New topic - Make It Your Business

[KateMumsnet]

Hello hello,

Welcome to our new topic. We’ve teamed up with the folks at Make It Your Business, who have just launched, and who aim to help women who want to start their own business. It’s a non-commercial partnership between Mumsnet and Make It Your Business - we’re giving MIYB members a forum to chat with others who are keen to go it alone, and they’re letting their members know that Mumsnet is a great place to exchange ideas.

Make It Your Business offers women who are looking to set up their own business information, advice, inspiration and a chance to network. They put on events around the UK, and offer videos, blogs and a monthly newsletter for those who register (it’s free to do so). It’s founded by entrepreneur Alison Cork.

Alison and her team will be posting in this topic from time to time to give you a heads up on events or news you might be interested in, or to answer your questions - they’ll go by the names AlisonMakeItYourBusiness and SophieMakeItYourBusiness.

Most importantly, we hope that those of you who are thinking about going it alone and are looking for some support and companionship along the way find this new topic really helpful.

Thanks
MNHQ

This sounds great

I am just starting to set up my own business, working on my plan.
I am trying to find out the laws regarding using freelancers on a self employed basis and who is responsible for their insurance and other relevant responsibilities..
Technically I won't be employing them but finding them work as an agency and taking a commission.

gilly I've been told by agencies that get me work occasionally that legally they can only work with Ltd companies and not sole traders. I don't know much more than that unfortunately but sure there'll be someone on here that does. IR35 and disguised employees seems to be a hot topic at the moment with the Uber case etc

Thank you,
I wonder what happens to individuals who are self employed, or freelance and don't have a Ltd company?
Maybe they can't use an agent to find them work, it does seems strange, though.

Alison - sounds great - good luck!

Hi everyone
I’m in the process of starting a number of businesses after 20 years as a lawyer in Banking! Quit 7 months ago and am still studying. My problem is I want to do too much...

There are no laws preventing sole traders working as freelancers. However many big companies prefer working with ltd co as it reduces the co. exposure to the freelancer being deemed an employee. Its a company policy thing that frequently gets misintrpreted as the rules aka law. Hope this helps.

Please do not put your home up as guarantee for your business. There are many true stories that banks have taken homes when you cannot pay. Find other ways to fund your business or just do it little by little. The banks are ruthless, bridging loans are ruthless.

@AlisonMakeItYourBusiness. I completely agree with you regarding authenticity. Are the websites below your businesses?
www.trustpilot.com/review/withinhome.com
www.trustpilot.com/review/www.oneregentplace.co.uk

@SweetGrapes - I highly suggest the British Library. They have the largest database of market research. Please find more information here: www.bl.uk/business-and-ip-centre. HIH!

@Lovej0y - yes both were but we closed them. Sadly we were the victim of a fraudulent employee a few years ago, which had a huge impact on our cash flow and operations at the time. The good news is we saw it through, got justice in the form of a custodial sentence for the perpetrator and reestablished the business. Fraud in business is way more common than people realise, but sadly because people are embarrassed about it they often don’t do anything about it. I’m pleased to say we did.

@SweetGrapes - this sounds like a lovely business. A great chance to create a unique and personal product.

@Sydneymum - well firstly well done for making the leap - I’d be surprised if you regret it! Perhaps choose the business idea you like the best and start with that? I know the feeling though - entrepreneurial people have lots of ideas all the time - it’s part of the psychological make up!

I run a b&b from home. I would like to employ my daughters part-time, aged 16 & 18. How do I do this?

Please may I join? I am an artist, and I need to go it alone this year. Thanks for the link to the BL, I'm developing a product and the market research is a great help.

My friend and I are thinking about setting up a recruitment business , looking at the more mature job seeker as older people have so much experience that seems to be overlooked by employers because their cv's dont have the right buzz words.

That's a good idea Creme
Back in my employed days I was a union rep and did a lot of support with redundancy. Staff that hadn't job searched for a long time needed advice like how to get set up on LinkedIn and even where to look for jobs now as it's not the local papers as much anymore. Firms doing large scale redundancies might well use that service.

Hi @Dailymailaredicks I’m one of the MIYB entrepreneurs, I have an online retail company and wondered if you would consider starting your shop online without the huge overheads that come with a physical store? It would be a good way to refine your range and be confident the lines would sell. Perhaps you could start off with a blog – shoes of the week, start a conversation gather a social following with lots of fun photos of fabulous shoes in fabulous locations? Then drive traffic to your store, once you’ve built up some momentum you can make a call about whether the physical store is worth it? Pop up stores and shows/fairs would also be another way of testing the water.

@someaddedsugar I agree with Alison, I've found some great freelancers on People Per Hour. Fiver is another similar website also worth registering with.

Thank you Wingfield and Alison; I’ll definitely check out those sites!

I am trying to find a business name.
I know the ideas are good but when I come to register they are taken.
I'm entering quite a saturated market and knew it would be difficult.
It isn't cake making, but a similar nightmare ito choosing a name.
What else can I look at apart from defining the business in the name?

Just an an FYI to all those joining in the thread, we’re covering lots of the topics you’re asking about at our events - the next one is being held in Barnet on March 1st, and we’ll be holding them around the country in the months ahead. If you’re interested in coming along or receiving our newsletters/info about our mentors, you can sign up here. Just to be clear, it’s free to register and we’re not-for-profit. Really hope you find it useful.

@BellaNgo - never thought of the British library! Thanks! Will look into it.

Absolutely invaluable thread, full of ideas and good advice, thanks!

Hello Alison,

I've signed up. I'm actually living in Switzerland but am a Brit who comes home pretty frequently, so hopefully I'll manage to get to an event.

I have a question if I may - my business idea would be in online retail. Is it necessary or indeed helpful to take a course in such a subject or something similar like e-commerce, before starting out?

Many thanks in advance!