First Business .... Where to start ?

NOVICE-REFURB

Hi,

I hope this is in the correct place.

Im finding myself in a position of being approached to consult on various projects externally from my main job.

being completely new to the land of business, I am unsure as to how to start, I recently gave some generic advise as a favor to a potential client and he in turn wants to pay me ... great ... but he wants to pay me correctly which is fine .. but I dont have a business and was wondering what I would have to do to set one up and the best possible way of doing this , company / sole trader

Im currently work for a company and have no intention of leaving, but earning extra on the side looks to be a promising prospect.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated... I will contact an accountant asap.. but as trying to keep cost down to a minimum

Thanks again
N

uck51js9zml2yt

Limited company and register it with cro and revenue.

Is there any danger of a conflict with your permanent employer?

Axwell

First port of call would be to check your contract - you may not be allowed work in this manner.

After that you need to consider the extra income you will make and how much tax you would pay on it and see if it is worth it before jumping down the route of registering as a limited company.

As you are already in full time employment you will be paying through the nose in tax and the additional work on the side may not be as fruitful as you think at present.

NOVICE-REFURB

I can work externally as long as it has nothing to do with my current employement , which is fine , it's the fear that it may be pointless if I was to get hammered on tax

JMR

If you create a ltd company then any income received from your consultancy work may be provided to you as salary from the company. You will however, potentially pay a high amount of tax on this additional salary as you are already in full time employment.

The first step is to quantify as accurately as possible the potential income from your new business, then talk to an accountant regarding the most tax efficient method of running the business.

mneylon

Speak to an accountant. Setting up a limited company isn't cheap if you're not going to be doing enough work to warrant the cost. Even if the company isn't actively trading you'll still have to returns etc., with the CRO and the cost of doing those will vary, but would probably be €300 - 600 / year.

Being a sole trader will complicate your tax affairs a little (depending on how you do things) but is probably easier and cheaper if you're just "dipping your toes".

ironclaw

Can I pose the question in the context, what is the advantage of being an Ltd versus a Sole Trader as a consultant? From a liability standpoint, I assume Ltd is favorable but surely an adequately insured sole trader is just as secure?

Graham

ironclaw wrote: »

Can I pose the question in the context, what is the advantage of being an Ltd versus a Sole Trader as a consultant? From a liability standpoint, I assume Ltd is favorable but surely an adequately insured sole trader is just as secure?

Off the top of my head:

1) credibility
2) customer exposure (less chance of a consultant claiming they're an employee)

Many companies (and particularly agencies) just won't deal with sole traders.

mneylon

ironclaw wrote: »

Can I pose the question in the context, what is the advantage of being an Ltd versus a Sole Trader as a consultant? From a liability standpoint, I assume Ltd is favorable but surely an adequately insured sole trader is just as secure?

Liability is the key thing for a lot of people

Though if you're a small company the directors can't escape the "cost" ..

As Graham pointed out, a lot of companies don't like doing business with sole traders due to concerns around risk etc