Business start up advice please...

Colchesterlad91

Hello,

Im sort of new around here, signed up but never posted so this is a first.

Anyway back to business, me and my mate was thinking of starting a business and putting our strengths together, in hope of being successful.
Now this is unfamiliar territory for both me and him even though we have both studied it at school which is nothing compared to actually going out into the real world to pursue it.

So obviously at an very very stage and its thoughts on the table at the moment.

So my questions are;

How would we go about starting up? E.g registering, tax, N.I etc etc..
Also would it be classed as a sole trader or partnership?

How do we go about setting up a website?

As it would be mobile and not in a shop, how do we go about getting a portable card machine for taking payments?

I know this is all very basic stuff and i may have more questions, but any help, tips and hints would be appreciated at this time as we are still in the thought process.

Many thanks in advanced

Marcus

Amatheya81

Hi, it might help if you tell us what type of business it is as this will make a difference to the advice.

If there are two of you then you need to set up as a partnership. Your first step is contacting Hmrc and registering, how much you anticipate earning will make a difference to what you need to sign up for so if you haven't done so yet, create a business plan with a forecast for your income expense.

With the website, again it depends what you want to use it for, there are many ways if setting up a website but without knowing what you want to do with it it's hard to suggest relevant options. The same goes for cc readers, without knowing how much you expect to take its hard to suggest the best option for you.

Percy1983

Good news on wanting to start in business.

Firstly register with HMRC as a partnership.

For websites it depends how much you want it to be, is it to generate sales and take payments or more on online brochure as such, this can be done from £10-£2000 dependant on needs.

As for card payments, there is smaller options like the paypal card reader which will take a percentage or bigger merchant accounts, this depends very much on the number of transactions you expect.

paddyrg

Be aware though, 'partnership' has very specific obligations - if your mate borrows £20k for the company (partnership) then spanks it on the ponies and vanishes, YOU would be liable to repay it. I'd suggest seeing a solicitor to make sure you understand what you're doing and get a partnership agreement on paper. Maybe you're both trustworthy and best mates and so on, but things do change as years go by and there is real money at stake. Work out now how it's going to work when one of you wants out.

Mobile card machines, worldpay zinc is my current terminal of preference, 2.75% flat rate.

GolfBravo

Colchesterlad91 wrote: »

How do we go about setting up a website?

Website:
Since this is a money saving forum, your cheapest option is to register the domain and build the website yourself. You can use the likes of 1and1.com for only a few quid, but unfortunately you get what you pay for: most of those websites look outdated and they are very basic.

The other option is to register your web domain and organise web hosting and then get someone to create the website for you or even try to develop it yourself. Either way, having a business name would help.

one.com offer a very good deal: domain and 12 months web hosting for around £10 (they also have free web templates available).

You really need to decide what website functionality you need: basic one page design, blog, ecommerce, booking functionality, etc. And you would need a website that is easy and cheap to update, eg. Wordpress based**. Take a look at themeforest.com to get an idea what the latest website designs look like (they sell Wordpress templates). Wordpress is a free content management system (CMS) so it is very easy to update the website content, add extra functionality, change templates, etc. Disclaimer: yes, I do develop Wordpress websites part-time, so I'm biased

Another very important thing, make sure that you keep the website copyright, otherwise you may find any future website updates very expensive.

Lastly, you'll need to have a very good idea of what content you want included, and you must have this content available (text, images, etc.) before you start working on the website - this is to save time and money. And don't spend thousands of £ on a website, it isn't rocket science.

Mobile payments:
worldpay Zinc - one of my clients is using it: very good. No monthly fees, and no contract. 2.75% transaction fee.

MrsNizibs

I run two online stores - bought the domain names, and originally tried bigcartel, zancart, and am now using Volusion, which is good for my needs (I can update it easily etc).
I use worldpay zinc and paypal for payments, but as others said, it will depend hugely on what you want to do.
I found HMRC invaluable when setting up for advice. I got on a free day-long tax course via them when I registered as self-employed, which was great, and check what insurance etc you need. I'm a silversmith and sell online and on studio open days, so have public and product liability, and stock and tools cover.
There are various types of partnership you can be, best to talk to HMRC who will advise you on the right kind for you.

patman99

I would suggest a Limited Company if you want to protect your personal assets should it not work out.

The hardest part will be to get the advertising & promotion right. Get it right and you will have many customers. Our friends son started-out with a flyer drop & now has more work than he can handle. Most of his work now comes from word-of-mouth, thus proving he is working to a high standard.

As a fellow Colcestrian who is also looking at setting-up a business venture, may I wish you the best of luck.

Savvy_Sue

MrsNizibs wrote: »

There are various types of partnership you can be, best to talk to HMRC who will advise you on the right kind for you.

I'm not convinced HMRC will give 'best advice' for an individual situation. They might explain the tax differences between a ltd co and a partnership, they should explain the difference between doing tax returns as a sole trader and as a partnership, but their main interest is ensuring that we all pay as much tax as we should and how you're set up could minimise that.

I'd meet with a few accountants and see what they advise for YOUR SITUATION.