What way to approach this?

insignia33

Im just going to keep this simple.

I have a hobby which I think maybe I could make some money at the weekends with. I dont ever see this turning into my main job as I just dont think the customer base is there. But thats fine. Im only offering a service and truth be to told, Id do it for free, but I reckon theres a small market and a bit of extra spending money every now and then would be nice

I just want to get myself legal and have my taxes and everything else in order. Im guessing I could make maybe 2-3K a year. I know its not much, but like I said, Im not doing this for money.

Anywho. I was advised to start a limited company just incase anything ever came out of this, I dont want someone chasing me down for my house if all goes wrong.

I was referred to this page here and told it had everything I need to know:

http://www.cro.ie/ena/business-registration-company.aspx

Honestly. Im reading it but its not sinking in so well.

Maybe someone could give me a quick rundown on what I need to be doing. I know what business name I want. I have a domain bought and a website been built as we speak. Im well recognised in my hobby and get requests quite often. My neighbor is an accountant so hopefully she'll look after my books. I have all my own equipment and dont need to buy anything or get funding etc basically as soon as Im legal Im ready to rock.

MidlandsM

you don't need to register a co, especially for turnover so little.........register as a sole trader, and make an annual tax return.

insignia33

MidlandsM wrote: »

you don't need to register a co, especially for turnover so little.........register as a sole trader, and make an annual tax return.

That was my initial thoughts too

But what happens someday when I get one of those customers that says my bad teaching caused them to lose a competition, or my bad advice caused them to get injured and they take me to court.

Or could I get a solicitor to write up a contract that says anything I teach or recommend during the lesson cant be held against me and may be wrong/outdated etc.

SookieS

Get insurance too and that should cover you from major losses. A limited company needs directors and can be costly to register. But registering as a sole trader is easy peasy!

dbran

insignia33 wrote: »

That was my initial thoughts too

But what happens someday when I get one of those customers that says my bad teaching caused them to lose a competition, or my bad advice caused them to get injured and they take me to court.

Or could I get a solicitor to write up a contract that says anything I teach or recommend during the lesson cant be held against me and may be wrong/outdated etc.

How likely is all that going to happen versus the cost and administration of a limited company?

Peterdalkey

If that were a real risk, PGA Golf instructers/teachers would be lined up for miles around the Four Courts waiting for their cases to be called!!!

insignia33

dbran wrote: »

How likely is all that going to happen versus the cost and administration of a limited company?

The odds are extremely slim. Honestly it would really want to be a person that set out with the lessons with compensation in mind.

I guess that settles it then. I'll go for the sole trader. Thanks for all the replies.

Also, just one last quick question. I was thinking as a sole trader can I claim tax back on products? I was doing a bit of thinking today and had the idea that I could do group lessons (aswell as 1-to-1s) and if that worked out a projector would be nice. Just it would be a bit cramped sitting 4 or 5 people around 1 laptop.

jimmii

insignia33 wrote: »

my bad teaching caused them to lose a competition, or my bad advice caused them to get injured and they take me to court.

To do how many people have said you have given them bad advice or been injured following your instructions? As long as you know what you are talking about then it should be safer for them after taking your coaching than before! I can't believe anyone would be able to sue you for their poor performance all they can do is drop you as a coach and if its any sort of activity where you can get injured then any injury would just been seen as part of participation. You would need insurance to cover them while they are in a lesson but outside of that then I would imagine they would need to take out their own specialist insurance.

jimmii

insignia33 wrote: »

I guess that settles it then. I'll go for the sole trader. Thanks for all the replies.

Also, just one last quick question. I was thinking as a sole trader can I claim tax back on products? I was doing a bit of thinking today and had the idea that I could do group lessons (aswell as 1-to-1s) and if that worked out a projector would be nice. Just it would be a bit cramped sitting 4 or 5 people around 1 laptop.

Best of luck!! It may not be worth your while registering to claim back as then you would need to add VAT to your coaching cost as well which going by what you have said here would be 13.5% so unless you were going to be consistently having items to claim for you might be better off not registering until your turnover meets the threshold where you have to.

SookieS

You can claim VAT back on purchases but only if you're registered for it which means you'd have to charge it too. Probably not worth your while but totally up to you. There's no legal requirement to register for VAT unless you're making more than 36k. Might be 37, but somewhere in that ball park anyway!

dbran

Depending on the type of coaching/training it may be VAT exempt so you cant register for VAT.