Essex Girl April 2014 | Page 11

Although Lisa mostly does cakes for friends and family and does not turn a profit, there are thousands of business opportunities for people with skills and hobbies. Sweets and confectionary especially have become hugely popular.

If you are thinking of starting your own business, the first thing you will need to do is a business plan. You need to firgure out if the idea you have is viable to be sold as a product or service, and if you have time to execute it.Here is the link to the .gov website that explains how to write up a business plan:

www.gov.uk/write-business-plan

It is worth noting that this will be extremely time consuming, but if you are looking for a small business loan you will need to do it. Asking family and friends for ideas is a great way to carry out market research.

So you have your idea and a business plan, the next step is making the decision about registering as a company and for VAT. First and foremost you need to make sure you know all of the tax implications of turning your little creations into cash, as you could be hit hard with a tax return. Registering as a LTD company is quick and easy, however VAT and bank accounts can be slightly more complicated. You can visit the HMRC website to see if you need to register as a company:

www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/

Registering for a company can be inexpensive, but you will need to keep up to date with your annual returns by law, which there is a yearly fee for. You can use webfiling to file accounts online.

Here are some links for info for starting up on your own:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16595152

www.smallbusiness.co.uk/

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/smallbusiness/article-1583963/A-guide-setting-business-starting-company.html

Info

you

need

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