15.1    Introduction

Congratulations.
You have successfully opened your business and all of
the hardships along the way are well behind you.

You have got your business loan, paid for the
necessary start-up equipment, decided what business structure you want to have
and so on. Now comes the much-needed information on how to successfully prepare
yourself to run that business.

Even if you have hired an accountant, you, as the
boss, should still know everything there is to know about every single
financial aspect of your company,
so as to avoid any surprises in the future.

This final module is going to break down the
various parts of running your business, as well as teach you how to run it better and how to grow it. You will need to
take a lot of steps to keep your business functioning
properly, keep the best, most accurate records possible and maintain growth
over the years. Let's break it all
down here.

15.2    Growing Your Business

Many established handypersons will eventually start to grow their business
simply by their own customers
recommending them to other people

To get to this point, you need to always do
excellent work and keep yourself nice and organised, as we told you in the previous module. In the beginning, your phone
is honestly not going to ring all that
often, simply because you need to do the initial growing yourself.

This is crucial. Going after the right customer
base can and will have a huge impact on your own profitability
and overall job satisfaction. If you are targeting people who fall well within
your already established skillset, they will be a good match. You will enjoy
working for them,
they will enjoy hiring you and everyone
will be happy. Get that wrong and you will struggle greatly,
be it financially or emotionally.

If you do not fully grasp that concept and instead,
are taking any job you can possibly get your hands on, you have the potential of setting yourself
up with clients
who just are not a good fit for you yet.

You will more than likely have to change your
service to fit their needs and even cut your costs to fit their constant frustration with you.

Once you have decided the type of customer you want
to attract, take time and evaluate your structure,
in order to focus solely on them.

Estimated time: 15 to 20 minutes

Look at the questions below. Really think about
them and try to develop answers for them. Knowing where you stand on these aspects
will help you to create a target customer base:

 *Who exactly needs your goods and services? Write
down a rough list of groups of people who might need your services. This can
include anyone from the elderly and single women, to newer property owners and beyond. These can be general for now,
but you will ultimately want specific
things such as age groups and income levels.

 *Why do those people need your services? People will
be looking for you to solve a problem for them, which they cannot solve. Once
you figure out why they need you, whether they do not have time to perform the task or simply are incapable of doing
it, you will be able to better direct
your attention to those potential clients.

 *Who is willing to pay what you want? Just because
someone might be able to use you to complete
a job, does not mean they can afford to pay you for it. You do not want to
solely advertise yourself
on discount servicing websites. You do not want to already
establish yourself as the cheapest handyperson in town. That is going to
open you up for a world of issues when you do establish
yourself and try to raise your pricing. Not that you cannot tailor- make your prices where you see fit; just
be careful when doing so.

 *Who would YOU want to work for? This question might be the most important one that you ask. Whilst higher-income customers may
be willing to pay your prices without negotiation, you may be placing yourself with customers that are overly picky
and will make you do the same job
repeatedly until they are satisfied. If your intention is to increase profits,
you should definitely be looking to
target a few different groups of people.

 15.3    How to Set Your Costs

Now that you know who you want to target, or at
least have a general idea, it is time to think about your pricing.

This can be one of your most difficult steps in the
process because there are so many variables that need to be considered.

 You will need to take all of this into account:

 *Your
efficiency

*Your level of experience

*Your reputation

*Your ability to sell

*Your skills

*Your own professionalism

To make things extremely easy and less of a
headache, rather than just trying to come up with a random billable hourly rate, you can base it on your own costs.
This is a great way in which to start a foundation of where to set your overall prices. Cost-based pricing is pretty much exactly what it says- the prices are set based on your costs or different expenses.

Whether you decide to charge by the hour or by the
individual job, you must fully understand the costs that come with operating
your handyperson company, as well as how much you must make to not only cover
those costs but make a solid profit in return.

Another way to go about
setting prices is to research
your area and find out what other handypersons are charging. You want
to be making a steady profit, but you do not want to charge so much that you do not get chosen over
cheaper services. You also do not want to charge too little that potential clients view you as an amateur.

15.4    Marketing and Social Media

Whether you like it or not, more and more people are turning to the
internet and social media platforms to choose between certain goods and
services

Since you are starting
now, getting yourself
a little more involved with such tools will only benefit the growth of your company.

Getting publicity
to promote your business is extremely common.

The good news? A lot of people are actively searching
for services such as yours every single day and them contacting you may be as simple as just getting your information in front of them.

The bad news? Many other handypersons out there
have the same thought on their mind. As long as you can become
a better marketer
than them, you can make a killing.

Your ultimate goal is to figure out which marketing strategy has the best potential to have the highest return on investment (ROI).
Exposing yourself to a new environment, where you meet people you never thought you would have otherwise interacted with, can lead you to many potential
clients.

One thing you might definitely want to consider is
purchasing business cards that you can always
have on hand. You never know who you will bump into and have a
conversation with.

For example

You might overhear an older gentleman complaining
on the phone to his wife about something he does not know how to fix.Voila. You walk up to him, tell him about your new business
and hand him a card.

Even if not every person responds, you are taking all possible
measures to get your name out there.

Fact

In the UK, over 82% of adults admitted
to using the internet daily, or almost daily, in 2016, compared to 78% in 2015
and 35% in 2006.

Source: Ons.gov.uk

Activity
2

Estimated time: 45 to 60
minutes, maybe longer if you want it to
look great!

If you have not yet considered creating a website
for your new handyperson services, now is the
time. If you are not popping up in the search results for people who are
looking for a handyperson online, you
are missing out on so many new customers.

You will need to create a domain name
for your website, which does not cost a lot, but may take a little time to
develop. Your business name alone may already be taken and you will want people
to easily identify and remember it.

Once you have successfully purchased your domain,
we recommend hiring someone to create your website for you. In general, this
could cost you upwards of £1,000. However, given the attention you will receive for having a professionally designed
site that lists
all of your information and services,
this cost is very low.

Once your website is successfully
created, it just takes a little bit of marketing. As long as you can stay
creative with your website, connect it to several social media platforms that
you (or someone you have hired) stays regularly active on, people will be
talking about you.

15.5    Insurance

As an established handyperson, every day for you could be filled with
different jobs.

You might be painting a house one day and installing a new lock the next.

If you are working in someone's home, or another
type of premises, you will need insurance - public liability insurance, to be
exact.

Having this kind of coverage will protect you and
your business in both things that you may be
responsible for and certain things outside of your control.

Public liability insurance will
cover most claims made from anyone who may have suffered property damage or
physical injury, directly in connection with your business. Most insurance
policies are designed to pay compensation, which can include any immediate loss
of income, future loss of income and remedying damage for the claimant. The
policy will also usually cover any legal fees associated with both you and the
client, should this type of issue arise.

The need for your type of
coverage will fall back on that previous step in the last module that told you
to choose a business structure. If you have chosen to become a sole trader, you
may just need coverage for yourself. If there are other people working with you
or for you, you will need coverage for them as well. You will also have to look
into insuring all of your tools and equipment and, of course, car insurance on
your vehicle.

Insurance for your equipment is known as tradesman
insurance. Having adequate insurance on your tools can help to avoid any
interruption in your business.

There are also
some useful tips that can help you ensure the safety of your equipment yourself:

 *Take all of your tools and equipment out of your vehicle at night

*Only park in busy, well-lit areas.

*Completely lock your vehicle
up, when not in use.

*Ensure your vehicle has an adequate
alarm system and even a good warning sticker.

*Maintain an inventory of all of your equipment, which you check regularly following
each job.

*Connect
and maintain security cameras around your storage and vehicle, where you plan
to keep the majority of your
equipment.

*When you no longer need a customer's personal
information, shred it.

If you do your own administrative work from your desk or office, or entrust it to someone else, be sure that whatever computer the information is kept on is also backed up with a separate drive, as well as protected with anti-virus software.

Fact

Identity theft in the UK is on the
rise. The number of victims in the first three months of 2015 rose by 31% to
32,058 people, when compared to the same period of time during the previous
year.

Source: bbc.co.uk

15.6    Tax Documents and Other Financial
Records

Your chosen business structure will affect the
amount of tax you pay each year, as well as the amount of overall income you
earn.

For the sake of discussion, let's
assume that you have chosen to work as a sole proprietor; because that is more
than likely the route you will take. In the UK, if you start working for
yourself, you are known as a sole trader.

Even if you have yet to inform HM
Revenue and Customs (HRMC), this ultimately means you are self-employed.

Understanding these factors will help you decide if you are indeed a sole trader: 

 *You run the business
yourself and take responsibility for it, be it a success or a failure.

*You have multiple customers
at once.

*You decide when, where and how you work.

*You take on other employees at your own expense, to either work for you or to help you.

*You purchase
and provide for the main items needed to carry out your work.

*You have the responsibility of carrying out any unsatisfactory work in your own time.

*You charge a fixed fee for your work, by service or by the hour.

*You sell services or goods for a profit.

What You Need to Do

At the start of your business, you will need to get registered as self-employed in the eyes of HRMC, so
that you can pay the correct Income
Tax and National
Insurance.

You will need to register for Self-Assessment and Class 2 National Insurance.

This needs to be done, even if you have completed
taxes before, no later than October 5th of your business' second taxable year, in order to avoid a hefty fine.

If You Have Filed a Return Previously

If you have signed up for the online service in the
past, you should use this same account to file your future returns on your business. You should have your 10-digit
Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number somewhere on hand, which will help you
to access your account. You will now be looking to register under the form
CWF1.

If You Have Never Sent a Return

Take the necessary steps to register online and you
will receive your UTR number, as well as be enrolled for the Self-Assessment service online at the same time. A letter will be sent to you within
10 days of opening your account with the activation code you will need to log
in. This can always be replaced if
you lose it, or do not think you have received one.

You can also print the necessary forms and fill them out, then mail them to HRMC, if you do not have access to the internet or would rather
not divulge any personal information through the web.

The Self -Assesment Form

Also referred to as the SA100, the
Self-Assessment form is a very simple and straightforward form to fill out and should not take you very
long. If you need any advice, you can always seek the help of an accountant or other financial
professional. HRMC also list some useful resources
on their website.

For instance

They inform you of extra forms you would need to
fill out under certain circumstances, in addition to the original SA100.

 Those circumstances and their respective forms are as
follows:

* If you have employees
working for you, you will need to fill out the SA102.

*For
direct self-employment, definitely in the case of a handyperson, you will need
to fill out either the SA103S or the SA103F, depending
on your unique situation.

*If you partner with any other businesses, you will need to fill out the SA104S or SA104F

*If
you own any property in the UK that you receive income from, you will need to
fill out the SA105.

*For
any foreign gains or income made to you by someone else, you will need to claim
them under the form SA106.

*For and capital gains received, you will fill out the SA108.

* If you, or any of your employees, do not live in
the UK, but your business is held there, you will need to fill out the SA109

 Depending on your situation, you may be required to
fill out more than one of these forms and over
time, the required forms may grow.

Whilst it can be a tedious process,
keeping yourself organised throughout the year and holding
a clear record of all of your financial transactions, will allow you to
get through the ordeal quickly and accurately.

 Module Summary