business set up advice.

[locum76]

Hi.

It's been a while since I've been on here so first of all 'happy new year'.

I am going start my own gardening business (the first steps are my new years resolution). I know the trade well enough bar getting a few tickets (probably something fairly lucrative like dry stane dyking), I have decided on a name and I have a general idea of how to get it all together.

The thing is getting off the blocks. I'm not sure weather to register at companies house first or not. Anyone got any experience in this and the easiest way to set up as a sole trader? Or would setting up a limited company be a better way to start?

I wan't to get the admin out the way first so I can focus on the work as it starts to come in.

Any advice welcome.

Rob

 

[FGYT]

probebly best as a sole trader you just tell HMRC get an accountant who knows about this type of buisness and he will be a great help
yes you cna do it all your self but he will proabbly save you more money than he costs this is what ive one as a knife maker hes only a couple hundred a year as i fill out a monthly speradsheet of in and out
dont forget to put in set up costs ie i sold all my Workshop kit and Materials to my self as its then written of against tax etc again a good accountnt will advise on this

ATB

Duncan

 

[Teepee]

I'd start off trading as a sole trader, and then go limited if your turnover exceeds 30 or 40. I've always been advised this is the best way to do things.

As a sole trader decorator for 10 years, I've never gone limited as I work on my own and the extra paperwork isn't worth the hassle for the VAT recoup. As soon as you approach hitting the VAT threshold, you will have to change anyway though (50k I believe at present?).

As has been said above, accountants are worth there weight and will save you far more than they cost. If you are going to be working on site, I belive you will need a CSCS card from the tax office too(check on this).

Good luck to you Locum, good on ya mate .

 

[nuggets]

A CSCS card is for working on site`s with in the consruction industry and are issued by the CITB not the tax office

also as gardening is a `seasonal` trade ,winter is a very slow turn over period , I would go out and door knock and test the water first (market research) to see how much work you can secure, at this time of year before going anywhere near officialdom !!


best of luck to you tho !!

 

[vizsla]

Iv allways been limited and vat registered which has its benefits but does make life alittle bit more difficult and also more expenses vat returns but also having a business acount plus theres the technical jargon like corparation tax cis tax and the monthly cost of a payroll system which you have to have Dividends which reduce tax but can only be taken from remaining profits.
Sole trader is alot easier ie you can use your money as and when and how you like but id recomend going limited if you will be dealing with large amounts of money as there is more personal proctection for if things go wrong.
Id say find yourselfna down to earth accountant and he will set everything up for you for no more money than if you were to do it yourself.
Good luck ash

 

[R3XXY]

Sole trader is definitely the way to go with something like that, only register for VAT if you have to.

 

[locum76]

also as gardening is a `seasonal` trade ,winter is a very slow turn over period , I would go out and door knock and test the water first (market research) to see how much work you can secure, at this time of year before going anywhere near officialdom !!

Done a bit of that already.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm giving myself a lot of time do this so I'll have plenty of time to consider everything properly along the way, I'll keep you all posted. Another thing I need to do is get some dyking experience and practice.

 

[Toddy]

Comriecroft has a lot of walls that could be doing with some work

Best of luck with the new venture

atb,
M

 

[Rob]

Sole trader has to be the way to start - and unless you have to, don't register for VAT until you know that you will go over the threshold - which i think is 68K now.

Reason for the VAT - business don't care if there is no VAT but members of the public just get stung for another 20% - unless you will get through a lot of materials and pay a lot of "input VAT".

The banks are quite helpful for new starts - will give you plenty of help (unless you want a loan).

If all goes well, go LTD later and you might save a bit on the contributions to HMRC.

 

[British Red]

Basically it depends on turnover and potential liability. Limited company does offer extra protection. They big one for me is professional liability insurance (and public but thats cheap). Get it, don't d*** about - if anything nasty happens, its got to be worth it.

We use limited company status and VAT - there are simplifications available (like the flat rate VAT scheme)

Talk to a good accountant - its worth the investment. Take them your turnover projections, costs and charges. Let them work out the best scheme for you. I am lucky - BB is a chartered accountant

Red

 

[TeeDee]

Also , don't consider the Tax Office to be the 'enemy' they have plenty of useful leaflets and people to assist you with set-up and how to do it correctly.

The gardening business model is fairly hard to get wrong , minimal outlay , ability to build and choose a good customer base , low overheads and nearly all cash flow.

The only thing you may want to explore is how much a waste licence would cost.


Good Luck.

 

[FGYT]

Also , don't consider the Tax Office to be the 'enemy' they have plenty of useful leaflets and people to assist you with set-up and how to do it correctly.

The gardening business model is fairly hard to get wrong , minimal outlay , ability to build and choose a good customer base , low overheads and nearly all cash flow.

The only thing you may want to explore is how much a waste licence would cost.


Good Luck.

lol nopethey arnt

I got a £1000 tax refund a month ago from when i stopped work 5 yrs ago guess they where checking into my Pay as this is my first year registered as Self employed

nice but Karma has hit to balance it back and a Rat has eaten most of the wiring in my Car over Christmas ( Garage has 2 pages of error codes on the wiring systems )

atb

dUNCAN

 

[ged]

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can 'get the admin out of the way now'. Running a business properly requires a lot of admin and you are in the office for the long haul.

A number of posters have confused using a limited company and registering for VAT. The two are totally different things and the decisions about them rely on different things.

You can register for VAT as a sole trader, or as a partnership, or as a limited company. I would expect that registering for VAT will save you money for example on things like fuel, but the record-keeping for VAT purposes is a chore and there are lots of rules to know, or at least know about.

Whether or not you use a limited company, you must register for VAT if your turnover exceeds the limit(s) set by HMRC.

I operate several limited companies and I am a partner in one partnership. The administration required for them all is much the same, except that the limited companies have to publish information through Companies House (for which there is an annual fee, and penalties for not doing it right).

The advice about getting a good accountant is spot on. An accountant need not cost an arm and a leg and should save you much more than the costs. You need to give your accountant good information, don't pay him for doing all the legwork with the records. If you just hand over a carrier bag full of bills at the end of the year it will cost you a lot more than if you keep everything filed neatly. Use a spreadsheet package and make sure that the 'audit trail' is easy to follow, which basically means giving every piece of paper its own unique number, and putting that number in the spreadsheet so you can backtrack to find any mistakes -- which, if you do it right, you will always find.

 

[Andy BB]

Accountant is definitely the way to go! He'll give you really good advice on tax issues (point made earlier about "capitalising" your assets into the business for example) and also useful tricks re period of first "year" - doesn't necessarily mean 12 months, and there can be substantial tax benefits to be had. Some banks will provide a free basic accounting package when you set up a business account - if not, you can buy a simple one pretty cheaply, and they are much better for record keeping than using a spreadsheet.

 

[colly]

as others have said be a sole trader.

my girlfriend is a book keeper she uses a a couple of quality book keeping programmes but a sole trader doing your own books they are far too complicated to worry about. unless you are that way inclined.
a spreadsheet with different pages set up for income and expenses and you should extend this to bank account and credit cards.
makes for more work but means it is easier to check back on things later and to check the bank account and credit card invoices (they are NOT statements and aren't always right).
remember to keep hold of your money and keep the cash flow it is far too easy to buy new kit on expectations of work to pay for it but not quite get there.
public liability is quite cheap tool insurance can be expensive.
if i remember correctly a waste licence depends on how often you take rubbish away but isn't very expensive.

 

[locum76]

what do you guys think of the website?

http://www.wix.com/greenbeltgardens/green-belt-gardening

I very much appreciate the advice here folks. thank to honest answers. Like this from you and other folks I've had a canny start. I'm getting advice from friends in marketing, accounting and others. The work is starting to come in too, in a variety of forms.

So far so good. I'm a busy man now though, hence less posting on BCUK.

Where is the progressive thought going on the subject of bushcraft? Any worthy innovations?

 

[Mesquite]

Looks good but you've no telephone number on your contact page.

Might be handy having that there for folks who want a quick answer.

 

[British Red]

what do you guys think of the website?

Nice and bright, I agree with Steve - I wouldn't contact without a name and phone number given...it feels like "something to hide" - although the address is good.

I might also offer a set of "standard" services. I appreciate that rates are by hour but a good list of what you do - and don't - offer would be useful,

Clearly grass cutting, hedge trimming, weeding.

Do you offer pruning? Tree cutting and felling? Hard landscaping? Greenhouse building.....you get the idea.

Also what about services like

Garden maintenance during owner holidays
Gaden maintenance for holiday homes and vacant properties
One off "tidy ups" for buyers of new homes or people planning to sell....

Red

 

[shaggystu]

as mesquite said "looks good but there's no phone number". a few other bits and bobs, there are at least three different typefaces/font-sizes spread through the text with no real logic to the changes, i'd suggest either make everything the same style or come up with a system of some sort i.e main body of text in 16 point, footnotes in 12, main headings in bold, sub-headings in italics etc. second point, when i click on the "services" tab the top left box on that page is entitled "tips, tasks, how to", surely it should be solely services on that page?

the above are points about the webpage, this one's just a personal opinion; rather than quoting that you have a basic rate of £20ph why not quote examples of prices for jobs? similar to what you've already written re. tenner...fair bit of weeding...etc. why not expand on that, something like "20'X20' lawn - £15, weeding a small veg plot - £20, planting a row of onion sets - £10" etc. with a little footnote stating that "the above prices are all approximate, a detailed no-obligation quote can be supplied on request". there's a couple of reasons for me suggesting that you do it that way, firstly, people are tight, £20ph sounds a lot (i know it's not, but it sounds a lot), secondly it puts ideas into peoples heads "only a tenner to get someone to come and do that weeding and stop the wife nagging, bargain!". thirdly it gives you wiggle room, and wiggle room's useful when you're self employed

best of luck with your venture

stuart

 

[Teepee]

The website looks good to me and I've nothing to add really that hasn't been said.

TBH, this is nit-picking but I don't like the font used, personally I'd change it to something more 'elegant'

IME, gardeners get quite a few fences to paint, patio's to jetwash and coat in silicon too-people want a one stop shop if they can. It might be something you can add or sub out.