Appointment with small business adviser tomorrow - any tips?

[AvaLeStrange]

Background is in journalism, pre-press & graphic design. Have recently picked up further skills in PR & social media.

About 6 months ago a colleague asked me to do some of this kind of work for her off the back of a project I was doing for my day job.

She's now offered me a much bigger job (yay!) and I've had a few other enquiries so am seeing bank tomorrow about opening up a business account as I'd like to keep any earnings from this separate and will also need them to transfers fund for printing & web hosting costs etc.

The advisor phoned me today to tell me a bit about what they need to see/talk about - I don't need a business plan but need I'D docs and they want to know how I see the business developing over the next year or two.

Problem is, I'm not entirely sure. I can't afford to give up work and concentrate on it solely for the forseeable future so anticipate it being a slow burner really.

If anyone can offer some ideas I can impressive him with that would be great!

I think the discussion will probably be more about what you need from a business account i.e. overdraft facility, fee-free or low fee transactions, earning interest on your in-credit balance. You should ask about the pricing for the account and if there are introductory offers know what the full price is when this comes to an end. Your prep should involve looking at what different business accounts would offer you.

I only need something very basic at this stage and the bank I have my current account do that with no charge for 18 months and £6 per month thereafter.

I'm somewhat worried that they won't think my business is big enough to warrant a business account, but I really want to keep this separate from my personal banking and do plan to build it, just slowly.

An appt with a bank's business advisor is all about them and what products/services they can sell you. You'll almost certainly get the hard sell about insurances, pensions, overdraft facilities, loans, etc - basically anything that makes them money. If all you want is a basic business bank account, just tell them that at the outset and the meeting will go a lot quicker!

A bank's business advisor will have very little to offer in terms of actually offering business advice.

Thanks ladies.

bad Bunny you're right that there was little to be had in the way of business advice (which was fine by me), but the chap I saw was great.

I did mention at the outset that I'd be building the business up slowly over the next three years and basically needed an account atm as I've just been offered a fairly big job which I will need to bill for on a monthly basis.

He was not at all pushy and am now all sorted on that front with no costs incurred at all. Next step is tackling HMRC registration !

Hi! Did all go well with your meeting? I am actually looking for a good advisor for my business too. Do you think www.i-thrive.co.uk is a good choice? I came across their website and I think they’re pretty good. What do you think?