Self Employment Question

Lisaloppylulabell · 10 November 2018 at 3:37PM

Hi

I am looking into purchasing a franchise and becoming self employed. My husband is the one who pays all the bills as I have been raising the children. Both kids are now of school age and it’s time I got back into the working world. I have a lot of health problems and the only option for me is work from home. I have found a business that looks great - here is my problem.

Part of the reason I want to start working again is that my husband is awful with finances. He is also self employed but rarely does his paperwork which means were are always in the red with all of our monthly bills. My name isn’t on any of the bills except the council tax and that is also in the red. I think that will have affected my credit rating. My question is - Am I going to be able to get a start up load to get my franchise business off the ground or am I going to be shot down because of my husbands poor credit and inability to pay a bill on time. I have talked to him until I am blue in the face about paying things on time but he leaves it and leaves it and then does a load of paperwork at once - it goes like this - we get red bills and court action threats, he will do a crazy amount of paperwork, get the cash in, pay a big chunk off and then leave it again until we get the red bills and court threats. His credit is shot. He is currently in the process of trying to get an IVA to clear some of his credit bills but we don’t know if he will get it.

I want to get a business going so that I can get us out of this mess and start bringing money in. (I can’t help him with his paperwork, it’s all stuff that needs doing on the job and he’s in the HGV trade, I have no idea about trucks! Believe me if I could, it would be done).

Any ideas of where I can go to get a franchise start up loan that will ignore the mess my husband is in. Do I say it’s a secondary income and my husband takes care of the bills? I assume they are gonna want to see bank statements showing our in and outgoings? I just feel trapped - I can’t get a normal 9-5 as my health fluctuates but I’m ‘not sick enough’ for PIP. This feels like my only option so any ideas would be massively appreciated.

Thank you

motorguy · 10 November 2018 at 4:12PM

Lisaloppylulabell wrote: »

Hi

I am looking into purchasing a franchise and becoming self employed. My husband is the one who pays all the bills as I have been raising the children. Both kids are now of school age and it’s time I got back into the working world. I have a lot of health problems and the only option for me is work from home. I have found a business that looks great - here is my problem.

Part of the reason I want to start working again is that my husband is awful with finances. He is also self employed but rarely does his paperwork which means were are always in the red with all of our monthly bills. My name isn’t on any of the bills except the council tax and that is also in the red. I think that will have affected my credit rating. My question is - Am I going to be able to get a start up load to get my franchise business off the ground or am I going to be shot down because of my husbands poor credit and inability to pay a bill on time. I have talked to him until I am blue in the face about paying things on time but he leaves it and leaves it and then does a load of paperwork at once - it goes like this - we get red bills and court action threats, he will do a crazy amount of paperwork, get the cash in, pay a big chunk off and then leave it again until we get the red bills and court threats. His credit is shot. He is currently in the process of trying to get an IVA to clear some of his credit bills but we don’t know if he will get it.

I want to get a business going so that I can get us out of this mess and start bringing money in. (I can’t help him with his paperwork, it’s all stuff that needs doing on the job and he’s in the HGV trade, I have no idea about trucks! Believe me if I could, it would be done).

Any ideas of where I can go to get a franchise start up loan that will ignore the mess my husband is in. Do I say it’s a secondary income and my husband takes care of the bills? I assume they are gonna want to see bank statements showing our in and outgoings? I just feel trapped - I can’t get a normal 9-5 as my health fluctuates but I’m ‘not sick enough’ for PIP. This feels like my only option so any ideas would be massively appreciated.

Thank you

Hmmmm, i'm not sure borrowing money and getting further in to debt to buy a franchise is the best way forward? Also running your own business is usually more stressful and requires more hours than a regular job?

Depends what the franchise is of course - but bear in mind a lot of them dont make the sort of returns they advertise. Have you spoken to any other franchisees for example?

Is your O/H actually making money in this truck business or is it slowly taking him down? Its easy to "think" you're making money when you've significant cash flow but not actually be making a living at it really....

Also running a business isnt just "doing the job" its managing the paperwork, paying the bills, etc, etc so maybe he needs to get a PAYE job where he doesnt have all that hassle OR if the business is making money, employ someone who can do the paperwork?

Lisaloppylulabell · 10 November 2018 at 4:43PM

Hi

The franchise is a community parents magazine, like a what’s on for families in the area guide and you make money by selling advertising space. It has been in business 25 years. I have emailed other franchisees and am awaiting their replies. I’m also waiting for the financial info from the company. It states it’ll take between 16-20 hours a week and should provide a steady income.

My husbands business is brining in good money and he has lots of regular customers, he is just shocking at the paperwork side. He can’t really employ someone otherwise I would be doing it. The paperwork he gets behind with is the stuff only he can do as he was the one who did the job.

I understand what you are saying about getting further into debt but I can’t get a regular job and every other work from home job I come across is basically some version of Avon type selling. I am signed up to every survey site there is and am constantly reviewing our outgoings to try and find savings but I feel the only thing I can do is to find some kind of stay at home business and a franchise seemed the safest route to take as the businesses are usually already well established.

lincroft1710 · 10 November 2018 at 5:09PM

How much is the franchise?

jonnygee2 · 10 November 2018 at 5:40PM

I really respect your ambition to go self employed to take better control of your finances. It's a great ambition.

Any ideas of where I can go to get a franchise start up loan that will ignore the mess my husband is in.

Well, you two will be financially linked so his debt is going to affect your ability to get credit. If his business is good can he not loan you the money though?

The franchise is a community parents magazine, like a what’s on for families in the area guide and you make money by selling advertising space. It has been in business 25 years. I have emailed other franchisees and am awaiting their replies. I’m also waiting for the financial info from the company. It states it’ll take between 16-20 hours a week and should provide a steady income.

It may well do, but really do study the financial information and opportunity seriously. They are trying to sell you a product, they are going to under exaggerate the work involved and over-estimate the potential.

As it's a magazine I'd ask for historic performance figures. Many print formats are in long term decline as advertisers move toward online formats which are cheaper and more targeted.

trailingspouse · 10 November 2018 at 6:01PM

I know you know this, but he has to get a grip of the business side of running his business. How much time and effort is he wasting in payments on overdrafts and credit, when if he just got his act together it would all be profit??
If he doesn't, he will drag you down with him, and trying to find a job you can do from home will be the least of your worries.
What are his excuses for not doing what he needs to do? Most people in his position put aside a certain amount of time each week for the paperwork. What he's doing is basically working all week then not bothering to cash his paycheck. Daft.

motorguy · 10 November 2018 at 6:16PM

Lisaloppylulabell wrote: »

Hi

The franchise is a community parents magazine, like a what’s on for families in the area guide and you make money by selling advertising space. It has been in business 25 years. I have emailed other franchisees and am awaiting their replies. I’m also waiting for the financial info from the company. It states it’ll take between 16-20 hours a week and should provide a steady income.

My husbands business is brining in good money and he has lots of regular customers, he is just shocking at the paperwork side. He can’t really employ someone otherwise I would be doing it. The paperwork he gets behind with is the stuff only he can do as he was the one who did the job.

I understand what you are saying about getting further into debt but I can’t get a regular job and every other work from home job I come across is basically some version of Avon type selling. I am signed up to every survey site there is and am constantly reviewing our outgoings to try and find savings but I feel the only thing I can do is to find some kind of stay at home business and a franchise seemed the safest route to take as the businesses are usually already well established.

As has been said - magazines are vastly on the decline. How many young parents do you know these days who wont just google a problem or be part of an online forum or facebook group for free?

As has been said, i'd like to see year on year readership figures, because i bet they are on the decline - and rapidly.

How many businesses these days want to pay for paper based advertising?

I honestly think you'd have better income for less outlay with Avon type selling.

motorguy · 10 November 2018 at 6:23PM

Lisaloppylulabell wrote: »

My husbands business is brining in good money and he has lots of regular customers, he is just shocking at the paperwork side. He can’t really employ someone otherwise I would be doing it. The paperwork he gets behind with is the stuff only he can do as he was the one who did the job.

You need to find a way to sort this mess out between you. Any money you'd ever make is only going to replace the money he's haemorraging away in his business.

I dont understand why hes the only person can do "the paperwork". Is he purposely projecting it that way?

Savvy_Sue · 10 November 2018 at 7:34PM

This is another vote for getting on top of your husband's paperwork - and there'd probably be a tax saving if he paid you to do it!

There's got to be a way of someone helping him with this. Either it's writing in a paper diary each day and someone learning to interpret it, or entering it on a spreadsheet in a tablet if you want the hi-tech approach.

Let's face it, what is this paperwork? Raising and sending out invoices: not rocket science. Paying bills: not rocket science. Recording expenses: not rocket science. Ensuring vehicles are maintained, serviced and MOTed as required: not rocket science. A diary, supply of plastic pockets, little bit of organisation and you're there.

And having said that, there was a snippet on Radio 4's You and Yours the other day about the 'new' Avon lady. Many of them are now selling online, and some have their own YouTube channel. It's not all delivering catalogues in the rain these days!

Les79 · 10 November 2018 at 7:37PM

motorguy wrote: »

As has been said - magazines are vastly on the decline. How many young parents do you know these days who wont just google a problem or be part of an online forum or facebook group for free?

As has been said, i'd like to see year on year readership figures, because i bet they are on the decline - and rapidly.

How many businesses these days want to pay for paper based advertising?

I honestly think you'd have better income for less outlay with Avon type selling.

They might be vastly on the decline, but there will always be a core (baseline) market for them. We have yet to find anything which REPLACES the magazine (like VHS and DVD), but there is a lot more competition these days and probably not as lucrative as it was 10 years ago.

System · 10 November 2018 at 9:22PM

Les79 wrote: »

They might be vastly on the decline, but there will always be a core (baseline) market for them. We have yet to find anything which REPLACES the magazine (like VHS and DVD),

I've found many small local businesses of the type that you would be approaching already advertise in a local booklet of adverts from small businesses that is put through the door every month as well as on local stuff for sale pages on Facebook.

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