Setting up My Own Business...

[Shaun Dewwy]

Hey Everyone (please excuse me if this isn't the correct place to post this in. I did have a good look down the forum list and figured that this was the best forum to post in. But excuse me if it is not).

I'm currently based in London and am going to try going solo. I've not yet registered my business name but will do so within the next fortnight. I need to set up a website but I am not able to do it myself (and don't have the time anyhow). Can anyone who is already in business please recommend a good site that will take care of everything for me and not too pricey. Also, if anyone can advise on any pitfalls i must look out for, red flags or companies not to use I'd be especially grateful.

Any responses will be really appreciated - Dewwy.0

 

[woodsy]

I would suggest try and keep away from builders, seem to be the first to not pay up and trust your gut instinct with the bigger jobs as sometimes it's better to walk away even if work is tight. First couple of years particularly, keep a tight rein on your costs and also on getting your money in. Sounds simple but many a great plumber / gas man has gone under through negligence on the paperwork side. Best of luck !!!

 

[Stanios]

Some great advice from woodsy. Only thing I can add is if you are setting up a business be prepared to spend time on your website.. 9 out of 10 plumber websites I see are so generic clearly owner just paid 2 grand had no interest in giving any input the result is your website looks exactly like the other guy's. Same with accountant, dont just get an accountant and pay no interest to what you made last month or last year. Guy I worked for had constant problem with taxman because he didnt bother understanding it all and thought the accountant will be running after him, big mistake.
Basically to give it a proper go you will need to spend about a fifth of your time off tools and on your business.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Yon need to slow down a little, what sort of business are you thinking of starting ? don't go throwing money into it expecting a fast response . what experience on the tools have you had ? remember your not the only one doing it and will be plenty of competition, just look in the local yellow pages to see how meny others in your area , advertising can cost a small fortune and have very little effect in most cases, starting on your own is very risky and most fail in the first 12mths, always make sure that you get paid on completion, if a larger job ask for a deposit , there are plenty of people that will see you off given the chance, once given a price stick to it, don't fall for can you do it less for cash , or the other guy can do it for a little less, jus tell them that's your price , if they don't like it go elsewhere.

 

[joni os]

No need to register business name provided you use your own. Tax man will want to see payments through bank account,so business account necessary once business established.Bank will then try to sell you all sorts of financial products you don't need.Remember your appointed business manager at bank is just a salesman for bank.

 

[Stanios]

No need to register business name provided you use your own. Tax man will want to see payments through bank account,so business account necessary once business established.Bank will then try to sell you all sorts of financial products you don't need.Remember your appointed business manager at bank is just a salesman for bank.

He'll need to register the name if setting up a limited company, but both sole trader and limited can trade under pretty much any name that's not trademarked even if someone else is using it as long as the name you register under (which can be completely different to name you trade under) is unique

 

[Stanios]

No need to register business name provided you use your own. Tax man will want to see payments through bank account,so business account necessary once business established.Bank will then try to sell you all sorts of financial products you don't need.Remember your appointed business manager at bank is just a salesman for bank.

He'll need to register the name if setting up a limited company, but both sole trader and limited can trade under pretty much any name that's not trademarked even if someone else is using it as long as the name you register under (which can be completely different to name you trade under) is unique

 

[Shaun Dewwy]

Thanks Woodsy... My old man's a builder so I know not to trust em! :90:

 

[Shaun Dewwy]

Thanks JTS. I know there's a hell of a lot of competition (esp in London) but even if I fail (and statistically there's a good chance) I'd like to give it a go. It's getting harder and harder to get up at 5am every morning for not much reward and if I do that I'd rather kill myself for my own reward. I could always return, humbled and begging for a job if it all goes tit's up. But I will try and I'll take onboard your advice.

 

[king of pipes]

I would say go for it mate you will work harder than you ever have takes a good few years to get established but there is no easy route , don't cut corners do every job like you would in your own home charge accordingly though living and working in London , don't let the paperwork slip especially your gas records , keep on top of your invoicing and don't be fobbed off stage payments always a good way to work less risky that way , public liability is a must , social media is huge now take advantage of it thousands of potential customers out there small steps mate many a good tradesmen gone bust getting to big to quick . All the best k

 

[buzzingwithlife]

Hi Shaun, there is a lot of competition out there in your field but there's always work available. Its relatively easy to design a website if you know what you want. I designed my own website for my business at a relatively small cost, remain humble and you will do just fine.

 

[username]

Shaun - for the website, as others have said, if you pay a small amount (£2k or so) for a website you'll get a generic looking website. You seem like you can write from your posts, so take the time to write your own copy - google will like this, you'll stand out from the crowd and you'll appear more authentic.

Use Squarespace - you can make fab looking websites with virtually no technical knowledge.

If your budget is £2k - take a week off work to get the website done yourself and offset costs that way.

It will be fun, you'll learn something new, you'll have a better website than competitors, you'll be able to update it going forwards (not to be underestimated) and you'll be a lot more satisfied with it. There are very few downsides.

Good luck!

 

[kasser]

£2k - small amount for a website?

It's a fortune! Anyone who has paid that sum for a plumber's website has been robbed blind. You're not running a site the likes of Amazon or Tesco. You're not even running an ecommerce website.
All you need is to set up some static pages with content, the most important being the one with your contact details. £2k for that?

You can do this sort of website (and more) for free by using yola.com, site.pro, wix.com, weebly or even wordpress.com. So many free options.

Of course, if you do this yourself, your site won't look as neat as a professionally-made one. Personally, I get put off by flashy plumbers' websites. They give me the impression this plumber is going to be expensive since he can afford such a site. Anyway, people don't expect plumbers to have fancy sites.

It's hard to make your site be found among others, especially in a crowded place like London. Perhaps you'd be better off to forget initially about online advertising and focus on making your site visible by putting its name on your van, t-shirt, card, etc...

If you want to make your site stand out from the rest, just write more about the services your provide or even how-tos to showcase your knowledge. I often find plumbers' sites lacking in-depth content so that they all end up the same with some pics and a contact page.

Whatever you do, don't pay £2k. It's a rip-off for the kind of site you need.

 

[newcastle phill]

I did my own for £80 quid.
The cost of the software.
Did it myself including online booking & instant messaging applet.

Its not responsive but detects device and produces a site based on device size

 

[kasser]

May I know the software?
Plumber's website with instant messaging service aka chat? Haven't come across that yet. I suppose you reply via your phone... It could keep you away from your job if you get lots of chats?

 

[kasser]

May I know the software?
Plumber's website with instant messaging service aka chat? Haven't come across that yet. I suppose you reply via your phone... It could keep you away from your job if you get lots of chats?

 

[newcastle phill]

I did and still use webplus x8. But its discontinued now.

 

[Stanios]

May I know the software?
Plumber's website with instant messaging service aka chat? Haven't come across that yet. I suppose you reply via your phone... It could keep you away from your job if you get lots of chats?

No doubt he outsources his webchat to another continent...

 

[newcastle phill]

Hah. No its an instant messaging to me only. I may take some time to get back to them.
There is a chat facility but i dont want that.

 

[Stanios]

Hah. No its an instant messaging to me only. I may take some time to get back to them.
There is a chat facility but i dont want that.

Is it video chat? If so you might be missing out

 

[ash85]

The first thing you need is a good website. When I was launching mine, I used one of these wordpress ecommerce themes . I'm a total non-techie, but nevertheless I managed to set up a website on my own and within a short period of time.

 

[REDSAW]

one of the sponsors of this forum do a good deal for bespoke websites for members.
think its around the £400 mark!

 

[rpm]

Who's that?