Golden opportunity? What to do !

[magicalhello]

Regular poster but name changes just in case anyone recognises me from other posts in the outside world.

My husband has given me free reign - and a head start money wise - to set up my own business, with the view that I can be around more for our 3 children and not have to "go out to work"

The problem I have, is I have no idea what I want to do.

Help !

Beauty therapy? Train in massage etc. to compliment your nail work. Then use the money to build a little salon in the garden.

How about investing the money in training / qualifications that can be gained in a flexible way eg Open Uni / distance learning that would then qualify you to do well paid specialist consulting in something?

Depends what your background / interests are but I'm doing the above with health and safety as it's a natural add on to what I do anyway but commands a much higher day rate once you have the extra qualifications.

Will also allow me to cross over into nearly every industry if I wanted to whereas at the moment I'm stuck in a niche (and still locked down!) industry.

Maybe add lashes and eyebrows to your nail qualification and you could be a one stop shop?
Not ideal when the kids are around however

I'm a bit confused OP... if I'm understanding it right, you want to start a small scale business thay won't take up too much of your time but that will bring you in £800/month. The thing is even a small business will take a lot of time and effort to get off the ground and will take a while before making a profit.

The main ingredient for any successful business is passion! You have to want to do it and have a drive to make it work, that's what keeps you going through the boring parts of being self employed or the tough times. Without that I fear your fifteen grand won't get you that far

Mobile beauty would be a total winner

Think of the stuff people can’t do now when they’re wfh

Mobile nail and moustache bar!

Why don’t you learn a trade? You could pay to go on a course, and then take on only small jobs whilst the DC aren’t of school age, and your DH could have them whilst you work. And then when they’re of school age, you just take on the jobs that you can fit into the time that they’re at school.

Ok so a few considerations (I run a small business but also advise small businesses.)

• do you need £800 before or after tax?
• don’t spend all your money on equipment - you’ll need it for marketing.
• what do you actually like doing? What are you good at?
• you’ll also need things like money to cover accountancy fees, possibly a website, advertising, insurance etc. So making £800/month does not mean taking home £800/month.

It’s a lovely opportunity but honestly you need to take a step back and think about what you want to do.

£800 a month from a £15k investment? With absolutely no idea whatsoever of what you want to do? I mean, have you even done ANY kind of basic costings or research? Your nail tech stuff for a start. Have you done a quick reckoner on how many clients you could do in a day/week/month, how much you'd charge, what your start up costs might be, your on going costs, who your competition is etc etc. I'm not saying you're necessarily going down the nail route btw but I mean, have you done anything at all to see if this is viable.

Op, how will you manage a term time only business? It sounds like he is setting you up for a fall

One thing I thought about with hiring - I hired a huge gazebo for a party once (the type that’s too expensive to buy but not quite a marquee). Obviously not great in winter but reckon they may become rather popular next summer if people do more home parties etc.

I’ve thought of things like bouncy castles etc but the time people want them & your busy is when you need to be home with your kids.

You would do better using it to learn a trade. Dog grooming is a good one, kit out a trailer with the cash

In your shoes I would

• operate as a nail technician
• set up an Instagram account and try to gain a following
• learn all about social media marketing (maybe do a course in it?)
• base my insta around showing over nail technicians how to create a following

Take 18 months off work to look after you child full time.

I don't understand how asking you to run a business and look after a child is some kind of generosity on your husband's part?

If you so something which involves children's parties it means you'd be busy on a weekend.

I assume you'll have to work weekends whilst you get up and running anyway but that may not suit you long term.

Nice that your husband also wants to be your only shareholder...

I would use the money to study. Something like accountancy or hairdressing or whatever you are interested in which will get you in a position to work flexibly once you are qualified.

What did you do before, apart from nails

What are your interests?

If you've some skills in beauty then I'd get really good training and do other in demand treatments that pay well- lashes, hd Brows, fillers, Botox etc. 15k would go a long way in setting you up. You could look to rent a table at a local salon.

Presumably whilst you are running our business you will still need childcare? It's almost impossible to manage even a few hours a day while still looking after children? I can't think of any self employed work that you can also manage while simultaneously carrying out childcare to be honest