Business side

[Pensdown]

Public accounts ..for ltd. co. ........do you mean the public can see these ...and where Y`see an old friend of mine`s family run a sucessfull business and I`d just LOVE to know what£££ goes where

http://www.checksure.biz/credit_check.htm

It will cost you a tenner but the information is 10/10

Fattony, read & digest thermo's post

 

[hermes]

Having been both s/e and Ltd i would suggest you start of as self-employed as it is much easier, and cheaper in fees and easier in paperwork. There are tax breaks in being Ltd but as you're doing it alongside your main job I wouldn't have thought this would apply to any great extent. Many businesses do fold in the 1st 3 yrs so it would be a good idea to try it out and become a bit established before looking at becoming Limited. As has been said before though, the best person to advise you depending on your individual circumstances is an accountant. That is what they are there for.

 

[Softus]

A lot of good advice, all based on fact and useful experience, and with which I heartily and completely agree.

For what it's worth, here's a list of the things you need to establish in order to take yourself seriously, even as a sole trader:

Accountant
Business bank account
Computer
Labour rate (and don't undersell yourself)
Marketing strategy
Tools of the trade
Training

 

[hermes]

For what it's worth, here's a list of the things you need to establish in order to take yourself seriously, even as a sole trader:

Accountant
Business bank account
Computer
Labour rate (and don't undersell yourself)
Marketing strategy
Tools of the trade
Training

Customers are quite useful as well.

 

[WoodYouLike]

anyone who wants to become a ltd company must register, for a fee, with companys house. they must also prepare accounts for public viewing. not cheap either.

edit:
unless your wife's an accountant, eh Thermo.

Or you have that decent accountant (And I am in total agrement with Thermo, with all his facts).
Companies House: £ 60 if memory service for registering and £ 15.00 a year if you file your yearly registration on line.
Accounts for Companies House (again with decent accountant): £ 165.00

Not bad when this accountant saves you lots of tax ;-

 

[WoodYouLike]

Many businesses do fold in the 1st 3 yrs

Most businesses fail because:

Failing to plan (business plan, marketing plan etc) = planning to fail.

 

[fattony]

Thanks for all your comments, I'll look into getting an accountant I think

 

[WoodYouLike]

Where are you based?

 

[Softus]

Customers are quite useful as well.

Er, no - they're essential.

Which is why I also didn't list transport, a brain, one or more limbs, one or more eyes, food, sleep...

 

[Thermo]

and dont forget to ask your accountant about filing on line to the tax man, that saves money as well, not all of them do it. (why pay the tax man what you dont have to????)

 

[WoodYouLike]

and dont forget to ask your accountant about filing on line to the tax man, that saves money as well, not all of them do it. (why pay the tax man what you dont have to????)

Good one Thermo: you can save £ 250.00 this year (like last year) when filing online for the Inland Revenue.

 

[hermes]

Customers are quite useful as well.

Er, no - they're essential.

Which is why I also didn't list transport, a brain, one or more limbs, one or more eyes, food, sleep...

Yes, Softus, it was a joke though, which is why I didn't list all of those other things as well.

Marx would have reduced the list to Land, Labour, Capital and the Entrepreneur (it's a good job he wasn't French because they have no word for entrepreneur, apparently).

(And if bas was still talking to you I'm sure he'd point out that you don't necessarily need one or more eyes to run a business)!

 

[Softus]

Yes, Softus, it was a joke though, which is why I didn't list all of those other things as well.

Fair play - my reply to you wasn't entirely without humour though.

(And if bas was still talking to you I'm sure he'd point out that you don't necessarily need one or more eyes to run a business)!

Oh how I shall miss that valuable input.

However, he would be wrong, since I don't believe that a sole trader could operate an electrical business without at least one eye.

 

[joe-90]

Stop talking out your backside Joe. I turned over above 50k in my first year of trading. Turnover is meaningless though, you can turn that over in one job, its the profit that counts.

I meant profit.

 

[Thermo]

However, he would be wrong, since I don't believe that a sole trader could operate an electrical business without at least one eye.

lets not even start the ball rolling on that one, lets keep it as a helpful thread, you never know we all may pick up something useful weve overlooked

I meant profit

Ahhhhh why you not say so in first place then....ivay blurry iriot!