Self-employment

maria, dirtydog has been self employed since 2008. He has a fair amount of work. He will not make a million any time soon but loves working for himself, he is not a good employee. I do his books (no accountancy training), just bought a small business book from whsmith. keep all receipts. Note everything we spend. He managed to get a business account with LLoyds last year, no credit but an account to pay money into keeping personal account separate. We do tax return on line (really easy). He got business cards printed last month. Has an advert with yell.com. got magnetic signs for the van until we can afford to get it sign written. I dont know if you being self employed will affect your part time job. Maybe see if there are any small business advisors in your area, check with council maybe. all the best

I've been self employed since 1993 when I left school.

It's got its benefits such as claiming fuel etc againts your tax bill, but its a pain in the ass long term.
Mortgages can be "interesting" and if you decide its not for you after a longish term of working for yourself, some potential employers and recruiters will treat you like a leper!

I've done quite well at keeping in work and the freedom of working for yourself sounds great.
But It can become a ballache.
Your never away from work and even things like holidays have to be planned around workload and potential losses.

Originally Posted by speedplay

I've been self employed since 1993 when I left school.

It's got its benefits such as claiming fuel etc againts your tax bill, but its a pain in the ass long term.
Mortgages can be "interesting" and if you decide its not for you after a longish term of working for yourself, some potential employers and recruiters will treat you like a leper!

I've done quite well at keeping in work and the freedom of working for yourself sounds great.
But It can become a ballache.
Your never away from work and even things like holidays have to be planned around workload and potential losses.

defo a key one on the mortgage/tax side.

Its all good offsetting as much as poss against tax when self emp, as the bill at the end of the year is lower. But at the same time your new income will be less at the end of the year as well. Therefore when you apply for mortgage for example the amount you can borrow will not be as much. even through in real terms it is affordable.

so if you are wanting to buy/move house, you will be forward planning potentially for 1/2 years in advance! so not always a benefit to offset against tax in the long run.

Pros and cons to many to mention---I ran my business for 40 years before handing over to my son.The two things I will say are 1]Get a good accountant as they can save you a fortune,or at the very least good accounting advice. 2]The younger you are when you take out your private pension the better.
It can be very very hard work but if it is something you enjoy doing it is worthwhile.

From my point of view working for a big company is it's good protection in sickness, pension and paperwork side etc . . . but when i changed areas one guy is working as a contractor and has his own business which he does work on weekends and evenings as an electrician. He works 12 hour days but earns 10-15k a year more than anyone else in the department, has more tools.

If you don't want the protection then it seems a good bet.

Originally Posted by kitkat

maria, dirtydog has been self employed since 2008. He has a fair amount of work. He will not make a million any time soon but loves working for himself, he is not a good employee. I do his books (no accountancy training), just bought a small business book from whsmith. keep all receipts. Note everything we spend. He managed to get a business account with LLoyds last year, no credit but an account to pay money into keeping personal account separate. We do tax return on line (really easy). He got business cards printed last month. Has an advert with yell.com. got magnetic signs for the van until we can afford to get it sign written. I dont know if you being self employed will affect your part time job. Maybe see if there are any small business advisors in your area, check with council maybe. all the best

Thanks KK I have most of what you've mentioned already planned out, I'm considering doing my own books as I'm organised enough to do that and they're going to be pretty simple anyway. Got ideas with advertising too, some already up and running.

Originally Posted by speedplay

if you decide its not for you after a longish term of working for yourself, some potential employers and recruiters will treat you like a leper!
.

Is this because being self employed long term gives the impression you wouldn't be good in a large company environment? Or don't like being "under" someone? I would have thought if anything going SE shows initiative, discipline, organisation and motivation? I can't say how long I would plan to remain SE as I had completely different ideas for my career come 2 years ago. At this moment in time my art appears to taking the upper hand and leading me forward as opposed to my Zoology stuff, although I plan to keep that going as a a sideline.

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

From my point of view working for a big company is it's good protection in sickness, pension and paperwork side etc
If you don't want the protection then it seems a good bet.

It's not that I don't want to work for a big company as such, more that competition for jobs is so high in my sector of work (from a conservation/zoological background) that I feel I want more voluntary experience to give me a better idea of what's out there and the possibilities. I am lucky I have the choice to go either way, art or conservation.

If you have been self employed, they tend to think that you don't like working for anyone and are set in "freelance" ways.
Stupid view really.

Another thing to point out as well. When I was working self employed I had an accident and broke my pelvis. I contacted my bank and told them I was out of work due to injury and so the insurance I had on my loan and credit card should take over the payments whilst I am unable to work.

Although I could prove I was unable to work by way of my medical records, I was unable to prove a consistent income and as such they told me the insurance did not cover me. I was basically shafted because of being self employed and not working with a consistent and regular income.

If you are going to go self employed you may want to consider taking out special sickness/illness insurance. There are several different types out there with variable costs to protect self employed people.

cheers everyone, really useful advice, the org never fails

Originally Posted by Stig

Another thing to point out as well. When I was working self employed I had an accident and broke my pelvis. I contacted my bank and told them I was out of work due to injury and so the insurance I had on my loan and credit card should take over the payments whilst I am unable to work.

Although I could prove I was unable to work by way of my medical records, I was unable to prove a consistent income and as such they told me the insurance did not cover me. I was basically shafted because of being self employed and not working with a consistent and regular income.

If you are going to go self employed you may want to consider taking out special sickness/illness insurance. There are several different types out there with variable costs to protect self employed people.

And try signing on if your self employed and out of work too...