Do i go full time self-employed?

[KBGutters]

Hi all.

Forgive me as this kind of discussion is definitely a common one but I’d like to have some advice based on my own circumstance.

So, in a nutshell, I’m a decent graduate role (30,000 salary) in a job that neither challenges or really satisfies me either. I started my own company last June offering professional gutter cleaning and I’ve managed to build that up so I’m regularly bringing in £1200-£1500 PCM on a modest marketing budget and working Saturday/Sunday only.

It’s worth noting I love practical work, hate desk work, and have always wanted to work for myself and build a company.

My conundrum is this: for every month I stay in work I can save £1000 PCM which can be capital for either this business or another as and when it’s needed.

I would also need to take a considerable step backward (a £30,000 sized one) to go forward.

The guttering is much more lucrative, so it’s just a matter of filling up my working week if I did go full time (which I’m quite confident I will have little issue in doing by simply increasing my ad spend in areas that already work and in new areas too).

I’m also very keen in starting one or more new business up with my new-found free time (at least initially) which is something I really don’t have the time to do now!

That’s basically it! No amount of thinking is helping me clarify the way forward so I was hoping somebody else could advise

Thanks guys.

 

[Liam-a]

Hi, can i just ask how you generated business and interest to start with?

 

[AnotherSEOGuy]

Preface: Am not a financial adviser nor am I a business mentor (although that's not something I really need to preface, people claim to be those nowadays because they once worked in a decent company).

What you've done sounds awesome, great job!

I'd suggest staying put for 6-12 months, as long as you can fulfill the guttering work with no degradation in the quality of work. Save that £1,000 p/month or however much profit you make and build up a runway, that'll make it so if your guttering business completely shits the bed, you won't be SOL with no job.

When you have a 6-12 month runway, quit. A runway is your bills per month, food and your general expenses, be frugal. It'll be a huge drop in quality of living I'm assuming, but even start saving your current salary if possible too, the bigger the runway the less pressure you'll feel.

For gutter cleaning you could probably acquire work on a £300 p/month AdWords (PPC) spend pretty easily.

Best of luck!

 

[O. Julian]

You should first determine your comfort level with an unstable income

 

[Nikki Hesford]

For a start, £30,000 if you're a graduate with a student loan is actually only equivalent to around £1800-1900 a month I think after all your deductions?

As a self employed person (and you should already be registered with HMRC) there are a number of legitimate deductions you can make that in truth, are things employed people also have to pay for but from their own pocket - for example 45p a mile for your mileage to jobs (employed people sometimes have to spend £200+ a month on travel costs to work!) - you are obliged to keep a note of the journeys you make (postcode to/from, date, number of miles, reason for journey) but nobody actually checks the miles you self-certify as having done. Many people easily knock off £4500 a year from their taxable income through mileage (driving to jobs, networking, inspiration trips, events, suppliers etc etc).

There's also your phone and office costs - you will get some relief on this too (possibly 50% of your costs if you use your mobile/wifi 50/50 between personal and business - yet you're paying for these things anyway)

Say in a year you earned £30,000 paid £4000 of tax in your day job, and then made a loss of £5,000 in your self employed job - these would equate to sideways losses, meaning your overall income for the year is £25,000 and you would receive a tax rebate on the £5,000 of tax taken at source.

The NI rate is also lower for self employed than PAYE so you'll save a bit here too.

But there will be costs involved in promoting your business - you'll need a website, Facebook (I dont personally agree that PPC is the best way for this, I dont think that many people Google search for gutter cleaning - this is something people find either from a flyer through their door/under their car wiper or on a Facebook post they've seen appear and then think "Oh yeah I need to get mine done")

You also need to consider that this is likely seasonal work - who wants their gutters cleaning out in the middle of Storm Emma in January when its minus 2 outside and blowing a gale? People will generally wait until March/April time when the weather starts to pick up, you'll be busy from March through to maybe October and then you'll be scratching around for work.

This is why you need a robust cashflow forecast - it may well be that you can earn enough March to October to replace your £30,000 salary, or you may need to offer additional services to keep you busy in winter.

Give me a shout if you need help putting a financial plan in place to assess whether the level of risk is worth pursuing!

Nikki

 

[Ian J]

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You also need to consider that this is likely seasonal work - who wants their gutters cleaning out in the middle of Storm Emma in January when its minus 2 outside and blowing a gale? People will generally wait until March/April time when the weather starts to pick up, you'll be busy from March through to maybe October and then you'll be scratching around for work.

I have my gutters cleaned annually when the bloke comes round and knocks on my door and I haven't a clue whether it's January or July.

The biggest challenge to any business like gutter cleaning is competition and just because there isn't any today doesn't mean that there won't be tomorrow

 

[Nikki Hesford]

My gutters desperately need cleaning (now the weather has warmed up and I've got the jetwash out to clean all the garden stones, I'm motivated to get all my little jobs done that I ignored all winter!) and there's nobody doing it in my local area (correction - there's probably loads, it's just none of them are visible online and none have dropped a flier by my door yet or approached me!)

I doubt you live near Blackpool though! haha.

 

[Andrew Watton]

The classic conundrum! When to take the leap. I agree with much of the advice above about preparing for the day and making sure you have a bit to help you overcome the hump when it comes to it.

Nothing is more exciting, and yet at the same time so scary! But use that energy to get super focused. When the time comes, and I think you will know it when it arrives, that's the time when almost nothing else matters than cleaning more gutters ...

 

[James lewis daurat]

It sounds like you are fairly confident the company is going to work, and well done for making it work while in full time work and getting a decent taking from it.

Similar to those above I would just see how long you can go for without cash. Preferably 6 months to a year if you were to make no money at all. If you already have that kind of money saved and a little bit for advertising etc then get yourself out there.

Your question although stating you needed advice was more of you telling us that you feel ready to do it if you read it. Like others said though you need to watch for competition.

Do you have social media you can use to promote your business? If not, Facebook, regular content and target ad it for people in your area? Even if you make most of your sales from work of mouth when it comes to it someone will be like "I got my gutters done by .........." and the friend will reply " Oh yes I have seen them on facebook" not only that a large quantity of people may not know the importance of cleaning your guttering. Why not release a video about the effects not clearing your guttering can lead to, and you then cleaning the guttering with a before and after? Free information for the customer that leaves them thinking "ooh i should get mine done" and because you targeted your area they know who to call . .

Obviously make sure in your video you leave contact details and plenty of reference to the areas you work .

Anything else feel free to message me