are lost by the time I've done it. Then I finally get dressed at about 11 when I have a break.

Someone told me that I should treat it like a 9-5 job or else I'll get burnt out but as my business is based around creativity that's can't be switched off at 5 O clock.

Still waiting for the JC. It's now down to a computer error apparently :rotfl:

eastendborn

Nyfle wrote: »

For those of you that are thinking about signing up to this scheme, I'd think very, very carefully before doing so. I was on the old scheme so my experiences may not all apply, but from reading this thread and from talking to others that are trying to go down the self-employment route, things don't seem to have changed much sadly.

Initially I was told that I'd be able to stay on JSA whilst developing my business idea and finalising my business plan. My adviser at the time told me that, as I was intending to sign off of JSA and move onto SEC, I wasn't required to keep looking for work as it'd be pointless, and that the steps I was taking to start my business were enough to satisfy my JSAg.

A couple of weeks later I was allocated a different adviser and informed that I'd been incorrectly advised and that I risked being sanctioned if I didn't continue to look for work. As I was close enough to being ready to sign off, I filled in my declaration and then filled out the SEC forms.

I was promised support, referred to BLIL (Business Link London), and told that I'd have 3 reviews whilst on SEC. I was also told that if I needed any extra support, all I had to do was contact BLIL or wait until one of my reviews at the Jobcentre.

In actuality, I got zero support. BLIL were great, but their funding had been heavily cut and were struggling, so I had to make do with what (admittedly excellent) information was available on their website and one very poorly put together seminar for new business start-ups. I also had no reviews at the Jobcentre, and when chased for appointments, I was told that the adviser who'd put my SEC claim through hadn't done so properly so I wasn't on their system, but that would be fixed and I'd be contacted.

Unsurprisingly I wasn't contacted; I didn't have a single review at the Jobcentre. It also took 8 weeks for me to actually receive any SEC, and by the time I did, I was struggling and in debt. Surviving on 2 weeks' JSA and a £100 job grant for 2 months whilst trying to run a business really wasn't fun.

To make matters worse, the clients I had managed to secure decided that they were unable to justify increased IT expenditure. After a few months of trying and failing to secure new clients, I gave up and made a new claim for JSA.

Fortunately I wasn't on JSA for long and things are going much better now. But the last 9 months have been a massive struggle, and really quite stressful and depressing. If I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have tried to better myself like that and would gone straight into further education instead.

If anyone here does sign up to this new NEA programme, be prepared. Be prepared that you might not get the level of support that you're told is available, and plan for the absolute worst so that you don't get any nasty surprises further down the line.

Did you get any help with housing benefit during this time?
I am about to venture off on this scheme-being as I'm sick of being on the dole. I have potentially a couple of pupils (teaching music), but initially-realistically I will not be earning much-so that if I can't get help with housing benefit ( as I am on full H/Ben due to being on j.s.a. at the moment), I would not be able to go ahead with self employment. Also this scheme-with it's business acumen / money projection forecasting emphasis- seems totally inappropriate to me, in that I will be a small one man band operation. ( All this mentoring stuff, having to produce spread sheets and expected income/outcome etc -like they're expecting you to earn big money, seems totally over the top, and more suited to big business / coroporateconcerns). William.

TrueBlue1965

eastendborn, do a better off calculation. Try putting in different earnings to see how your earnings will effect your Housing Benefit. The basic point is that you should always be better off if your earning even if you lose a little Housing Benefit as you earn more.

Dont forget Working Tax credits. It can push up your money quite a bit when your not earning much from your business.

Andy2013

Also this scheme-with it's business acumen / money projection forecasting emphasis- seems totally inappropriate to me, in that I will be a small one man band operation. ( All this mentoring stuff, having to produce spread sheets and expected income/outcome etc -like they're expecting you to earn big money, seems totally over the top, and more suited to big business / coroporateconcerns

eastendborn , every business needs financial figures to know where you are aiming and where you have been, no matter how accurate they turn out to be.

None of us are " multi nationals" but we all did the same process and in future if we wish to expand your business and borrow money then you will have to do similar projections to obtain the finance from a bank.

The NEA scheme whether we love it or hate it is designed to guide you through running a business and book keeping is a big part of that, no matter if you earn £5 a week or £500 a week, its all relevant.

Don't get me wrong, I think the NEA scheme is crap but it did help to have at least a rough idea of whether my business had hope , and it did prove to work and all the research that went into the figures had a purpose. .

eastendborn

Thanks for your replies to my question(s). For me it all seems a bit daunting- because in ways my situation is no different than working for someone part time. I am currently on the dole ( even though I've got a degree and experience teaching before), but all i wish to do is earn a basic wage ( I'm not a money-head), but in order to do so- there is a minefield of bureaucracy and calculus projections to tackle. I appreciate what you say about needing forecasts etc for loans- I only want a v.small loan, and all the tax guff you have to deal with- but if you ask my opinion- they could do better by segregating those with bigger business plans from the small one man self-emp category.It's scary enough starting out on your own-without the extra weight ( and the more difficult task) of combating all the legal red tape and other regulations one has to face in order to start up. No wonder, ( many people I have spoken to-who would like to be independant ) opt to stay on the dole.

eastendborn

TrueBlue1965 wrote: »

eastendborn, do a better off calculation. Try putting in different earnings to see how your earnings will effect your Housing Benefit. The basic point is that you should always be better off if your earning even if you lose a little Housing Benefit as you earn more.

Dont forget Working Tax credits. It can push up your money quite a bit when your not earning much from your business.

Thanks, my only concern is; that initially i have potentially 2 students- if they decide to stop tuition- i would only have nea payments/tax credits to fall back on till it picks up. Do you know if they will help me with H/Ben/rent if that happens?

Andy2013

NEA does not affect HB / CTB and only any PROFIT you earn will eventually need to be disclosed to HB so they can evaluate how much HB they will pay.

There are numerous posts on this thread about this ,and most other subjects , get a cup of coffee and read through the last 6 months as most questions are answered and it will give you a much more rounded look at NEA on the whole .

And ultimately the best thing is to ask those directly related ie HB or working tax credits , as everyone has different backgrounds that will affect your claims.