Advice required on self-employment and the New Enterprise Allowance

Andrea2528

Hi,

I would like some advice regarding the New Enterprise Allowance as a way of getting off the Jobseekers Allowance. How much is the allowance and is it worthwhile going onto something like this?

I've been thinking that I'd like to start an online business, although I'm stuck for any ideas about niches, at the moment. I have social anxiety, which is the reason that I am on benefits in the first place.

Thanks

antrobus

Andrea2528 wrote: »

Hi,

I would like some advice regarding the New Enterprise Allowance as a way of getting off the Jobseekers Allowance. How much is the allowance and is it worthwhile going onto something like this?...

See here
https://www.gov.uk/new-enterprise-allowance

RebTech

I'm only just learning about the NEA myself but I've a fair bit of experience of business startups and self-employment. The biggest initial hurdle, by far, is to find a good business idea, one that has the potential to generate more than a trivial income. As with previous EA schemes, it's a condition of getting it that your business idea is viable, ie that a professional business adviser thinks it has a good chance of succeeding. If you can come up with what looks like a good idea to you, by all means go for it, but expect to be asked some quite difficult questions, and in particular, to have to write a good business plan. Help is widely available though.

Andrea2528

Thanks, appreciate you replying. Do you think a type of sports trading business would be acceptable? It's about buying low and selling higher. Otherwise, I think I want to start an online business whether that is in trading or something else like earning money from Adsense or affiliate products or even writing, selling and promoting my own book of fiction for children. Do you think these ideas would be taken seriously or does it have to be something more specific like producing and selling physical products? What about freelancing online?

Neil_Jones

The idea itself is fairly irreverent to a degree, its whether you know you can make it work - ie by looking at and/or doing market research to see if demand is there, if there's no demand its pointless doing it. The problem you'll pretty much run into with any online idea is that there are hundreds of other people doing the same thing so there is an obscene amount of competition, so its a case of trying to find a niche enough area to specifalise in.

Remember the whole point of a business is to make money and enough of it to both pay you money as a wage/dividend and cover the bills of the business. That's why you do a business plan to see how viable the idea is and where you want to be. A sample one is here:
https://www.startuploans.co.uk/business-plan-template/