Business taking off - Maximising income for a year

YoungBusinessman

Well business keeps on getting busier. Its a seasonal construction job. I am employed to a company who supply me with plenty work to keep me going. However me being of todays generation, its not enough. I want it all. Im giving myself a year. Starting Wednesday, im just going to go all out to maximise my business and income. Will use this thread to track progress, business expenses and for recieving advice on all aspects of business. My own jobs in evenings and weekends are done through me being set up as a sole trader, may look to set up a limited company for this next year...

Tuesday the 9th October 2012 to Wednesday the 9th October 2013 is 365 days. I think £73,000 is realistic at a push. This is a constant £200 a day gross for 365 days. Not an easy feat. One i am willing to take on though.

This will allow me to pay off the £27,115.79 i am currently owe the bank. While saving a decent amount to pay as a deposit. I have emergency funds in place right now that i wont even consider using to pay off loans before anyone suggests it.

Is anyone willing to take on a 365 day earning challenge with me? It will be a slow start as starting as we approach winter...will make most of this money between March and August next year.

Bring it on :money:

Poppy7

I am interested in this too. Not sure where to start tho as i have a wee toddler and some health problems which make working 24/7 really difficult. Which i used to do pre the health problems and baba.

What are your ideas about maximising your income? Not sure i could match your £200 per day, but im up for trying anything. :-)

Good luck and as you say Bring it on!! Life is what you make it

YoungBusinessman

Indeed, life is what you make it. Its a year, it will be an experience and a learning curve. It will clear my business debts while allowing me to save a deposit. Im at about £3k from past 6-7 weeks, will be good to see that rise. Once business debts are gone thats an extra £800+ a month in my pocket, not the banks.
So this could end up being a 2 or 3 year project.

Advertising needs sorted, aswel as better work uniform(currently just old scruffy jeans and a jumper. Need to improve the apperance of myself as a business. Time to stop being lazy and remember customer is king. My best customers are through word of mouth as they almost trust me and allow me to charge a bit more as they have piece of mind, if you like, since a friend reccomended me. However, I realise it doesnt always work like that.

I need to bring costs down on whatever i can, i realise some things just have to be paid for and cannot be cut/will end up costing more in the long run.

The £200 a day should be looked at long term. I very highly doubt i could keep taking in £1,400 a week, however, stranger things have happened!

As for money in, i need to start using more paperwork, giving written quotes for every job so theres no more "oh can you quickly do that aswel" at the end of the job which seems to get thrown in with the original quote where that part of the job was never mentioned!

Being a seasonal worker, the winter can be tough, i am about 5-6 weeks ahead with my pay, this can easy run down with a tough Scottish winter though!

Poppy7

Sounds great. I think you will do it.
I'll need to get my thinkin cap on. :-)

cazmanian_minx

OK, I'm in

I'm self employed, importing and selling beads and jewellery making findings online. In the next 12 months I want to:

a) pay off the remainder of the business debt (a little over £6,000)
b) have a turnover of £150,000 (highest ever to date was £105k)
c) have £10,000 saved towards the first quarter's rent on a small warehouse unit

I've got a load of old stock sitting around in boxes that isn't listed for sale anywhere, so my October job is to get that cleaned up, photographed, sold and out of the door.

fluffpot

Maybe think about tapping into a niche market - for which you can charge more...

I'm also in construction - but I'm a female - that;s my USP and the right people will pay more for that. Obv you can't change sex (well, maybe, but might be a step too far...) but think about how you can create USP!

You might need to watch out for the VAT man too - £200 x 365 is rather close to the limit and if none of your customers are VAT registered then you'll end up being 20% more expensive

Good luck

Poppy7

I am attempting to create an app in conjunction with my brother (a computer programmer) (my idea) So that could be huge or could be all for nothing. It is completely new territory for me.
So thats going to take up a bit of time to do research etc.
Anybody with any tips welcome :-)

InsertWittyName

Poppy7 wrote: »

I am attempting to create an app in conjunction with my brother (a computer programmer) (my idea) So that could be huge or could be all for nothing. It is completely new territory for me.
So thats going to take up a bit of time to do research etc.
Anybody with any tips welcome :-)

I assume you mean a mobile phone app?

I'm an iOS developer so feel free to ask me anything

Poppy7

Yeah a mobile App. I am just in the inital stages so far. Trying to look into USP etc. Daunting but interesting at the same time.

Thank you!

YoungBusinessman

I won't be near vat threshold as I have income as sole trader on top of a salary. My accountant suggests keeping them separate to avoid paying and therefore charging vat. I lose out buying materials since I don't get vat back. I am all up for this challenge so roll on Tuesday for my start ��

One thing I have to pay for is getting a towbar fitted and buying a trailer. Not cheap!!! Chin up though!!

YoungBusinessman

Well tomorrow is when I begin tracking everyhing for this challenge to maximise income. I have a 12ish hour working day, should see me off to a good start! Next day off is October 22nd. Hopefully I can keep it a NSD though! What's everyone's plans to get going?