The Great 'Working for Yourself' Hunt

Middlestitch

olly300 wrote: »

If you are a limited company under the Companies Act it is now a legal requirement for you to put your company's registered address and company number on all forms, emails, marketing material and websites. Therefore don't waste money on a PO Box. If you don't want to use your home address as a registered office or can't for various reasons then you can either use a virtual office company or your accountant may allow you to use their address for a small fee.

A good accountant can also set up a limited company for you making the process simple they will either charge a fee for this or you will be in a contract with them for at least a year.

To find a good accountant use word of mouth recommendations and question the accountant yourself before using them.

Correct - but it's very common to use a professional address (accountant, solicitor or whoever) as a company's registered office, often free or for a nominal annual charge, so having a PO Box for correspondence is far from being a waste of money!

Frugaldom

I first became self-employed at the age of 21 and the most helpful people I have encountered over the years are, surprisingly, those at the tax office. Before taking this route, I think it is very important to decide if you are going to be 'just' self employed, as in being entirely responsible for earning your own living, dealing with accounts, tax and National Insurance etc, or if you are self-employed in building up a business; the two are not the same and I will be the first to admit that I did have a problem with this concept in the beginning. With hindsight, I now see that accepting the 'real' reasons for your choice in following the self-employment route could be paramount to your success.

Good luck to all who have chosen this path in life.

Further to the above post about PO Box numbers - these are needed by some for all sorts of reasons. I use a PO Box address, have an 0845 (local rate) telephone number and have an 0870 (BT national rate) fax number. The combined costs of these amount to far less time, effort and money than having to change all the details in the event of a move.

Note to mdavis1982 - no, you are not allowed to add your link on MSE, so I would edit the post to avoid it being reported and/or deleted if I was you

trilbythecat

nicky_nacky_noo wrote: »

... we have 3 small children and we are up to our eyes in debt, resulting in us living well below the bread line, we are drawing money from personal credit cards to pay into the company to meet the 6 grand a month over heads. ... Help

Yep, us too. We run chartered trips on a vintage boat. Last December it got to the point that after I had bought booze and food for the next dinner cruise, I had no money left over for groceries for myself and our two children. Out of all the thousands in credit cards and overdrafts, not even £5 left. Fortunately the customers paid in cash so we were able to live off of stuff out of the cabinets for two days but it was the worst feeling I have ever had. My parents bought our Christmas tree and presents for the kids after I phoned them in tears.

If you are thinking of going into business, especially if you have kids, seriously think about the environment you want them to grow up in. We work all the time. We argue about the business all the time. And there is no money for anything ... days out, new clothes, new toys, sessions on bouncy castles, anything like that. Pretty soon they'll be old enough to sense the shame I feel about our poverty as well. What a great life we chose for ourselves.

Here I am with a PhD and a great former career, living on tax credits and in trapped in debt because of some stupid vision my husband had about a stupid boat he got cheap from the last owner. We are dealing with it, but years have been wasted and I don't know even now if we will survive out the year, or even until June.

There seems to be a lot of good advice on this thread, but can I just say to parents, beware.

Nomad25

Have been s/e for 10+ years. One of my mistakes was assuming my accountant [big company] would be my tax adviser - so wrong. Had some very useful input from other MSE'rs on this subject last month! So this year I hope to appoint tax adviser as well, or move to an accountant who is used to dealing with small business.

mtts

One of the biggest expenses connected with being self employed is ADVERTISING.

Everyone says advertising pays but does it pay from your chosen methods?

It does not matter where you place your advert or the method used.

Most people have absolutely no idea how effective their advertising is.

If you place adverts will you know if they are effective or not? Probably not.

A way to discover if your method of advertising is effective is to offer a discount to customers who produce the advert when dealing with you (10% discount will be enough if you retail ) This way you will be able to determine if your method of advertising or where you place the advert is worth doing.

If you do not get people producing your advert to get the discount offered then you will know that you are wasting valuable money using that form of advertising so why continue wasting money... stop doing it...try something different.

Why waste money advertising if you do not get the results you expect and unless you know how effective it is you are wasting your time and money.

Don't be afraid to use different methods of advertising but ALWAYS use some method of tracking the effectiveness of the place or method used.

Don't commit yourself to long term advertising because that could mean long term money wasting if it is not effective.

The best form of advertising is by personal recommendation so always give your customers good service. A happy customer will always tell their friends.

This forum is about saving money so why waste money advertising if you do not know if it is effective or not.

Frugaldom

Children & child welfare - this is the primary reason that I fell into self-employment. Holding down employment and being mum and homemaker, in my experience, was impossible. Self-employment was the only form of work that I could almost guarantee the hours would fit in with everyone else's routines, especially when there are no babysitters and nursery care was so expensive (and only available when the kids are 100% healthy). Then comes school, school holidays, childhood illnesses etc, etc, etc. There are few luxuries but children adapt and what becomes normal for one may not necessarily be classed as normal for another. I grew up with parents involved in a family business, I think of it as normal.

Trilbythecat - if you are receiving working tax credits, child benefit and child tax credits then, first and foremost, I would keep the household budget well within that alone and try to get your OH to see that the business is not a business unless it can sustain itself and the people it is meant to support.

This is not aimed at anyone - I have some rather extreme views, so the following is not meant to be offensive in any way, shape or form. Apologies in advance if it shocks, disgusts or appalls anyone. My belief is that, as a husband and father, a man has already accepted the responsibility of providing for a wife and family and, likewise, a woman's qualifications are irrelevant if they have chosen, of their own free will, to become a wife and mother. How a couple (or family) work together to generate the income that pays for their lifestyle together should be a joint-decision with each fully trusting and supportive of the other(s). Of course, these are only my personal thoughts and could be why I now have an ex-husband.

Skull13

i am hoping to be able to start my own business this year as i would be unable to get a job working for a company due to my health but with my own business would be able to work when i am able day or night.

having been disabled for six and a half years and currently on long term incapacity benefit and disability living allowance i have been trying to find out about the new deal for the disabled.

has anybody else set up their own business through this scheme? and if so what should i know about it as the government website mentions virtually nothing!

does anybody know what help they offer?

honeybee

When you first set up on your own, don't think you need every piece of office equipment you had when employed. Either borrow, lease or buy secondhand and for photocopying just use the local shop or library until you are spending enough to justify a photocopier. You might not even need a computer - try doing without for a while and use local printers, secretarial help.

You may think you know how your business is going to pan out - it won't. In 6 months you may be doing things you never thought of and not doing things you thought you would, with resulting unused equipment. Same with investing in office space and transport - wait.

Neiliboy

bev79 wrote: »

Its easy to while away hours on things you have no experience of ie computers, phone packages, etc and then faff on the internet for a bit, then before you know it you're behind witha bill. You have to be more motivated, focussed and disciplined than in any paid employment you'll ever have done.

Never have i seen a such a true statement....

mtts

If you are self employed and your wife or husband is living with you and is not working and not receiving benefits of any kind ( excluding child benefit)... employ them as a part-time employee.

Lots of accountants will not tell you and the taxman certainly will not tell you this but it is a good way of saving money.

Providing you can indicate that they can actually do something connected with your business, like helping with bookwork, banking, answering phone calls, washing you dirty work clothes, helping you in any other way you can think of relating to your business or anything else that could save you time or effort with your business then employing them part-time is an excellent idea.

Make sure you pay an amount that will not incur your partner tax or NIC and you will be saving yourself money. Find out how much this can be and pay just below that figure.

Wages paid to employees are tax deductable from your accounts and providing you pay just below the threshold for your partner paying tax and NIC this will be a fantastic saving for you.

If you think that this is not worth doing... well enjoy paying tax etc on the amount that could be tax and NIC free if you employed your husband or wife.

Why pay tax on every penny you earn when you can legally save money?

This forum is about saving money so if your husband or wife is not working .. save yourself money.