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lotusmark2

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Hi Guys, long time no speak!!!
Things are still manic in the Harrison House but Fiona is looking to start up a home business based around cake decoration, lost cakes (old fashioned recipes) and maybe home made food for people who have no time to cook.
I know a lot of people on here are aware of starting a business so any advice???
I have contacted the environmental health for a visit and have a domain for the website (not that I have a clue about web design) so what about tax, company reg etc???

Cheers
Mark
 
Phone your local tax office they'll send you the forms out
You dont need to be limited unless you are making a certain amount(cant remember how much)
You can be a sole trader
Get liability insurance
Get a good accountant to sort out your tax bill
It will cost you but so far i've had 4 tax redunds in a 10 year period not huge but enough to pay my accountant (£400-600)
Dont' forget to take a day off
Friends rates and favoures sometimes back fire so the cost is the cost
 
I use SJD accountancy. They're more setup for contractors & freelance workers, but their website has lots of good free information.
 
Set up as LTD from the off, for the extra costs its worth it for piece of mind and legal separation from your private life. We were a partnership for years and switched to LTD a few years back - we also now pay less tax.

Start with an accountant, it helps to set things up properly. Again we muddled on for 2 years without one which with hindsight was silly.

We use a chap from the AIMS franchise who is semi retired and looks after a load of small businesses, he has so far been excellent.

As mentioned you might need some kind of insurance (Employer's Liability and some sort of cover for possible claims from customers - not sure what this would be), I'd look into this with a couple of brokers - there are big differences in premiums depending on levels of cover.

I'd also get the website done professionally if you are not a computer whizz - they generally look better.

Get some decent business cards and possibly fliers/brochures made - they don't need to cost a lot (I think ours were £100 from a local graphics firm using a design by our website bods), you can always tell the home made stuff.

I think the only piece of general advice is it is certainly worth starting as you mean to go with the set up of the business infrastructure but be mindful of not spending silly money on unnecessary stuff. If you don't habits form which will hamper the business later on (I have first hand experience of this..:rolleyes:)

All of the above will cost hundreds of pounds not thousands and will save/make you more in the long run.


Ade
 
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Cheap business cards from Vistaprint - about 2p each including postage - and minimum order is only 250.

People can phone up at all hours of day and night - so maybe a second phone line, so you can leave answering machine on after say 7pm - otherwise you get no home life.

I'd not go Ltd for a year or two - as self employed you can claim car against business expenses, etc... if operating in a small way self-employed status can be much more tax-efficient.

Do a search for liability insurance on the web - there are a few firms that specialise in small business cover for around £100 a year.

Check car insurance policy - must include cover for business use if you are delivering cakes or even driving to the shops for ingredients.

Choose an easy-to-remember name for the business that matches your web site.

Food businesses need to be licensed with local authority.

Take a few nibbles round to local florists - they are a good contact if you want to sell wedding cakes.

Get Fiona to join local "Women in business" group - they are great for support, advice and networking - and a valuable source of work.

Local restaurants may buy in their desserts - it's worth offering to supply them.

Easy to build websites at "Mr Site" (mine, www.breakawayuk.com was built in a couple of afternoons and cost under £40... it's not perfect, but it's good enough...... and no need to learn HTML)

Colour leaflets, with plenty of photos (a photo is worth 1000 words) can be made easily on PC - and a colour laser printer is more than capable of doing several hundred at a time - way cheaper than paying a printer.
 
I'd not go Ltd for a year or two - as self employed you can claim car against business expenses, etc... if operating in a small way self-employed status can be much more tax-efficient.

FWIW I charge my company 40p per mile for my car use and my motorbike is owned by the company and all running costs go through it including petrol. Being LTD just keeps things separate, and my house is safe from my business.

IMHO a few hundred quid spent getting a pro to design stationary, website and business cards is money well spent, it needn't cost £££ - if you've no design background, they'll come up with ideas you wouldn't necessarily have had yourself. But as a design type, I'm biased. ;)

Quick google search throws up these, which all look like they've had pro input

http://www.handmadecake.co.uk/?gclid=CP3ejYODtJgCFRqgnAodhXW-TA

http://www.partypieces.co.uk/pages/...clid=CL_O-4ODtJgCFRQhnAodSj7UUQ&cookie_test=1

http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/default.asp?src=cj&gclid=COGsgZWDtJgCFQETGgodJCKcUA


They all look like bakeries, but there is no reason your site and brand image needs to look like you work from home.

Ade
 
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As a phone man :) I would suggest at this stage arranging an 0845 or 0800 non-geographic number. This will give you a more professional and perhaps larger company image.

In the short term you can direct this to anywhere you like, such as a mobile, your home phone (assuming you don't have kids who will answer it all the time !), even a VOIP line if you so wished.

As the business grows and you move to separate premises you can take the 0845/0800 with you - no matter where in the country or town you move to without having to advertise a new number and change all your paperwork/advertising. (even if you move in the same town there is no guarantee that you can keep a normal number, and of course if you change towns then the number is always different !)

You could even point the 0845 to a call centre who will answer professionally on your behalf, and then inform you of the callers details.


The LTD/Sole Trader argument has valid comments from both sides - discuss this with an accountant who will explain fully the benefits and drawbacks of each and how they apply to your industry/business model and likely turnover/profits. ( I have one of each as businesses, so I'm in both camps... )

If you need any help on the phone side let me know :)
 
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Mark, give me a call when you can, Michelle (my daughter) is a Graphic Designer and can assist in all your promo stuff, even business cards.
 
As a phone man :) I would suggest at this stage arranging an 0845 or 0800 non-geographic number. This will give you a more professional and perhaps larger company image.

In the short term you can direct this to anywhere you like, such as a mobile, your home phone (assuming you don't have kids who will answer it all the time !), even a VOIP line if you so wished.

As the business grows and you move to separate premises you can take the 0845/0800 with you - no matter where in the country or town you move to without having to advertise a new number and change all your paperwork/advertising. (even if you move in the same town there is no guarantee that you can keep a normal number, and of course if you change towns then the number is always different !)

You could even point the 0845 to a call centre who will answer professionally on your behalf, and then inform you of the callers details.


The LTD/Sole Trader argument has valid comments from both sides - discuss this with an accountant who will explain fully the benefits and drawbacks of each and how they apply to your industry/business model and likely turnover/profits. ( I have one of each as businesses, so I'm in both camps... )

If you need any help on the phone side let me know :)

0800 definite yes, 08 anything I have to pay to contact you is a serious no-no & will cost you more in business than the few quid you scalp from potential customers.
 
re Ade B's post - You'd be doing well to be in competition with Hotel Chocolat - they aren't a bakery, they are a specialist chocolatier with over 30 high street stores!

Site worth visiting is http://www.businesslink.gov.uk. Government run but loads of good stuff on there covering tax, employment law, financing etc etc.
 
0800 definite yes, 08 anything I have to pay to contact you is a serious no-no & will cost you more in business than the few quid you scalp from potential customers.

I don't want to divert from the op's request for help, but the 0845 is not there to "scalp the customer" it is charged at local call rates (whilst I accept that it is not included in most providers bundles for local calls etc) and it is generally 0870 numbers which get the bad press as they are charged at national rate, even though the call may be placed locally.

Used for the right reasons (as give in my original post) 0845 or 0800 numbers are of massive value to small businesses. Given the OP's target market an 0800 would be preferable of course :)
 
Thanks so much guys.
Ian, I may be able to get up to your neck of the woods on Saturday, the kettle on??
just picked up two domains

NoTimeToCook.co.uk
TheCakePeople.co.uk
One for the cakes and one for a meal service business. Cooking all fresh healthy meals and freezing them. Then deliver them once a week or every other week to customers either to local people or by mail/courier.
 
Dont forget to get NoTime2Cook.co.uk - for those people who mis-hear the name and type it wrong.......
 
Used for the right reasons (as give in my original post) 0845 or 0800 numbers are of massive value to small businesses.

The problem with 0844 and 0845 is confusion. They can cost more to call from mobiles (call charges, not included in minutes). 0870 and particularly 0871 are
technically premium rate and again there is the issue of mobile charges.

People just need to get burned once for charges and the damage is done.

It also doesn't help that to all intents and purposes geographic UK numbers are effectively the same as local from mobiles and unmetered to many residential and business land line callers on calling plans.

Then if your customers want to call you outside the UK ?

I would say that there is a move away from non-geo numbers for these reasons.
 
"so maybe a second phone line"

You can get a second number with a different ring pattern on a single BT line; it's one of the options you pay a bit extra for. That enables me to distinguish between business and personal incoming calls.
 

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