I'm getting to that stage where I would really love to leave my employment and go completely self employed.
I currently have around 11 clients.
(Builder)A Limited company- Annual accounts and return - Monthly subscription.
(OFF LICENCE)A Limited company- Monthly bookkeeping and annual accounts and return - Monthly subscription.
(QS) Limited company-Bookkeeping only pays quarterly but hoping he will change to Monthly subscription.
(café) Sole trader- self assessment at year end
(SM) Limited company - Annual accounts and return- bookkeeping , vat and payroll- Monthly subscription
Several self assessments at year end.
Definitely not enough to give up my permanent job, as I am paid quite well (Finance business partner)
I've written to local accountants to see about taking on over flow work but I have always stated it would be self employed.
I have a couple of meetings set up but both have said they really need someone on site .
As a single parent I known i'd be a fool to give up my perm job for the odd day on site, can I ask what everyone else did when they decided to take the plunge and give up permanent full time work, or do you just wait until you could cover costs and live on bread and water in the mean time :)
I'm building up the courage to approach my boss and ask for my hours to be reduced to part time, I know he wont accept that though.
I would appreciate everyone else's thoughts.
thanks
Nicola
-- Edited by nicd1981 on Tuesday 16th of February 2016 11:33:18 AM
I had a few clients for self-assessment whilst working full time for years, then I went on maternity leave and decided to not go back. It took about 9 months to build up enough business to work part-time self-employed and pack in my job - which was very good timing but I worked bloody hard to get it and with a baby so it wasn't easy but do-able. I don't think I could have done it that way if I didn't have the maternity pay to rely on for those 9 months mind. This was almost 3 years ago and I am now full time and have been for about a year.
During that time I did everything I could to get clients, I wrote all the content for my website and got a web designer to build it and design business cards and flyers. The website has bought in about 50% of the work - the web lady somehow made it come up top on Google through search words or whatever they're called and I put a lot of time and work into it so I do think it's a good one. I posted flyers all around my local town - to ALL the business, I got 3 clients this way, 2 of them annual accounts and 1 regular monthly work. I left business cards on tradesman vans wherever I saw them parked anywhere. I wrote to all the accountants in a 30 mile radius - told them what I do and that I am looking for work. I got a massive job from this, a one off but it was months worth of work and also an accountant locally retired and passed my details on for bookkeeping or a couple of vat return clients, I ended up getting them both for self-assessment too. I got a Facebook page, linked to my website and I got a lot of my clients to write reviews on this and share the page so that got about 20% of my work, I don't update this nearly enough. The other 30% was word of mouth - I'd tell clients I was looking for more work and they are usually more than happy to recommend you - I would also slip spare business cards in with my invoice too in hope that they would pass them on and some did. I got a lot of recommendations through Facebook from people I didn't even know so it does work. I listed myself on all the free advertising sites, yell etc and paid for a couple too. I got the local paper and wrote to any new businesses setting up - not got anything from that yet though. Also I go back to my previous employer now and again to do a couple of days work when they are busy and I am not, on a self-employed basis.
I think I may have also been very lucky for it to all happen so quickly, people said I was taking a massive risk just quitting my job and going at it alone but luckily it happened pretty damn quick!
In short I think the website is the most important to start with and getting a proper email address always looks good, I work with another lady occasionally who has been doing it for over 20 years and she doesn't get a quarter of new clients that I do and she is far more experienced than I am and I'm sure it's down to the fact that she does not have a website, no internet presence at all nor a professional email address - I wouldn't go to someone who did not have a proper email address either.
Sorry I've dribbled on but I hope it helps a little.
Hi Rachel ,
Thank you so much for that very comprehensive reply, it really did give me some food for thought .
I have done a little of what you have mentioned , I have a web site , I have advertised on all the free sites and had leaflets and business cards set up .
I do have a business email address too but I don't really use it as I have to log on to the website to gain access and missed an email when I first had it set up.
So now I just have a gmail which has worked ok up to now.
I Will find out if I can somehow link this email address with my personal one going forward though .
I may adopt some of your practices going forward in regards to getting my name out there , flyers and business cards and maybe reccomendations on the website .
I obviously don't have any sort of maternity pay to cover me , so only other idea is that I save all my income regarding the business for 6-12 months so that when I do feel ready to hand in notice I'll have savings to pay my bills !
Or start looking for a part time job 3/4 days per week . Or maybe contract work ?
Thanks again for your response Rachel
Kindest regards
Nicola
I had got to the point where I was working weekends, evening, and making the same as in my (low paid) daytime job.
I was offered two days a week self employed where I was working weekends and just took it from there, although I have never advertised/set up Facebook etc.
Up until now I've not really needed to rely on the bookkeeping business to provide a full time income, but that's got to change this year.
Some interesting observations there, and certainly food for thought (pity I cant get pregnant ) My website has never brought me any work, but apart from building it when I had the ST business then importing it, I've done no work on it at all. I've just started doing another one. which will hopefully be more indepth. SEO (search words) will certainly have helped you, along with the fact your name is also the town, which is also something I'm considering. The problem I have at the moment is that Google doesn't like Leger, and redirects to ledger (I should have thought about that at the time really)
I absolutely agree with you regarding email addresses, and would never publically advertise a gmail or similar email address.
Hi Nicola
You can set your email up without having to access it through the web. https://www.names.co.uk/support/email/imap_client_configuration/388/ If using an email client not listed, I think the Thunderbird instructions will be fine.
Alternatively there's a way to configure gmail so that you can use your business email. It's called Google Apps for work but there is a small charge of $5 a month. What it will do though is allow you to send and receive emails using your business email from within gmail.
https://apps.google.com/intx/en/products/gmail/
-- Edited by Leger on Wednesday 17th of February 2016 12:27:31 PM
__________________
John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Hi Nicola I had already left my previous employment, took redundancy after 28 1/2 years (corporate finance role) so was 'lady wot lunches' for a good while. Was mid setting up another business when I took a client on to help them with their paperwork/to get them organised, fully intending it just to keep me off the streets for a month or two. My first client was an ex footballer, turned pundit. I ended up doing pretty much all of his paperwork and he even asked me to be his agent when he split from his then agent (ex g/f). He is still my absolute favourite and best client and if wasn't for the 15% rule I would sometimes quite happily give up the rest just to look after him. Oh yeah, and the fact that I never put all my eggs in one basket anyway as it would be very silly.
Since then my business has grown, rapidly (I think) to the point where my son also works for me one day per week. I don't have a website, facebook page nor a 'proper' email address. I use gmail and yahoo. I rarely advertise, mostly getting work through word of mouth- never be afraid to ask existing clients. In fact on that score I've just asked SKY (TV) to recommend me to a couple of peeps, after finding out about a problem affecting a few footy pundits, but not my client due to the systems I have in place (only simple ones, but ones that are effective). I asked expecting nothing but have had a very positive response and am mid arranging a meet up! Would love to get more on board like my existing footy man client! Maybe even from my old team, as opposed to the 'wrong'team, but I won't hold that against him!!!
Agree with John that if you do have a website then some kind of seo is very important. Doesn't need you to pay through the nose, but there is no point having a site if people cannot find you without knowing the name!!!! John.....be careful using the town name......in your neck of the woods that might not help you as anyone else in your area will have that name tagged into their search profiles if they have anything about them. Penzance being a very small place, in such a rural area, makes such a lot easier and has worked in Rachel's favour there. (Rachel- have you ever tried searching for your own business without using the terms Penanze or the business name? I would be interested to understand what seo your lady has done.)
One of these days I might get round to a website myself!
edit re typos for once again not wearing my glasses!
-- Edited by Cheshire on Friday 19th of February 2016 10:24:26 PM
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Hi Nicola - I took the decision about 2 years ago but took on a part time job in the meantime knowing that I needed some sort of cheque coming in while I built things up. My mum was diagnosed as needing palliative care at the end of this first week of the part time job so that threw a spanner in the works as obviously she became my priority.
Anyway, long story short - After she passed away I changed the part time job to a maternity cover job whilst still looking after the few clients I had managed to get in the meantime (I had distributed business cards locally to a lot of small businesses such as agri supplies, motor factors, accountants etc)... During 2015 I worked 4.5 days in the maternity cover and by October I was also working most evenings and Saturdays too for my private clients. my boys are grown up but the housework/ironing/personal life was a juggling session during that time - I just had to keep reminding myself that I had a goal of getting to Christmas to be able to go full time solo.... In November I had enough business of my own and had definitely had more than enough of the maternity cover job politics so I packed in the maternity cover. I haven't regretted it at all..
My 'biggest' clients have all come through recommendations from accountants. One of these accountants got to know me through work I was doing for a client of his - his client had personally asked for my help - so it is good to know that I had that support. A lot of the work comes word of mouth - I ran an ad in a local paper which returned absolutely nothing. I had a facebook page , but to be truthful that wasn't much help either so I haven't even bothered looking at websites..
Like I say, word of mouth is by far the best . I do some work from home, some are in the offices of the clients - usually a day or so per week per client depending on what is happening. I love the fact that I don't have to put up with tip toeing around peoples egos or the office politics in larger companies any more. One to one with the business owner is much more rewarding as you can chat direct to them about what is happening, any issues you might find etc.
I hope all goes well for you - I am sure it will - give it a try and if you can get part time in your current position initially that will be a big help..
Agree with John that if you do have a website then some kind of seo is very important. Doesn't need you to pay through the nose, but there is no point having a site if people cannot find you without knowing the name!!!! John.....be careful using the town name......in your neck of the woods that might not help you as anyone else in your area will have that name tagged into their search profiles if they have anything about them. Penzance being a very small place, in such a rural area, makes such a lot easier and has worked in Rachel's favour there. (Rachel- have you ever tried searching for your own business without using the terms Penanze or the business name? I would be interested to understand what seo your lady has done.)
Hi Joanne
She's included some very good search terms, including penzance. Although I only have a limited knowledge of seo I know it's a mix of search terms and good content.
Another good idea is to have a listing in Googles local search. My old site is still there on page one lol, need to amend that if I can.
__________________
John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Hi John
I had a pal who spent a small fortune on SEO and kept saying she was almost top on the first page. When I asked her what search she was undertaking she actually quoted the business name. It was only when I actually showed her a search using the service she offered (relatively unusual) and even the village she lived in (rather than even just the wider area) and whizzed past page 10 and still hadnt found her, but had seen all her competition in a 50 mile radius, that she realised she had wasted a fortune.
Thats why SEO pushers always get such a warm freindly welcome on this site Joanne (general flow... Publicly ridicule, remove signature, ban IP address, delete posts, file a report)
The neatest trick that they pull is telling people from the outset that they will not see any discernable change in rankings for at least six months after starting taking their service.
If one can get six months worth of the extortionate amount of money that they seem to get away with charging punter before the one with diminishing reserves realises that they have been taken for a patsy then they are laughing all the way to the bank.
In fact, why would they do anything at all in that six months where you have already been told that you will not see a change?... And if there is by complete accident a positive change then they can claim a success.
Basically Search Engine Optimisation by anyone who does not own the search engine is a waste of money as people such as Google constantly change their algorythms so even assuming that you find an SEO company that does do something its likely to be ultimately futile.
On a linked note I have found going through some of my clients books that you can pay people to like you . I've found it with more than one client where they have paid for 500 unique likes... How sad is that! Not just paying for it but even caring about such things!
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Hi Shaun
I had completely forgotten about that pay to like you 'scam'! One I came across a few years ago in conversation with a local guy who set up his SEO business from his bedroom. A bit like those link building companies! Stick a hundred links on your website to get it up the rankings, until as you say google twigged and started changing things with smart links and allsorts of other things and with their spider malarky! Oh my and Ive just remembered my pal was actually paying for them doing some google adwords - which they were then adding on their not so little mark up - and then claiming they improved her ranking, which didnt happen at all!! Actually some time after my 'look we are on page 10 and still no sign of you' we came across a lady who was a bit of a whizz. None of this wait 6 months, got things moving pretty rapidly on several fronts and better still suggested several things as to what she can do to help herself, without charging the ongoing horrendous monthly fee. Ive just done the most random search and her business is still up there - must check with her what she has been up to recently on that score.
You can do a fair amount yourself and its not completely futile but does require a fair bit of research and constant reading of all of google's game changers and we all know there arent enough hours in the day already. Never mind doing seo for yahoo and other search engines, which are being run aground by the big G.
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
SEO? I know
I don't have anything like that . Think I need some help with my website , I currently purchased one through names.co.uk , I've just entered into a monthly subscription to add more pages to it . Would be a good idea to let someone else take over though as "hosting", SEO etc is stuff I know nothing about !
Decided to save for 12 months with a view to taking on more monthly bookkeeping only work to keep me busy day to day.
After 12 months I'll hopefully have saved enough to plow everything into advertising and leaving Full time .
Some great advice here Above , thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply.
and I put a lot of time and work into it so I do think it's a good one. I posted flyers all around my local town - to ALL the business, I got 3 clients this way, 2 of them annual accounts and 1 regular monthly work. I left business cards on tradesman vans wherever I saw them parked anywhere. I wrote to all the accountants in a 30 mile radius - told them what I do and that I am looking for work. I got a massive job from this, a one off but it was months worth of work and also an accountant locally retired and passed my details on for bookkeeping or a couple of vat return clients, I ended up getting them both for self-assessment too. I got a Facebook page, linked to my website and I got a lot of my clients to write reviews on this and share the page so that got about 20% of my work, I don't update this nearly enough. The other 30% was word of mouth - I'd tell clients I was looking for more work and they are usually more than happy to recommend you - I would also slip spare business cards in with my invoice too in hope that they would pass them on and some did. I got a lot of recommendations through Facebook from people I didn't even know so it does work. I listed myself on all the free advertising sites, yell etc and paid for a couple too. I got the local paper and wrote to any new businesses setting up - not got anything from that yet though. Also I go back to my previous employer now and again to do a couple of days work when they are busy and I am not, on a self-employed basis.
) My website has never brought me any work, but apart from building it when I had the ST business then importing it, I've done no work on it at all. I've just started doing another one. which will hopefully be more indepth. SEO (search words) will certainly have helped you, along with the fact your name is also the town, which is also something I'm considering. The problem I have at the moment is that Google doesn't like Leger, and redirects to ledger (I should have thought about that at the time really)
(general flow... Publicly ridicule, remove signature, ban IP address, delete posts, file a report)
