thinking of goung self employed

[bobby101]

hi all i ve recentlybeen made redundant boo, but i cant let it get me down ive got a morgage 2 kids and a yeah you get the picture anyways been sending out my cv to no avail no resposes or the one that i do get the usual reply good luck. any ways i have some contacts and a good selection of tools and eqiuipment some test equipment i could hire when requierd a spare car so im pretty much there but heres the thing do i take the plunge my wife keepps banging on about security for money oh how i laugh at her ... heres my question what do i need to become self employed please spell it out for me i just dont want to miss anything out many thanks .....

 

[Spazz]

Just call HMRC and tell them your going S/E - easy

Dont forget your insurance!
All notifiable jobs need to be notified
Change your car insurance to for-business use

It will be hard to start up - I been going for 6 months and spend most days on this forum because of lack of work coming in.

Sign on (if ur misses working under 24hrs per week) - Housing Benefit might pay some of your mortgage - its money at the end of the day - just declare what you work


Sorry to say - GOOD LUCK

Also try posting something in the jobs section of this forum - someone might take you up

 

[Octopus]

One tip for you, call your mortgage company, arrange a meeting with them and request to be put on interest only payments for 12 months. Mortgage companies are more flexible these days and the last thing they want is you in arrears, and them taking legal action.

Plus you'll save a lot each month too.

Do a business "budget" and take it to the meeting too and they'll see you understand what and where your costs will be.

Good luck

 

[StuSpiers]

Van + insurance
Tools + (optional insurance)
You wont need Part-p but it may be an idea to join select
Liability insurance
Test Equipment
Sign writing
Website
Website optimisation
Advertising


all in all probably about 5 - 10 K

In my 17 years in the trade this is the quietest it has ever been people simply are not spending money.

Sounds negative but it is the brutal truth at the moment.

Honestly if you don't have 20K savings behind you think long and hard before you start spending cash and time on this.

 

[bobby101]

ok so made a website didnt realise there was so much involved with it please give me your feedback its located at
Electrical Testing

 

[Spazz]

ok so made a website didnt realise there was so much involved with it please give me your feedback its located at
Electrical Testing

Few comments
1. all the pictures - not a good ideas because it slows loading and they are clearly not you - about 10 different people in total - that comes under copyright
2. The Titles under each page need to be made bold to stand out more
3. Get yourself a branded email address
4. Capital Letters at the start of a sentence
5.

All Electrical work and testing will be carried out in accordance to the 17th edition of the IEE wiring regulations 1st amendment. could be reworded so its shorter
6. ​

The Health & Safety Executive states that 25% of all reportable electrical accidents involve portable appliances - needs checking -Im sure this is higher
7. HTML code could be cleaned up alittle - but if you cant program HTML - DONT!

Apart from the above it looks really good​

 

[StuSpiers]

Website is nice.

Get yourself a .com or .co.uk address you cannot optimise free web addresses (what the point of a web page if no one can find it)

Good start though

 

[Octopus]

ok so made a website didnt realise there was so much involved with it please give me your feedback its located at
Electrical Testing

Can't see an address for you. Personally won't touch anyone who didn't have an address on their website.

 

[Arnold Layne]

Bobby, just a couple of further points to add. Your website carries a company name. The legal requirements for the content of company websites are quite clearly defined, and one of those requirements relates to Murdoch's point. You need to put the company's registered address on the site. A small second point is that Enquiries is ies not ys. ​Good Luck!

 

[Dcf]

What I say to lads who are thinking of taking the plunge is... You work all weekend on a homer also work late every night to about 9pm it equates to about 24hours what u gonna do for the rest of the week?even sole traders have overheads you will b very surprised at how much it costs to run a small business.contacts are good sound them out first before taking the plunge.get your business cards out and about they still get used.see if u can get some subbie work from a mate to tide you over maybe.dont bother with select /niceic unless you plan to do loads of building warrant work which there is a shortage of just now btw,scheme membership is an expense u don't need at the moment.best of luck

 

[bawall]

I have recently set up on my own after becoming unemployed
What can I tell you it’s hard out there but marketing is allabout repetition and reputation!
Sort out your public liability insurance and professional indemnity
Get your motor insured for full business use
Sign on if your wife works less than 24 hours but she willhave to sign on too so may not be worth it talk to the people at the job centrethey can’t advise you but will indicate if it is worth you signing, if yourwife works over 24 hours she will be expected to keep you but may be worth yourwhile if you have insurance on your mortgage as you need to sign on to clame
Register as self employed you can sign on and they take anymoney you have earned off your benefit so you can slowly build up your work
Defiantly talk to your mortgage co and your bank and anyloan / credit cards most will drop the interest or freeze your account for atime but keep at least one credit card active in case of emergency
Talk to your local authority building officer about notifyingpart P works until you get enough work to make joining a competent person scheme(I can notify works for £60 +vat so need to do about 8 jobs a year to make itworthwhile)
Register a proper .co.uk website and email and link yourwebsite to yell, Thompson facebook, twitter, google maps and as many freedirectorys as you can and link your free directory pages to your website andlink and cross link as much as you can the google bots use the links and cross linksand that way you will get listed higher on a google search
Word of mouth is the best but get some business cards doneleave them wherever you can pub, tyre fitters, wife’s hairdressers anywherethey will let you and when you
Keep an eye on here for any work in your area and draft anintroduction letter stating your quals and experience and that you have yourown plant and test equip add a section about vocational quals CSCS IPAF PASMAetc and that you hold insurance send it to as many local company and agencys asyou can ideal situation to get in is a few day subbying and a couple to chase your own work
Just chip away and although it will seem impossible andthere will be dark and worrying times keep strong and keep the wife informedwhat is going on good and bad the situation will put your relationship underenough stress don’t add to it by not wanting to worry her.
Good luck we all need it

 

[bawall]

Forgot to mention when your number gets out you will getmarketing calls saying they can put you on google or exclusively in a localmagazine SAY NO most of the things they offer you can do in those days you aresitting at home chasing jobs and for free