Resources for starting a business

LeeDsall

Hi everyone!

After I finish my studies in a few months I wanted to try start a business with my brother. I'd learn to do simple décor/design and he would use his experience in mechanics and gardening so we could provide services to our local area, i really think it could be a win-win! I have already spoken to some lovely people in a separate thread about the best resources to teach myself to sew as a way to get up to speed, I cant wait to get going. My brother had let me know we need to look into resources for the business such as guides for starting up and down the line needing apps for bookkeeping, invoices etc. Our financial advisor has told us its entirely up to our preference as we wont be needing any complex or paid for services starting out. Does anyone have suggestions for apps they personally use and or blogs/books etc we could research to get a good list of things we need to consider before we start the business. Any and all help is appreciated, I'm sorry if this is a bit long winded, I struggle to research by myself as I have no inkling of what applications and services are best for what we need.
Thank you!

Sandtree

The government website has a reasonable amount of decent information after they killed off Business Link https://www.gov.uk/browse/business 

"Business" is a vast topic and it would really help to narrow down what aspects you are wanting to get help in... for many people they are nervous about the finance side but if you are going down the route of cash accounting its very simple and most just use a basic spreadsheet to start out with.

The bit people are always too light on is marketing - how are you going to get your customers and what is the cost? and pricing (which some argue is part of marketing) as they think £15/hr is great but fail to factor in that only maybe 50% of your time is billable with the rest being spent on marketing, quoting, getting between sites etc and so the £7.50/hr it really is doesn't then look so great. 

LeeDsall

Thank you for the suggestion and feedback, i realise after i hit send i hadn't specified more. I was going to use spreadsheets for my bookkeeping etc but my brother wants apps for everything: bookkeeping, invoicing, finance. you name it he wants it. We have a good repour with our neighbours and local community so i think the work is there but we need to get setup properly. we aren't tech savvy or in a lot of know how though admittedly. Really anything is helpful to us, even if it involves forcing my brother to read blogs and articles all the time!!

Robin9

Sandtree said:

re going down the route of cash accounting its very simple and most just use a basic spreadsheet to start out with.

The bit people are always too light on is marketing - how are you going to get your customers and what is the cost? and pricing (which some argue is part of marketing) as they think £15/hr is great but fail to factor in that only maybe 50% of your time is billable with the rest being spent on marketing, quoting, getting between sites etc and so the £7.50/hr it really is doesn't then look so great. 

Agree  -  in your charges you need to factor in your time spent ordering, chasing suppliers, paying invoices, your hols, sick, who will do your NI, tax ........................

Don't undervalue yourself

Sandtree

Apps can be ok but most decent ones come at a cost... it really depends if you have already made certain decisions as it can impact others...

For example, do you intend to be able to accept credit and debit cards for payment?
If yes, have you decided on how you will do that?
If yes, does your chosen solution already have integration with certain accounting software?
If yes, that may push you towards one of those solutions rather than paying for tech and then having to manually import data etc

So for example of you've already decided you want to use Zettle to take credit cards that may naturally push you to Xero or QuickBooks online as accounting app/software as it has seamless integration.

Both will be able to issue invoices etc but are you realistically giving people credit terms rather than pay in advance/on completion? If you are then invoicing software helps with your credit control but if its a do a couple of hours work and bill instantly then little need to pay extra for features you wont use.

LeeDsall

Robin9 said:

Sandtree said:

re going down the route of cash accounting its very simple and most just use a basic spreadsheet to start out with.

The bit people are always too light on is marketing - how are you going to get your customers and what is the cost? and pricing (which some argue is part of marketing) as they think £15/hr is great but fail to factor in that only maybe 50% of your time is billable with the rest being spent on marketing, quoting, getting between sites etc and so the £7.50/hr it really is doesn't then look so great. 

Agree  -  in your charges you need to factor in your time spent ordering, chasing suppliers, paying invoices, your hols, sick, who will do your NI, tax ........................

Don't undervalue yourself

Thank you! Il be sure to not let my time go to waste or be used! I have a lot of stuff to work out

LeeDsall

Sandtree said:

Apps can be ok but most decent ones come at a cost... it really depends if you have already made certain decisions as it can impact others...

For example, do you intend to be able to accept credit and debit cards for payment?
If yes, have you decided on how you will do that?
If yes, does your chosen solution already have integration with certain accounting software?
If yes, that may push you towards one of those solutions rather than paying for tech and then having to manually import data etc

So for example of you've already decided you want to use Zettle to take credit cards that may naturally push you to Xero or QuickBooks online as accounting app/software as it has seamless integration.

Both will be able to issue invoices etc but are you realistically giving people credit terms rather than pay in advance/on completion? If you are then invoicing software helps with your credit control but if its a do a couple of hours work and bill instantly then little need to pay extra for features you wont use.

I cant quite answer these yet, ive still got a lot to figure out with my partner in this but thank you for all the places to look into!! i really appreciate it. i actually hadnt heard much about those site/services so il give those a look tonight. Il try to keep this updated with stuff i figure out but as of yet i have no relal clue. Thank you again

Marcon

How old are you both (makes a difference to the help which might be available).

caitlin_251

LeeDsall said:

Hi everyone!

After I finish my studies in a few months I wanted to try start a business with my brother. I'd learn to do simple décor/design and he would use his experience in mechanics and gardening so we could provide services to our local area, i really think it could be a win-win! I have already spoken to some lovely people in a separate thread about the best resources to teach myself to sew as a way to get up to speed, I cant wait to get going. My brother had let me know we need to look into resources for the business such as guides for starting up and down the line needing apps for bookkeeping, invoices etc. Our financial advisor has told us its entirely up to our preference as we wont be needing any complex or paid for services starting out. Does anyone have suggestions for apps they personally use and or blogs/books etc we could research to get a good list of things we need to consider before we start the business. Any and all help is appreciated, I'm sorry if this is a bit long winded, I struggle to research by myself as I have no inkling of what applications and services are best for what we need.
Thank you!

if you need a good invoicing app then i recommend Invoice24 as it's free and is very simple to use. You can also look at their website which has all the blogs you'll need for this type of thing, i found it very helpful for myself so i think you and your brother will too, hope i could help.