8 steps towards

self employment success

1. Plan for perfection

You must treat your self-employment as if you are setting up a business

A good business plan is therefore essential

Write down: what you will be doingwho your target customers

arewho your competitors arehow you will promote

yourselfyour financial plan including

expenses and budget

your five-year goals

If you need to raise money from a bank or investor you’ll need a good plan to show them

2. Brand yourself

Come up with a good business name

Research what your competitors call themselves

Think about what your services will stand for

Think about where your services will sit in your market

Include your business name in your website URL

Include your business name on all your stationery

Open a bank account in your business name

3. Make sure you’re legal

Check whether you need a license or permit to carry out the work you will be doing

If you are doing something like child minding or street trading you will need a local authority license

Alternatively you may need certain qualifications

Make sure you have the right business insurance.Consider: Public liability & professional indemnity

Ensure you conform to any health and safety regulations for your industry

4. Creating a workspace

If you need an office:

where can you afford to rent?don’t forget about business rates is it close to your customer base?does it have all the facilities you need?

If you choose to work from home:

will you need planning permissionwill you still need to pay business rates?get dedicated business contents

insuranceinform your insurance companyfind a supplier for office

furniture/equipmentfind an IT support company

5. Tax obligations

Contact HM Revenue and customs to register your business

Failure to do so within three months of being self-employed could mean a fine of £100

Decide whether you will be a sole trader, partnership or limited company

You will need to complete a tax return every year

Ensure you set aside the right amount of money for tax from your revenue

If your revenue exceeds £64,000 per year, you will need to register for VAT

If you pay out VAT regularly you can register even if your revenue is under £64,000 to claim it back

6. Insurance for your business

You will need to take out business insurance. These are the main covers you should consider:

Public liability – covers you for incidents when a third party is injured or their property damaged as a result of your business activity

Professional indemnity – covers you for professional negligence. It will cover your costs if a client sues because you have given faulty advice or been negligent in your work

Employers’ liability – if you have 1 or more employees in addition to yourself you are legally required to take this cover. It will cover costs if one of your staff becomes ill or is injured at work

7. Balancing your finances

Being self-employed means there are financial issues to consider.

• Do you need start-up capital and if so, how will you get it?

• Who will do your accounting and what software will you need?

• Do you need to do payroll for employees?

• Understand your expense allowances

• Understand your capital allowances

• Manage your sales ledger and balance cash flow by looking into alternative funding such as Factoring

• Keep and update a financial plan to help you stay on track

8. Marketing yourself

It’s no good doing steps 1-7 if no-body knows about your new venture. Here are some simple marketing starter tips:

• Create a website and include examples of your work

• List your website on industry directories and sites

• Make use of old contacts – send them a personal update

• Start an email list

• Make use of social media where it is appropriate

• Get your venture in the local paper

• Get a listing on yell.com, bview.co.uk and any other popular listings sites. The ones that offer reviews are best

About SimplyBusiness.co.uk

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In support of small business owners, Simply Business also offers a library of business articles covering all aspects of running a company.

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