starting a new business is he mad?

E

ellie6

Registered User
Messages
5
My husband is looking to go out on his won.
He is an engineer and has been approached by a fairly big company to work for them as his own boss.
the money etc sounds great but I am terrified of him leaving his job.
Now he doesnt even know where to begin looking about doing this
any tips or advice on where to begin investigating would be gratelfully appreciated.
I mean he would need van, company insurance, business cards etc, register a company/solet rader etc..... the lists go on
where would he go for advice please...
 
If he's serious about this, he will need quality advice from an independent accountant and he may also need legal advice.

Its highly unlikely that he will be able to contract to this company as a sole trader, as Revenue will frown on this, hence he will be looking at the prospect of operating via a limited company.

Don't be blinded by seemingly attractive rates for the work on offer. He will need very good rates to pay for his overheads, downtime, contingencies & taxes, in addition to his actual earnings.

The attractiveness or otherwise of the offer will depend to a large extent on intangible factors, eg the security & terms & conditions of his current employment compared to the role on offer; his personal preferences and interest in self-employment; his business admin skills etc.
 
sole trader

Thanks for the replies
I might ask my fathers accoutant to speak to him he helped my father set up his partnership.
I am off course very worried as his job is reletively secure and although he has had 2 pay cuts it is a guaranteed wage
 

Well if he has never gone solo before, then the first thing he needs to do is to figure out if it's a lifestyle he will be happy/comfortable with! Going sole is very different to being an employee. A few things he should think about:

- Uncertainty of where the next pay cheque will come from
- Cold calling to drum up business
- Attending networking events
- Chasing people to pay their invoices
- Handling all the admin stuff after a days work
- Trying to slop holidays in between projects and so on

If he feels comfortable about that, then he needs to start the practical stuff of establishing a business that the others have mentioned.
 
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It is lovely that he is wanted. I would go with the other comments and add.
1. Will they guarantee good work for say 3 years.
2. Why not just employ him on a higher wage.
3. Because they are fairly big means little , AIB was fairly big too!!
4. Are his skills saleable to other companies in your locality.
5. Are his skills transferable.

As I say it is great to be wanted , but try to ensure that they are not just covering a fixed term issue .
 
An other important cost to keep in mind when doing the calculations is keeping up to date with his profession - training courses, conferences, trade shows, books, periodicals, costs of professional memberships and so on... and of course the time lost in doing these activities, since it is unlikely that he will be paid during this time.
 
I would also add he has been approached by a person in a fairly big company, what happens if this person moves on in a month, 2 months, would he still have the work or contact? The next person into the role may have a different idea? As a self employed person if he were god forbid to get sick, have an accident etc there are no financial supports there. All these posts may seem to be full of doom and gloom but its really just looking from the other side
 
I decided to set up my own business last year - what I do is really specialised, and whereas I have the degree and the masters, I hadn't a notion about all this stuff.

What I did was went to the Area Partnership (blanchardstown for me) and they had a great three day course that talked us through it, and also set up the grant system, accountants, sw, what was and wasn't allowable for tax....e.g. I don't pay VAT because they told me what I do is 'training'. i needed the structure of 'going to work' (otherwise I'd just watch morning tv) so got myself a little hot desk/photocopying - and also a bit of social involvement. It's not something I ever thought I would do but I have a couple of nice contracts now.

The bit I struggled with most was the fact that I was used to being assigned tasks or popping into my boss a couple of times a day to check that I was progressing as he wanted. The biggest mindset shift was my clients not talking to me every day, or asking how my weekend was, as you would in a normal set up. It was only when a friend who's done this for years said to me 'he doesn't, he just wants the work done, your job is to take that stress off him' that this dropped.
 
Agree with AMTC that your husband should look into doing a Start Your Own Business Course. I've just finished one with Dublin City Enterprise Board (mine was 2 evenings a week for 5 weeks) and although it was very broad it gave me an overview I don't think I'd have been able to get without it. It certainly makes you look at the costs in a totally different way. And the course I did comes with free mentoring sessions too. Also it was subsidised, I think about €100, I'd highly recommend it.
 
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