Made Redundant....become self employed ?

[tony coleman]

Recently made redundant so I now fancy a career change and work for myself.
I have been doing painting and decorating mainly at weekends and during some holidays for friends, their friends, family and word of mouth for over 20 years. It usually averages about 10 jobs a year. Have done whole house jobs to small box rooms be it painting, wallpapering or tiling. Brings in some pocket money .
Never had a complaint and I am forever being told I should do it for a living.
Now after 30 years at the same place my jobs been made redundant.

Any one else been in this position ? And any advice on the best way to start afresh and become self employed whould be appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

Dead easy....register at HMRC.....Look at the guidance for allowable expenses....keep receipts /invoices etc and away you go. Tax return in year one will take into account set up costs equipment etc

How you market yourself is a different matter....

Going self employed was the best thing i ever did

 

[PistonBlue]

As with anything there are ups and downs, for me the ups far outweigh the downs. I don't think I could work for a company again.

 

[johnny on the spot]

I did exactly this, following a couple of years' retraining in a new trade. Four years later, we've got a tidy little co-op of four going.

Be prepared for a bit of stress, lean times and remember that when you're self employed, you get paid last of all. I wouldn't have it any other way though.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

You need to factor in what you don’t get i.e. paid holidays, paid sickness time, a pension, etc etc. You need to be charging enough to cover all your costs and be putting money aside for tax and for rainy day cover. You need to work it all out on a spreadsheet (or bit of paper and a pen!). I’d want a nice van to start with, VW T5 as a minimum.

 

[Southbanken]

In terms of marketing, taking photos of the work you have done and setting them up on a simple website is the easiest way to give yourself some "credentials" and go back to all the mates and people you have done work for over the last 10 years and check if they or anyone else need anything doing and ask them to spread the word. Good trades are like hens teeth.

 

[whp.blue]

Website from someone like 123-reg will cost about £140 and you can add photos of your work and any recommendations etc
with 123-reg your email and web address will be similar ie

orders@simplysandwiches.info
www.simplysandwiches.info

A website is pretty much essential for a small business now a days but don't go too ott
Also a good looking sign written van will portray your business in a good light and doesn't really cost too much and it is a mobile advert.
HMRC are really very good with new starts

Good luck

PS the hmrc told me when I started they expect small businesses to loose money for the first few years which means you pay no tax
I am sure most people can fulfil that expectation

 

[tony coleman]

Cheers for all the replys. Some really useful things to go on. Now all I need is someone to kick me up the arse to get the the ball rolling, oh and convincing the wife !

 

[goalmole]

Cheers for all the replys. Some really useful things to go on. Now all I need is someone to kick me up the arse to get the the ball rolling, oh and convincing the wife !

Don't neglect marketing. Word of mouth is fine but it can take a long time for a business to get going by word of mouth alone. I always go by the principle that if an advert pays for itself then that is considered to be a successful advert. At the moment my advertising budget is about 15% to 20% of my weekly takings. I consider every penny to be well spent because without spending the 20% I would not be able to earn the other 80%.
No good starting a business but keeping it secret.

 

[idahoblues]

Don't neglect marketing. Word of mouth is fine but it can take a long time for a business to get going by word of mouth alone. I always go by the principle that if an advert pays for itself then that is considered to be a successful advert. At the moment my advertising budget is about 15% to 20% of my weekly takings. I consider every penny to be well spent because without spending the 20% I would not be able to earn the other 80%.
No good starting a business but keeping it secret.

What you say is true but you have to be careful not to get too busy. Might sound crazy but before you know it, you can end up having to employ people, then your job becomes herding cats, you're no longer able to do the work you enjoy, you're too busy with payroll and keeping your guys employed.

I've been self employed for years and continue to get lots of work because the customers know that it's me doing the work and not some one else with less experience. I've even been able to turn it into a situation where the customer is lucky to be in on the secret and word of mouth is definately where it's at. It also takes a lot of the bidding out of it as they're coming to you because they already know it's you they want to do the work so when can you fit me in?