75ZT Community

Been thinking about this for too long...absolutely no sensible jobs in my vicinity but plenty of retired folks that might just need a handyman to sort out any number of household maintenance tasks...but having never been down the route of self employment before it is probably best if I find out about the pros and cons of it all! I am not expecting to make particularly large amounts of money but enough to run the cars would be nice! Any advice gratefully received!

Can't offer much really as I ran a Ltd. Company but the priciples are the same, I guess.
Need self-discipline and keep the books well organised.
Don't under price yourself, the rest is common sense really.

I'm self employed would not go back to F/T again........Ok the down side's uncertainty of income....but that's down to you to find the work, do a bit of local asking around see what kind of strength is in the market, remember there will be some yes's that never turn into jobs, however word of mouth will be your biggest salesman.
Doing your own taxes etc....all on line and quite easy to do.

Pro's..........The harder you work the more you earn ...........or in my case the opposite but that's just me ...
there are a lot of things you can claim for overalls tools petrol vans etc etc..........................oh and of course .....PM you with that one

Never looked back....down or sideways.........There are loads of things for have a chat with you soon

Bernard wrote:Can't offer much really as I ran a Ltd. Company but the priciples are the same, I guess.
Need self-discipline and keep the books well organised.
Don't under price yourself, the rest is common sense really.

Well said if you start off too cheap the word gets round and lo your stuck but on the other hand don't price your self out of the jobs a little bit of M.Reasurch will see you ok.

I packed in my full time job 20 years ago this coming April and apart from a period of 3 months as unemployed have been self employed ever since.
As Bernard said above, self-discipline is vital - it's too easy to get sidetracked and to end up playing when you should really be working.
My other advice? Do it the right way from the start - advise HMRC what you intend to do and pay your Class 2 NI each month. Keep all your receipts and claim for anything that you legitamitely can. Save for your tax bill which will fall due at the end of each Jan and the end of each July - dealing with lots of other self-employed people, it never ceases to amaze me how many don't do this and then find themselves with a big problem when the tax is due.
Advertise your services by leaflet drop or in the free door to door advertising sheets (I would say that of course as producing those is what we do ) . The local Church Parish magazine is also a good bet for the kind of work you're looking for as this is invariably very cheap and most issues go direct to your target market - the older church-going generation!

Good luck !

Having been self employed for the greater part of 40 years my best advice is this.
Keep an accurate account of income against expenditure in a simple spread sheet. Difference between bottom lines is your taxable income. Can't recall what the current allowance is before tax as I have been out of the loop for a couple of years.
Taxable allowances are:-
Advertising 100%
One room of your home as office space, % of total rooms , ring the tax office they will very helpful to work this out. Similar % of electricity, heating and phone/internet unless you have a dedicated line in which case 100%
Vehicle costs, keep accurate accounts regarding mileage, repairs, RFL and Insurance. (Beware cost for commercial use, Swiftcover for example include business use on their policies at no extra cost, at least they did when I was insured through them) although in my case I agreed with tax man a figure of 75% as it was as near as damn-it and saved me the job of differentiating between personal use and business use.
Commercial vehicle claim 100% of all costs. Plus initial cost as capital expenditure From memory 100% in the first year, the percentage decreasing over the following 3 years (Double check with tax office, I'm a bit rusty on this stuff)
Small tools 100%, no need to put in as capital expenditure just add to expenditure.

I have never employed an accountant as when it comes down to it, it is mostly common sense and an occasional call to tax office to verify queries. You do not have to supply accounts for tax purposes, just the bottom line figures. Although they may want to see your books at some point to verify there are no discrepancies, this is by no means a regular occurrence it is by picking your name out of a hat. This has happened to me only once in all the time I have been in business and resulted in no amendments to my taxable income. (Keeping accurate records which tally with your bank statement.)

No need for a business bank account, you can simply open another personal one at zero cost and use that solely for your business.

National insurance stamps, up to you whether you pay maximum. You will have to pay the minimum and that will be set up as direct debit, between £8.00 and £12.00 per month.

I must have missed something from the above but others will fill you in.

I read above, "don't under sell yourself" I whole heartedly agree, if you don't charge enough people will not take you seriously, decide on you hourly rate from what professional companies in your chosen field are charging and work from that.

Remember to add 20% "buggeration factor" into any quotes you send out, coz they always pop up if you don't.. heh heh..

Oh and stick yer phone number on the vehicle you use, peeps will see it parked up and hopefully give you a ring..

The above worked fine for me... Erm.. Don't come to me for paying tax advice...

Oh and don't take cash coz it's sooo hard to prove you got it to the tax man innit..

Most of all, enjoy what you are doing.. Life's too short to waste any of it worrying and being unhappy innit..
...

Thank you folks for the thought, time and effort you have put into your answers...all extremely useful and informative! I have been taking notes. Much appreciated!

Zeb wrote:Thank you folks for the thought, time and effort you have put into your answers...all extremely useful and informative! I have been taking notes. Much appreciated!

If you need a copy of my spreadsheet, let me know and I'll email you a template.

How about public liability insurance ?

Mick wrote:

Zeb wrote:Thank you folks for the thought, time and effort you have put into your answers...all extremely useful and informative! I have been taking notes. Much appreciated!

If you need a copy of my spreadsheet, let me know and I'll email you a template.

Yes please! Think that would make life much easier!

kandyman wrote:How about public liability insurance ?

I was wondering about that....

Public liability is a essential if working in or at peoples property in my opinion.
Most Insurance brokers can sort out the cover you require reasonably.
Most has been said but always set the times you are going to work and stick to them each day otherwise you end up doing things at home or otherwise and slowly loose out on work commitments.
Always have circuit breakers on any equipment extension leads etc you are using.

Zeb wrote:

Mick wrote:

Zeb wrote:Thank you folks for the thought, time and effort you have put into your answers...all extremely useful and informative! I have been taking notes. Much appreciated!

If you need a copy of my spreadsheet, let me know and I'll email you a template.

Yes please! Think that would make life much easier!

You've got mail.

Most important of all, never say no to money. If a client offers an interim payment or payment in advance, take it.

Zeb? Say no to money??????

Have a think about how far your willing to travel in your price and have a price per mile for anything outside that.

Tourerfogey wrote: Save for your tax bill which will fall due at the end of each Jan and the end of each July - dealing with lots of other self-employed people, it never ceases to amaze me how many don't do this and then find themselves with a big problem when the tax is due.

The rest is all true but this is probably the most important

Got a friend who is 64 now and been self-employed for most of his life.

He has avoided paying NI so will not get a a State Pension.

His investments for his private pension have nose dived

For the past two years he has been taking work from a company and that has now ceased - so as self employed no job seekers payment.

Due to his pension status he cannot see ever not having to work - if he can find it.

Best of luck to you - I have always been employed but there seems to be some good advice, especially about tax, my BIL who was self employed for a large number of years was always trying to find money to pay the bill.

If you are doing maintenance work for old people be very careful to be scrupulously fair - there are a lot of rip off merchants and you want to avoid any chance of getting that label, so if you are fair your name should be spread about.

Paul

Paul your friend is entitled to pension credit even having not paid any stamps. Currently that is set at £137.35 per week which is the minimum amount the government says you need to live on. If he has a private pension they will top it up to that amount, providing he has less than £10000.00 in savings, that amount is reduced by £1.00 for every £500.00 over 10K. This is currently available from the age of 60 years
He is also entitled to JSA at £65.45 per week if not claiming pension credit. Not means tested.
He is also entitled to Winter fuel allowance which is not means tested, he is not entitled to cold weather payments they are dependant on having paid enough stamps.

If you need more information, who to speak to etc. PM me.