I have a few questions please

[amyjazz]

Hi everyone,

i have a few questions and hope you can help. i'm new too all this so some of it will probably seem very basic to most of you that are more experienced

1. is there a website which is legit where i can search to see if a website address (domain) is available to use
2. has anyone here had a patent on your product if so how long did it take and hoe much does it cost .. i cant find exact figures anywhere - i have a product idea that doesn't exist / isn't on the market and was going to invest in having it patented but not sure if its worth the cost
3. how long after one off initial costs of setting up and after continuing running costs should it take to gain back to being in profit again.
4. am i right in thinking BACS is the best payment method
5. wheres the best place to build a website - ive seen some people mention wordpress or joomla which are free/low cost or would i be better paying for one (is it a case of you pay for what you get)
6. anyone recommend a good booking / calendar app
7. what business software with cash-flow and financial spreadsheets would people recommend
8. best business account with no fees or low fees - by no fees what i mean is I've seen some with no fees for 18 months for example
9. what can you claim on expenses as sole trader - can you claim back set up costs on equipment and a van for example
10. i'm thinking of starting as sole trader and then as limited company later on as business expands is this the best way or should i just go in as ltd company - whats the most important differences

Thankyou in advance for all your help/input

 

[Scalloway]

9. This HMRC helpsheet will help you with allowable expenses. Any expenditure incurred prior to starting trading can be entered in your accounts as having been incurred as happening on the day trading started.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...22-how-to-calculate-your-taxable-profits-2015

 

[amyjazz]

Thankyou. just had a read and have bookmarked for future use.

 

[Dave the rave]

Regarding question 1. Just go to any domain registrar like godaddy and try to register the domain you want if it's available it will let you register it. But make sure you protect your brand and register all the different extensions eg . Com .co.uk . Net etc etc

 

[amyjazz]

thanks will have a look. now


ok just had a quick look. availible as .com , .co.uk .net , .org , .info are there any others i should registar the domain as .mobi for example .. thanks again for your help

 

[amyjazz]

i think im doing something wrong. on godaddy website and the cart total is just under £800 is that right

 

[fisicx]

Yes you are doing it wrong.

Don't use godaddy. If you just want to register to domain name use 123-reg.co.uk. If you are only targeting the UK you only really need the .co.uk but you can get the .com as well to help protect your brand. The rest aren't needed.

Answer to Q3. Could be anything up to 5 years for an ecommerce site.
Answer to Q5. It depends on what you are selling. Wordpress is fine for a small shop. If you have thousands of products magento might be the better option.
Answer to Q6. It depends on the platform, there are loads of plugins and extensions to choose from.

 

[Socio South West]

1.ICANN Whois will tell you if anyone else has registered the domain that you want, and who has registered it. Can be a useful way of finding competition.
2. No experience, but it can be a long, painful and expensive process with only very few eventually proving cost effective
3. No correct answer - your budgets should tell you how long it will take: It will depend on the type of business you will be running. A manufacturing business will take much longer to recoup its set up costs compared with an online retailer.
4. BACS is increasingly popular as it has been very cheap: Banks are in the early stages of charging for BACS payments. It is best if you can offer your customers a range of payment options provided it is economic for you to do so.
5 Joomla and Wordpress are open source systems for building websites - they are free to use but do not provide free sites: You still need to pay for hosting and domains. There is no doubt a good website is key to building a good business in the online theatre, and you should ensure that whoever builds the website pays attention to Search Engine Optimisation which many cheap website builders will not.
6 Whichever website system you use will have a selection of booking and calendar apps/modules/plug ins available - Search them on Google and select the best one for your needs: Most will have a working demonstration and user feedback available to help
7. There are several options for simple invoicing and payment tracking such as KashFlow, Debitoor etc available: Many manage with a simple Excel spreadsheet for this.
As your business becomes more complex it will be a benefit to look for a package that offers flexible management reporting such as Quickbooks to quickly help you identify what areas of the business are performing and which are not.
Assuming you will be using an accountant, ask them which system they prefer - the savings on your accountancy bill may sway your decision.
8. No hard recommendations - but banks are coming out with new offers all the time: However, look closely at what is offered beyond the inducements and free periods before you commit to an account: You may even get a better long term trading deal from the outset with no free periods or other offers or inducements
9. @Scalloway 's good link above provides excellent information
10. Two main differences - 1) At present tax is more flexible and rates are lower for companies than for sole traders and partnerships. 2) In the event of a business failure your personal liability is limited if incorporated, although Banks will usually have any small company borrowing personally guarenteed by directors or other to limit their losses.
There are more statutory requirements for a Company, but for most the financial advantages outweight the additional administration.

 

[amyjazz]

Thank you for your reply. Its really helpful.

Am I right in thinking I can buy a domain today but don't have to set up a website straight away ?

 

[fisicx]

Yes.

All you need to do is register the domain name and build the website later. I friend of mine has never built a website, he just uses the domain for his emails.

 

[amyjazz]

Thanks just wanted to double check .. Yes I want to use it for my email too so it looks more professional

 

[LowPrices.uk]

thanks will have a look. now


ok just had a quick look. availible as .com , .co.uk .net , .org , .info are there any others i should registar the domain as .mobi for example .. thanks again for your help

.com / .co.uk (and now .uk) are the really important ones. If I was spending a lot of money on my brand I would also get .co and .net, probably .org. I worry so much over .info and .mobi.

If you are starting out and need to keep costs low, .com, .co.uk, .uk should suffice.

GoDaddy is fine for .com.

HeartInternet.co.uk is cheap and fine for .co.uk.

 

[LowPrices.uk]

Re 10. then the main advantage of a Limited Company is that it can ringfence you from financial liability if the company fails (if setup correctly).

 

[OwnACoder]

If you still haven't registered a domain have a look at 1&1.co.uk i think they currently are doing .com for 99p for the first year, go daddy do a similar offer if you google it.

With regards to a website I would say it is a good idea to stear clear of the website builders or services like WIX where you have to pay to have your website with them, this can really limit your growth and means your a bit stuck with them. I would say find your self a decent web host, google "web hosting talk" and look at the "shared hosting offers" section on the forums and there are plenty of decent deals and hosts.

Once you have your hosting and domain take a look at themeforest.com and search the premium wordpress themes for one that meets what you want in a website, they will normally set you back around $40, now depending on your technical ability WordPress is easy to install and with a bit of youtube help you could get it installed quickly. After you need to configure the website, again you can do this your self with a bit of youtubing or if this is too difficult you could find someone on odesk that can just help set it up for you. this could be around $40 if you are providing all the content.

So for under $100 you can have a decent looking functional website that can be extended for pretty much all your needs, if ecommerce is needed then a plugin called woocommerce can handle your needs there.

Let me know if you need any more help with this.