If you are setting up in a new home business there are a lot of hidden extras to consider. It is not enough to start trading, you have to think about and talk to various people before hand. Here are a few to consider.
First of all, sit down and plan your future home business. What is involved? How will you function? In general terms, how are you going to advertise your business, what will be involved in fulfilling orders and what happens at completion?
A friend of mine works as a translator, translating given texts between Spanish and English. For her, the incoming work arrives in an email and is despatched the same way. Throughout the process it is a fairly simple and straight forward process.
But a customer of mine that I was speaking to this morning is involved in a lot more complicated set-up. She currently owns a physical shop, but because of the shop overheads and the lack of people actually buying in the shop, she wants to move the trade to her family home and save a lot of expenses. But in doing so she is aware that there are a lot of added problems.
If you are buying and selling physical products then you might have to consider receiving and dispatching them. Every day a neighbour of our has a huge lorry full of boxes turn up with his new stock. There are various implications here.
First, not all properties are suitable for a huge lorry to arrive at every day and drop off boxes of stock. In certain circumstances your neighbours might not appreciate it and may even have a right to complain.
Also, if stock is arriving in your home and being stored, even if only for as long as it takes you to load it onto another vehicle, you should check with your insurers that your home insurance policy covers storing these products in your house. On the subject of home insurance, if you are using your home for any business purposes you should check with the insurers that this purpose is allowed.
On the whole, if you are only using your home as an office then there is probably not going to be any complaints. But if you are storing stock or receiving visitors, then your insurance might need more details. If a business visitor to the house slipped and was injured, there would be a claim on your insurance and if you are not covered for business visitors, then you might find your insurers refusing to assist you in the claim. This could turn out to be a very costly mistake! They might also need to know about any extra machinery that you have in the house in order to complete your home working.
You also need to notify your local tax office that you are working from home and how you will be working. You might be self employed or in a partnership. You might even take it as far as becoming a limited company. Again, if you become a limited company and your registered address is your home address, then your insurers might need to know!
Once the tax is sorted, you might decide that you need an accountant to help you file your tax returns as they become due. Keeping the correct records right from the start instead of going to an accountant at the end of the year with a pile of receipts could save you a lot of money in the long run. Even just approaching an accountant and discussing what you will need could be a good starting point.
Starting in business should not be frightening. Just take it a step at a time and get the right assistance.
Keith Lunt
