Self employed

[sparkstu]

Hi all,
Been debating if I should go self employed or not. Was thinking of working for the company I work for now and still do my 40 hrs a week and have my own business running and slowly growing. Has any one done this before and is there any advantages / dis advantages to this. Also if one of your employers was to do this how would you feel about it? Thanks for your help Stuart

 

[Hellmooth]

Good way to start up, just get public liability sorted and look at joining a scheme for notifying work, and possibly looking into how your work would feel about it! You'd be best just saying you're doing some homers no big deal and I doubt they would mind too much! Put an ad in the local paper and you should get some work from it that you could fit in at the weekends, and during the week come summer!

 

[Octopus]

Do you have a contract of employment? If so what does it say about 2nd jobs. If you do work on the side then you need to register with Hmrc and then submit a tax return every year. You will need to pay tax and in on every £ you earn

 

[Hellmooth]

Do you have a contract of employment? If so what does it say about 2nd jobs. If you do work on the side then you need to register with Hmrc and then submit a tax return every year. You will need to pay tax and in on every £ you earn

Right on Mr. Tax inspector

 

[Hellmooth]

If you get a £20 tip remember and tell your accountant........

 

[123]

Would your new venture be likely to clash with the sector your current employers operate in? I'd say they won't be too happy if it did!

I assume you are aiming to be in the domestic sector. A lot of folk wont like you being with them after hours to suit your needs, and will be expecting your price to reflect that the job is an after hours homer/private/foreigner...thus cheaper!
I charge more for out of normal hours works, but that's to suit customer, not me.

 

[123]

If you get a £20 tip remember and tell your accountant........

Don't tell me the jocks are generous enough to tip lol!

This side of the pond a tip is where you dump rubbish. And some customers homes resemble tips. A £20 tip is the number 5 at the 4.30 race at Aintree

 

[sparkstu]

Thanks everyone yeah I presume most of the work would be domestic to begin with then built up to commercial and industrial. That was one thing I was debating how would people feel about me coming in to there house after hours.

 

[newtothis]

That was one thing I was debating how would people feel about me coming in to there house after hours.

Thinking positive, it might mean they didn't have to take time off work to deal with you ?

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Thanks everyone yeah I presume most of the work would be domestic to begin with then built up to commercial and industrial. That was one thing I was debating how would people feel about me coming in to there house after hours.

I suppose it depends a little on your place of work Sparks as to how they feel about it, but what they can do about it depends on your contract. I thought it best to do it properly with my employers and complete the 'secondary employment' forms rather than go under the radar. They are fine with it.

I chose to decrease my employed hours to 22.5 hours from full time so I could really get into the self employed part and give it the time it needed to grow. I am very, very pleased I took this risk, I earn more than I did and I am much happier and more fulfilled. That is just my experience though, perhaps others have had different experiences.

 

[dansk]

If your really good at your job then your current employer would rather work with you than against you I would imagine unless their a little petty about such things.

 

[hightower]

As for working 'out of hours' I don't think it's a bad thing. In most cases I (as a consumer) would prefer a tradesman to come on an evening/weekend to save me having to take time off work or make alternative arrangements.

Plus, I doubt you'd be doing rewires to start with. I would assume it would be smaller jobs like circuit extensions and the like. If that is the case, you could play it so you're stacked up: Suck in through the teeth and say "a couple of sockets? Hmmmm, my diary is filled for the next 3 months............ unless, I could maybe squeeze it in after 5pm next week if that's any good?"

Job done.

 

[sparkstu]

Cheers for all your help so far I know it's a big decision to decide but have always wanted to have my own company and I personally think this maybe a good option for me to go down this route. I would also be filling out the 2nd employment form so everything is done properly and getting my self registered with possible stroma

 

[shanky887614]

makesure you register now it can take a month or two to get the paperwork from hmrc

 

[sparkstu]

Do you have a contract of employment? If so what does it say about 2nd jobs. If you do work on the side then you need to register with Hmrc and then submit a tax return every year. You will need to pay tax and in on every £ you earn

Checked through my contract and it doesn't say anything about a second job but I will talk to my boss and see what he has to say about it. I'm hoping he understands and is supportive as he must of done something similar before he went on his own