To get your loan, you are best off with your bank. The manager will want to see a buisiness plan.
www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId...2
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Indeed the problem is the turnover at my bank is very low. I have two accounts
1) Personal all cash goes in here
2) Business all cheques go into this and I make a lot of payments from this account, no cash goes into it as its a mail order account (Abbey).
Assuming I show them both accounts then it should look quite healthy. I have a £450 overdraft I have not touched so that should look. The only debt I have is a credit card and I exceed the monthly payments on that.
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ted might know of somewhere ?
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>>1) Personal all cash goes in here
If you're putting business monies in here I'd advise you to stop. It's very easy to start regarding money in an account as your own & makes proper book-keeping difficult. When a few years have gone by & you're asked by the tax authorities to account for this it will be very difficult. You may even be accessed on estimated business income.
The tax authorities eventually get round to seeing everyone, 5,6,7 or 8 years down the line - make sure you keep all transaction receipts/bills safely tucked away. Even though you're only obliged to keep (in most cases) business records for 6 previous years, accessing periods up to that cut-off can be less traumatic during investigation/assessment if you can show previous records.
I've been running my consultancy on a shoe-string for 15 years now, every penny you spend on costs come out of your wages one way or another.
In a previous business (many years before) I got a bit blase about what money went where & ended up in a right pickle - even though I was honest & scrupulous at all times - you can become 'interesting' to HMRC if your accounts look odd in any way or you're late with statutory filings etc.
I'm not saying you don't do all the business monies & records stuff totally correctly Rattle - as I did myself - but don't get carried away too much with the glammy end of things like 'premises' & such if it isn't absolutely necessary & never borrow if you can help it - if a business is doing well it shows in the balance sheet & it funds itself with that.
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Rattle,
Have you thought of getting some Small Business advice either from the Council or from your Bank - it could make a lot of difference....
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Last time I tried to get advice from the local CAB I was told they don't offer free advice for none members :( This was a while ago so it may have changed. I could really do with CAB support for guidance as I am a bit lost.
Four years ago the CAB ran a two week full time course in running a business which was free and I attended, that was the last one they ever did as they ran out of funding.
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Council should have an adviser - they may have even some starter units stashed away somewhere. They make good landlords (especially if they follow the social model thing)
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madness
you want a loan to expand your business but it will be to pay the rent and marketing
you need to have enough money coming in to pay the rent rates and electricity and water charges and insurance and to comply with all relevant local byelaws before you consider premises,i know so many people who thought that this time next year they were going to be millionaires but are still doing the talk
dont do it rattle,muddle through at home untill you have saved up a years rental income so you have a cushion,a place suitable for you should easily be attainable in an old mill for £50 a week,forget passing trade as it would only slow you down anyway and they would want it doing cheaper
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forget passing trade as it would only slow you down anyway and they would want it doing cheaper
Yes, I was going to say Rattle may not need a shop front just yet. An adequate, secure, waterproof, heatable space shouldn't be hard to find, perhaps surplus space in someone else's premises. Ask around and put it to anyone you know. Something affordable and suitable may well turn up.
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yes Lud if he asks around someone always knows of a little bolt hole somewhere thats cheap and they might even throw the leccy in,i once got the use of a lovely garage under a fish shop for a £5 a week by being cheeky and asking for it,i spent hours in there taking my capri to bits while upstairs it was all cod and chips :-)
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Battered bodyshell ?
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You could have piped the frying oil staight into a diesel.
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no but i had to leave in the end as the plaice was too small and i had to scale down my operations
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You cod have tried harder?
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But he did savaloy of money
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Wondered why he had a chip on his shoulder....
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did you call "chips away"?
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I agree with BB. You're only going to let yourself in for a lot more expense. I was tempted when I saw some of the small units on Albany Road, when I had the recovery business........tempted, but I knew that it'd soon be full of ' non-business ' stuff, like the old car and all the spares, non of which would pay for it.
The only way I would do it, in your position, would be to actually move out and get a flat or a terrace, earmarking one room for work, after all it's not dirty or noisy work so it shouldn't upset the neighbours.
I think commercial property rents will rise in this area when the Metro is up and running.
I've seen a couple of your type of business spring up around here and then close after only a short time, remember the place at the start of High Lane ?
Sorry to be negative.......but best to talk the talk, if you want to walk the walk.
Ted
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move out and get a flat or a terrace, earmarking one room for work, after all it's not dirty or noisy work so it shouldn't upset the neighbours.
Yes. But that would depend on whether Rattle is ready to leave his old folks.
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Another possibility is farm outbuildings if you don't need a shop window.
Often cheap to rent, rarely any problem parking but be prepared to do some 'shopfitting'.
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These days the nearest farm building to me is about 20 miles away, in city traffic that might as well be the moon :(.
Otherwise it is ideal and I had thought about it, just nothing like that near me. Renting a 2 bed flat certainly seems to be the best solution. I suppose I just need to keep working hard so I can have most the years rent in savings.
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I might have to take him on as my own personal troubleshooter with my computer skills !
Grand a week, company flat and a new BMW be OK ?... Rattmeister .
Sorry, just woke up, seemed to be having a nightmare ! :-)
Ted
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I used to work breifly at the place on High lane. A guy called Naz ran it he was the brother than ran the other computer shop in the area (also closed down) . Their big problem was the lease was too expensive and I am not sure how good their knowledge was, I worked there when I was 16.
The other shop closed down because of an apparant VAT problem (I think they owed VAT money) but I am not sure about that.
There is of course a computer place next door to me but they mainly do B2B. There was a brick lock up for rent next to Grays the builders but it looked too cold and damp to be any use. Then there is the industrial estate behind the Spread Eagle but when I phoned them up the waiting list is 18 months and I don't think they will be secure enough as they are just lock ups.
I've always wanted a unit on the Albany estate but its £8k for the rent, just too much to even consider. The reason I wanted some where is that I have to move out, because of my parents situation and I think a private land lord would be funny about running a business from their property? The only NIMBY affect would be the fact I am constantly coming and going but I would be anyway.
It would make a lot more sense if I could work from home :).
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Business Advice will be available through your local Council, probably via Business Link - there may be grants available too - but never pay anyone up front for obtaining a grant for you.
In addition many local authorities have developed and manage business premises for new start companies with flexible terms and simple pricing.
When starting out ideally you want as little paperwork for the property as possible - having a single bill once a month for all your accommodation costs makes things much easier.
Which local authority areas are you near? I can do some premises searching for you as I've been involved in this type of work in the not too dim, but distant past and know what to look for.
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I live in Manchester (city council area) but I live on the borders to Trafford and Stockport and Salford LA's are very close to me too. I think though the business advice is provided by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce rather than the councels them selves.
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A quick search reveals Carrington Business Park.
www.cbpl.co.uk/d/index.php?pageId=0
May not be convenient, but it could be worth a visit to see how one of these business centres operates.
Whilst you are a one man band, being amongst other one man bands can provide you with business leads, the centre staff will also probably have contacts for business advice agencies and assist in sourcing grants and finance.
Not all people with a business want to be Richard Branson, but big businesses start off small. Pace plc (one of largest providers of satellite and cable boxes) was started in a small business centre by three guys who were made redundant from a TV factory.
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"Does anybody have any experience in renting commerical property?"
Hi Rattle. Our industries are probably a million miles apart but perhaps it might apply. I rented several studios in London over the years - go for people in the same line of work. You'll probably get cast-off work. So for example I always rented from big design agencies and never had a shortage of work because I always had loads of overflow. Birds of a feather etc...
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Probably worth expanding on what I just wrote. You don't need to rent an entire premises for yourself at the moment, maybe just rent a couple of desks from a larger company. They enjoy having someone to palm work off to and you get regular work without the headaches of renting a property.
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One consideration from me - security. If you are (or it appears you are) working with computer equipment, the scroats still find this desirable. And even in my small office we have had new and used equipment take a walk from places which imply an "inside job" (a new laptop went missing a month or so back from around the MDs secretary's dsk).
So I would be wary of sharing space where you do not have very secure storage, or at least ensure your insurance covers loss of customer equipment, and any knock-on compensation they may demand from you.
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Rattle. You would be absolutely nuts to rent somewhere. Your current business has made so little money that you are wanting to borrow 3 grand. That's the sort of money that one can find down the back of a sofa.
If storage space is your problem, get your customers to store their own stuff. Do more work onsite at their premises. The extra petrol to visit them twice instead of once will more than offset the rent.
You will get yourself into trouble, mark my words. So many small businesses struggle by trying to expand too quickly.
Note also smokie's words of advice.
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Rattle said: >> I think a private land lord would be funny about running a business from their property? The only NIMBY affect would be the fact I am constantly coming and going but I would be anyway. >>
I think a private landlord would be ok about a business such as Rattle's: clean, quiet etc. Some private landlords are suffering from empty properties currently and buy to let mortgages to pay.
If you don't ask....................
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