What To Do...

[Rich]

Had enough of working for slap dash security company.

Thinking of testing the waters by doing a little part-time/weekend work.

Want to keep things above board.

Worried about tax implecations and insurance needs.

Welcome your comments.

First thing to do is decide what type of business you want to run.

Second find yourself an accountant

Third open a business bank account and get yourself public liability insurance.

Here is a short list:

TAX

VAT

Insurance

Suppliers

Accountants

Customers

Inspectors

24/7 Busiiness

TAX depends on how much profit you earn, if you decide to go limited then there are limits to what profit you can make before TAX, if limited you are an employee and an accountant will best advise you on how to manage your income.

VAT, don't worry about unless you reach the required limit, or if all your customers are generally VAT registered

Insurance is a must, at least PLI if you are just subcontracting work and doing a few small installs

Suppliers, not too hard to arrange, I am sure you will find some that provide what you need.

Accountants are a weight off the shoulders and aren't that expensive if you manage your paperwork properly.

Customers, good luck with that

Inspectors, decide if you want to join an inspectorate but to start with I wouldn't worry as you probably wont be prepared.

Whether you intend to run your business 24/7 or not, inevitably you will work all hours, researching, quoting, etc.

I am just about to set up on my own starting jan, it was a big step but there is lots of work out there.

I have work for the first six months sub contracting for several firms and personal work.

Its a scary time i've been employed for 7 years and moved up the ladder but its about quailty time and whats wright for you.

Go for it.

After 7 years you should have the technical knowledge to install and sevice systems, if you have work to take on from the start then you should be fine. It depends if you can hack the running of the business along side, sub contracting is fine if thats what you want to do, but it does limit what you can do for yourself.

Others here say they wouldn't start a business again, but I guess they are involved with intruder

Always carry business cards with you, a diary and your mobile.

Good luck with your ventures

[Rich]

Thanks for the advice (pos or neg).

But, if I go for it, should I get some form of insurance?

I guess I'll need Public Liability but do I need anything to protect me against counter claims.

If I'm working part-time, what do I do about income tax and NIC?

Do I go as a sole trader or should I set up a Ltd Co?

I don't have a great deal of capital and I'm not prepared to put my home on the line.

Insurance of course, no more than

[whistle]

Trust me you will end up working well over 90 hours a week and if you are very good at selling and installing and get lots of good quality work you may make 40k a year

But you could make that at a national if you are good and go hame at 17:00 and forget about work.

[james.wilson]

Trust me you will end up working well over 90 hours a week and if you are very good at selling and installing and get lots of good quality work you may make 40k a year

But you could make that at a national if you are good and go hame at 17:00 and forget about work.

qfa

[whistle]

It cost us over 10k to set up and put 2 men on the road. Thats me and my mate who set up.

[Guest Rocky]

Rocky. I am going to give you a Simon Cowell type of reply.

Having looked at the topics you have started over the past year, I honestly don't think that you are anywhere near to being capable of running a succesful company. I don't want to offend you. I am just being completely frank.

90% of new companies fail within 1 year. Of the remaining 10%, half of them don't get past 2 years and only 3% survive 5 years.

Give a man a break...

You should never judge a poster by his posts!!!

I have a long background in electronic manufacturing, both software and hardware.

I feel I cope well with the workings of alarm systems, lets face it most of them are nothing more than transistorised pull up/down circuits, open collector outputs and relays.

Getting to the bottom of why engineers do what they do is always the difficult bit. We're all different and we all have our own way of getting around problems.

Appreciate your frankness, but beleave me, I've seen nothing in this game that phases me.

[whistle]

Give a man a break...

You should never judge a poster by his posts!!!

I have a long background in electronic manufacturing, both software and hardware.

I feel I cope well with the workings of alarm systems, lets face it most of them are nothing more than transistorised pull up/down circuits, open collector outputs and relays.

Getting to the bottom of why engineers do what they do is always the difficult bit. We're all different and we all have our own way of getting around problems.

Appreciate your frankness, but beleave me, I've seen nothing in this game that phases me.

LOL stay at you current job and make a living.

I had 20 years as a service and installation engineer with 1000's of contacts and still found it very hard to get a company up off the gound and making money.

Yes we are doing ok and we all get paid and make a living but its very hard work.

[Guest Rocky]

It cost us over 10k to set up and put 2 men on the road. Thats me and my mate who set up.

Sounds like a lot to me.

Must be a swanky van in there somewhere.

[james.wilson]

lol id do your sums mate

[whistle]

no 2 x 3.5k honda accords off ebay that i know are good for 100k + miles