Help Please (half horsey :P)

J

Jumper123

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14 November 2008
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We have always videoed rounds of our ponies jumping, and recently videoed a few for friends, then i realised that the cost of buying these from professinals that are sometimes at shows cost about £20-£35 a round!! What i thought was what would it involve setting up a buisness like this? I really don't know how it could cost them anywhere near that much to put a video on a disc!!

So..
How would I go about setting up a buisness like this?
What laws etc go with this?
Also, if I (and the person who I would consider doing it with) are under 18, do these laws etc still apply?

any additional comments/tips would be appreciated!!!
 
You'd certainly need a digital video camera, lots of memory cards and a PC with a DVD burner. You can get the software to edit and transfer the file as freesource or you can buy a professional version. Macs are slightly better at that sort of thing than PCs - although both will do it well.

It seems to me there are two ways to set this up...

A. Video friends spreading your services by word of mouth. Do it from outside the ring just as a spectator. Start with your charges just "mates rates" for cash and see what happens.

B. Try to register this as a buisness so you can set up a stall at shows, advertise etc. You'll need the event organisers permission and you may need to pay for the space. You should be able to video from inside the ring. You'll need public liability insurance as an absolute minimum and I don't know if your age would count against you there. You'd probably also need a website that people could visit, see a breif clip and then order copies. That would probably require professional design (unless one of you is doing IT at A level!) as you'd have to protect the clips from being downloaded unless it was paid for. If you stick to cash or cheques you migth get away without a buisness bank account (which charges!) but you would not be able to take credit cards. You could set up a paypal account though as many people have internet access to pay by mobile phone. You'll need to check the tax position if this is going to be a full time thing - but you probably won't earn enough to need to pay tax in your first year or so. You won't earn enough to need to worry about VAT for quite some time - if ever I'm afraid!

If you are still at school you may be subject to a limitation on the number of hours you can work. There are probably a bunch of other rules too. Assuming you are over 16 though there may be grants you can get for set up costs from things like the Prince's Trust. You might be able to build it in to some A level or college courses like buisness studies, IT or media. The school career advisor should know, so try asking them.

If you're not at school the grant thing still applies and there may also be funding available from the government. Check with the job centre to see what you might be entitiled to.



Persoanlly - I'd go with A at least to start with. This isn't a good time to set up a buisness, let alone your first buisness. I made a living as a professional event and banquet photographer while I was at Uni so I have some practical experience of this and it is not a good way to make a living. Fine for supplementing a student grant (yes - I am that old!) but not a money spinner!
 
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