one for the plumbers here...

[myzeneye]

hey guys, this is a question not only for the plumbers/heating engineers on site, but for anyone who runs a small business......
thats right, you guessed it... im thinking of going on my own and setting up a business... or to look at it another way, ill pack in the day job and go lagit on the foreigners..!!!

so, my plan is to invest around 35K in to the buisness. this will be firstly, a basic salary for my self of around 20K ,a back up wage, left in the bank to cover the loss of my existing salary, should work go slack at the start or at bad periods..any money earned can be banked or i can take it as pay and not use the back up wage... ??? and 15k to set up... eg but a van , a bit of van stock and a few extra tools...also, pay for liability insurances , advertising etc etc...

so, i have the basic idea of what i want to do, i just need to get a better picture of what other costs are involved...

what insurances do i need ??? personal sickness/ injury cover... comercial van insurance.. liability insuarnce...
how do i register a business.. what are the costs involved here???
i dont think ill be going VAT registered at first so i believe the business cant make over 52K... is that right...???? i dunno ??
whats the score with national insurance and TAX ???

my wife has an honers degree in business finance and managment, so i guess she'll have an idear about what is needed, but i feel the advice id prefer is from any guys who are actually doing it in this trade in particular...

any advice is obviously, greatly recieved..

also, one last thing, im looking at vans... i want one smaller than the transit i have now, but bigger than a tranny connect... im thinking of a merc vito or somthing... any one knows anything about these vans, let me know...

cheers guys.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

 

[S4_dan]

if only Audi made vans......

 

[tonedef]

I wrote a long reply from work then dropped off line and lost it before I got chance to post.

I've been self employed in engineering for years now, first as a sole trader and now as a Ltd Co.

Pros and cons to both ways but you can make more money and save on tax either way.

Should you go the Ltd route it only costs a few hundred to set everything up, there are people sell already set up shelf companies which you just buy, change the name of and set yourselves up as directors. You don't need to pay yourself £20K, keep it less and take a regular dividend for each director (say yourself and your wife) that way you pay less NI. Your wife as 2nd director and secretary can also take a wage from the company. If she already has a job paying tax she'll have to pay tax on 2nd job but for each job you have there's a minimum threshold for NI, keep her salary just below that and there's more money coming into the house that has less stopages.

My accountant has a payroll department who post me two payslips each month (one for me, one for my wife) which tells us how much we got and how much to post to Inland Revenue. Costs about £20 per month for that and is well worth it at the end of the financial year.

As for VAT, remember if you're buying a van you'll pay VAT on it as a commercial motor, you're not registered then that's 17.5% you cannot claim back. Plus if you're supplying materials it's foolish not to be registered. Means more paperwork but can save you money.

No idea about insurances as the guy I contract to covers that.

 

[myzeneye]

cheers tonedef... all advice is openly welcome....
yes, when i say ill keep twenty k aside for a wage, i mean under the matress buddy.... you know, like a back up should work be slack at the start or anything.. ?? i understand i will probably earn aroun 90 quid a week on paper and yes, the wife will be on the payroll...
iknow my trade really well, but i know nothing about running a business ???

again any help is welcome guys ???

has nobody had a merc vito then ??

 

[myzeneye]

ALSO, another question for any plumbers who may of done any powerflushing.....

can you recomend a good unit? good chemicals ?
also any do's and donts eg,, should i avoid copper heat exchangers ??? i get asked all the time to do powerflushes but dont have the gear...i've never done one, i have a good idear what needs doing, but any advice is appreciated....last thing i want is to blow a heat exchanger to bits or explode a rad all over someones hall stairs and landing ..!!!. B.G charge a fortune and its time someone local pulled there pants down. ha ha ha a guide on chemicals and running times would be handy... i dont even know if the boiler should be fired up or not ??? sad i know, but still.... god loves a tryer.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif