How many people have their own business?

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bertin12

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Wasn't sure where to post this...

Just out of interest really. I'd love to one day work for myself & was just wondering if anyone here has their own business & what is it? Especially those with animal related businesses.

It's not going to happen any time soon for me, and I'm not 100% sure what i'd actually like to do, but I am just looking into how to get started etc. So any experiences/ stories welcome!!
 
We have a small business supplying historical clothing, artefacts, animals (including horses and tack, riders), skills and expertise to the film and TV industry.
 
Farming - mainly sheep and some friesian cattle. I think you must be prepared for long hours, not necessarily making a good wage at least to start, keep on top of paperwork/tax/insurance type things/have a good business plan, look for grants(Princes Trust maybe) and be confident in yourself and your idea, that it will work. Nothing beats the feeling when things are going well, that it is all down to you yourself and your own achievements.
Also I think its best to have some back up/support in place for if you ever get so ill you really cannot keep going.Not just the insurance for finance, a person who can keep things ticking over. Have you got any basic idea at all of what you are going to try? But don't say if your idea is so unique someone will think 'hmmmm that's brilliant' and nick it before you get started! I always wanted to do something with sheepdogs as well, but not quite got it sorted yet. Good luck whatever you decide.
 
I have a riding school and livery yard, OH has a joinery business, son is an EDT. OH and I find it pretty stressful, as time has gone on there is more red tape and small business's aren't supported well by the government. Being an employer is hard work and we often don't earn as much as our employees considering the hours we put in outwith the normal working day. As we get older it certainly seems to be getting harder. Our son doesn't have any employees and doesn't have business premises to maintain which does make life easier and is certainly something to consider.
 
We have our own business supplying paint to agricultural, industrial and equine customers �� looking to expand into other areas too.
 
My OH and I have a small carriage/horse logging business (most do carriage work)
And I work as a free lance groom, mostly for on livery yards to cover staff shortages.
 
My sister and I run a business offering sage software, training and bookkeeping. Bought it from parents when they retired, no staff, no premises except an office address for post. Was a worry when things were quiet and now we are v busy its lovely but you do need to make an effort to stay on top of your own accounts vat tax returns, debt chasing and still offer excellent customer service!
 
Mobile catering, set pitch Mon-Fri, events at weekends, so frustrating trying to predict how much stock to take, soooo many receipts to deal with, when it goes well, I love my job, you need to be a people person and have an opinion on everything, but it's long hours, so much to do after you shut the hatch
 
hubby and i used to make and sell showjumps but the hours were very long, the profits very small and in the end we decided we had had enough. We didn't have a single day off in over 12mths and it all just got too much. Our problem was we were too successful which sounds kind of silly but we didn't make enough to employ staff but had to work all the hours we could in order to keep up with the demands.
 
I do, its in grounds maintenance so can be defined by the weather - although I work in all but the very worst (ie dangerous) conditions.

Things to think about are the fact that expenses and costs will always be higher than you budget for, there will always be one customer that doesn't pay on time and intitally you will have (possibly for a period of years) a VERY low income.

That's before the tax man takes his 20% away too, as soon as you go over your personal allowance threshold (circa £10K)

Being self employed or running your own company (even more complicated trust me!) is way, way different to an employed 9-5 job and is not the dream that many think it could be!
 
Yes, I work for my OH's company. Hard work, long hours. He set the company up before he met me and he worked very hard to make sure he had money to start the business without any debt. It would be lovely if he just worked 9-5 Monday to Friday but it's so motivating knowing it's our business. It can be stressful but it's also very rewarding.

It's not easy but it's what I grew up knowing, my mum works for my dad's company so I was fully prepared for how much time having a business takes.
 
Yes, with my OH we own and run two businesses. one is a pet food franchise, the other a pet shop/feed store. We are open five and a half days a week, and have three part time staff too. We run a big delivery round, offering free delivery for orders over £20.00, this works very well for business and we can often have over 100 deliveries per week. It has it's ups and downs, nice customers and bad days, days when you're struggling through rain, have left work in the dark in the morning, check your own horses in the dark and don't ride for a fortnight, but then in summer we can get away once the deliveries are done if we have staff in... Sometimes we can be gone just after lunch, giving us a chance to walk the dogs, ride the horses, get out on the boat etc!
 
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