The art of self employment

[harveyp6]

and '' cash in hand '' meant something , these days people ask for a cash price , and a receipt.

I liked the ones who were told it's cash only, and then turned up and tried to pay by cheque telling me that IS cash .
If you've got enough in the bank to cover the cheque, get down the bank and draw out the cash and come back then. And by the way, it's 25 quid a day storage

 

[mtt.tr]

Doing the job is only half the job.

Soft skills with people is the absolute key to learn. You can get rates if people like you.

Make sure you know your expenses and what you want to earn, how many hours you wish to work and many days you want to work. For instance I try to earn my salary in 10months which allows me to take September off and book other little holidays.


It's taken courage to ask for more money and to stand firm but it does pay off in the end. I earnt too little for a few years and I was unbelievably busy.
Now I'm selective and its much nicer, I have claimed my weekends and evenings back.

 

[brightspark]

Im old enough to remember when ''cash was king ''
and '' cash in hand '' meant something , these days people ask for a cash price , and a receipt.

the cash price is no diffrent to giving me a cheque or a bank transfer my overheads dont get any cheaper no matter how im paid .they can take it or leave it . there lucky to get me . always got more work on than i want and i can choose it

 

[tom2207]

the cash price is no diffrent to giving me a cheque or a bank transfer my overheads dont get any cheaper no matter how im paid .they can take it or leave it . there lucky to get me . always got more work on than i want and i can choose it

that was never the point of a cash job ,,,, the inland revenge may not agree though

 

[harveyp6]

The banks charge businesses to pay in cheques so you are worse off taking them . Cash never gets paid into the bank, although it always appears on the books

 

[Munkul]

If you're generally trading business to business, then there is no downside to being VAT registered apart from a bit more book keeping.
Robbie i would suggest listening to some business podcasts, they'll get your head where it needs to be at to charge properly. Once you're tracking profit and loss properly (even at a simple level) you'll get much better at estimates.

 

[Munkul]

There's some excellent advice in this thread regarding customer management and general business strategy.
I heard a useful thing a while back, it was about successful businesses. It doesn't matter how big or small or complicated they are. A successful business needs to do 3 things.
1. Provide value to the customer
2. Make a profit
3. Do it in a sustainable manner

 

[oilcooled :)]

Don’t ever be afraid to ask for a deposit especially off new customers, if they refuse that there will be a problem with money at the end and it helps with cash flow

 

[brightspark]

The banks charge businesses to pay in cheques so you are worse off taking them . Cash never gets paid into the bank, although it always appears on the books

if i did a job for 40 quid and they sit there with there cheque book i say 40 pound 60 pence then theres always the question wots the 60 pence for . for the cheque thats what the bank charges me for depositing it so its not coming out of my pocket the cash is put through in the books but wife uses that for housekeeping so dont get charged on it