How much to start self employed?

[Sunshine191]

Hi ladies,

Could you tell me roughly, how much do you think i’d need to spend on all the stock + drill to go self employed? How many colours would you say it’s best to get to start with? I use Nsi for acrylics and different brand gel polish like magpie, nsi, bluesky & Semilac. I have been employed for 2 years now doing nails but going self employed soon so wondering if i should go crazy with all the colours etc? It’s a busy salon I work in so i’m sure i’d have to spend loads.

How are you also keeping all the records for the taxman? I’ve never been self employed and it’s all very new for me.

Any info would be very appriciated.

Thank you

 

[AcidPerm]

Just a thought but is it your choice to go self employed or has your employer told you you must swap to being self employed?

Start up costs are entirely dependent on the choices you make but I’d advise against buying too many colours initially.
Firstly because it gives the client too many options and you could be stuck with some of the stock going off, if only partially used.

 

[naomiiamy]

With records for the taxman I keep it nice and simple (as well as my own I have to do my partner who's a self employed carpenter)

I have an A4 notebook, starting at the front I have expenses, at the back I have incomings. I just write the date, what the money was for and how much e.g. 21/07/18 - 3 x new polishes - £xx or 21/07/18 - 1 x gel manicure - £xx

Then all receipts I keep in a folder, which keeps them all in order in case the taxman were to ask for them.

For my partner I do a similar thing but his is done on the laptop (mine will be too when I go full time) - so his is on a spreadsheet but exactly the same layout - this makes it a lot easier to search for any tools he may have bought so I can see where in the pile the receipt would be for a return etc.

Self assessment is really easy nowadays, it's just a case of putting total income, any taxes paid, and total expenses into the boxes online and they do the rest. In 6 years they've never asked for any of the paperwork, but you should hang onto it all anyway as they can request this for (I think) up to 6 years after the financial year ends.

There are more professional ways of keeping records, but just do what works for you and you feel comfortable with. You can always change this once you've got more experience.

 

[Sunshine191]

Just a thought but is it your choice to go self employed or has your employer told you you must swap to being self employed?

Start up costs are entirely dependent on the choices you make but I’d advise against buying too many colours initially.
Firstly because it gives the client too many options and you could be stuck with some of the stock going off, if only partially used.

My choice

 

[Sunshine191]

With records for the taxman I keep it nice and simple (as well as my own I have to do my partner who's a self employed carpenter)

I have an A4 notebook, starting at the front I have expenses, at the back I have incomings. I just write the date, what the money was for and how much e.g. 21/07/18 - 3 x new polishes - £xx or 21/07/18 - 1 x gel manicure - £xx

Then all receipts I keep in a folder, which keeps them all in order in case the taxman were to ask for them.

For my partner I do a similar thing but his is done on the laptop (mine will be too when I go full time) - so his is on a spreadsheet but exactly the same layout - this makes it a lot easier to search for any tools he may have bought so I can see where in the pile the receipt would be for a return etc.

Self assessment is really easy nowadays, it's just a case of putting total income, any taxes paid, and total expenses into the boxes online and they do the rest. In 6 years they've never asked for any of the paperwork, but you should hang onto it all anyway as they can request this for (I think) up to 6 years after the financial year ends.

There are more professional ways of keeping records, but just do what works for you and you feel comfortable with. You can always change this once you've got more experience.

Thanks so much. Makes a little bit more sense now. X