I have decided now im totally sick of working for people and want to start my own business but in what im unsure..I have a proven background in i.t and i.t. sales so thats a start . Im after any ideas you might have on what sort of company isnt to hard to get started . I was thinking maybe a carpet cleaning company , u know get 1-2 people on the phones all day making calls getting appointments ect and go and visit giving demo's ect, or maybe even buying a franchaise thats all ready to go. I was looking to invest around 5-10k to set it up so any advice appreciated please!! And whats even more annoyin is my sis ter ( 2 years older ) sells property in spain and makes a killing and other mates now have their own companies doing various things , Sparkie work ect and here is me a target driven, sales bloke with someone on my back 24 / 7 pushin me. Mind you once i have a company set up and i know that every penny I make is going into MY company then il prob be the same LOL but i have been meaning to do this for the past 2 years now but something has always come up to stop me but not this time !!

Hi mate cant really give any advice at present,but if you wonna make serious money starting a business is best way, it may not be easybut as long as your committed 100% to achieve your objective it will pay off, plus you will be your own boss and the flexabilaty ,wot ever you decide wish you luck.

a bit generallised to give any advice - but whatever you go for just make sure you research it fully, give yourself a decent action plan and dont expect to make money straight away!

 

good luck bud

fierce market carpet cleaning

 

i rent a lock up out to a guy who started his bussiness up in carpet cleaning, he has had all kinds of threats and had his van vandalised and the lock up broken into and all his machines stolen (about 12 grands worth i think it was)

 

one little bit of advice is get WELL INSURED

 

all the best for the future

If it is any help I have run a carpet cleaning business for the past 25 years. It is a very lucrative market but only in the commercial sector.

Specialising in this area can very easily generate earnings of £1k per day from two operatives.

If you want more info mail me at carpetmain@btinternet.com As I have an idea which may prove of interest to you.

Good luck whatever you do bud.. ;)

Good luck in what ever you do, please be sure to research it well and dont forget it wont happen over night. ;).

My dad started his own business about 5 years ago, he now earns £100+ a year, and he only has 3 employees, one of whom is my mum (who doesn't do much but gets paid divedends for tax reasons ;)) so go for it Karl! If you can build computer systems, and there is a market for it then that is the way to go! Computer components are soooo cheap if you know where to shop (talk to Si (pk1)) and places like PC world sell computers at 200% of cost price, so you can easily undercut that and still make some money!!

 

Ben

My dad started his own business about 5 years ago, he now earns £100+ a year,

 

Shouldn't that be £100K + a year??????

lol loadsa money!!

I do wish you all the best Karl, had my own business for five years and best move I ever made.

 

But I had to laugh:

 

I have a proven background in i.t and i.t. sales ..........I was thinking maybe a carpet cleaning company

 

Now that would have made me think " I know, Ill sell computers......how the fook did you make the leap to carpet cleaning :confused:

Good luck with it m8, i started my own business 2 years ago with 7 quid "honestly", if you work hard, and then a bit harder it will work for you.

 

I would stay away from franchise deals though, i know of 3 people whom been in franchise deals, one lost 40k, one lost 80k and other i am not sure about. what i do know is i never met anyone who was making a living from a franchise.

 

Ask yourself, if you could make so much money from an idea, woud you let othes into it. I DONT THINK SO.

 

Good luck with it.

You must check out everything VERY thoroughly. Think carefully about what you want to do. Check out the area in which you wish to work. Check out the opposition.

Thorough research now means easy going later on. If you're thinking of a franchise be very careful of opportunities offered in the price range you have indicated. Look at all the franchise companies offering opportunities in your selected field, not just one, and compare what they offer. Remember they will tell you very little until you pay up and remeber you are buying into a concept and not a ready made job. It's up to you to find the work when you've paid up. If you want serious advice about franchising get in touch.

Well here comes some negative aspects!!!

New business startups have a high failure rate, often due to lack of funding, cashflow etc.

Dont forget about the long number of unpaid hours you will NEED to spend doing tax returns, VAT returns. Writing and implementing Risk assesments for Local Heath n Safety inspectors etc. Add on the time spent researching and implementing personal pension plans and arranging/ negotiating appropriate insurances etc, not to mention dealing with your friendly(not) bank, who will charge you for every penny they handle.

Oh and dont forget to make provision for slow settlement of monies owed to you, but the instant payment needed for vat n tax. And then be prepared to write TOTALLY off some debts.

I have been self employed for 22 years now, and every suceeding year becomes more difficult.

 

All the above based on the assumption that you actually find a business that is viable in the first place! And that in itself is no mean feat in this present financial/ economic period

may i ask what you do for a living , mr pete, as im self employed as well a double galzing installer and engineer..

Well here comes some negative aspects!!!

New business startups have a high failure rate, often due to lack of funding, cashflow etc.

Dont forget about the long number of unpaid hours you will NEED to spend doing tax returns, VAT returns. Writing and implementing Risk assesments for Local Heath n Safety inspectors etc. Add on the time spent researching and implementing personal pension plans and arranging/ negotiating appropriate insurances etc, not to mention dealing with your friendly(not) bank, who will charge you for every penny they handle.

Oh and dont forget to make provision for slow settlement of monies owed to you, but the instant payment needed for vat n tax. And then be prepared to write TOTALLY off some debts.

I have been self employed for 22 years now, and every suceeding year becomes more difficult.

 

All the above based on the assumption that you actually find a business that is viable in the first place! And that in itself is no mean feat in this present financial/ economic period

 

 

 

LOL im so depressed after reading that pete i fel like calling it day and getting a job as a bin man :rofl:

Shouldn't that be £100K + a year??????

Nope....he drives an astra :rofl:

 

No seriously, it should be 100k + a year, he is in the surveillance business. Used to work security (surveillance) but he investigates insurance fraud now....so before setting fire to your house after taking that £2,000,000 policy out......think again :D

LOL im so depressed after reading that pete i fel like calling it day and getting a job as a bin man

 

Has some merit that idea.

 

Garanteed holidays with pay.

Sick pay.

Index linked pension plan with no risks.

Work clothes provided.

No financial risks.

Virtually no risk of reduncancy/bankruptcy etc........

 

Im not saying that self employment doesnt add up. It has done for me. But sometimes I wonder at what cost.

Ive just pointed out some of the actual work I do which is not always obvious to someone with no previous experience of self employment.

Tell me about it bud. I work approx 17 ours a day 364 days a year.

It is worth it though, yes you can fall on your arse BUT the satisfaction of having no boss and knowing you did it yourself outweighs all the cons.

My Binmen always seem a happy bunch too!!!!! :D :D :confused:

Thats cause they is digging your bills out and selling the info on so people can steal your identity (sh1t just gave me plan away)

I do wish you all the best Karl, had my own business for five years and best move I ever made.

 

But I had to laugh:

 

I have a proven background in i.t and i.t. sales ..........I was thinking maybe a carpet cleaning company

 

Now that would have made me think " I know, Ill sell computers......how the fook did you make the leap to carpet cleaning :confused:

 

Reason for that is bud , its easy enough to set up , only need a basic amount for equipment to setup , Sales side of it shouldnt be a problem , And I.T is boring me to death so think il move my sales ability into something that prospers me instead of everyone else. I also have a friend who started a carpet cleaning business a year ago and he failed every possible thing at school , and he already drives a new beemer !! so i though well if he can do it , anyone can !! Plus i thought its a pretty basic idea and not too many aspects of it. As i want a simple idea to start out with. and what could be simpler than cleaning a carpet !! or maybe window cleaning ....hmmmmmm

 

Also any idvice on what businesses are worth entyering into at the moment , and dont anyone mention I.T !!! ??

Negative side of things is the long hours and actually being responsible for yourself isn't all its cracked up to be, you lose holidays and sick days until you eventually hire people then you have the extra worry of trusting them to do right by you, eventually they will probably start up on their own and try and nick all your business,

 

18 hours a day 7 days a week for a non guarenteed income, (remember even when you arnt working you still have your accounts to work out ect ect)

 

starting a business is different to becomeing self employed, self employed as a plumber or sparky you can start making money right off the bat, a business needs more developement. The first thing you need to do when you have decided what you want to do is build a business plan, find a good solicitor, a small business advisor and a lawyer/solicitor that come highly recomended, these people will tell you everything you need to do from an administrative point of view.

 

Personally if my life fell in i would become a plumber

im a plumber and hate it, my boss is also into property (shops, bedsits, flats and workshops) ive been asked many a time if i wopuld like to join in with him and buy some more property (maybe when i get my own house sorted) but even property aint easy now and he has been doing it for 30 years

 

the main thing that is fooking the bedsit, flat side of the bussines is that all tenants on housing benefit will be given the rent instead of paying it directly to the landlord. apperently it will make them more dependant to go out and look for work

 

like fook they will spend it on booze and drugs and there will be even more homeless people on the street for non payment of rent.

 

so whatever you decide , research it thoroughly

:D im a window cleaner fella cheap to start up but if you are willing to knock doors you could build a regular round within a month if you decide to do this i will help you all i can good luck in whatever you decide cpt cleaning i do also ;)

so far then ive thought about

1) carpet cleaning

2) window cleaning

3) Joining jock as an apprentice Heath + saferty ( but he dont know that yet !!) ;)

4) sellin my body