New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

biggeorge007

Eastendborn, I'm just in the final stages of my NEA, have had my plan approved just the loan to sort out.
My JCP adviser is very very keen to get me onto the NEA but until I have the loan approved I won't be signing off.
You have to be ready yourself so don't be bullied if your not ready to sign off.

I certainly plan on claiming WTC as I will not even be trading the first month while I get my workshop ready (need the loan to complete this).
The NEA allowance of £65 and then to £33 is not counted as any income for HB,WTC.
Any income from the business will be counted though and the more you start to earn the less benefits you will get.

George

s450

So guys, as I said before, my payments are of 66 instead fo 65 and in the bank statements it always reads jsa.

I got again a 66 JSA -which can onyl be NEA- last Friday.
So far I do not have any reason to complain, because I have got more than it should have been.
Let's see what happens.

By the way, my HB has been suspended, obviously.
Now I have to submite the form "housing benefit and coungil tax benefit self-employed earnings information".

I have some questions. First off, am I supposed to mention that I am on NEA ?
And if yes, will I get less HB if I get NEA?
When I used the online calculator, where I did not mentioned any allowance and any profit (you know, just to check..also because at the moment I have spending lots of money in advertising for my business and I haven't earnt anything yet), so it seems I would get the same HB.

MY business is a sole-trader businees. What should I submit as the address of the business? I wrote my address, or am I wrong?

Many thanks for your help.

By the way, I am really motivated and hope that my business goes well but at the moment I am only investing money instead of earning! :-(

eastendborn

biggeorge007 wrote: »

Eastendborn, I'm just in the final stages of my NEA, have had my plan approved just the loan to sort out.
My JCP adviser is very very keen to get me onto the NEA but until I have the loan approved I won't be signing off.
You have to be ready yourself so don't be bullied if your not ready to sign off.

I certainly plan on claiming WTC as I will not even be trading the first month while I get my workshop ready (need the loan to complete this).
The NEA allowance of £65 and then to £33 is not counted as any income for HB,WTC.
Any income from the business will be counted though and the more you start to earn the less benefits you will get.

George

Thanks for your reply. So I take it you can get the loan before you sign off? They told me I can only get it when I have signed off. The loan is crucial- I am getting things in place- but I don't want to crash before I lift off. I suppose there is a deadline for commencing seeing as I have been through the process of attending the course doing the plan,and personal preparations. I can't quite see how they expect you to know how you are going to be doing a year from now- unless you have guaranteed income from contracts etc. Like you- I will be a sole trader, and at 60- not great expectations/desire to be an Oligarch.
Thanks again.

pinkypoopydoo

eastendborn wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. So I take it you can get the loan before you sign off? They told me I can only get it when I have signed off. The loan is crucial- I am getting things in place- but I don't want to crash before I lift off. I suppose there is a deadline for commencing seeing as I have been through the process of attending the course doing the plan,and personal preparations. I can't quite see how they expect you to know how you are going to be doing a year from now- unless you have guaranteed income from contracts etc. Like you- I will be a sole trader, and at 60- not great expectations/desire to be an Oligarch.
Thanks again.

You have to sign off before the loan can be paid, as far as I'm aware. I had initially planned on applying for a small loan to cover start-up costs (mostly professional membership fees), but in the end, I didn't, as I need those memberships in place before I could start. I think the idea is, you apply for the loan (through or with the help of your NEA adviser), so you can sign off with the knowledge that the loan will be paid within a certain amount of time from signing off.

The forward planning part of the Business Plan can feel a bit like grasping at figures in the air - mine did, and while I HAVE increased business, I've not reached the lofty(!) highs that my business plan suggested I might. Guesstimating, based on your knowledge of the sector you are entering, and the research you've done on competitors should help you to not over-estimate too much.

If nothing else, it's gives you something to aim for, in your first year of trading

Andy2013

The forward planning part of the Business Plan can feel a bit like grasping at figures in the air - mine did, and while I HAVE increased business, I've not reached the lofty(!) highs that my business plan suggested I might. Guesstimating, based on your knowledge of the sector you are entering, and the research you've done on competitors should help you to not over-estimate too much.

If nothing else, it's gives you something to aim for, in your first year of trading

I fully agree, when asked to do cash flow forecasts etc. it does seem silly and in the most part they do prove to be pretty useless , in the last 12 months not one months estimate has been close to the reality, luckily for me they were lower than my actual net profit but if you ever want to expand the business which I hope to do later this year then banks will always ask for forecasts to get an idea of the market place and potential risk factors.

As mentioned earlier in this thread most people tend to put business plans to one side once started and then live the business as it evolves, rather than keep referring back to the "hopes and dreams" that we put in a business plan.

Apparently Richard Branson has never done a business plan or cash flow forecast, didn't do him much harm :beer:

eastendborn

Yes I think for me -it's survival first and foremost- battling all the bills and bureaucracy- then a realistic approach is to hope to progress gradually to the point where I can cope with all the bills and red tape they throw at you.
Things are hopefully picking up again in terms of the money go round- the Government could help very small business's more (sole trader scale)- it takes time for people to acclimatize to their new working environment, and when you're on your own you don't have a team mate to pass to.
It's nice when you can meet people that are not just total robots- they have a little wisdom and understanding of life instead of the rigid money brains you meet these days, but they too are subject to the "one fit's all" morons who have never had to do a hard day's manual work- but sit at a desk like the generals who sent the masses over the top with fixed bayonets at the Somme. You wonder if there's anything inside their busy frantic heads except- "must have my money fix every second of the day". Sad but thats the world we've created today- the old corner shop butcher went down the swanee with all the other people-interactive ways of life long ago. Simplicity died with the age of the computer-which has it's good points- but many invisible evils

treenie01

I was speaking to someone on twitter last night about the NEA scheme and they suggested writing a book and selling it for a £1 to earn some cash.

Great idea I thought until he then said "focus on the positive".

I haven't found any yet. I've got a month left of my nea payments and I still only have 1 student. That being one student that I would've had whether I'd done the scheme or not.

I've still not heard back from my mentor since January and quite frankly have no intention of chasing him up as he doesn't seem interested at all.

The payments got messed up at every stage by the Jcp and when you phone them they don't seem to have a clue.

I get no extra support because my husband works

I'm having to do more supply teaching to supplement my income which then means I have no time to promote my business.

I feel like I'm in a vicious circle with no way off.

osdset

The NEA is an ill conceived half baked initiative, like every government back-to-work scheme is.
Very few businesses can be set up without capital, yes there are window cleaning rounds and the like but if your business involves buying stock, or materials, tooling or machinery etc. You need money, and plenty of it.

A realistic break even point for a small business is three years, so you have to be prepared to sustain yourself and the business for at least that amount of time, some enterprises make money quickly, most don't. In fact most go under in the first year and the overriding factor is cash flow, or the lack of it.

The NEA scheme is like sending someone on a parachute drop with rudimentary training and half a parachute that will disintegrate in seconds anyway. The end result will inevitably be jam on the runway.

paula440

pinkypoopydoo wrote: »

Mortgage help ends when you sign off JSA.

It was the one thing that gave me nightmares, but between an increase in tax credits, and business income, it's not been too much of a stress, so far (I'm 9 months into self employment)

You should however, continue to receive help with your council tax, at least for the first year, depending on how quickly your business takes off.

Thank you, I shall look into tax credits and really work and push at making the business work as this is something I really want to do and succeed at. I've put in my business plan and been on a workshop so far which was good and informative :-)

Andy2013

Very few businesses can be set up without capital, yes there are window cleaning rounds and the like but if your business involves buying stock, or materials, tooling or machinery etc. You need money, and plenty of it.

True , but if you pre plan a little then it is possible , I saved £300 over a long time and had to buy stock with that, re-investing each time I sold to buy more stock to re-sell and so on .

I didn't take the loan as it was a shambles of a process and when finally offered it I declined which turned out to be a real godsend and yes I could have grown much quicker with it but to this date I owe nothing to anyone and still I re-invest my profits to buy stock.

Anyone can do this with a little fore thought and to many rely on the loan, which is largely a red herring , banks DO offer loans especially to those starting up and with NEA behind you it is no more difficult than getting the NEA loan, but with much more competitive APR.

Don't get me wrong I think NEA is crap, as many have read my experience was diabolical but as many have said ,its down to the individual to make a business work, with or without NEA if the person starting up has no common sense, work ethic or a business mind then its doomed to fail.

If after 6 months you cant make a living , even a basic one from your business then its best to call it a day as either the business idea is flawed or your not cut out to be self employed , we all work to long term plans but in 6 months you should be able to make a good profit.