How to start my own Business- What do I need to do?

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Hello everyone.

I am a SAHM mum with two young children. I have been toying with the idea of starting up my own clothing business from home, but don't know where to start. I can sew so I will be making some of the clothes myself, but I will also be ordering some clothes from India as I have found a cheap and reliable supplier there.

I have never had my own business before and I am slightly worried about all the records I will need to keep. I want to do everything above board, but need help with the following:
1. As far as I know I will have to inform HMRC that I have become self employed and I'll also need to register for self assessment. Do I have to inform any other agencies?
2. Will I have to pay NI contributions? I am not aiming to make millions. I will be starting off really small so in my first year I doubt I will make anything over £2-3k.
3. When ordering stock from India will I have to pay duty on the stock? And how do I go about doing that?
4. What's the easiest way to keep records? As I don't think I could afford an accountant to do it for me.
5. How do I work out the number of hours that I am working so that I can inform the Tax Credit office? I currently have a part-time job of 10 hours a week so I am thinking that if I work 6 hours or more a week I may be able to claim help with childcare.

All help and suggestions would be appreciated please.....I just feel like the admin side of things will be too much to keep up with.

Thanks

Stefan234

it might be better to register a limited company. That costs £15 to register and costs £13 to do a yearly tax return. The benefits of this is reduced liability to you personally.

Read Bookkeeping for dummies and accounting for dummies if you are unsure about the finances involved. I found these a great help

soolin

Stefan234 wrote: »

it might be better to register a limited company. That costs £15 to register and costs £13 to do a yearly tax return. The benefits of this is reduced liability to you personally.

Read Bookkeeping for dummies and accounting for dummies if you are unsure about the finances involved. I found these a great help

I can see no benefit in being a limited company, can you explain?

Denning.

soolin wrote: »

I can see no benefit in being a limited company, can you explain?

You sell a cute little blue cardigan to Timmy's mum.
Timmy puts the cardigan on.
At the park Timmy's mum is talking to other mums and suddenly realises that Timmy is laying down not moving.
Timmy choked to death on a cute little blue button from his cute little blue cardigan.

Timmy's mum sues you.

LTD you would only stand to lose all the assets in your business' name, your company would be bust.

Sole Trader you would stand to lose everything, business assets and personal assets, you would be bankrupt.

hunnie

Hi,
Wouldn't that circumstance be covered by private liability insurance?
I thought most small earners start off as sole traders and only become limited companies when their turnover increases.