A question for the self employed on these forums ....

[Aliboy]

At this present moment in time I'm thinking of going self employed as I would much rather work for myself than some company reaping all of the benefits of my hard work. So for all of you self employed people out there, what did it take for you to make those first steps into setting up your own business
Just to give you an idea I will hopefully be opening up my own coffee/sandwich shop and really wanted to know what it was that made you take that 'first step'
I'm really looking for some inspiration to give me that little extra boost to get off my arse and do it

Quick edit ... could a don change that typo to 'question' for me in the title Too much JD tonight to type properly

 

[Jonny69]

Well I was working freelance so I was already registered self-employed which made things a little easier to slip into. Basically I'd had enough getting shafted so I went back to my part time job and built my business in the rest of the time. As I got busier with my own work I cut down my hours at the job until I gave it up completely. his seemed like the easiest least financially challenging way of doing it. I'm still a sole trader and do all my own tax etc.

I suggest starting small and build it up as you see fit

 

[Tru]

I went in for it for the same reason as you, I was tired of working for someone else.

Anyway, some tips...

Investigate where you can get grants and other funding especially if you're under 25. Free money is out there, you've just got to convince people to give you it.

Get an accountant. Don't be put off by possible costs (it's not as high as you might think) but having a proper book keeper from the get go will save you lots of headaches, and let you concentrate on making some cash.

Dedicate yourself to it. It's very rewarding building a business up from scratch but you need to really want it to succeed.