In a bit of a pickle - a big one!

Kanoona

I am currently on sickness benefit but I'm on the road to recovery and looking at coming off this in the next 12 months hopefully by working from home.

I have a fantastic ecommerce website which I paid for a few years ago it cost me £2500 but due to ill health over the last few years I left it on the back burner for a while. I'm finally starting to feel somewhat normal and pushing myself to recover so I have been working on my website the last few weeks and redesigned it all.

I have designed it to sell lingerie and hosiery and have started to apply for trade accounts to get a feel for the pricing of my stock. I have started to convert my dining room into an office and prepare for shelving etc.

However...

I have £0 money! Nothing for stock, nothing for advertising (although set up social media accounts and linked these to the website), nothing for packaging, nothing for postage, nothing to have just as capital incase of returns or unexpected costs.

I am also in debt to the tune of £15000 and CCJ which are all on payment plans and coming down slowly. So I can't get credit in any form. Even been knocked back from bad credit cards.

Any ideas of how I can raise the money? Will my past debts ruin my business if it ever happens?

I was thinking of finding a full time job and working my bum off and possibly exhausting myself for around 12 months or so with extra overtime etc and cut back on everything to save some money. Would this work do you think?

Or should I just cut my losses and look at going back to work and never work for myself?

Working for myself would be better for me as I have so many hospital appointments, sometimes 3 in a week so any jobs I have had haven't been very understanding. I also have good family that have said they will help me in my business if ever I need it although not financially obviously lol.

I hope no one thinks I am coming across as work shy at all, I just always dream of coming off benefits but the thought of going back to what I used to do for work for the rest of my life fills me with dread. I would love to just make it for myself. Or at least try.

Any advice would be great thank you!

Gleeful

I'd say it's probably a no go. You won't be able to loan any money with that amount of debt and no employment.

The only thing I can suggest if you are the right age is to see if the Princes Trust can help you.

paddyrg

What's clear is that you've a chequered credit history, so you'll not get a loan. That means the only money you'll get is by working for it. Get a second job of you have to, because £0 isn't enough to cover basic outgoings. Being an entrepreneur is tough, so it'll come down to hard work to get started, especially from £15k down.

How much do you need? Can you arrange a drop-ship deal instead of buying stock and getting lumbered? Profits are thinner, but cashflow is much easier.

motorguy

I think you're fairly stuffed TBH.

Having a nice website isnt the key to a business being a success, its only one factor.

You've no stock, no source of stock, no idea of margins, no money to buy stock and no money to drive traffic to your site.

TBH i'm surprised you've invested a load of time modifying and upgrading your site with no obvious hope of being able to run a business through it.

I'd be concentrating on getting your head above water by getting a full time job and getting a control of your debt.

Ozzuk

There may be other things you need to think about - are you actually able to run that type of business from home? what kind of insurance will you need if holding stock? If you rent or own there can be restrictions on what you can do. You may also need permission from the council if you are likely to have a lot more deliveries/pickups at your property.

Better to meet these head on rather than plow on and someone grasses you up/notices.

Charityworker

Go round your house collecting up every item of clothing, book, dvd etc you haven't used for ages and sell them on ebay. I mustered up £2000 doing this and started my gift shop.