A question for those with their own business, if you have time

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now_loves_mares

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As I've been working from home today, and loving it, I have started resurrecting an old idea of working for myself. I am a Chartered Accountant with lots of varied experience, so was thinking the most sensible thing is to work with that, rather than something I know nothing about ;)

I was thinking of something along the lines of freelance accounting for companies too small to employ a FT person. I just wondered what sort of services you all use, and how you get your financial/accounting advice. Where did you go when you were starting out, did you write your own business plan, go to the bank alone, is it mostly tax advice you look for, or consulting services too etc. I'd also be really interested in the size of your company in terms of Turnover, so I know who to target, but I realise you may not want to divulge that information either on an open forum or to a stranger by PM :p Also, is it an equestrian business or something completely different - again more to get an idea of which areas to focus on.

I really hope this isn't considered advertising as I reckon this is at least 2 years away, for lots of reasons. But there is nothing like a bit of forward planning!

Home made lattes and rocky road if you can be bothered replying :)
 
now_loves_mares said:
As I've been working from home today, and loving it, I have started resurrecting an old idea of working for myself. I am a Chartered Accountant with lots of varied experience, so was thinking the most sensible thing is to work with that, rather than something I know nothing about ;)

I was thinking of something along the lines of freelance accounting for companies too small to employ a FT person. I just wondered what sort of services you all use, and how you get your financial/accounting advice. Where did you go when you were starting out, did you write your own business plan, go to the bank alone, is it mostly tax advice you look for, or consulting services too etc. I'd also be really interested in the size of your company in terms of Turnover, so I know who to target, but I realise you may not want to divulge that information either on an open forum or to a stranger by PM :p Also, is it an equestrian business or something completely different - again more to get an idea of which areas to focus on.

I really hope this isn't considered advertising as I reckon this is at least 2 years away, for lots of reasons. But there is nothing like a bit of forward planning!

Home made lattes and rocky road if you can be bothered replying :)
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I'm thinking of exactly the same but down South - would be interested to hear replies too . . . . . .
 
When we started our business we probably did it all wrong - no business plan, no external consultatation, just had an idea and went for it and paid for everything out of savings. We did however continue with full time jobs in the early days.

We are a limited company and so have to use an accountant to do our year end, but still do the normal 'books' ourselves (though I hate it and whinge a lot :D ) I'd love to pay someone but at the end of the day it all boils down to cost.

We were recently approached by an accountant who had set up on her own, so probably similar to you. We did consider moving from the accountancy firm we use but the costs weren't that different and we couldn't see the benefit. We could probably do with more financial advice than we currently get but money is always tight (its a manufacturing company in the equestrian sector and its v v competitive with all the imported stuff)

Not sure this helps at all :D Could you start your new business while still working for your current employer? Its hard work doing effectively 2 jobs but a lot safer! Good luck whatever you decide :)
 
I have a yard, which I run as a business and have a small farming enterprise in partnership with my OH.
I am an economist, with a business/marketing degree to boot, so the planning, developing etc was done by me.
OH is a Chartered Accountant :D and runs a small practice - he employs book keepers and a secretary, but no other accountant.

Oldmare- according to my OH's clients, the main benefit over a big firm is not the cost, as he isn't cheap by any means, but the fact that he knows the clients and their situations inside out and is able to ask the right questions ;)
 
Good point Martlin, I suppose we don't really see our accountant as a resource, more a necessary once a year expense (deep apologies to all accountants at this point, as I'm sure its my failing here but it had truly never ocurred to me that he/they could contribute beyond that).

I'm actually intrigued, what else do accountants do?

NB we've been trading for 11 years so somewhat embarassing not to know I guess :D
 
Ditto Martlin re. the smaller companies/practioners being more personal.

We have a company, which we initially fell into due to my previous life/career. Heard about our accountant from a friend. Love him as he knows us and our business well. Also have a good bank business manager.

Depends on what area you're interested in. We're keen on an accountant that has a throrough understanding of IR35 :D
 
Ah yes MrsM - IR35! Did my training in Aberdeen which is of course full of Oil Companies, and a gazillion "service" companies which were effectively one-man bands. I used to know a lot about it!

OldMare - I think your attitude (sorry for the word, I realise it sounds aggressive and it's not meant to!) would be the biggest obstacle to overcome. A good accountant should be able to earn (for the company) way more than their cost (unless it's a really tiny business). Everything from negotiating finance deals with banks, pursuing grants, supplier negotiations, credit/debit terms, sources of funding, advice on risks and controls, eg protecting against internal fraud, compliance, tax planning and VAT. Strategies for growth, competitor analysis, simple ratio analysis, where you are spending too much compared to your competitors. It goes on and on! As others have said, get the right mix between the size of your business and the size of your financial support can be very valuable indeed. In my current role, the job I do is deemed "business partner" and that's how I'd like to be seen. Agree completely though that in many cases it's just not worth the cost. If you have a very small simple business there would indeed be a limit to how much I (or others) could help.

Also yes I think when I do decide to do it, it will have to be a trickle start as I am in quite a comfortable position with my current job. It just gives me no flexibility in terms of life/horses etc :(

Thanks for the inputs so far - any more much appreciated!
 
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0ldmare said:
Good point Martlin, I suppose we don't really see our accountant as a resource, more a necessary once a year expense (deep apologies to all accountants at this point, as I'm sure its my failing here but it had truly never ocurred to me that he/they could contribute beyond that).

I'm actually intrigued, what else do accountants do?

NB we've been trading for 11 years so somewhat embarassing not to know I guess :D
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Well, he obviously does the tax returns, but also awful lot of financial planning advice, helping with mortgages and loans, inheritance taxes and construction of wills in order to minimise tax etc. He specialises in farming and rural enterprise, which means that majority of his clients aren't exactly clued up ;), so it is very important to know them, their farms and families really well, in order to know how to help them.
He also negotiates with HMRC and represents clients in all sorts of troubles.
It's important for them to know that he is on the other end of a phone-line whenever they are in any sort of doubt or trouble:) AND he most of the time doesn't need to check in the file...
 
Ah Martlin, sounds like your OH is more experienced in the personal side of things, whereas I have a slightly more commercial background. I'm not so hot on IHT planning, but know the basics. However, ask me to do a 5 year strategic plan with full bells and whistles and I'm your girl :)
 
now_loves_mares said:
As I've been working from home today, and loving it, I have started resurrecting an old idea of working for myself. I am a Chartered Accountant with lots of varied experience, so was thinking the most sensible thing is to work with that, rather than something I know nothing about ;)

I was thinking of something along the lines of freelance accounting for companies too small to employ a FT person. I just wondered what sort of services you all use, and how you get your financial/accounting advice. Where did you go when you were starting out, did you write your own business plan, go to the bank alone, is it mostly tax advice you look for, or consulting services too etc. I'd also be really interested in the size of your company in terms of Turnover, so I know who to target, but I realise you may not want to divulge that information either on an open forum or to a stranger by PM :p Also, is it an equestrian business or something completely different - again more to get an idea of which areas to focus on.

I really hope this isn't considered advertising as I reckon this is at least 2 years away, for lots of reasons. But there is nothing like a bit of forward planning!

Home made lattes and rocky road if you can be bothered replying :)
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I would say there is always work for acountants esp if you would be happy doing vat returns and annual accounts, tax returns etc for the many small busnesses/ one man up non LTD sole trader/partnerships, then there is the same plus auditing for the limited ones and yes people need guidence about tax and saving it, leasing vs buying vehicles equipment, maybe you could specialise in one type of bussiness but you would maybe need to cover a wide area to get enough work... I guess most people have a bussiness idea and jump in!! unless they want/need to borrow then they would need a written bussiness plan cash, flow forcast etc for the bank I guess you would get that sort of work through personal recomendation and advertising
 
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That's very interesting and I am suitably chastened. I can promise you I wasn't being 'funny' nor do I particularly have a positive or negative attitude towards the accountancy profession. I guess its just never occurred to me to look at what else they had to offer (and our accountants never thought to enlighten us either)

Anyway good luck whatever you decide. :)
 
0ldmare said:
That's very interesting and I am suitably chastened. I can promise you I wasn't being 'funny' nor do I particularly have a positive or negative attitude towards the accountancy profession. I guess its just never occurred to me to look at what else they had to offer (and our accountants never thought to enlighten us either)

Anyway good luck whatever you decide. :)
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Thank you :) Goodness, I certainly didn't intend to make you feel chastened! Just couldn't think of the exact word I needed - perhaps "understanding" would have been better :rolleyes:

Anyway, when you are looking to expand and need a business plan, you know where to go now :D
 
Anyway, when you are looking to expand and need a business plan, you know where to go now :D
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Its a deal :D

PS I think you should go for it, I'd never go back to being employed (nobody would have me anyway he he)
 
Going back to the original question , you can be self employed and have horses and be happy. I prob earn less than I could empolyed but now keep my horses at home , dont feel the need to keep up with fashion , me or the horses , and make them fit round me......If I am v busy they get time off. So dont panic if you feel like you are not earning the same but do plan for not being fully booked from day one and be very disciplined about not splurgeing if you have a good month!
 
I have what would probably be classed as a very small business. I still work full time for the NHS as a Physio and in my evenings and weekends I am self employed as a Pilates Instructor and as an Animal Physiotherapist.

I use my accountant for tax returns and occasionally phone up to ask stupid questions about what I can pay for on my business account. I don't bring in enough money to pay myself at the moment but pay for things like insurance, equipment from my business so I see that as indirectly paying myself if that makes sense!!

The Animal Physiotherapy business in Aberdeen as you may imagine is very variable and I know if I moved to England I could probably do that job full time straight away. But I want to stay in Aberdeen, I can't get my head round how to do a financial plan for growing the business as it is entirely dependent on getting referrals from vets (who don't do that much up here) or from word of mouth through horse/pet owners. I would be very interested to hear how I could grow my business and allow me to do more animal work and less nhs work.

I haven't yet discussed this with my accountant or bank manager as didn't feel they would understand the nature of my work, but maybe I shouldn't assume that!!

I fear I am not very business minded sometimes!!!

Vel x
 
I'll second that! After years in forensic science (its not like CSI, no) and working 130 hours overtime last easter on top of full time hours, and with a horse and house to manage, I decided the money wasnt as important as my sanity, so I set up shop printing equestrian and rugby wear from home.

I dont earn anywhere near as much as i used to, but I've never been happier. Whats helped more than anything is networking. Friends have shown me their business plans, recommended garment suppliers, every horse owner i know pretty much gave me slogans and funny phrases. I was put in touch with a great accountant, shown how business link can be a massive support and got a friend to do me a discounted website. In return they've all had bits and bobs at discount, or free as a thank you, which also gets people asking where they got their personalised hoodies etc.

Without talking to other business owners I'd have been a donkey in a minefield, just talk to anyone and everyone you know who has a business, ask their advice. The chances are somewhere down the line they'll remember you when talking to another new business owner about their accountants too!
 
I run a small magazine publishing company, putting out 2 monthly titles - we are a Ltd company and employ 4 people (myself and my business partner are directors, we have one part timer who sells the advertising and one editor.) We also have about 12 freelance contributors.

We have been going 6 years and our turnover is a very healthy 6 figures. (Not wanting to be too specific in public!)

When we started, my business partner and I did a 5 day business start-up course with Business Link. It helped us put together a detailed business plan - we had to do this we wanted to borrow a substantial sum from the bank. If someone doesn't have access to somewhere like Business Link, someone who could help put a plan together at a reasonable cost would be invaluable!

I did all the book keeping myself for the first 4 years of the business but I just got snowed under, as I edit one of our mags too. Our accountant recommended a freelance book keeper and she has been worth her weight in gold.

She comes in two days a month and does all the invoicing, payroll, inputting figures onto Sage, bank recs, freelance payments, VAT returns and prepares our end of year accounts. They obviously have to get done by the accountant due to our Ltd Co status.

We are actually on our 2nd accountant. The first one was very old fashioned and couldn't cope with computerised books on Sage! So we changed - using a local recommendation. The first meeting we had with the new accountant, he gave us a golden nugget of advice which saved us more than his entire annual fee within a couple of months! I was puzzled why our 1st accountant hadn't given us that same advice.

Good luck with your plans, now_loves_mares! I think there are some real niches to be found working with small, new or developing businesses.
 
Thanks again for all the input everyone! Vel I did think I'd like to focus on equestrian related businesses, as I understand them! But in so many instances (maybe cos horsey people are always skint?!) they operate on such small margins that it would be hard to persuade them that you can help!

I will start to give this a bit more thought as it does look like something I could make work. I just better use my employer's dime to pay off my mortgage a bit first though :rolleyes:

Now, I'm going back to doing my Dad's tax return, oh joy :)
 
Thanks Red, that's all very useful. In an ideal world, I would love to help brand new start-ups get their dream off the ground. But of course the business part of me realises that this is exactly the type of client that can rarely take the gamble of those upfront costs! If I ever win the lottery, that's exactly what I'll do as a charity :)
 
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