Let's talk about self-employment - [PDF] - Niace

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Getting started If you’ve read this far and think being self-employed could be for you then the next thing to tackle is how to get started. Do you know what you want to do? Some people have a flash of inspiration, some spend years developing ideas while others come at it from a different angle, knowing they want to be self-employed and then going out and finding something that they can do. If you’ve already got an idea, then you can move ahead and start planning. If you haven’t, don’t worry. What you need to do is spend some time thinking about the experience you have and the sort of skills you’ve picked up – not just from jobs you may have done but also through hobbies and just getting on with your life. For example, a lot of people are self-employed doing things like ironing or cleaning while others have turned their passion for gardening into a career or their love of driving into an earner. Where to go for advice Once you’ve come up with an idea, don’t just turn to your family or mates to find out if they think you’re on to a winner. They often think you’re fantastic whatever you do so it’s much better to get advice from an outsider, particularly one with experience. Organisations such as The Prince’s Trust, Business Link, LiveWIRE and WiRE all have advice for people wanting to work for themselves. You’ll find their details in our Further resources section (at the end). 11
Getting started Help for ex-offenders • The Prince’s Trust works with people between the ages of 14 and 30 and has support specifically for ex-offenders. • Start-up is an organisation offering ex-offenders over the age of 30 the opportunity to become self-employed. See our Further resources section for more details. • You can get help and support with becoming self-employed via New Deal if you can show that you really want to go down that route and have already started making plans and finding out information. You’ll be referred to an employment advisor who will support you as you plan your work and start up in business. You’ll also receive a New Deal allowance and benefits. For more information on New Deal and Jobcentre Plus, which can give you access to New Deal, see our Further resources section. Researching, developing and planning Most successful self-employed people put a lot of effort into developing their ideas and planning every last detail before launching into work. Doing this is time consuming and, if you’re raring to get going, can be a bit dull but it is vital if you want to make a go of what you’re doing. You need to: • Think about who is going to buy the product or service you are selling. This is what is known as your target market. • Look around and see who else is doing what you want to do. These are your competitors and you can learn a lot from 12
Page 1 and 2: Let’s talk about self-employment
Page 3 and 4: Contents European Social Fund and L
Page 5 and 6: 4 Let’s talk about self employmen
Page 7 and 8: Introduction have a go at being sel
Page 9 and 10: Introduction Other things to think
Page 11: Introduction Cons (against) Lack of
Page 15 and 16: Getting started Help is at hand If
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Page 25 and 26: Where do I start? settled in a home
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Page 29 and 30: How much do I charge? should keep t
Page 31 and 32: Getting paid before you can invoice
Page 33 and 34: Keeping on top of tax Income tax If
Page 35 and 36: Keeping on top of tax TIP: Keep you
Page 37 and 38: Getting the basics right Looking af
Page 39 and 40: Getting the basics right Pages 4 an
Page 41 and 42: Further resources Apex Trust helps
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