Self-employed/working from home
| tylerdurden |
 Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 11:44am
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Hi everyone Just wanted to ask for a bit of advice, hope you dont mind. I am in a tricky situation at the mo, I have been pretty unhappy with work now for the last 6 months or so, steadily getting worse. I am now in a position where i need to get out of this job and am ready to give my notice in, I think I am now ready to go at it alone, register my business and get cracking. List of things that are in place at the mo… I have created a business name and brand I am confident in the quality of my work and have my family behind me, I know this is what i want to do but just want all the advice I can get before I make the jump advice/ideas? Thanks for reading, any advice would be very much appreciated Thanks TD |
| Ineff |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 1:45pm
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Set up as many Paypal accounts as you can, with fake names, to avoid the Taxman. |
| jet |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 1:47pm
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setting up is the easy part, how to win and keep clients is what you should be focused on imo. |
| Uncle bulgaria |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 2:34pm
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Hello TD, there are three areas you need to look at: 1 - business strategy Looking at each in turn: 1 - Business Strategy. Make sure there is a proper business plan rather than just a "build it and they will come" approach - there are business advisors out there who can do this for free with you so you can see what levels of turnover and profitability you need so you can see if it means you need to work 80 hours a week to pay the mortgage. 2 - Operational Strategy: Basically think of all the aspects of running the office at work (payroll, post office, couriers, suppliers etc) and see if you can fit these into your life if you are busy. Then there is the normal work to squeeze in too. 3 - Job / Life Balance Working from the same place you live will put a strain on the pleasure of it being your refuge from work - if things don't work out then there is nowhere else to go to get away from it. If you can get the balance right then it can be really great to work from home, but I have tried it twice and both times gone back to working for someone else as it really doesn't gel for me. Good luck with whatever you decide. thanks Iain |
| Xerxes |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 2:43pm
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About 2 years ago I was working for a horrible job, I thought about quitting every day and was really unhappy, I got out a loan and left and it was the best feeling ever. The only thing I would strictly advice is plan out your days...when you havent got someone breathing down your neck your days go very quickly and it's easy to not get anything done. in regards to book etc, You dont need to register a business name, get business insurance etc. just be self employed, it'll save you alot of money. also think hard about being VAT registered, some suppliers will demand it but theres always ways around this and unless you turn over more than £60k in your first year it's not compulsory. Business insurance is only a legal requirement if you have staff or a car, then rest is your call. dont hire an account they'll waste your money for you and act like they're saving it, you can buy sage line 50 and learn how to do your returns in a couple of weeks. get all systems in place before you start, ie: customer databases, invoicing systems, supplier credit terms. I think the best thing is just know your business inside out before you start. No job is beter than working for yourself it's so rewarding so good luck to you. |
| tylerdurden |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 3:08pm
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Thank you Iain and xerxes, I found both pieces of advice really helpful. I understand what you mean about loosing the luxury of having a refuge from work its an interesting dilemma, I suppose its one of those things that you wont know how you feel till you try it. cheers TD |
| SOS |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 4:19pm
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Set up as many Paypal accounts as you can, with fake names, to avoid the Taxman. joke number 7780? I used be a self employed freelancer in webdesign, I nhow work for a company doing it but plan on going back to it as I miss the freedom and rush of managing your own $. All i would say is as said, try and give yourself a working day, its easy to lay in bed, work in evenings watch TV and get little done. Also why not start it up and get some business in now on the side, then make the leap? If you want to hook up with a web guy give us a shout, I sometimes get graphic work which I can do,but sometimes pass it on. good luck. EDIT you say you have 6 months of funds already! do it ! |
| tylerdurden |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 4:40pm
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Hi SOS, Good Idea with regards to doing work on the side, this is what I had in mind at first. However I forgot to mention above I have a clause in my contract saying I cannot practice outside of work (basically so I cant pinch clients ect) so that idea is out. I have made up my mind really and i just have to do it, if it goes tit-up then at least I have tried. ta |
| mr.white |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 4:45pm
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Fair play go for it. I think what SOS said here is really important..
All i would say is as said, try and give yourself a working day, its easy to lay in bed, work in evenings watch TV and get little done. FUK is a BIG distraction! This website is useful: http://freelanceswitch.com |
| SOS |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 4:50pm
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yeah FUK, facebook, twitter,goneboarding,bbc,digg, countless sites like psd tuts, smashing magazine and if you look at twitter you spend you day reading blogs or top 10 list. |
| Xerxes |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 5:40pm
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Thank you Iain and xerxes, I found both pieces of advice really helpful. I understand what you mean about loosing the luxury of having a refuge from work its an interesting dilemma, I suppose its one of those things that you wont know how you feel till you try it. cheers TD We do retail shop fit design, 3d renders for design companies, advertising stands, promo packaging etc. Started out just doing graphic and web design. Oh, one other thing, I think I wasteed about a grand on flyers too...didnt get me anything. Just a heads up. |
| AL |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 5:52pm
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stock up on tea bags and coffee |
| SOS |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 5:58pm
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Oh yeah and tell people who ask for free favours as they will help promote you to fuck off. |
| Xerxes |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 6:26pm
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set up a url filter on your computer to block out all porn and non productive sites and let someone else set the password. |
| andymakesglasses |
Posted: Mon, 12/01/2009 - 8:11pm
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As Xerxes says, do your accounts yourself (at least to begin with), they're piss easy. Network shamelessly - www.linkedin.com, www.coroflot.com, www.designrelated.com, www.plaxo.com, even Facebook - you never know when those contacts might come in useful. If you don't already use them, get into the habit of using Apple's various programs for keeping track of everything - Address Book to keep all of your contacts up to date, Mail to keep a copy of all your e-mails offline for reference when you don't have internet access, iCal for keeping appointments / deadlines etc. I would be lost without these three programs. I also use Journler for keeping notes on each project I'm working on. It integrates with various Apple programs too. Almost inevitably you will end up working on several projects at the same time, so good time management is essential. Learn to delay clients when necessary - for example asking a question knowing it will give you a day to work on another client's project while awaiting an answer - to ensure you meet all your deadlines. Make sure you give realistic deadlines too - you should have an idea from your full-time experience of how long a particular job will take, but as Uncle B says factor in some extra time for "admin". In your line of work I don't know if there are such things as trade shows, however if not you could target sections of industry you would like to do graphic work in and go along to their trade shows - it's a relatively inexpensive way of having the opportunity to meet hundreds of potential clients from one industry all in the same place at the same time. One of the most important things when working from home (in my opinion) is to get out of the house. I don't mean going out at weekends, I mean getting out every day, even if it's just to go and buy a paper, or go to the post office. A friend of mine is a freelance graphic designer and actually ends up spending a lot of time working in clients' offices, so it might not be an issue for you. |
| Serbia |
Posted: Tue, 13/01/2009 - 2:49am
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love linked in - very useful tool. Had a fully paid corporate account for about 6 months. Havent used plaxo/spoke so much |
| MB |
Posted: Mon, 22/06/2009 - 10:35am
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little bump.... i'm going self employed, got loads of work lined up just need some help with registering for self employment and tax shit any tips etc? |
| seenmy |
Posted: Mon, 22/06/2009 - 12:16pm
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its as easy as going on the website and filling in the form to be honest, andy helped me out with a spreadsheet for keeping track of expenses etc which was helpfull,I havent been filling it in this tax year, but following same routine of keeping all recipts in monthly envelopes and doing same with invoices. |
| SOS |
Posted: Mon, 22/06/2009 - 1:58pm
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Im just using a spreadsheet at the moment, if anyone has one with some functionality on it would love to see it. Mines just plain and i add rows and move stuff around to fit, never been one to learn excel. |
| andymakesglasses |
Posted: Tue, 23/06/2009 - 9:37am
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tax shit any tips etc? They've just brought in a thing where you can set up a direct debit to pay whatever amount you choose each week / month / two months etc towards your tax bill. I would advise that you set this up so that you're not hit with a tax bill that's bigger than you're expecting! |
| San |
Posted: Tue, 23/06/2009 - 9:47pm
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simple dont register yourself and voila, no tax bill! |
