Starting a small business

Squidgy

HELP!

Where do I start?

Any advice gratefully appreciated

Squidgy

gonzo10

Register here:

http://www.shell-livewire.org/

Lots of helpful stuff to get you started and a friendly forum full of advice.

BusterB_2

Try: bizhelp24.com

masses of very useful info. Good luck.

Nelski

Squidgy wrote:

HELP!

Where do I start?

Any advice gratefully appreciated

Squidgy

Business link are great there should be one in your local area so you can go and visit and get free courses/support
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

Give us a bit more detail as to the type of business etc and we may be able to help you more
Good luck

VixxAnn

A lot of the banks give away loads of free business packs that have quite a lot of good info in them (they try and wow you to get you to bank with them). Go around and get all the packs you can without commiting, they quite often have CD roms that help you layout your business plans, cashflows etc etc


Also try your local business enterprise office, they have staff who are paid just to help new businesses set up;)

MDUK

are you under 30, if so the princes trust offer a business mentor scheme and may even have grants or low cost loans here

pricefighter

Squidgy. Have a look at https://www.startups.co.uk (Particular the article on starting a business in 2005.) Good Luck with your new venture.Out of interest what sort of business are you going into.

Squidgy

Hi everyone thanks for all your help.

I'm looking at starting up a store selling just maternity wear. I don't know about you guys but were I live there aren't any stores that sell just maternity clothes. Being pregnant myself I find this really annoying!

Squidgy

CurryKing_2

what a fantastic idea - just this afternoon we were trapsing around Cambridge looking for maternity stuff to be told by virtually every shop "go to Mothercare". we had to tell them its crap, overpriced and unstylish!

lellie

CurryKing wrote:

what a fantastic idea - just this afternoon we were trapsing around Cambridge looking for maternity stuff to be told by virtually every shop "go to Mothercare". we had to tell them its crap, overpriced and unstylish!

have you been to asda? they had some nice stuff in the george maternity range.. heh.. I half wanted to be pregnant as they had a lovely top in there.

wealthsaver

Squidgy wrote:

HELP!

Where do I start?

Any advice gratefully appreciated

Squidgy

Make sure you keep all your receipts for expenses. A good idea to get a separate bank account to keep your income and payments separate from your regular bank account.

When you start you should inform the Inland Revenue.

Normally you will need to pay class 2 NI For tax year 2004-05 Class 2 NI contributions are £2.05 per week. However if your income from self-employment is low (below £4,215 in the tax year 2004-05), you may be able to apply for the Small Earnings Exception.

Try the following links for info.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/tmastarting-up-in-business.shtml

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/pse1.htm
>>If you’re thinking about becoming self-employed, call our the Inland Revenue Helpline for the Newly Self-Employed on 08459 15 45 15. Lines are open from 8.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Friday and from 8.00am to 4.00pm weekends (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day). Calls are charged at local rates. When you do start working for yourself, you will normally need to let them know and register as self-employed.