Self employed friend entitled to any benefits?

[Readytomakechanges]

Posting on behalf of a good friend who is struggling.

Last year they were employed and earned 26k gross 14/15. Unfortunately they lost their job and have since become the owner of a business that was loosing money. Due to their efforts the business is now breaking even and is likely to be in profit next year.

In the meantime my friend has split form their partner and become a non-resident parent. They are struggling for money. They have lots of debts which they are paying off in installments.

They live on business premises so rent etc. is tied up in the business costs.

They give themselves £100 per week.

I was wondering whether they'd be entitled to any help in the meantime, until the business is more profitable? Working tax credits or housing benefit?

Sorry for the intentionally vague OP to protect my friend's anonymity.

I will answer any further questions about the situation as best I can.

How many hours per week does she work? even if you are self employed as long as you work 16 hours per week you can claim wtc but you must earn the equivalent that a minimum wage job would pay.

Housing benefit no due to the nature of the housing but may be entitled to a small amount of wtc, the minimum hours for someone in your friends position is 30 hours a week, rough calculation using nmw would give about £20 a week but that is a very very rough figure. If the company is not making a profit then it could be that HMRC will not class it as counting for WTC as a non viable business, they are getting quite tough on what you can claim for.

Simple answer is yes as DH and I relied on tax credits, etc whilst he was setting up his business. We got WTC and were on so low an income we had free prescriptions, dental care, etc for about 2 years. However we didn't get free school meals as we were working even though our combined income was well under the threshold.
Not sure who we talked to to find out info at the time (this was 10 years ago) but our accountant was a helpful source of advice. Possibly the money advice person at the local CAB would be a good start.
It is tough but well worth it - this year we are finally ineligible for tax credits. We took this as a sign of success :)

If she is a lone parent it 16 hours

I know this after my delightful concentrix experience....

Thats brilliant feetheart thats my aim! Get rid of any sodding help I don't want it!