new mobile biz, need help please

[lisa-marie]

hi fellow geeks
right where to start....... i'm going to start up mobile soon just doing manicures/pedicures and ear piercing until i qualify in other treatments.

i've done up a business plan and started designing my own stationary.
i've got insurance and i'm sending off to my local council for a licence to do ear piercing.
i will register with revenue and customs when i start getting paying customers.
but have i forgotten anything else?
do i need an accountant? i've bought a salon accounts book to keep track of payments weekly and what i'm paying out, but i've no idea how to fill in a tax return as i've always been employed, is it easy?

i know i should probably do a business course but i can't find a suitable one (or one that i can afford!) so i'm going to take the leap and start slowly to help pay for kits and fund further training.

sorry for all the questions
its a bit scary doing this on my own!
thanks in advance
x x x

 

[Bev Rose]

Hi Hun,

Well, good luck about your business.

If you contact Inland Revenue they do courses about you tax & they are helpful (I have not done one, but so I hear)
Your tax return will only be a very short one.
I had an accountant to begin with, paid them a fortune and ended up doing it myself.

Keep a record of everything you spend in relation to your business -
from your equipment and uniform down to parking charges (not speeding fines though!:irked

I even claim my pc costs & broadband as It's my main source for lots of things & then I use it for printing etc.

If you sit down at the end of the working day/week and write down everything you've sold & bought - keep receipts (incomings & outgoings)
Also, if you pay yourself a wage etc.

I have a big red book with lots of colums in to represent in/out - adverts/stock/parking & car costs/insurance/equipment/training etc etc.

It all sounds scary, but once you start it, it quite simple. It's not as if you are a salon with passing trade & retailing loads of different things and have employees etc.

Good luck.

 

[Susie H]

The self assessment pack comes with its how to notes
You can actually find it all on line to have a look at, however I seem to recall Sassy Hassy saying that she had done a course and I think it was one of the free ones, chamber of commerce might run them or federation of small business, but my experience of our tax office is if you go in and ask to speak to one of the tax advisor's they will be very happy to go through everything with you and point you in the right direction for training.
In the short term,
2 pages facing each other Across the top write start up costs.
Left page list everything you have spent, training, products etc even fuel to go to your training classes, clothes for the job everything!! all the receipts should be stapled to this page and as you get them you should write on the back what they were for.
Right page
everything you have earned as a student.
If nothing write no earnings
Then your next pages are daily, or weekly, or monthly laid out the same way, left page cost right page earnings
If you don't put it in, you cant claim for it. Because what you are doing is taking your costs away from your earings and the total is your pre tax profit or loss. Because of your start up costs, training etc you should have a - figure
The tax man expects you to have a - figure for the first year possibly the first 2, year 3 you should break even and if you show a modest profit your will be doing well.
End of my first year I actually came up with a -£34.50 and I'm a training junkie who has to buy stuff
This is a good industry to get into but you must be organised and professional and you sound both, good luck hun and I hope this has helped.

 

[lisa-marie]

Hi Hun,

Well, good luck about your business.
Thank you
If you contact Inland Revenue they do courses about you tax & they are helpful (I have not done one, but so I hear)
Your tax return will only be a very short one.
I had an accountant to begin with, paid them a fortune and ended up doing it myself.Thats what i was thinking, i don't want to spend money if i don't have too as i'll only be doing a few hours a week to start

Keep a record of everything you spend in relation to your business -
from your equipment and uniform down to parking charges (not speeding fines though!:irked

I even claim my pc costs & broadband as It's my main source for lots of things & then I use it for printing etc.Thats good to know, my printers going to cost me a fortune.

If you sit down at the end of the working day/week and write down everything you've sold & bought - keep receipts (incomings & outgoings)
Also, if you pay yourself a wage etc.

I have a big red book with lots of colums in to represent in/out - adverts/stock/parking & car costs/insurance/equipment/training etc etc.

It all sounds scary, but once you start it, it quite simple. It's not as if you are a salon with passing trade & retailing loads of different things and have employees etc.

Good luck.

Thank you, you've help put my mind at ease a bit. x x x

 

[hippy-chick]

when you register self employed ask for the business advisor to visit you. I got 2 turn up and they gave me all the paperwork I needed, and advise you on how to keep your accounts.

Buy a pile of cheapo envelopes, write a month on each of them and when you get receipts pop them into the relevant envelope.

You also have to register for national insurance.

When I was due to put my tax return in, I made another appointment and went into the tax office and they talked me through the form and pointed at the relevant boxes and told me what to write in them.

you will probably get a rebate the first year as you have a lot of expenditure.

 

[lisa-marie]

The self assessment pack comes with its how to notes
You can actually find it all on line to have a look at, however I seem to recall Sassy Hassy saying that she had done a course and I think it was one of the free ones, chamber of commerce might run them or federation of small business, but my experience of our tax office is if you go in and ask to speak to one of the tax advisor's they will be very happy to go through everything with you and point you in the right direction for training.
In the short term,
2 pages facing each other Across the top write start up costs.
Left page list everything you have spent, training, products etc even fuel to go to your training classes, clothes for the job everything!! all the receipts should be stapled to this page and as you get them you should write on the back what they were for.
Right page
everything you have earned as a student.
If nothing write no earnings
Then your next pages are daily, or weekly, or monthly laid out the same way, left page cost right page earnings
If you don't put it in, you cant claim for it. Because what you are doing is taking your costs away from your earings and the total is your pre tax profit or loss. Because of your start up costs, training etc you should have a - figure
The tax man expects you to have a - figure for the first year possibly the first 2, year 3 you should break even and if you show a modest profit your will be doing well.
End of my first year I actually came up with a -£34.50 and I'm a training junkie who has to buy stuff
This is a good industry to get into but you must be organised and professional and you sound both, good luck hun and I hope this has helped.

thank you i'm going to print your advice and put it in my book to help me.
I'm so glad i've got this site, i'd be going loopy without all your advice x

 

[lisa-marie]

when you register self employed ask for the business advisor to visit you. I got 2 turn up and they gave me all the paperwork I needed, and advise you on how to keep your accounts.

Buy a pile of cheapo envelopes, write a month on each of them and when you get receipts pop them into the relevant envelope.

You also have to register for national insurance.

When I was due to put my tax return in, I made another appointment and went into the tax office and they talked me through the form and pointed at the relevant boxes and told me what to write in them.

you will probably get a rebate the first year as you have a lot of expenditure.

thanks for your advice, i'll keep that in mind x

 

[Missy G]

Ive just attended a self employed work shop this week, its free of charge and you can book it through the Inland Rev.They will go through what you have to do and what you can claim for.Theres then a follow up course on how to do your self assestment on line,so you dont have to bother with an accountant.xx

 

[lisa-marie]

Ive just attended a self employed work shop this week, its free of charge and you can book it through the Inland Rev.They will go through what you have to do and what you can claim for.Theres then a follow up course on how to do your self assestment on line,so you dont have to bother with an accountant.xx

thank you thats good to know, i was worried about spending a fortune on accountants x