SB: Small Business Start Up Discussion

A question about : SB: Small Business Start Up Discussion

Hi all

If this is the wrong forum - please feel free to move it..

I wish to register a new limited company where my wife will be a Director and i'll be the Secretary. (I shall be selling clothes on the web - HOPEFULLY)

Searching on google there's loads of companies out there that would do it for you.

Can anyone recomend a company i can use or should i do it myself?

Basically i wish to

1. Register as a Limited company

2. All Necessary documents completed, sent to the relevant agencies including the HMRC, and copies sent to me

3. Voluntary VAT registration (as my taxable income MAY reach the 60k threshold)

4. Domain name and email

5. A Business Bank Account with 18 months or so free banking

6. 0870/0845 telephone number (optional)

Many thanks in advance folks

Best answers:

• Thanks mate - ALL POINTS NOTED..
  Thanks again
• Hi
  If I can reply on the points I can help with as numbered in your post...
  1-Exchange & Mart actually provides good contacts for this service in the Business section. For around Ј100 you can have your limited company set up with all the necessary formalities in place AS FAR AS THEY REQUIRE. Also, ask yourself if you need to be limited. eg Are you exposed to risky situations regarding credit given or credit requested (my wife's business has survived 10 years now on a CASH WITH ORDER policy with both customers AND suppliers... makes for a great price negotiator if you offer cash up front for supplies instead of 90 days credit) In Scotland, use Mabbott & Co in Mitchell Street Glasgow for a great service costing Ј125.
  2- Learn HMRC yourself as it is good practice to know their rules when in business. You need to register for Tax and NIC whether limited or not.
  3- Voluntary VAT registration makes most sense when you are dealing in a business-to-business environment, but if you are trading with the consumer directly, it is best to wait until you MUST register. This is because your selling prices will include an element of VAT, thus artificially inflating your price in the early days when you need to be more competitive. That is actually why the threshold exists.. to give smaller businesses a chance to get established.
  4- www.cheapnames.co.uk or www.123-reg.co.uk offer a name search and great hosting packages to get you started. You still need hosting after you get your name. Just remember that in 2 years time NOMINET, who run the UK web, will charge you up to Ј100 for renewing your name. Better to find a service who will include this in their hosting charges for a small annual sum of about the same amount. eg www.lyndmar.co.uk
  5- Business bank account- sorry I can't help ( I hate banks) but there are specific posts on this site about the subject.
  6- 0870/0845 number. Be careful here. Other posts I have read appear to be mis-informed, saying that 0870 is like a premium rate. The fact is that 0870 is the exact same rate as Glasgow to Manchester for example, so if your business is local (within about 35 miles) you are effectively charging your customers too much for the call. Any further than 35 miles from you, and the caller pays the SAME. All that happens is that YOU get a rebate from BT. Check out the details for yourself on BT site. The 0845 rate is the local rate (within 35 miles radius) but you effectively offer this to your customers on a UK wide basis. You pay the difference for this type of call so watch the volume of calls. 0800 is the free call from UK land lines where you pay the entire call as well as your own phone bill, so proceed with caution if using this option.
  In my opinion, just get a good phone number and get on with it as most of your business appears to web-based.
  Best of luck with the business. regards. Bob.
• Hi
  The information I gave on 0870 is based on direct information from BT. They will quote you directly if called on 152 and asked about the rates applied to the various numbers. 0870/0871/0845/0844/0900 etc.
  The confusion appears to arise from 0871 numbers which are very similar but the crucial difference I am told is that 0870 is NOT VARIABLE and is charged at the national rate of 7.91p/min while 0871 is VARIABLE and set by the operator of the line at a rate starting at 10p/min upwards.
  The 0844 is similar to 0871 and should be avoided, while the 0845 is a saving for customers who pay less while the business pays the difference between the 0845 local rate and the rate which would have been charged normally for the call.
  I can see that this is causing confusion already and the wording on the saynoto0870 site is not clear to me since it is a direct contradiction of the information supplied by BT. Maybe this is the real problem.
  It is worth finding out properly as it affects a lot of businesses and clarity is definitely missing from the discussion. Anyone from BT or OFCOM wish to clarify?
  The point I would take from all this is "HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY BUSINESS" and it becomes clear that 0870 numbers should be avoided while there is ANY hint of animosity towards them. Any inclusion of 0870 in marketing in this climate would be suicidal business, no matter what is actually right or wrong in the issue.
  Best intentions to all. Regards. Bob.
• Hi
  Just shows the extent of the confusion. You are correct in what you say when quoting the national rate from that BT webpage which shows 7.51p, but on another page on BT it shows national rate to be 6.73p +vat = 7.91p. What are we poor consumers to do when something this simple is made so difficult.
  As background to my info, I had an 0870 number for my business and terminated it earlier this year, but when I took it out last year, the rate for national was identical to what I was charging, so I gladly took the BT rebate since most callers would be calling more than 35 miles anyway. It was the confusion of 0871/0844 and even some of the new 0870 with extra prefix (0870 187 etc) which were making it unworkable.
  Like I said, from a business point of view, it's best just to avoid the issue until it is all sorted out. All it does is get in the way of selling, so no more 0870 for me anyway.
  Keep looking for bargains. Regards. Bob.
• For limited company formation/registration try https://www.uk-plc.net/companyformation/ - Ј34.99.
  Or if you fancy the DIY method it'll cost Ј20 directly from Companies House. With this you'd have to write or acquire your own Memorandum and Articles of Association, however they tend to be very general (meaning your company can trade as almost anything) and there should be documents you can download from the web.
  For cheap domain registration try https://www.123-reg.co.uk/.
• I've done DIY and through a company formation agent - if time and hassle is an issue Waterlow's are one of the most established outfits and don't appear to be too expensive these days:
  https://www.companyservices.waterlow....tid=9&docid=24
• Business banking - search the small biz and charities board - loads of useful info there
  Personally would suggest you look at Abbey - stay within their fairly generous limits and its free for life.
  GoG
• How would someone who has been on "the dole" for a number of years (having been made redundant) get himself out of the cycle of benefits - which he finds a 'comfortable' prison. He is 45 with no major qualifications.
  He has no assets (though, I believe, no debts, either). He lives in a small market town with little decent public transport.
  If he became self-employed (ie jobbing gardening) he would need transport and basic tools.
  Is it likely that he could get financial assistance or business loans without any track record.
  I know he's getting depressed about his situation, sitting in a position of fear of taking the plunge, losing a current level of financial security but also not knowing how to get himself out of his current situation. He has one dependant daughter who is now at college.
• Are you able to tell us which part of the country this person lives in? There are some schemes of support whcih usually vary on a county by county basis and some others designed specifiaclly for the long-term unemployed (12mths+)
• He is in Wiltshire.
• Hi, I have been in a very similar situation only slightly younger, in Glos we have a scheme called GDLF (Gloucestershire Developement Loan Fund) I managed to get funding to start my own business. There are similar loan funds around the country, they are community based and will help you get started if you can't get funding elsewhere eg Bank.
  You get tons of support aswell so they could go through the benefits side with him, it could be that he can get some support for the first month or so.
  Give him my good luck
  Jen
• Thanks so much for that. I'll try and encourage him to follow this route for starters.
  Did you need to supply a business plan?
• Hi
  You could suggest looking at the rules of the benefits in question and see if they allow for part-time work to be performed on condition that any income is deducted from the benfit payment (eg I think this is what happens in Job Seeker allowance) By doing this, there is a gradual buid-up of "work done" to "benefits received" ratio, and eventually the work income will be greater than the benefits and the transfer to work is complete. It doesn't stop there either since each situation is assessed and some other smaller benefits may be payable, such as working families tax credit or some similar top-up of income or rent rebate etc.
  If all else fails, then volunteering for charity work could be an option, helping a good cause and filling the day with meaningful work which also looks good on a CV for future positions. Be careful here as Jobseeker and some other allowances can be affected by not being AVAILABLE for work, even if not actually in paid employment.
  Hope this helps in some small way. Regards. Bob.
• Yes you do have to supply a business plan but they help you every step of the way, I went in with my basic idea, they set up a meeting for me with an advisor and we worked through a business plan. In all it took 3 months from me first wandering in to me getting a cheque.
  You could also go to your local business link they will have tons of advice too.
• We would welcome any advice anyone can help us with. My husband is starting up in business as a self employed independant driving instructor. We have heard there may be grants available for setting up your own business but can't find where. Can I do his books like receipts etc and then give them to an accountant or do we have to use a bookeeper?
  Are there any ADIs on here who could point us in any good directions for companys that do good deals on cars/insurance? Many thanks in anticipation. This is his dream, he's done the job many years ago, but i need as much help as I can get to help him.
• Grants might be available through Business Link, but if you do a search of this board for both 'new business' and 'accountant' you'll get some help there, I think. I know there have been various discussions about the merits of a bookkeeper vs an accountant, including quite a recent one, and mention of how helpful the local tax office can be for newly self-employed people.
  Good luck!
• hi
  I'm thinking of starting my own business so i can gain some independence & do something i enjoy & reap the rewards of my own hard work instead of being "a small cog in a big wheel"
  I have some embryonic ideas but need to formulate a business plan.
  does anyone out there know of any resources that are available to help me get a business plan written.
  thanks, dunc
• Type 'business plan' into Google and get about 17,000,000 results. If you have no knowledge and would prefer to deal on a face to face basis, you'd be better off trying www.businesslink.gov.uk (if you're in England - different arrangements in the other Home Countries).
  There are start-up guides and free CD-roms available from all the major Banks - you don't have to bank with them or you can buy dedicated software.
  HTH
• I've merged some of the more recent threads about business start up into this one, please keep all business start up type discussions in this one thread rather than start a new one.
  Thanks