Single mums who are self employed?

[Beautyw]

Hi ladies, are there any single mums on here who are self employed? I just want to ask a few questions....

When you started your business off did you register self employed and come off any benefits you were on or ere you able to stay on certain benefits until your business made so much?

I was self employed before having to give it up to have a baby. The place my salon was in has been took over and she has all my clients as well so basically I'm starting from scratch again but I will only be doing one or two clients a month, if even that but wondered how to go about it because I couldn't live of the odd £20 or whatever a month, I'd still needs the benefits until my business at least made enough for me to live on thanks xx

 

[kirk25]

When I went mobile I went onto working tax credits as you estimate your earnings, I believe you have to do min 16 hrs, don't forget to include travelling time etc x

 

[Nails<3]

You can claim working tax credits and child tax credits if your little one will be in nursery for the hours you are working, but needs to be over 16 hours.

You can also claim housing and council tax Benefits if you are not earning a lot to keep yourself going. You have to update your situation every 3 months though for ctax and housing benefit so they just ask for your accounts or send you a request for info form. I work for a London borough council so if you are on a low income you can claim x x

 

[kirk25]

You will get working tax credits and child tax credits whether or not your little ones are in nursery or childcare, the childcare element is seperate and you could qualify for up to 80% of your childcare costs x

 

[Beautyw]

I don't know how that would work as I might only have a couple of clients at like maybe 2 hours a week etc so I wouldn't do the 16hours until I've a good few regulars. Do I just go and explain this to citizens advice and see what they say?

 

[kirk25]

I believe if you are on income support you can work a few hrs to build up and keep the money, the lone parent advisors at the job centre are fab at finding out your entitlements and getting the best for you x

 

[WendyBelle]

Do not under estimate the time spent on a developing/existing business.

If you are starting out, your marketing and particuarly research into marketing is time consuming. You may enjoy trawling through this site but it is still work related.

Grocery shopping - are you picking up anything work related ie. light bulbs, washing powder etc. - include that as business related time.

These are just a couple of examples

If you were to add up all the time associated with the business not just the clients it would exceed 30 hours per week, and you could get working and child tax credit based on this and you certainly will not be making any business profit just yet.

The job centre I believe have an advisor for single mums. Run it by them and they should advice the best way of going about it so you are not out of pocket.

 

[Beautyw]

Thank you for the info, didn't know to include the paper work as such into the business hours as well, so if I research the Internet 2 hours a day for making new flyers or courses this is included in business hours? Will call into them and see what they can come up with xx

 

[katie-robinson]

Hi there. im in the same boat. i have just registered my self as self employed . im a single mum and i was on income support.

i need to provide proof of earnings to my council for housing benefit and council tax. now obviously i haven't earnt anything yet and probably wont be earning a profit for a good couple months.. so they want an estimate of earnings.. how do i work this out and how do i then lay it out to give to them?
im finding it difficult as obviously i wont know how many clients i will get each month. i hope someone can help me with some advice.

pleeasseee

 

[eternalscot]

Can I just point out this is a benefit question and not every self employed single mother is on benefits. There is another post on this and basically universal credit will come in soon so the pretending you have business when your earning buttons and claiming loads will end, which is a positive thing from the bigger salon owners who pay a ton in tax and cannot compete with the silly prices these government subsided businesses can yet again another thread on this about seriously cheap pricing. I have been told off for bringing politics into salon geek but the reason for all this is politics! They encouraged lots of unsuitable beauty students onto easy vocational courses who in turn work cash in hand, claim benefits and pay very little or anything in tax. It drives down the prices and the profession.

 

[katie-robinson]

I dont feel there is any need to bring your opinion to this thread unless you have guidance to offer to the original person posting the question or anyone else on the thread.

I will think youll find that when you are a single parent and dont have any other financial support, being on benefits is there to help you and for those of us doing it the right way and wanting to start earning our own money this is really the only way to go. Job advisors at the job centre will advise this and I dont see it as a problem as long as you do everything by the book.

Everyone has to start some where and im soo sorry we cannot afford to start a big business and have our own salon YET. If we did we would be doing just that . So yes we may be earnings "buttons" to start with but things often start small. There is no need to bring your politics to the group.

Thank you

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[eternalscot]

I'm not against benefits at all. You should be earning the minimum wage while running a business or get another job that's all I'm saying, not getting tax payers to fund failing businesses which probably declare even less that puts more scrupulous businesses at a disadvantage that's all! Of course everyone has to start somewhere but the government are well aware these people's salaries do not increase year on year, hence why they have closed this loophole!

 

[Noodle]

With respect to the OP, please can we not make this personal with personal opinions, but make it constructive by helping to answer the OP's original questions?

Too many threads are having to be closed these days, so please don't assist in adding this one to the list as well.

Thanks.