Start up questions please 20 November 2022 at 7:10PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 7 replies 275 views

SarahBuzz

Hiya

I’m looking at starting a small home help type of business (companionship, housework, appointment support etc) to fit around my other commitments.

Can anyone advise if I need anything else other than;

Public liability insurance, DBS check and business insurance on my car.

Have I covered everything?

Also am I right in thinking that I don’t need to register as self emp unless I earn over £1000 per year (according to gov.uk)

Many Thanks 😊

74jax

SarahBuzz said:

Hiya

I’m looking at starting a small home help type of business (companionship, housework, appointment support etc) to fit around my other commitments.

Can anyone advise if I need anything else other than;

Public liability insurance, DBS check and business insurance on my car.

Have I covered everything?

Also am I right in thinking that I don’t need to register as self emp unless I earn over £1000 per year (according to gov.uk)

Many Thanks 😊

You could look at -
website creation,
marketing,
First aid course,
coshh awareness (depending on what you will be using),
risk assessments,
manual handing
lifting awareness,
knowledge of GDPR (key safe / client data etc) 

Marcon

SarahBuzz said:

Hiya

I’m looking at starting a small home help type of business (companionship, housework, appointment support etc) to fit around my other commitments.

Can anyone advise if I need anything else other than;

Public liability insurance, DBS check and business insurance on my car.

Have I covered everything?

Also am I right in thinking that I don’t need to register as self emp unless I earn over £1000 per year (according to gov.uk)

Many Thanks 😊

Clients!

Also - are 'you' going to be the whole business, or will you have cover if you are ill or your 'other commitments' preclude your attendance at, say, an appointment?

Sounds a great idea, but don't get so carried away by your enthusiasm that you don't do all the necessary homework first. Try https://www.gov.uk/browse/business for starters.

Best of luck - such a business could fill a real need.

Lomast

If appointment support includes driving them to appointments then you will need hire and reward insurance not just business use

jackyanto

Hello there, I am here to talk with you!

robatwork

jackyanto said:

Hello there, I am here to talk with you!

Do you have something to add to the thread? The original post asked:

SarahBuzz said:

Hiya

I’m looking at starting a small home help type of business (companionship, housework, appointment support etc) to fit around my other commitments.

Can anyone advise if I need anything else other than;

Public liability insurance, DBS check and business insurance on my car.

Have I covered everything?

Also am I right in thinking that I don’t need to register as self emp unless I earn over £1000 per year (according to gov.uk)

If you have some answers or advice for Sarah just type it here. Or did you want the OP to message you in private?

billybear1

I know it may seem tiresome, but a business plan will go a long way. 

Either look into conducting a business model canvas, or you could look at the princes trust business plan, it is really good.

piesagittariusstick

Since you specified a few areas of interest (companionship, housework, appointment support) I'm guessing you have a team that can cover all such tasks at once. Also, even if it might not look that way from today's point of view, there will be daily expenses even with that business model. Most of them you'll be able to cover at the end of the task, but any small business needs proper funding to be able to start, obviously...

You should also have the means to find hew job opportunities at all times, especially since you'll be mostly relying on one-time gigs. So, before you make the leap, it's better to work out the advertisement side of things. Outreach, newsletters, intuitive website, making profiles on socials - all necessary IMO. That will allow you to update the customer personas (your target demographic), which is super important before you can profit from good word of mouth.

Lastly, even if you're aiming for a local market, you should post optimized content on your blog/website so that people can find you without jumping through hoops and hurdles. As always, it's better to utilize as many online resources as you can since you won't be without competition.