Starting a business

[Lightkeeper Creative]

Hello

I hope I am posting this in the right place.

I'm looking to start up my own business. I'm currently employed part-time in a shop as an admin assistant. It's minimum wage and I don't really enjoy it.

I love being creative and doing various projects.

My idea for a business is to do photography, videography and website design.

I have some experience of all these but I was wondering what kind of paperwork do I need to fill out or have, procedures to follow, licenses, responsibilities to HMRC etc. I will probably find an accountant to do the accounts.

I also have an idea for another business. This one would be a clothing brand (currently just t-shirts). I would get artists to create artwork, I'd do all the rest of the process and pay them a certain amount of the sales. If there is any specific paperwork or something related to running this type of business, please let me know.

Hope you can help

 

[The Byre]

None of the above sounds as if you have a structured and concrete plan for the future.
Certainly, photography, videography and website design are the most overcrowded markets I can think of and unless you are very well equipped, financed and have considerable knowhow and business connections, are doomed to failure.

Right at the beginning, all you have to do is to declare your extra income on your income tax return and keep basic records of your income and expenditure.

There are plenty of businesses you can start that have a better chance of success, such as buying nick-knacks from China and reselling them on ebay. A very good knowledge of the market and a bright idea for marketing is vital.

 

[Paul Murray]

I don't know your background but just having 'some' experience is not enough to start a business in all/any of the industries you've mentioned. I don't want to come across as negative, but web design in particular is already saturated, and there's a lot more to designing and building a site than cobbling together some text and images.

I also have an idea for another business. This one would be a clothing brand (currently just t-shirts). I would get artists to create artwork, I'd do all the rest of the process and pay them a certain amount of the sales.

There's already plenty of sites that allow artists to do this. This sort of business model benefits the business owner much more than the artist and you'll be hard pushed to find decent designs with no reputation. I've been approached a number of times to produce designs with the promise of royalties, but always refuse – none of the businesses ever take off because the business owner has nothing to lose (they only pay if and when they sell the sell, which are made to order anyway).

I'd recommend you look for something you can start part-time that doesn't require a great deal of experience (Byre's suggestion is a good place to start). I understand your frustration at your job, but don't be in too much of a hurry to start a business. It's not an easy way to make money, especially offering a service-based business, and it can take you a fair while to even cover your living costs.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

HMRC have some useful information here which you may want to take a look at.

 

[Lightkeeper Creative]

The Byre: I am currently working on a business plan at the moment. I was having some mentoring related to this but the company is not around right now due to funding. I realize that. I know someone who is a photographer and I work for him (sometimes paid jobs for him). I might ask him a bit more about the photography business and his experiences as he has done it for many years. He has even done videography. I know a couple of other people in those sectors and web design. I'd rather do something that I enjoy doing rather than running a business that is a quick money maker. I realize that this will take time.

Paul Murray: With web design, I was thinking of aiming it at small businesses, charities and individuals (who want portfolio websites). A while ago, I was volunteering and the place I was at wanted a new website. I was due to work on it with someone else but they left. That place still needs a website so I will use that as a starting point.

As for the clothing brand bit, I understand that. I am a customer of a business whose concept I like and that business is along the same lines as I am thinking of. They are more aimed at streetwear where as what I would be doing would be more fine art or somewhere along those lines. I want to be more hands on rather than relying on a website (e.g Cafepress) to produce the goods. I already have interest from local artists about this. Maybe I could pay a certain amount up front maybe then they get extras from what is sold? I'm not in a complete hurry at the moment (I'm looking for jobs elsewhere and I know it could take a while. One of my colleagues recently left due to running their own business.

MyAccountantOnline: Thank you. That helps a bit.

 

[DavidAshdown]

Feel free to download a copy of my free ebook "A Guide to Starting and Running a Small Business".

Hope it helps.

 

[The Byre]

I know someone who is a photographer and I work for him (sometimes paid jobs for him). I might ask him a bit more about the photography business and his experiences as he has done it for many years. He has even done videography. I know a couple of other people in those sectors and web design. I'd rather do something that I enjoy doing rather than running a business that is a quick money maker. I realize that this will take time.

I've been around that sector since 49BC. Please take it from one who knows, brandishing a video camera, building websites and taking pictures for other people will earn you pin-money IF you are really, really good!

Remember one quote, commit it to memory and never forget it. It is from Quincy Jones, you know, the former trumpet player who went on to produce Michael Jackson and many others and founded the immensely successful TV production company 'Stuffed Dog'.

"The money is in the music!"

NEVER forget that! Tattoo that on your eyelids! It means that the content is the only thing that is important. So you buy a professional video camera for, say, £10,000 and spend another £10k on an editing station, jib, dolly, stands, lights and some basic glass. So what can you charge for all that? About £350 a day! (And those days will be few and far between. If you get one a month, you will be one of the lucky ones!)

Pin money!

If you want to earn money in the creative industries, you MUST be one of those lucky few that can create music, film footage, Internet experiences, images, words that people are prepared to pay for.

Quincy went on to produce Will Smith and then put him into the sitcom 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' and Smith said (on Arsenio on Fox) "Man, this guy just gotta sneeze on you and you get rich!"

The cost of a platform ticket for professional video is between £10k-£20k.

The cost of a platform ticket for professional photography is the cost of a DSLR, some glass and Adobe CS.

The cost of a platform ticket for being a website designer is practically zero.

The problem for start-up photographers, videographers and website designers is all the other start-up photographers, videographers and website designers. And without owning desirable content that is scalable, you are only on the platform.

You ain't on the train!

 

[DavidAshdown]

So you buy a professional video camera for, say, £10,000 and spend another £10k on an editing station, jib, dolly, stands, lights and some basic glass. So what can you charge for all that? About £350 a day!

That's pretty good going compared to some industries!

If you buy a 49 seat Coach it will cost you approximately £250,000 for an average one, it will do 6-8 miles per gallon, cost you a fortune in maintenance, let alone paying drivers and staff to manage it, and you can hire it out for £250-£450 a day!

But with the right business and infrastructure in place, you can still make a decent profit.

 

[The Byre]

If you buy a 49 seat Coach it will cost you approximately £250,000 for an average one, it will do 6-8 miles per gallon, cost you a fortune in maintenance, let alone paying drivers and staff to manage it, and you can hire it out for £250-£450 a day!

Fortunately for the various bus companies of Britain, running a bus company does not have the sexy word 'studio' hung around its neck. The universities are not churning out thousands of wannabe bus drivers. You can't use your smart-phone as a replacement bus. There is no such thing as an amateur bus. The number of people driving busses as a hobby is diminishingly small. You can't pack a bus away in a box and pull it out a couple of years later and expect it to work. Nobody has published a book entitled 'The Guerrilla Guide to Bus Diving', Telling Great Stories with Your Bus', or 'Bus Driving for Beginners'.

In other words, running a bus company is a regular, proper business, with significant and very justifiable barriers to entry, both regulatory and financial. It is seldom a business that draws numpties and goofs!

 

[DavidAshdown]

All very true, but surely this further highlights the fact that with so many drawbacks, high costs and limitations, it s still feasible to make a living in other less complicated industries?

 

[Leaflet Distri Experts]

There is nothing much exciting that creating a business.
When we started 5 years ago, nobody was expecting winning Dragons' Den in 2011 and changing the face of our business.

Advises: - think properly about your business plan. I think you'll find a lot of books explaining how to do it. Your idea might be interesting but it seems that you haven't thought yet about the location, the budget...
- Go ahead: never hesitate to grab opportunities

 

[MarcusCornelius]

I agree that photography, videography and website design are very overcrowded businesses. However, it is still possible to succeed there if you find something new, unique and innovative. I would start from researching. Google, Twitter, Facebook, ... - this information you can use to figure out where new untapped demand is in your area. It is not enough just to stand out - you have to provide something that people want or need.

 

[fisicx]

With web design, I was thinking of aiming it at small businesses, charities and individuals (who want portfolio websites).

Just like a bazillion other web design startups....

 

[The Byre]

Starting a business involves planning, making key financial decisions and completing a series of legal activities. These 10 easy steps can help you plan, prepare and manage your business. Click on the links to learn more.

Step 1: Write a Business Plan.

The real step one is to identify a business opportunity that is profitable and scalable, has a USP, can be adapted to changing circumstances and is quantifiable, in the sense that you know and understand how to develop this opportunity.

 

[Clothing Manufacturing]

The scariest part about this question is that you assume it takes almost no experience or technical knowledge to start in web design or other arts. We've seen this loads of times when one of our fashion clients comes to us crying that their website is horrible, the person they chose had no real experience.

Not only is web design now a commodity, but the skill level to technically be a proficient developer is only rivaled by the need to fully understand your customer's customers. Let me explain.

You promise a charity (or some business) that you can design the website they need. Then go about using plugins to patch together a sort of website. Seems easy in Wordpress right? THen their website gets hacked through a vulnerability you didnt envision. Now what? Without the understanding of technical problems that can arise or having in-depth knowledge with custom coding, how can you ensure their website was developed correctly for the long-term?

Then theres the issue of understanding internet consumer behaviour. Yes, a website isnt for your client, its for their customers. Without having any education or knowledge of buyer psychology, buyer bevhaviour, conversion optimisation, advanced marketing, how can one say they are a web designer? On what basis can a web design be great when all of these other factors are not accounted for?

Learning takes time. Immerse yourself in ONE area that you feel passionate about, get to know everything about that area. Otherwise youve got yourself a hobby.

 

[salelink]

We tried to start a retail online business. We looked and looked for products that would return a reasonable return that we could store in our warehouse and sell (sadly online via ebay).
The only thing we could come up with was sex toys.. So we purchased £1,500 stock and proceeded to try to move the items. Ebay (UK) don't allow sex toys..If you have an USA / Chinese address then you can sell to the UK but Ebay (Ireland) will shutdown your account immediately and wipe out years of 100% perfect buying adn selling instantly. we have a website 4playtime.co.uk/ but it receives practically zero customers.. This is quality products, UK manufacturing company sold at Ann Summers.. Got a bit caught out and don't have the contacts to sell without ebay