Need to pick some brains about my new business-help please

suzitiger

Hi guys,
I am usually over on the debt free wannabe board but i wanted to come on here to ask for some help and advice with my business that I have just up. I teach dance fitness classes both self employed and through gyms. The things I would like advice/help on are:
1.Tax returns-eeek! Where do i start?
2.Business banking-not sure i understand this either
3. Some new times for classes that I would appreciate some feedback on whether people think they would work or not.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and hoepfully I will be able to get some help too.
Suzitiger

Savvy_Sue

Welcome to the world of small biz ...

suzitiger wrote: »

1.Tax returns-eeek! Where do i start?

You start on the HMRC website. You register as self-employed (the links are quite easy to find), and they will send you a tax return in due course. You carry on paying tax and NI through any employed jobs you have, and you put at least 25% of all your self-employed earnings into the best savings account you can find ready for when you have to pay it.

They will also expect you to start paying class 2 NICs, but if you expect your earnings from self-employment to be less than £5-6000 pa you can ask for a Small Earnings Exemption. If you're not paying NICs in your employed jobs then you might do better to pay your class 2s because they count towards your pension. However if you're getting Child Benefit or any of the other benefits which give Home Responsibilities Protection then it's less worthwhile.

You might also find the Businesslink website useful. They (and HMRC) sometimes offer free courses which are well worth doing!

suzitiger wrote: »

2.Business banking-not sure i understand this either

Not sure what there is not to understand. It's a good idea to keep your self-employed earnings in a separate bank account from your personal money. You CAN do this in a personal account but if the bank realise you're doing this, they may start charging you as if it was a business account. There are banks which offer free banking (at least initially), but before you decide which bank to use, consider what services you need - if your clients pay you in cash, you want to be able to get to a bank to pay cash in. So which banks are easy to get to?

suzitiger wrote: »

3. Some new times for classes that I would appreciate some feedback on whether people think they would work or not.

by all means ask, but whether you'll get anything useful back is debatable, because we don't live in your area, and we don't know what's already available. And some of us just don't 'get' the whole 'classes' thing, aka making a complete fool of yourself in front of other people, usually to the accompaniment of overloud music. But that's a very personal response and others may be more helpful.

pitkin2020

LOL think savvy sue has covered it all. The only thing I would add is to maybe get an accountant atleast for the first year if your unsure come tax time atleast that way a good accountant can get you started. A good accountant will save you more than his/her fee so its usually worth it.

AliceJenkins

Tax returns for non LTD company are very easy, just keep good records.

paulwf

With regards to class times you can start by getting feedback from people that attend your current classes and from other staff at the gyms. Be prepared to not read too much into feedback though - for example when I decided to open an hour later I got howls of protest on our Facebook business group but the reason I did it was because the sales figures proved the first hour was deader than dead.

In the first year I think you have to be prepared to try lots of different things, a lot may not work out and a few things will surprise you and work better than you thought. The extra effort put in will really help you when it comes to subsequent years. You also need to keep plugging away at things and not expect an instant response - as another example when I worked in a cycle store we tried to set up a club, one guy would go out week after week on Saturday mornings and only got a handful of people to join in. However he kept plugging away and now the club has over 200 members!