View Full Version : Setting up a business...
A couple of friends and me are looking to leave the slave-driving world behind and try our hand at starting up our own business - we may even have our first client before we've even started anything.
I was wondering if there are people here who have started their own businesses, and whether they can offer their advice into the potential pitfalls etc.
At the moment, it's all pretty sketchy. The basics are:
We will be generally providing a service rather than a product as such, although website creation maybe part of the deal. Written reports may also be a tangible 'product'
There are three of us - all will remain in full time employment for the forseeable future (until the money comes rolling in...;))
At the moment that is about it, although we have a name. We haven't registered the company, have no accounts, etc etc.
Am I right in thinking that we don't need to register until we reach a certain size?
Am I right in thinking that a three-way partnership is the way forward?
My dads accountant told me not to register unless you have to, or have a trademark etc to secure with registration.
Get a business bank account between the 3 of you, but remember that you have to pay for a Business Account. I'd also make one of you chief financial dude too.
If you want a chat about hosting for a website, you know who to ask :D
Who? ...and do we get a special rate? ;):)
(there potentially could be many, many websites if the idea kicks off....) :)
swisshenchoz
11-10-06, 01:47 PM
I was wondering if there are people here who have started their own businesses, and whether they can offer their advice into the potential pitfalls etc.
Get a good accountant, lawyer and bank manager, all of whom don't know each other.
Isn't it a little early for that?
swisshenchoz
11-10-06, 01:51 PM
Isn't it a little early for that?
Not if you're dead serious.
We are serious - but we want to keep expenditure down to a minimum in the short term, to see if the ideas and stuff work...
swisshenchoz
11-10-06, 01:58 PM
You only pay them if they do anything....
Dalglish
11-10-06, 02:00 PM
Get a good accountant, lawyer and bank manager, all of whom don't know each other.
That's the best advice. A business I used to be involved in lost a lot of money due to incompetent "Professionals"
Mumsafan
11-10-06, 02:01 PM
We are serious - but we want to keep expenditure down to a minimum in the short term, to see if the ideas and stuff work...
You will need a bookkeeper or accountant from the word go. If you're not planning on being Limited then a bookkeeper will do as good a job as an accountant but at a fraction of the price.
Get a good book keeping or accounts package, that will save you money when you accountant does the books.
A business plan is essential as it will be a useful guide to progress.
spud_gun
11-10-06, 11:30 PM
There are various government agencies that run @Start your own business' type workshops.
Me and a few chaps i went to Uni with seriously considered starting our own company a few years back. We enrolled on one of these courses and it provided us with a wealth of information.
Course was free of charge and lasted about a week.
Get in touch with your local development agency / council and see if they offer anything similar.
Snigger
11-10-06, 11:36 PM
It depends what you are doing - If you are serious you put heart, soul and body into getting it up and running - that usually means binning the day job, but it's hard to really comment on anything without knowing what your trying to do.
The Wolfman
11-10-06, 11:41 PM
It depends what you are doing - If you are serious you put heart, soul and body into getting it up and running - that usually means binning the day job, but it's hard to really comment on anything without knowing what your trying to do.
The slave trade ended years ago mate..
A couple of friends and me are looking to leave the slave-driving world behind and try our hand at starting up our own business - we may even have our first client before we've even started anything.
I was wondering if there are people here who have started their own businesses, and whether they can offer their advice into the potential pitfalls etc.
At the moment, it's all pretty sketchy. The basics are:
We will be generally providing a service rather than a product as such, although website creation maybe part of the deal. Written reports may also be a tangible 'product'
There are three of us - all will remain in full time employment for the forseeable future (until the money comes rolling in...;))
At the moment that is about it, although we have a name. We haven't registered the company, have no accounts, etc etc.
Am I right in thinking that we don't need to register until we reach a certain size?
Am I right in thinking that a three-way partnership is the way forward?
I think you may have to register to make sure that the name you choose is not currently in use by another Business/company.
As regards to the partnership, you have to make sure these people are trustworthy and motivated to get the best out of your Business.
andyinswinton
12-10-06, 12:15 AM
Get a good accountant
Well that rules me out!
It would be sensible to speak to an accountant about the perils and pitfalls of setting up a business.
You can either run the business as a partnership or as a limited company. There are no hard and fast rules but in my experience, one will fit better than another after looking at what you all want from it. There are tax benefits either way and really that should be a prime concern as after all, you want to minimise your tax liabilities.
You would have to register with the Inland Revenue as soon as you start trading and you would register with Companies House if you incorporated a company. You have to regsiter for VAT once you reach a certain size. Off the top of my head it is around £60,000 per annum of sales.
If you have a name in mind, you can do an online check with companies house by clicking here.http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/
There are no requirements to have an accountant but you would need somebody to prepare accounts, complete any tax returns and deal with any statutory correspondence so if there is somebody you know who could do this, it would reduce your costs.
I don't know where you are located but I am in Manchester (not exactly proud of that!) but I know there are organisations you can go to in Manchester who will provide free advice to new businesses and can offer grants to new businesses in regeneration areas. This is worth looking into as it is a source of free money for start up capital.
Its also worth looking around at banks for any deals for new businesses. I think there is a bank who aren't charging new businesses for a year although I can't be sure of that.
If you want any further help, you can always message me and let you know some facts and figures of start up costs and any ways of reducing them!
Andy
Thanks all! I will try and elaborate a bit more what we have in mind! (When I have some time!!)
The company would potentially be 'based' in/around Manchester, but this warm lead we have is based in London! :)
Mumsafan
12-10-06, 09:09 AM
I think you may have to register to make sure that the name you choose is not currently in use by another Business/company.
As regards to the partnership, you have to make sure these people are trustworthy and motivated to get the best out of your Business.
That only applies if you're Limited. You can register at the tax office though, if the name is the same as someone elses you can cover it by being XXXXXXX t/a XXXXXXXXXXXX
be very very careful when going into business with friends
can go sour quickly so make sure everything is watertight in legal terms
with all aspects of how the business could pan out incl. ppl leaving.
secondly .keep your jobs
thirdly be prepared to put in a lot of hard graft
goo dluck,working for yourself is great when it works out but can be heartbreaking when it doesnt
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