Start up own business ?

[justwondering21]

Would I be unreasonable to leave a job within the NHS to start up my own business ?

It's something I've always wanted to do but always get talked out of it by family / friends.

I'm in my 40's and feel I've worked for 20 years in the NHS paying into my pension. Should I just keep going? Would I regret leaving and the impact this will have on my pension ?

If I won the lottery I'd do it in a heartbeat. Is it really hard setting up a business ? Do you have to work 7 days a week 10 hour days at the start to break even ?

Will I get to 60+ and wish I'd just tried ?

Thanks 🙏

Your best bet might be to start your business as a "side hustle" (if you can) whilst keeping your paid job. What type of business are you starting? Can it start out this way?

All the answers depend on what business it actually is.
Some are ok, some are... Hard

Thanks for the replies.

My idea is a lovely shop selling local art work, prints, plants, retro toys, small independent jewellers, cards.

I'm not sure if this could be done as a side hustle first, I suppose it could ?

Ahh years for it to take off makes me feel maybe I'm being completely unrealistic.
I just feel it would make me happier than where I am now. Although where I am in stable and secure and every month adds to my pension.

@subsy1

Your best bet might be to start your business as a "side hustle" (if you can) whilst keeping your paid job. What type of business are you starting? Can it start out this way?

This right here. Can you go to PT work so as to hedge your bets a little bit?

Thanks @ScaredOfDinosaurs
I currently work 4 days a week so I could technically use my 5th day to try and set up a business from home and if it did slowly start to take off could maybe drop another day.

Most businesses fail in the first year.

It takes years to establish a business and in those years many long nights and full weeks are necessary. Few, if any, holidays and a good chunk of money lost.

Unless you have a lot of money you’re willing to lose it isn’t worth it.

@justwondering21

Thanks for the replies.

My idea is a lovely shop selling local art work, prints, plants, retro toys, small independent jewellers, cards.

I'm not sure if this could be done as a side hustle first, I suppose it could ?

Ahh years for it to take off makes me feel maybe I'm being completely unrealistic.
I just feel it would make me happier than where I am now. Although where I am in stable and secure and every month adds to my pension.

Chances of failure with a business of this type are very high - you have high fixed costs / rent for a bricks and mortar physical shop. Unless you are in a very high footfall area you will struggle to turn over enough cash.

Why not try your hand at selling at craft fairs, Christmas markets etc?

Can you start your idea as an online shop first, before embarking on the hugely expensive task of renting a premises? Advertise your online shop in the area you wish to open so if it does take off and you anchor yourself to a venue, you’re not a totally new thing. Is it a tourist area/somewhere with much footfall? A shop like that may not survive in a non-tourist area as those sorts of purchases are generally impulse.

Anyway, an online shop could be managed around your employment at first before and if you decide to make the switch.

I'm self employed (though totally differential type of business) but I would do as above, reduce your hours and start up that way. Unless you have ££££ in savings.

It can take a really long time for it to generate a stable income, and even then the unpredictable income every month can be very stressful. Plus factoring in no sick pay or annual leave.

I love the actual work I do but I don't love many aspects of being self employed.

Retail is an incredibly tough space at the moment because overheads are so high and a chunky turnover is needed to make profit. Have you checked out the costs necessary for the kind of location you're thinking of? You would need to do a huge amount of research to check if this was financially viable and project how long until you'd like turn a profit.

I run my own business but it's service based consultancy and I work from home so my overheads are teeny in comparison to product / retail businesses. If I couldn't run a service based business and had an NHS pension I would have to have a really rock solid plan of action AND a plan b AND a plan c to make sure I would be ok if plan a didn't work out.

That's not to say you shouldn't go for it of course, you just need to do a huge amount of research first and a lot depends on your financial situation obviously.

I agree with pps about having it as an online shop first.
Have you looked at rents for adequate retail space? These things can be impulse buy rather than pre planned shopping so need high footfall. That comes at a price. Which is a problem tbh

Thanks for the really helpful and honest replies.
You are echoing what my DH has been saying to me.
The shop would ideally be in quite a tourist place on the coast but appreciate the footfall would be much lower in the winter months.

We're not financially secure and my NHS salary is much needed for bills, childcare, activities for the children.

I think looking to see if I could set this up from home/ weekend fairs are great ideas and will research to see if this could work.

I love the idea of my own little shop / business but not sure I can risk my salary / pension.

I bought my business 3 yrs ago and pretty much cried every day for the first 3 months!
It's hard work and lots of stress staff when you can afford them let you down.
There's always loads of unexpected costs and bills you weren't expecting and it will totally consume every waking min of your day until you've got it up, running and successful.
That said being your own boss is amazing the rewards are there once you've put in the slog and like you say if you don't try you won't know.
Do market research!! Literally stand on your local high street with a tick list and ask people
If you have a local market or converted mill retail Center near that's a good way to get started with low overheads. A mill type shop will be staffed so you can stay in your job for now.

You can start selling what you want on Etsy straight away. No need to leave your job and you have 3 days of the week to work on it.
Usually people sell their own craft but you might find local artists who are not online.

I agree this is a very difficult area to succeed in, and probably quite a saturated market.

I agree with starting off on line.

@justwondering21

Thanks for the really helpful and honest replies. You are echoing what my DH has been saying to me. The shop would ideally be in quite a tourist place on the coast but appreciate the footfall would be much lower in the winter months.

We're not financially secure and my NHS salary is much needed for bills, childcare, activities for the children.

I think looking to see if I could set this up from home/ weekend fairs are great ideas and will research to see if this could work.

I love the idea of my own little shop / business but not sure I can risk my salary / pension.

Is there a local trade and craft circuit you could follow during the tourist season if you are in a touristy area?

Keep an eye out on community events in the outlying area, a lot of popular tourist areas do a variety of big events that sometimes have space for street vendors.

The online selling is a great way to do things whilst keeping your overheads to a minimum.

What about selling your stuff in already established shops, if you are lucky you can arrange to have them display it for a consideration from the sales?

Good luck!

Could you take a sabbatical next summer and try it out for a month or two

You should write up a business plan - I know this won't be an exact science but you really need to put all the costs and hoped for profits on paper.

Cost of renting property, buying in your stock, tax on profits (there wil be tax as you are already earning above the min rate. , will you man the shop or do you need extra staff. heating light. What can you set against tax.

Actually sit and count how many eg pairs of hand crafted ear rings you expect to start with, how many pictures, etc etc etc Do you pay the artists up front or just sell them for them. I bet artists think their work is worth much more than it is. (due to the hours of work put in). So will be priced too high to sell (that's what happens round here).

Have you done the figures. You need to start here.

Honestly? I think it's a really bad idea.

Getting into retail is bloody hard work and most businesses close within a year. Think of all the costs involved:

• rent
• council tax
• bills - electric, heating, internet, water
• refurbishing the space - carpets, paint, signage
• insurance
• buying things like a cash register, a card machine, a phone - plus accounting software to keep track of everything
• buying in enough stock to make the business viable

I live in a tourist coastal area and it's dead from around October to April. Will you sell enough in the summer months to support you for 5/6 months when you might only get 2-3 people through the door? My money is on no, probably not.

It's a big big risk and I think you'd regret it. I know that sounds very doom and gloom but you don't want to invest months of your life into this only be left with a massive pile of debt and stress.

I quit nursing and set up my own business on ebay this year OP. It can be stressful not knowing what your income will be, but it is a lot of fun. I didnt have thousands of pounds to set up. I generated the capital by selling my own unwanted items and went from there. Risky, yes. But I don't regret it.

@Lex345

I quit nursing and set up my own business on ebay this year OP. It can be stressful not knowing what your income will be, but it is a lot of fun. I didnt have thousands of pounds to set up. I generated the capital by selling my own unwanted items and went from there. Risky, yes. But I don't regret it.

Selling on eBay isn't the same as a bricks and mortar set up though. It's much less risky and much cheaper too!

You would have to be crazy to be thinking of opening a bricks and mortar shop at the moment. Haven't you seen the high streets? So many places are boarded up now.

People just don't buy that sort of thing from that sort of shop. They buy online. And I love art but I wouldn't buy something by an artist just because he or she were local. That is not an indicator of quality.

You need a business plan with a budget OP.

I've explored similar retail ideas and the cold hard reality of the high number of sales I'd need to make to cover costs, never mind match my salary take home, was brutal.

If you're comfortable with spreadsheets there's plenty of free templates online to get you started. Make sure you're using a template and info for your country of residence, there's a lot of USA stuff online but the tax rules will be totally wrong and misleading for a UK based business.

You can model a "good", "bad" or "ok" income by changing the numbers in the spreadsheet if you're comfortable with formulas.

Ultimately I decided to start doing craft fairs at the weekend as a way to test out my idea, glad I did, I sold absolutely F all.. gave it up and considered I'd had a lucky escape with only a few hundred spent on materials, attendance fees, travel costs, website etc.

Good luck OP!

Could you try a market stall? Our markets have temporary stalls for £10 a day.