Self Employed Less than 1 year and Renter

MarkP75

Hi, if this has been covered else where in the forum I cant find it.
I have lost my line of work (self employed Graphic Designer) because of the Coronavirus. Unfortunately I am less than one year, so it seems am not eligible for SEISS. My wife works in a Hospice and has had to work throughout. We have 2 children, so I am now tied to homeschooling (and as we have just gone to Summer Holidays today in Scotland)  now full time Child Care. I have signed up for Universal Credit but due to my wifes salary we are (so far, call on Tuesday) told we will get £250 pcm. We cannot survive on that.
As mentioned we also rent we have arranged 3 months arrears. Our landlord is a business and gave us a 3 month break in pay but we now have arrears whiich they are looking for us to address. We can pay 1 month and 1 arrears from the Universal Credit advance but moving on I dont see how we can survive. With the schools going back part time in August, at best I will not be able to look for work for another 5-8 weeks, and even then it will be limited (that is ignoring the fact that I doubt there will be much work out there). I am unsure where to turn for support now. I assumed at some point something would kick in to help people in our position, but it doesnt seem to be happening. I appreciate this is my first post on the forum and welcome any advice.

Grumpy_chap

You state it is now school summer holidays so coronavirus is not impacting the children being at home.  How do you normally manage child care during the school holidays?

I assume you do not have business premises.

Are you eligible for BBLS?

MarkP75

Hi, thanks for responding.
We would normally both take time off and rely on Grandparents, that is obviously not an option just now! 
Correct, I do not have business premises.
I hadn't considered BBLS (just googled it). That could be an option and the repayment scheme is decent. Moving forward, I'm looking to set up a social enterprise and am busy writing an investment proposal, so need positive things to focus on getting from here to there.

Grumpy_chap

In England, you can now meet Grandparents and the 'social bubble' - are the rules in Scotland also flexing to allow that type of interaction?  If so, that would mean you could take advantage of the normal type of childcare you rely on.

Although the market could be subdued, I would expect there is stuff out there to go after as a sole-trader graphic designer.  It might not be the usual stuff you do, but lots of small business finding they need affordable service to support their marketing to get them over coronavirus - just one example of coronavirus driven opportunity.  A lot could be done from home also.

Jeremy535897

You are probably aware of this regarding your social enterprise:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-social-investment-tax-relief

MarkP75

I wasnt aware of that actually, just starting to head out to investors now. Thanks for your help.