Employing staff - are there grants available?

greyteam1959

I just feel really sorry for your mother...........who is being made a right mug of by you both.
Turnover is vanity...........Profit is sanity.

cheesypop

I'll show them the posts and see what they have to say. At the end of the day it is not my business and I do appreciate your opinions.

My mum could take money out of the business if she wanted to, but she would rather my sister used the profits to build office space outside so it wasn't in the house and build a better website.

In a years time the office and new website will have been built so less outgoings and they would have paid outright for several pieces of equipment so there will be maintance costs rather than large outlays.

My sister will also start working full time on the business, so that with an extra person will make up for my mum not working (although knowing my mum she will always step in as she will want my sister to suceed).

Anyway thanks for all your comments, I have got the answer to my question, there is no scheme that can help and will show my mum and sister the thread so they can decide what they want to do.

cheesypop

Mervyn why you think I'm taking my mother for a mug is beyond me, seeing as this business has nothing to do with me, I see that my mum is stressed and i'm trying to do something about it. I've told her not to help, have offered her my house when ever she wants it and help out whenever I can. She feels she is doing what is right for her daughter and as usual doesn't put herself first.

paulwf

To answer the question directly have a look at apprenticeship schemes. These seem to be organised by various companies (I presume they get a fee from the government for each placement) and they are always keen to sign me up even though I don't have a business where you'd normally have an apprentice. Apprentices are cheap but it is up to you to decide how useful a 16 year old on a couple of quid an hour is going to be and whether you can be bothered with all the paperwork. You would also probably want the separate office instead of employees wandering around your house. Anyway, there is no harm in calling up some providers.

Internet selling is all about volume sales so that means streamlining every single process as something that saves a few seconds when repeated hundreds of times a day makes a huge difference. You need to network and get tips from other sellers and perhaps even get a professional to evaluate your setup. For example getting Royal Mail to pick up rather than having to go to the Post Office could save 30 minutes. A label printer and some software to process postage addresses could save you an hour a day. Getting a second monitor for the computer, a hands free telephone and things like that can all save a lot of time.

Volume sales also means taking an in depth look at your P&L sheet and working where you can improve margins. Quite often you can raise prices by 5% without impacting on sales, perhaps give it a go? If you could save even 1% on costs that could really help profits, analyse every supplier and every product you use.

Finally don't forget with any business it is tempting to keep reinvesting the profits to grow but unless you have a clear exit strategy in mind, i.e. you are growing it specifically to increase the value when you sell it in a defined timeframe, there comes a time when you need to stop expanding and use some of the profits. Your sister should realise she might have to change priorities and hire staff before expanding.

Savvy_Sue

Annisele wrote: »

What does the accountant say about the ongoing viability of the business?

Key question: and if your mum said to the accountant "how fast could I get out of this work?" what would they say?

Another thought, rather than taking a loan, is whether it's the kind of business that could attract another partner / investor?

Mistral001

The type of businesses that attract government grants are manufacturering or one that involves exporting. This type of business rarely gets grant-aided by the tax-payer.

Mistral001

After saying what I did above, I think this thread perhaps need moved to another sub-forum as it seems to me mostly about family relationships. I see that the OP's mother is working for the sister for free. That can be a big big strain on OP as I doubt if she is doing the same for the OP. Perhaps it needs to addressed directly with the OP's mother, rather than getting involved with the business (even in the form of a few suggestions as to where they can get grants).

MAEM

Rather than criticise the business as the people on this forum are very quick to do, in answer to your question in Northern Ireland DEL provide financial assistance for taking on new staff, under the steps to work programme, contact business link for details of assistance in your area. Best of luck.