The Great 'Working for Yourself' Hunt

im4_it

I was business bank manager with a large bank and took my own advice and started up on my own which is the best thing i ever did!!! I have got loads of hints and tips, but i will put the best ones i can think of on here:

1. Do your own books: Get a computerised set of books like quickbooks, or sage or down load microsoft accounts express for nothing on their site. This will save a packet on accountants fees especally if you run a simple busines. i.e money in/money out.

2. Got to business link/Welsh assembly government or Business eye(Wales). They run free business start up courses for everyone, which can be very helpful and they cost NOWT! NIL! ZIP! NADA! Nothing!

3. Your banks has loads of free resources but they don't tell you about them, unless you ask. Natwest/RBS Great free software, Barclays Information and Opportunity Proifles and business tools on disc about every kind of self employed work going!

4. Get a no fee bank account like Abbey or Alliance & Leicester. So long as you don't need a Business manager's support then go with these or you will pay for the service some way or another with the big banks.

5. Take independent advice for borrowing to start up. they will get you the most suitable deal for your circumsatnces together with keeping your costs down where possible.

6. Join networking groups and tell EVERYONE YOU KNOW what you do. It's mega free and simple advertising!

7.If you have to build a website, use people like MR SITE. It cost £35 off the shelf to buy at Staples etc and that will give you 12months subs, proper email addres like your [EMAIL="name@thebusinessname.co.uk"]name@thebusinessname.co.uk[/EMAIL] instead of something[EMAIL="something@yahoo.co.uk"]@yahoo.co.uk[/EMAIL] or similar. Your business then looks professional from the start. With Mr Siete you can monitor stats about hits, have a shopping cart add galleries and much more. It's a bargain at £35 and uses simple templates. This would cost hundreds at a web builders!
Follow the maginificient seven if you want a good start and keep your costs to the minimum! But also there are so many free resources out there but you just gota ask for them!

G&M's_Mum_2

mgb wrote: »

I'm with the earlier poster who said join the FSB.

The Federation of Small Businesses now have over 210,000 members, organised into Regions, which are then split into branches. According to their website, "small businesses employ 58% of the private sector workforce, contribute over 50% of the UK GDP and make up 99% of all businesses."

I saved my annual subscription of £100 on the Streamline package alone. I found the legal helpline excellent, and over the years consulted them on staff problems, customer problems, and an issue with a vehicle I bought. This advice is delivered by Abbey Legal, and is FREE! They also have a tieup with the Co-op bank to give free banking, which is quite unusual in business banking, and lots of other benefits.

They also have local events which are an excellent chance to network, and these events are held on topics which are useful for the small business.

Here is their benefits web page.

http://www.fsb.org.uk/data/default.asp?id=0&referrer=%2Ffsbbenefits%2FDefault%2Easp

Good luck to all those thinking of starting their own business - it's hard work but very rewarding for those willing to put in those hours!

Regards
mgb

ps - I don't work for them, but I am a member!

MGB, I couldn't agree more and couldn't have expressed it better! I also used their free legal line when I had trouble with an unreasonable client who I felt could threaten the financial stability of my business at that point in time - the lawyer was fantastic, said this client didn't have a leg to stand on and gave me total confidence to effectively say 'go away', knowing I was on solid ground. I have also taken up their Streamline services after getting my fingers burnt with Barclays (see my earlier post, won't bore you here...). The FSB is the next most important thing on your startup list to a brilliant accountant! By the way, I too am just a (very happy) member and do not work for them in any form - trust me, it'll be the best £100 fee you spend when starting up. :A

sub_tone

Get a good accountant that you like and trust. They will save you a small fortune no matter how much they cost.

Go VAT registered and if your purchases aren that high go flat rate VAT registered you can earn 7.5% extra income for doing relatively little. Its a good feeling getting money from the VAT man!!!!!!

loveandlight

Don't assume because Businesslink have been able to help others that they will be able to help you. Speaking from experience, if you live in area that Businesslink consider is too affluent (even though your bank account says the opposite), they will not be able to help you:o

eborus

I have been self-employed for over 5 years and the best advice I can give other people is to be ready and willing to do other work when the business and money is running low, and find other sources of money.

The type of self-employed work I do has fixed contract dates that are not negotiable and can have a short lead time, so I may be offered work that starts the same day, and yet other times I can have several weeks without a single bite.

I have survived by finding lots of other work I can do, and the more flexible the better. I use my skills from previous jobs and have even learnt a few new ones.

Some examples of flexible work or sources of money are: temping, teaching (especially one-to-one tutoring) , promotional work, market research, extra work, user testing, psychological tests, mystery shopping.

It is possible to claim housing benefit and working tax credits when self-employed, but be warned the paperwork and red tape is a nightmare, and it may take several months for the claim to be sorted.

It has taken me many years, but I am now registered with many different companies, and have many different jobs that bring in extra money, and I really enjoy the variety. The biggest drag has been having to create work in areas in addition to that of my business. And the last piece of advice I have is to remember that the extra work is secondary to the business - don't let it take over!

cpb121

For a business bank account go to HSBC Business Direct account. It is done mainly online and has certain criteria but I run a small courier business and this account is free. The only charges I pay is interest if I am overdrawn. It is free for life as well.

Phirefly

Excellent thread, thanks so much everyone for the excellent advice

I'm working my notice and am officially unemplo... *sorry* SELF employed as of Tuesday. I've been building up my business over the last couple of years while working full time and since Christmas I've been working 80+hour weeks so I decided it was time to jack in the day job.

I'm lucky that my best friend has ran his own businesses for a couple of years now and has been a valuable sounding board and source of information. He manages his own accounts and has encouraged me to do the same. My business is extremely creative and a bit of logical number crunching and admin comes as welcome relief, so I'm going to give it a whirl. I'm going to weigh up the time it takes me to manage my accounts compared to what I could have been earning during that time had I outsourced. My accounts should be relatively straightforward, I invoice directly and my clients all pay within the month. I have very few running costs. When/if the balance tips, I will seek a good accountant.

Does this sound sensible?

slackboy

Hi everyone,

If you live in the northwest of the england then the regional development agency is running a programme called business startup northwest which gives free advice to people who have just started/are thinking of starting up their own business.

It puts you in touch with a local buisness advisor who can help with business planning, cashflow forecasts, marketing and point you to other good sources of information and support locally.

you can find out who is delivering support in your area by calling business link on 0845 00 66 888 or visiting https://www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest.

I should disclose that I am a business advisor for this scheme so if you live in Rossendale then you'll probably end up talking to me!

Cheers, Matt.

skintbutsmiling01

Make sure, if you go into partnership or set up a ltd co, that you trust your business partner/fellow director, 100 million per cent, and that they have just as much to lose as you if things go belly up, and that they graft as well as reap the benefits!

DaveAb_3

I found this site http://www.dwmbeancounter.com/software.html . It's American but has lots of free advice and tutorials including links to free accounting software packages.