Market trader advice needed please

[bells-couriers]

Good morning all, im hopeful to connect with any market traders on here for some start up business advice,

Long story short but ive turned a hobby i used to do into a business (or at least thats my intentions) i was making my own concrete garden ornaments from home just as a hobby and i feel that im at a point now my work is good enough to turn this hobby into a business,

After plenty of positive comments on my work, request for items from friends and friends of friends etc
Ive taken the plunge to leave my fulltime job to focus on building my business,

The idea was to sell at carboot fairs etc but ive came across an opportunity to rent a market stall in a business shopping centre, my question is what insurance would i require to run this type of business? Do i require and type of licence etc to trade at market fairs?

A little advice on going self employed would be apprecieted also im working along side my dad (hes unpaid) would this mean i can operate as a sole trader or Ltd company? (i may need to employ in the future) do i simply register the company on companies houses to start?

I do have a facebook page but i think a website will look more profesional ive bought the domain,

I know this is a seasonal business but i also make the latex and fiberglass moulds therefore i can operate all year round trading those online

Please excuse my spelling, any advice apprecieted

Thanks Adam.

 

[Scalloway]

what insurance would i require to run this type of business?

Public liability insurance.This is a random sample

https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance/public-liability/public-liability-market-trader/

Do i require and type of licence etc to trade at market fairs

I would think that would be up to the fair organiser to advise you.

A little advice on going self employed would be apprecieted also im working along side my dad (hes unpaid) would this mean i can operate as a sole trader or Ltd company? (i may need to employ in the future) do i simply register the company on companies houses to start?

Operating as sole trader is far simpler. A limited company involves a lot more red tape and you would need to hire an accountant. Because of the extra costs a limited company only becomes cost effective when your profit is around the £40,000 mark.

 

[saythisinstead.co.uk]

Just start trading. You don't need to tell anybody anything.

Once you've decided/discovered that you have a business then you can start to think about how you move forward. I made a decent living doing exactly the same thing [many years ago] and learned many things.

1. The stock is 'heavy'
2. Lots of the smaller & more unusual, faster selling items give you a better margin.
3. Most of your success or failure will depend on the finish you apply to the items.

Many garden centres sell this type of product and at pretty competitive prices so
you really need to test the viability of this as a business model.

A better business model may be to commission really unusual items and then sell the moulds for those. It's always the newer or more unusual items that sell best on markets.

Good Luck

 

[Serandaz Khan]

Hi Adam, first of congratulations for being so brave and taking this very important step of decided to start your own business. My experiance and advice is that get your website done. This will help you and your business and your products to be recognised country wide or may be worldwide. always think big, your products might have potential to export. so website is really important and should be the next step. i do have experiance and you are welcome if need to ask any more questions about how to start website and other questions about ecommerce.
regards
Serandaz

 

[Mr D]

You do need to tell HMRC you are a business. Good idea to tell friends and family what you are doing and where you are so they can tell others.

 

[bells-couriers]

Thank you all very much apprecieted im learning every day,

My finished ornaments are done in a two tone effect ie black base coat with a dry brush colour put on (usually grey brings the detail out) but thanks again i soak all good content up

Adam.