Starting a business, help!

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LozzieR

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Mar 1, 2017
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Hey there!

so this may be the worst timing ever.... but I am considering setting up my own business.... just me! I’m not in a position to have a room in my home, so I’m considering either going mobile (I would need to buy a car) or hiring a room in a hairdressers. I’m at the start of looking into this..... does anyone have any tips or pointers? Has anyone done both at some stage and have insider knowledge on what could work?

I live in North London, I’m so nervous about the initial outlay with money it’s been holding me back.
Would love opinions/ advice on this!
Thanks xx
 
I applaud you wanting to work for yourself! October will be two years that I have been on my own and I love it! I am renting a room and my clients are so grateful it is just them and me during this time. When I moved I had over a decade of experience and a very loyal clientele. It is very scary but so worth it. I live in the US so I don’t know anything about legalities and taxes in the UK but my advice would be first to protect yourself legally. My first order of business was to get an LLC which separated my business from my personal assets.
You have to believe you can and know that if something doesn’t work out it doesn’t end there. There is always opportunity on the other side of failure.

As for money I personally plan for 40% of income to be take home profit. I have chosen to have a very nice room with a downtown view so of course my overhead is higher. I would say sit down with your numbers and look at total sales. Shop around for chairs and rooms to see what you like and how much it costs. Then you can start to figure your overhead. Things I spend money on are as follows:
rent
color and developer
shampoo and conditioner plus deep conditioning treatments
styling products
gloves
foils
drinks for clients (water bottles etc)
cleaning products
towels
capes
Aside from the color and rent the other expenses are not every week and some are no more than once or twice a year.
I use apps for bookkeeping and scheduling neither of which are very expensive.
I sent a reminder on my phone to order color every Monday and use AnyList to keep my inventory needs in check. I only spend about 1 hour a week with all the extras that keep my business running.

I hope this is helpful and encouraging. It can seem daunting before you start but you can figure out your flow quickly and it’s wonderful.
 
Hi LozzieR and Colorgenius Welcome.

LozzieR you don’t say whether you are a beauty therapist or a hairdresser. You’ve had a very helpful response from Colorgenius as an excellent starting point. The info is relevant for both sides of the Pond and for both Hair and Beauty. For more in depth research I’d suggest that you search and read through the many threads already posted on this subject recently.

You might want to reach out to other newbies planning their first self employment steps. Peer to Peer support is really powerful and posting here helps you clarify your thinking - however it’s not much fun writing out several versions of the same reply so try and hop onto a relevant thread before creating a new post.

My advice would be to think about how you can support yourself for at least 6 months as it is hard to focus if you are in financial straits. If you don’t want to be financially dependent on family or a partner find an additional source of employment and start off any venture part-time.

Also have a look at the returning to work after lock down threads as working mobile has some particular considerations atm which you’ll need to think about.

Good luck
 
Hi, so glad Ive found this post. I'm in the same boat at the minute!

I've been offered a nail desk in a salon in my town centre which I really want to go with but I'm absolutely clueless around the whole HMRC part. The owner is lovely and said she will help in any way she can but I feel like I don't want to let her in on EVERYTHING.

I work full time Mon-Fri so would only be working Saturdays in the salon. The process for joining the salon seems straight forward but where do I start becoming self employed? Is it worth it for 1 day a week?

If any newbies want a buddy, I'm more than happy to do this! I would love some support x
 
Hi danielleigh

To register as self employed you just need to notify HMRC via their website. It's a very straightforward process. HMRC will want you to account for your earnings at the end of the year, for tax reasons and you have to pay a little extra national insurance. Make sure you set aside money every week for this in a little savings account. Your turnover will be too low (on one day a week) to need an accountant, you can just send in the annual totals of your income and business expenditure on your tax return.

You also need to read the the guidelines on what counts as self employment. If it's not clear to customers that you are Independant and separate from the salon - or if the owner dictates too much about how you operate - you'll be classed as a worker rather than self employed and you'll be entitled to minimum wage and paid holiday. If you're a worker your clients belong to the salon and so do all your photos of your work.

The main thing is that you need to imagine that you are in a little booth in an indoor market - you're friendly with your neighbours, maybe you make each other tea and coffee, and maybe you'd do some joint marketing, but you maintain your own records and you wouldn't complain (if you were quiet) that the market operator and neighbouring businesses didn't help you find customers. The market operator would set opening times for the market and would have other rules - some markets say what you can't sell, for instance, no fur, and others have set prices on some things ( like festivals where everyone has the same price for ice cream or basic teas and coffees) but they wouldn't give you a turn key set up where you just arrive in the morning, do the work and then go home again.

I'd say that one day a week would be perfect. Insurance is very cheap and nail products aren't perishable. It's not nearly as expensive as setting up a sideline baking business. You've got all week to find customers and market yourself. If the idea excites you, go for it!
 
Thank you so much! This makes me feel alot better and its alot less scary :D
 

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