Self Employed?

[smileroutkast]

Hello all,

Im interested in going self employed but I have no clue on how to do it or whats the best way to go about it. Some advice, info or general information would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Sidewinder]

smiler,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but, in the current climate, DON'T!

You have a better chance of earning more cards in TBH the way things are, unless you have a very special niche market you can tap into!

 

[smileroutkast]

I know. Ive been toying with it for ages! I have friends who have gone and have been fine, I guess its more who u know rather than what u know. I currently work for a company who I have been with for 6 years now. The only problem is almost all of the work is away from home and Im tired of it.

Id like some information on what to do and who to contact though when I feel the time IS right. Its all a grey area to me

 

[kerching]

+1^ to what he said.

There are in my opinion too many sparks for too few jobs

Stupid quotes, just to turn the money over

Jo public think they are getting a bargain....but quality costs

Just trying to help.......

 

[steptoe]

I know. Ive been toying with it for ages! I have friends who have gone and have been fine, I guess its more who u know rather than what u know. I currently work for a company who I have been with for 6 years now. The only problem is almost all of the work is away from home and Im tired of it.

Id like some information on what to do and who to contact though when I feel the time IS right. Its all a grey area to me

as in what respect?

if its work contacts you mean then you have to source those yourself,

if you mean for general SE advice, I dont really know, if you dont know that yourself then maybe being SE isnt for you.

 

[Doc Hudson]

as in what respect?

if its work contacts you mean then you have to source those yourself,

if you mean for general SE advice, I don't really know, if you dont know that yourself then maybe being SE isnt for you.

As Steptoe pointed out, no one should ever contemplate going self employed without first doing a lot of homework on how to run a business and researching their prospective market and assessing if they can cover the overheads with the projected income expected. To answer your question at the simplest level you only have to tell two people. 1) hand in your notice with your existing employer. 2) Advise HMRC of the date you choose to start your business. But it would be foolhardy to start any business without sufficient start-up funds available. It normally takes around 3 to 5 years to get a business established, over 50% startups fail during this time. If you hand in your notice I dont think you have many rights to claim much financial assistance from the government. Your local bookshop will have numerous books about starting small businesses. If not try Amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_19/277-9219691-2190454?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=starting%20a%20business&sprefix=starting+a+business%2Caps%2C355

Doc H.

 

[betty swollocks]

There is nothing stopping you going self employed whilst your still working for this company, obviously they won't be happy if you are poaching or hoping to poach their customers, that's how I started, the company i worked for was mainly commercial so I chose domestic to keep the two separate and worked from there.

When the time comes all you need to do is ring the hmrc and tell them the date you have chosen to become self employed ( they won't inform the company you are presently working for and therefore it wont affect your tax coding) ask the hmrc to send you a UTR number (unique tax reference number) which any company you subcontract to will use to deduct tax from your invoices giving you a C.I.S payment slip to prove they paid the tax due for you. At the end of the year submit a self assessment tax return and pay what you owe. In my opinion at this present time this would be your best way forward, if it fails you still have your job, if it's a success you can look forward to many years of the part p minions stealing your hard earned cash in the guise of improving the world!

 

[streetlighter]

I would not bother to be honest theres no money to be made going self employed its all paying out for very little return.

 

[alpha spark]

Been self employed 3 years now its a very unsecure IMHO one minute there's loads and the next there is very little prices are tight wages are hard to come by. Your unlikely to get a mortgage.

There's pros and cons to this I suppose but I would go back on the books tomorrow if there was a job going.

 

[streetlighter]

Thats what ive had to do gone back on the highways through an agency working on a self employed basis earning less money than i was five years ago in full time employment.

 

[Steve3948]

Well I've been self employed 28 years, I've made a good living from it, nice house, car etc, far far better than when employed.

I have worked for it though pricing evenings and weekends, working during the day, chasing money at the end of the month, all part of being self employed.

I start when I like and I finish when I like most days, I now have luxury of a few blokes and we keep busy most of the time.

I could never be employed not now, anyway another few years and it will be time to hang the boots up, if I last that is.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Hello all,

Im interested in going self employed but I have no clue on how to do it or whats the best way to go about it. Some advice, info or general information would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Somewhere in the bowels of the forum there are a lot of threads on this topic..,..

I will just stick a few thoughts down that may help...

1/ Anybody can have multiple employers.. and/or run multiple business...   or any combination thereof!

{e.g. so you can be self employed part of a week and working shifts for an employer another part of a week}

2/ What sort of business?  sole trader, Ltd company, partnership etc..??

3/ If you are considering staying employed whilst starting your own business.. you do need to check for any small print terms in you contract about not undertaking any work for competitors or being involved with any business with a  direct conflict of interest to your employer.... 

The employer has a legitimate right to protect and maintain the interests of their business.. employees undertaking proven detrimental activities could have ground for dismissal!

4/ The first basic of being self employed is that an individual is earning some money for selling some goods or services, once it becomes more than a small hobby ie. hours worked / amount earned, the profit you earn must be declared to the TAXMAN!

{e.g. one of my daughters made occasional bits of jewelery and sold a few to friend and family.. earning money for goods / services  BUT it was not a self employed business}

All you have to do is declare to the Taxman that you are now earning yourself.

5/ Anybody starting any business must decide what area of work they intend to go into...  just as a shopkeeper must decide what product range they want to sell.....  food / clothes / bicycles / pets etc.. etc..

the electrical trade is a broad field...

Domestic / Industrial / Retail / Construction sites / Maintenance / Power distribution / Communications / Medical / Green energy etc.. etc..

You need to think about which area(s) you are going to aim for....

This WILL affect how you market and advertise yourself...

6/ Some areas of work need specific insurance, scheme memberships,  BS documentations, training qualifications, test equipment..   make sure you know what you need and what your customers expect from you

7/ What contacts for work have you actually got? If you were starting you business tomorrow how much real work (not prospects) can you generate at the moment??  would you measure it in Days/Weeks/Moths/Years  ??

8/ Do you have other sources of income? can you support and cover the essential bills if work goes quiet?

Guidance I once read suggested having enough to cover at least three months living costs even if you earn nothing during that period.. 

The thought being that there will always be quiet periods.. (weeks or even slow a month)  but if you cannot generating any work at all during a three month period then probably you are not suited or able to run a business and best pack it in!!! 

9/ Some types of work/contacts have regular follow up with additional work.. others are one-off..

e.g. Landlord housing rental sector you could get on going maintenance work PIR's for a portfolio of properties...

Commercial PIR's Emg lights Fire Alarm testing etc..

Tying up with a builder / kitchen fitter to do all their electrics

Whereas a properly designed full rewire for a private domestic customer should have very little additional work for many many years.. as you did it all right at the re-wire!!!!

10/ How quickly do you expect to get paid at the end of the job???  some types of work take months...

other may be same day or week.

There are loads of other considerations.. but my final thought here will be...

Once you have done all your research and homework..  if you still think it is a runner..  Then Go For It!! 

A quote I read before starting on my own in 1999 following redundancy was..

It is better to have a go and fail.. than to never have a go and always be thinking....

"I wish I had tried doing my own business when I had the time and energy when I was younger"

:coffee

 

[batty]

I have been self employed for around 20 years and don't think I could go back to being employed. I think if you are prepared to put the work in there is money to be made but in current times it may be a struggle. Although I seem to be as busy as ever. I do have regular customers and they are busy but it will take a while to get to this stage. As others have said though its not a nine to five job when self employed you will always be working.

 

[ProDave]

The common theme here seems to be it can be very hard to get established as self employed and to earn enough money from it (which translates to getting enough work and regular enough)

For me it was the chance of voluntary redundancy, and a move to a cheaper part of the UK that finally tipped me to going self employed, rather than chase yet another employee job.

But the other common theme, is those who have made a success of self employment would mostly not want to go back to being an employee.  for me the flexibility of being your own boss and within reason being able to choose your working hours, is the one thing sadly lacking from any PAYE employment option.

 

[Evans Electric]

Amen to that Dave .

 

[Robin Spark]

I know. Ive been toying with it for ages! I have friends who have gone and have been fine, I guess its more who u know rather than what u know. I currently work for a company who I have been with for 6 years now. The only problem is almost all of the work is away from home and Im tired of it.

Id like some information on what to do and who to contact though when I feel the time IS right. Its all a grey area to me

Sounds like if you are always working away from home, then you would have no chance of building up a steady supply of customers in your local area. 

Also, do you know what the local business market is like around where you live?  Is your area a growing region that will give enough opportunities of work?

At the moment you might be fed up working away all of the time, however if you have got a mortgage or rent to pay then you will be more fed up stuck at home with no money if you cant get the work as things are quiet at the moment.

If it were me,  I would carry on with your employed job for the meanwhile and do some more research on your business start up before making any rash decisions.

 

[BlueFlashAsh]

Hello all,

Im interested in going self employed but I have no clue on how to do it or whats the best way to go about it. Some advice, info or general information would be much appreciated.

Thanks

to be honest your probably better off going on a site that deals with that sort of thing than hear. the question u should of asked which was answered by above is should you start ur own business or not? im still training so i cant really advise you much but iv know many business men over the years( dad, uncles, friends etc) and the best of them ( even the ones i dont like) have one thing in common DRIVE they all took the jump and went for it both hands out giving 110%. i know alot of people above have said its hard and there is little work etc and yes you will defiantly make less money in the short to medium term but long term if you do it and fail at least you tried and worst case your working for someone else again, if it works out for you then happy days. if your cheaper, work harder have good customer service skills and search out work like hell then the only problem you might have is the other local sparks might try and lynch you lol

to be honest your probably better off going on a site that deals with that sort of thing than hear. the question u should of asked which was answered by above is should you start ur own business or not? im still training so i cant really advise you much but iv know many business men over the years( dad, uncles, friends etc) and the best of them ( even the ones i dont like) have one thing in common DRIVE they all took the jump and went for it both hands out giving 110%. i know alot of people above have said its hard and there is little work etc and yes you will defiantly make less money in the short to medium term but long term if you do it and fail at least you tried and worst case your working for someone else again, if it works out for you then happy days. if your cheaper, work harder have good customer service skills and search out work like hell then the only problem you might have is the other local sparks might try and lynch you lol

http://www.sage.co.uk/business-potential/start-your-business/guide.html?utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=how+to+start+a+business+uk

https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/setting-up

lol forgot to post em hahaha

 

[steptoe]

remember, working sundays is the norm, I finished at 4pm today.

 

[steptoe]

2PM Here, you must drink too much tea :slap

dont you dare swear at me !!!!!

 

[pewter]

I like been self employed so i can get more time off.

I try to never work weekends unless it pays well.

If i can leave for work after 9am its a good day, and if i get home before 4 its even better. Although sometimes im up at 5am and can work late and get home after 10pm.