Help with deciding on self-employment.

redmel1621

Hi

My husband is out of work currently, he is looking, but getting nowhere and is considering going self-employed fixing computers.

Has anyone done this, is there a market for it, as we need 24hrs work in order to qualify for tax credits.


Advice on how to get started would be fantastic too xxx

Horace

There are lots of people out there fixing computers. You will need money for marketing the business, domain name, etc. To get working tax credits he will need to work 30 or more hours a week - less than that then he will have to apply for JSA and any monies earned will have to be declared and that is then deducted from the JSA payment.

Business Link provide free online advice about setting up a business. He will need professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance especially if he is doing repairs on people's premises. The HMRC also provide advice on self employment.

As someone who is currently self employed, my advice is to look for full time paid employment that will at least give a regular wage coming in whilst he gets the business off the ground (he can be employed and self employed at the same time). I am being forced into the position of looking for full time paid work because tthere is currently no work for the industry that I am in.

Jinx

This was suggested to the hubby of my colleague, that he go self-employed instead of claiming JSA. He did it and couldnt get it off the ground. I'm in Lanarkshire in Scotland and I dont know if there just wasnt the market or people didnt have the cash for the service but he ultimately ended up finding another job as it wasnt sustainable. Good luck though, I hope you have it easier

Notmyrealname

redmel1621 wrote: »

Hi

My husband is out of work currently, he is looking, but getting nowhere and is considering going self-employed fixing computers.

Has anyone done this, is there a market for it, as we need 24hrs work in order to qualify for tax credits.


Advice on how to get started would be fantastic too xxx

Buy your local weekly newspaper. Look in the small ads at the number of people doing it. Search for computer repairs in your town on maps.google.co.uk . When you zoom out it updates the count at the bottom of the list on the left. For me it gives 1967 results within a 30 mile radius of my house.

What experience does he have doing it? If he can't solder and can't take a laptop to bits, he's not going to get a lot of work as a lot of it other than removing viruses is fixing charge sockets and screens/screen hinges.

SailorSam

This same subject has been talked about before on Mse,
see if you can find any pointers here ...
PC Repair Business - Hints and tips - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums