Starting a business from the ground up!!!

[Phil Cheetham]

Hi guys, I’m a maintenance man, I’ve been self employed for 15 years & would like advice on taking the business to the next level. I require trades people & admin staff, but also advice on everything from sole trader to employer & so on. All help appreciated

 

[The Byre]

'Starting a Business for Dummies' by Colin Barrow.

It's a bit dry and has one or two gaps, but is a good starting point for all the above!

 

[Mr D]

Hi guys, I’m a maintenance man, I’ve been self employed for 15 years & would like advice on taking the business to the next level. I require trades people & admin staff, but also advice on everything from sole trader to employer & so on. All help appreciated

You will be used to sole trader from 15 years of self employment. Not sure you will need anything on that.

Perhaps if you break down what you are trying to do people may be able to offer specific advice?

 

[QPLAST]

For trading or selling stuff, I suggest you to use any application or software to manage it from beginning. All alpplications will have standard processes to manage your purchase, sales, cash flow, invoices, payment, receipt... etc. This will enforce you to follow a basic foundation on progress adheherance.

1. Make a forecast based on your expectations/planning
2. Manage your funds efficiently
3. Track your progress/achievement with your plan
4. Periodically review your forecast and actuals and make any corrections to your strategy.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Deepak

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

This forum is always a very good place. As already said keep a tight control on the costs Ie is an Admin person a good idea as you may do OK just using a good software package

 

[haryj]

Hi guys, I’m a maintenance man, I’ve been self employed for 15 years & would like advice on taking the business to the next level. I require trades people & admin staff, but also advice on everything from sole trader to employer & so on. All help appreciated

Hi,

You say you're a maintenance man. Do you specialise in anything particular? Plumbing & Heating, electrical, or bit of everything in general?

A great start for you will be to fulfill your order book well ahead, make sure jobs are lined up or unless you already have a contract with a medium sized organisation. Getting decent staff can be tricky in the construction & engineering industry, but there are men and women out there who will put the effort in, just need to look hard. As a sole trader going to employer a lot of your duties will change dramatically, you will need to take on board sick/holiday pay's, staff training, insurances and so on. Expenses are on a significant rise, could you afford them comfortably?

 

[P19Johnson]

Hi, i would look into learning more about management skills to try and help you with the load of staff you would like to take on.

 

[Tracy Arkwright]

Visibility is often the key to success in modern times