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RE: FN-FORUM: The first six months..
date posted 15th August 2004 17:53
Aaron
Go to your bank with evidence of work done so far and the work you are =
doing
and get a business overdraft. I have just done this to allow me to =
expand my
business and they have been more than helpful. Although I have a =
colourful
credit rating personally, as I operate though a Limited company, it has =
an
excellent credit rating in its own right (i.e. it has never been in =
debt).=20
I have also built up a personal relationship with my financial advisor =
at
the bank and he has supported me 100% through leaving contracting, =
setting
up on my own and talking to the business manager and bank manager on my
behalf to get them to authorise borrowing for me. If you have money =
coming
in they will be happy to help, just don't go stupid with the money.=20
Personally I feel this is better than getting a job, otherwise you will =
flog
yourself stupid getting the work done, I know, I have done it.
Damon
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of Aaron
Brailsford
Sent: 15 August 2004 18:33
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: FN-FORUM: The first six months..
Afternoon all..
Just wanting to use you all as a sounding board really, so here goes..
I've been working for myself for coming up to six months now - and I'm=20
told the first six are the hardest, and the first two years are hard, so =
the lack of cash hasn't been entirely surprising.. However, up until now =
I've at least managed to pay myself just about enough to cover the major =
bills.
But.. I've just finished doing my accounts, and it looks like after I=20
claim my last load of expenses (which I can't really avoid doing -=20
=A32800's worth is hardware I bought to sell on to a customer and had to =
use my own credit card for), I'll have about =A3400 in the bank of=20
available cash (the rest will have to pay the VAT man in a month or so).
Which leaves me in a bit of a quandry - I have one *big* job on at the=20
moment that will keep me busy up till the end of August and is worth a=20
reasonable whack of money (=A34k, to be exact) - but knowing the company =
it's for, it'll be October/November before I manage to squeeze the money =
out of them.
So what to do in the mean time? I haven't really done enough work for=20
end-customers to get word of mouth going, what I have done has been=20
through other freelancers/small businesses, and there's nothing at all=20
on the horizon for next month - not to mention how I'll survive the next =
couple or three months without any salary (I started this venture with =
no financial backup sadly).
Realistically I'm faced with three options - beg/borrow money from=20
relatives to keep me going (which I may not be able to do anyway, as my=20
parents aren't exactly loaded, and it's not fair on them to be=20
subsidising me now they're heading toward retirement), get a second job=20
(and I'm not sure when I'd do that, given I already tend to work from=20
9am till 11pm), try and get my overdraft extended, borrow on the credit=20
cards or find business funding..
Does anyone have any ideas which my best options might be? Business=20
funding worries me - and given my lack of business plan, probably be=20
hard to get anyway..
Borrowing on my (already stretched) credit cards is easy, but limited=20
and very high interest.
Extending my (personal) overdraft might be impossible as IF say they'll=20
only up it once every six months..
Which leaves getting a job (that I'm not sure I could fit in and still=20
meet my own work committments this month) or borring from my folks..
Or alternatively I suppose I go back to the world of the employed - it=20
certainly was easier, and I was a lot better off financially :/
How *do* you make a living at this? It seems to me like I'd have to be=20
bringing somewhere between 4 and 6k a month into the company, every=20
month, to really break even and be almost as well off as I was before -=20
and I'm starting to wonder if that's physically possible as a one man =
band?
Ok, I'm not sure there were really any questions in that lot, or whether =
I'm just venting to an audience :S Oh well...
Aaron
--=20
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