has anyone been in this postion???

[Southern Spark]

I have been looking to go it alone for the last couple of years, but I have a wife and kids, so I have always bottled it. What I am thinking of doing is setting up my business in my spare time, opening a business account, getting nic registered and paying tax on all my private work, so I can do everything properly and legally. I was just wondering if I could do this without having to tell my boss ( I dont want to do anything sneaky I would just rather he didnt know my long term plans) or would he find out through my tax code, and I also get some help financially to pay my rent, would I lose entitlement to this as I would be considered an owner of a company?? I am a bit wet behind the ears about all this, I would love to go on the governement business course, But I am working 7 days a week, a couple of evenings a week and I am going to have to use my holiday this year to do a few rewires I have got booked. All help and advice about this is much appreciated.

 

[Amp David]

Its got sod all to do with your boss, but you just have to watch that if he did find out, there could be something in your contract of employment saying its not allowed. If you were a sole trader then your wouldn't be the owner of a company, but the best place to find the accurate info on your benefits is probably the HMRC website

 

[IQ Electrical]

I have been looking to go it alone for the last couple of years, but I have a wife and kids, so I have always bottled it. What I am thinking of doing is setting up my business in my spare time, opening a business account, getting nic registered and paying tax on all my private work, so I can do everything properly and legally. I was just wondering if I could do this without having to tell my boss ( I dont want to do anything sneaky I would just rather he didnt know my long term plans) or would he find out through my tax code, and I also get some help financially to pay my rent, would I lose entitlement to this as I would be considered an owner of a company?? I am a bit wet behind the ears about all this, I would love to go on the governement business course, But I am working 7 days a week, a couple of evenings a week and I am going to have to use my holiday this year to do a few rewires I have got booked. All help and advice about this is much appreciated.

The usual contract of employment clause will forbid approaches to your bosses clients for a defined period.

Your benefit will probably be dependant on the declared net profit of your business, not just on whether you are trading although I'm no benefits expert!

 

[nickblake]

As IQ has said , i started up on my own but never approched any of my ex bosses clients ... they came to me , but in some sences i was lucky as the company i used to work for went bust 4 months later and i gained a few more bread and butter customers if you under stand

 

[Southern Spark]

Thanks for the replies guys, looks like I will have to phone HMRC. There is nothing in my contract about me starting up on my own, and I have no intention of pinching clients, it is just that I do want to work for myself, but I dont want to step on anyones toes. My boss is a good guy and I dont want to burn my bridges in case it didnt work out.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

I will answer to the best of my ability the bits in your post that haven't been covered. Firstly, you don't need to tell your boss unless it is in your contract, but do bear in mind if you poach his customers you may get the sack for gross misconduct. If you are not in a union, then join one now. I am not a union person, but i am in Unite, their legal helpline is priceless, and the £10 a month is tax deductable as a member of a professional body. Your employer will not get to know how much money you are making, only the HMRC and your accountant (if you have one). The HMRC may change your tax code, they will notify your company of the new code, but they cant and wont tell them the reason for the change. If you increase your income, then your benefits will probably decrease, you cant have it all so to speak. At the end of the tax year you will have to fill in a tax return, this is where all your income from all sources is added together to give you a final income figure. From that you will deduct your tax free allowance which is about £5500, then you will pay income tax at the lower rate on all your income above the £5500 up to about £48.000, you will then pay higher rate tax on all money above this. You will also pay national insurance at 8%.

Cheers..........Howard

 

[drywax]

If your earning enough from your current job you don't have to extract a wage from your business therefore no need to change tax code etc I believe, start as sole trader then any profits made can be saved so you have something to fall back on when you decide to break free aim for 3 months ahead at least that'll give you a month to start getting work in second and third month you may start to see your invoiced work rolling into the bank. Open a current account to start with don't mention the business to the bank because if you have a business account they'll start charging you.

finally good luck if your good at your job word of mouth will soon fill up your calendar days

 

[BillyTheSparks]

I did this in Feb 2009. I'm not in exactly the same boat, as I don't have kids wife mortgage etc. But anyways with my boss I said to him that I had a rewire coming up so needed to take a week holiday. He was fine with this. After that week, and over a pint, I said that I was thinking of going self employed, and that I still wanted to work for him but have an understanding that if I needed to have a day off to do work I would give him as much notice as possible. He said that this should be ok, and that he knew this was the natural progression of this job, and he had always been expecting it. we came to an agreement that I would work 4/5 days for him and have the other day(s) to do my own work, and that when I got busier I would only work 3/4 days with him and so on...

I'm now fully on my own, but in that first year I worked a couple of weeks for him on and off, invoicing as I went. We still have a good working relationship and help each other out with jobs, advice, equipment and the like.

I don't know your exact situation with your boss, but if you can be open (especally over a pint) I think that you'll have a better arangement and also if things don't work out too well to start, you can still work for him.

Good luck