Hi there. I’m new here so please be gentle. Just a quick question first
I have received details from a liquidator I sort and appointed to deal with my limited company’s liquidation as to how much is owing to a creditor, I’ve been advised by an accountant ( not mine ) that I should request a bank summary. Am I within my rights to do so as I’d like to see how the amount owed to the creditor is made up and or calculated. Also although there is only one creditor ( HMRC ) there are muttering that a member of my family is also considering making a claim on my business, thus being a second creditor. I have asked the liquidator for details of what they are possibly going to be claiming for but he has said he is unable to comment which is a great worry at this time. He has also said that he has not adjudicated on this this far. I’m sure I’ve forgotten other things I’d like some help and advice on but hopefully I can at least get the ball rolling.
Many thanks all.

Hi,

I am non share holding director of an SME. I have been asked by one of the shareholders to sign as a PG on A loan. For context, there are 2 shareholders. One is retired so is not signing as a PG. I have a locked price on 20% of his shares and I have 3 years to buy them. I can do this using company profits but we have had a couple of tough months. So we need a loan to support the business.

I also have personal debt linked to company expenses on my personal credit card that have not yet been claimed.

I feel I am taking on a lot of risk but not getting the reward. I am the only active working director in the UK with the other working director working remotely.

I am paid a salary of course however I am not sure about the increased risks

I am confident we can turn around the business however I am taking in risk with the share buy agreement running out before the loan payments will be finished.

What are my options and is there anything I can do to help protect me or help me secure my shares. Is a management buy out as part of the loan be something to approach.

I also want to know more about Sweat equity and if I have this as an option

Good Morning All!

New Here! Just wanted thoughts on a Stores financials, I may have answered my own question but purchase price seems to be pretty high (I think I read about unscrupulous agents increasing values etc), or it may be completely feasible (the view of my friend who ran a successful rural post office himself).

So prominent position in a small village (other villages surrounding) no other shops within a good few miles. Stores and Post Office with large detached home (been in situ from early 1900's. It definitely needs bringing up to date decoratively and stock wise..

10yr lease - 169k
(annual rent 8k)

turnover - 159k
G Profit - 44k

I run an online retail grocery store serving my local area and I am looking to expand to new locations. However, I'm having trouble finding an affordable logistics partner that won't drive up costs and deter customers. I've considered working with a local logistics company that offers competitive pricing, but I'm hesitant because their reviews are mixed, and I'm not fully confident in their services.

Does anyone have ideas on how I could solve this issue or suggestions for reliable logistics partners? I've looked into a few options, including DHL, DPD, and M&H Carriers, but I'm open to other recommendations as well.

Hi everyone, my name is Matt Evans I currently work at a really successful digital marketing agency in Leicester. One of the things that I do is venture out to big events and Trade shows and precure work for my agency. It went so well that I brought in just over 40k revenue over nine events!

I’m looking to venture out and start a business as a freelance worker and wondered if there was anyone that could give me advice on day rates.

I’m not entirely sure what to be charging, but it should be something substantial as I worked out on average each event that I went to yielded £2500 worth of work!

If there’s anyone who is in management right now within a digital marketing agency that wouldn’t mind giving me some advice or having a chat with me I’d be very grateful!

Hi.. I am starting a new business as a Hydroponics retail store, selling plant nutrients and all hydroponics equipment. I will be selling online and also have a physical brick and morter shop selling to customers face to face

I am undecided between these x2 names and wondered what you people thought

Either

Hydroponik

(With a 'k' instead of a 'c'.. mispelt on purpose. This seems to be a trend in some buisnesses now)

Or

Hydroporium
(Which is a combination of the words 'Hydro' and 'Emporium'. Emporium means large retail store)

Hello everyone!

I'm new here and hope that some of you might be able to offer some advice

As a bit of background, pre-pandemic I was a self-employed professional musician (mainly working in professional orchestras) but even before all the work disappeared following lockdowns etc. I'd been thinking about a change of career. The logistical complications of my previous occupation were hugely magnified after the birth of our daughter and it was clear that that once she started school, I would need to be doing something with more flexible hours!

I've spent the last few years working as a teaching assistant but this was never a longterm career choice. My real interests lie in running my own business (specifically setting up and running my own jewellery brand). I've tried my hand at this already via platforms such as Etsy and have even gone as far as setting up my own Shopify store. BUT, having no previous knowledge of running a business (in particular, ecommerce), I'm struggling to get to grips with all the different aspects of this sort of venture.

I desperately want to make a go of this and I think it would be beneficial to learn the nuts and bolts of business first in order to put down some solid foundations? I also feel quite isolated and would be so grateful to actually get out and meet people who are busy trying to do the same thing.

Any advice would be so welcome and if anyone has suggestions of the sort of course I could take to help myself along this journey, I would be incredibly grateful

Many thanks!

Late last year I started selling some trading cards on eBay from my personal collection. I was doing pretty well so continued to to list more and currently, I've sold around £750 worth (not taking into account any expenses). Obviously this is getting close to the £1000 threshold for income tax. Ideally I'd like to start putting any profit back into buying more cards to sell on and grow it from there. I've started looking into the different ways I could do this, I've thought about starting a new eBay account linked to a new bank/paypal for neatness, rather than it all being mixed up in personal purchases etc. The only downside would be losing feedback score etc, but I'm confident I could build this up again. Is this the best way to go about it? Then I would have a clear date when I started trading and all sales and purchases will be recorded from one account going forward.

In terms of accounting, accrual-based seems a bit much considering the amounts I'm dealing with. I'm employed full time so this is only a side hustle really, but of course, I want to put some effort into making it profitable. Obviously my other option is a cash basis, which seems more manageable to me, but I have some queries in regard to what I'm selling, it seems like a grey area from what I've read. I can easily record any expenses (postage, packaging, stock purchases) and income from sales, but it's some of the starting out parts I'm having trouble with.

My inventory is going to be fairly large and I'll be keeping a spreadsheet tracking it all. For starting out, my inventory is all going to be from my personal collection, potentially 500/600 cards worth. A lot of these are going to be low value, but how to I go about logging this? It can't be classed as an expense because I haven't actually purchased them via the business and a lot of them I have had for years. Valuing them all would be very tricky too as prices fluctuate and the bulk of that would be 10-50ps worth individually. Ideally, I want to sell a lot of that and keep reinvesting in more expensive items, I do have some more expensive cards that I already have listed (eg one is listed at £45). As for future stock purchases, I feel like that would be tricky too. For individual card purchases that I aim to re-sell, that's no problem as I'll have the purchase cost for the stock, but say I bought a pack of cards for £4 and there's 10 cards inside, would the purchase cost for each card be 40p? Or would a rough market value be better, because I could open it and potentially get a card form the pack that's worth £50.

I'd also like to put in a bit of start-up money, probably around £200, so I can start buying more stock. How would I log this using cash basis?

Lastly, for cash basis accounting, what figures are needed in the self-assessment? Is it just money received and expenses paid out? I'll be keeping evidence of everything sales and purchases-wise in case there are any issues.

Any other general info on what type of things to log and the best way to do so would be massively helpful too as this is all new to me! I know i'm not at the point where I need to sort all this but the way it's going I will be and I'd rather get prepared now rather than panic later.

Cheers!

Hi All,

Require some advice, i'm contracting daily to another company who have required me to travel with Hotel/food expenses.

They have been happy to cover the expenses as part of the job and pay me the amount of expenses incurred. (without an invoice)

Now i have done a year of this my accountant has mentioned that i now need to class these payments as sales and have to pay 20% on approx 5k worth of expenses. I'm flat vat registered

Is this right enough? I'm paying VAT at point of sale.

Thanks

Directors loan account,

Hi,
I'm trying to build a company from scratch and I'm trying to avoid taking anything out of it until it's completely financially self sufficient. But as the 1st year end is approaching I was wondering what the tax implications of taking a directors loan out would be, if I took say £7000 directors loan just before the year ends and paid it back say 2 weeks later would this remove any tax liabilities on thr loan with regards to the 1st years accounts? And after paying it back would it causes any tax liabilities in thr second years accounts?

Hi,

Can someone suggest an affordable ERP that has the following?

• Amazon integration
• Shopify integration
• Manufacturing with batch codes and use by dates
• Inventory management with warehouse and Amazon

Thank you

Hi all
I am a consultant surgeon based in the UK.
I am also someone who is interested in business/start ups.
I have a great idea for a business venture in the healthcare industry.
I have done my research and there is nothing like this that I can find.
Essentially, I am looking for some advice on how to take this forward.
Thank you

I own a lingerie factory that primarily produces lingerie and swimwear, specializing in OEM for French clients. Now, I want to expand and work with UK clients, but I am unsure how to connect with brands that need manufacturing services. Do you have any good suggestions?

Hi All,

My wife has recently trialed with setting up a stall in our local market selling home linen. As the response was encouraging, she wants to do more of these in the coming months and hopefully make it a business over time. I don't have any prior experience in running a small business and neither does she, so I would appreciate if you could advise me on some points.

She will be mainly selling physically from stall but at some point we may also opt to do it online. I don't anticipate our project revenue from these market stalls (4-5 a month) to exceed £1000 per month for now based on volume of sales we have seen from our two trials in the local market.

1) She isn't currently registered as a sole trader. Is this a pre-requisite or can we wait and see if this is something she wants to pursue long term? She has an NI number but not currently registered for self-assessment as she isn't in active employment. She has previously worked for a retailer part-time so didn't need to.
2) She will be getting goods shipped from Indian sellers. As we are starting small, I don't anticipate those shipments to be more than £300-400 in value initially till we get a better grasp of the business. I understand as the value will likely cross the £135 threshold, we would be charged VAT and duty. Is this correct?
3) I think our products would fall under this commodity code - 6304191090 - which I believe won't require any import license. Is this correct?
4) Is there a need to setup a different bank account for this or can we wait and see if this is something viable in the long run? At the moment, the money goes into her personal account.

Thanks

Launching a licencing software in few months. Any suggestions on steps to take for a successful market launch? Thinking of using Facebook marketing for ad.

Hi Everyone,

I'm seeking some advice and assistance. I'm interested in starting an import business in the UK, but I'm facing potential restrictions due to my visa (I'm not entirely sure about the specifics; I read about it online). I'm originally from India and have been living in the UK for the past three years. I have a strong understanding of clothing production and suppliers in India—one of my friends even owns a clothing brand there. My goal is to export clothing from India to the UK and sell it here, capitalizing on the exchange rate and lower labor costs to achieve a good profit margin. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding clear guidance on how to proceed. Could anyone offer some advice or would be interested in partnering on this venture?

Hello, I run an online homewares store, currently around 200 orders per month. We have been using YODEL until recently but have issues with not many local stores taking this volume of parcels. Who do you recommend sending with when you are sending 50+ per week?

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about launching a business selling Vitamin supplements and vegan type products and I just wondered if this is a good idea or is this market too competitive? And as a result will this be a difficult and expensive market to do well in?

I am thinking about having my own website to sell products directly to the public but also sell products on Ebay and Amazon. Clearly the margins are not huge with these products so I want to get some advice before going ahead with it.

Does anyone run a Vitamin type business or Vegan products business in England? Or a health product type business? Could you give me advice and your experience?

Many thanks

Good afternoon

I’m in the export business shipping mainly to Ghana .


I am looking to buy various electric appliances such as TV , microwave , kettle , iron etc .
I’m looking for new suppliers around England
Interested in working or faulty LED TV without broken screen .
Store return items in bulk or palettes ,
Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi,

I am an Amazon seller, and I need to get ready for upcoming changes for the EU responsible person, Packaging, and EPR, but I am lost. I was wondering if anyone knows of any agency that can guide me through all this new legislation so I know what to do.

Thank you

Hi,

I'm operating my a design agency in the UK, as a freelancer.

I'm interested in connecting retained contracts with clients or companies who might need ad-hoc or retained graphic design support for their business.

But I have no idea how to go about finding these.

I'm not really interested in platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork as I find they're just a race to the bottom.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey all,
I am a US Citizen, and have a Limited company in UK that is registered in USA as a disregarded entity. I am hoping to move my business to the USA and would love some tips from the legal and taxation side of things. A few more specific questions. Would it be an acceptable expense to use business profits to buy property in the USA in terms of taxation benefits? Second, any basic tips on timing of transitioning the business ni terms of my businesses tax year to reduce tax burden and remove risk of double taxation.

Thanks

Hello everyone,

I’m seeking advice on platforms like ABI. We are a composite door and cabinet manufacturer with 18 years of experience, we’ve recently launched a UK branch and website. We’re exploring various platforms to enhance our marketing in the UK and EU. These platforms can be somehow costly, so we want to ensure we invest our efforts wisely. Has anyone used these platforms? Your insights and experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I have registered a band name for trademark. I am in the period of waiting for objections. My period ends 12th September. I then have to wait 14 days for my certification. Once my objection period ends can i enforce any infringement even though i am waiting on certification. I read that the trademark starts from date of registration ?
Thanks

Hello,

I am in need of some advice, after 2 years of starting the business I came into contact with 2x contracts which paid on a 3 month term period, the issue occurred when I had to pay for outgoings which at times could be in the thousand carrying out new build groundwork, with outgoing being high but income be paid every 3 month I came to a issue with cashflow and was introduced to bibby factoring, I was sold the dream and due to my age at the time only being 25 I was stupid in my ways and signed up for factoring finance and as a guarantor (should not of done this), the deal I carried out with themselves was that I would have the £30,000 unpaid invoice insurance which I paid a premium for.

The issue which started to arise was when they charged account managers, the account manager managed to loose one of the contracts worth £200,00 due to bad attitude and chasing for invoice which was not due, so in the end the contract cut ties with myself.
The second issue occurred was when I had the 2nd contract refuse to pay the £24,000, now I believed this wouldn’t be a issue due to the financial insurance but turns out they didn’t want to know and tried blaming me for not providing time sheets for a fixed price job?, I never provided time sheets so this annoyed me and then they tried saying it was my fault the invoice didn’t get paid (take into account I provide all relevant documents etc invoice and instruction from the client). Due to this bibby wouldn’t chase the invoice leaving me financial in ruin due to the lose of the contract and also the lose of pay, they then ended the contract saying it was good and took me personal to court attempting to take my house, I managed to sort this and get in a payment plan which they have the good sense to charge me £10,000 more for that good deed (also couldn’t attend court due to the letter disappearing as the quoted to the lawyer), I didn’t know about the excess when I went into the payment plan.

The advice I’m looking for is there any way out of this situation? And is there anything I can do as I’ve lost my business pretty much and ended up paying for a bill of another company who owed me money.

Could do with some advice please!