Online Business Start-up - Advice

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Babycakes

Registered User
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Hello All,
After weeks of browsing I am finally a member and hope that someone could help and share their own experiences of setting up an online business.

I am in the planning stages of turning my hobby into an Online Business and would like some advice on the following:

1. I have registered the website name - need a web designer in Cork - any recommendations?

2. I dont plan on giving up the day job - I intend to register as a Sole Trader. Must I alert revenue now or do I just go ahead and submit my self assessment form in Oct (12 mths) ??

3. Can I register the Business name and not register as a Sole Trader?

4. How do other Online commanies manage deliveries? Who is the recommended Delivery Comapany. Product will be gifts.

5. What is the recommended formula for working out the Profit Margin on my Product?

6. AOA appreciated.

Thanks a mill
 
Well done.

I run a few online businesses so I hope I can offer some advice.

Babycakes said:
1. I have registered the website name - need a web designer in Cork - any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Have a quick look at the website www.scriptlance.com

They're not in Cork, but you'll save yourself a fortune.

Basically, you can outsource most of your website work to Eastern Europe/Asia.

Babycakes said:
2. I dont plan on giving up the day job - I intend to register as a Sole Trader. Must I alert revenue now or do I just go ahead and submit my self assessment form in Oct (12 mths) ??
Click to expand...

As far as I know, because it's what I do, the self assessment form works fine.

Babycakes said:
3. Can I register the Business name and not register as a Sole Trader?
Click to expand...

Yes. Business names don't mean you're a sole trader.

I'll let the others answer your other questions! I provide a service (no products, everything is automated) so my profit/loss statement is pretty simple.

Best of luck.
 
6) AOA - From co-founding an online business (not products so no delivery issues) from scratch- one of the most challenging things to do is to get your name out there- it can take a while for SEO to prove effective- so make sure you have allocated financing for marketing and press exposure. You may find the following link useful, it contains some notes we compiled while we tried to be as cost effective as possible in getting our name out there. But at the end of the day, SEO is critical- as you don't want to be paying for Google AdWords forever- far better to get the people to your website for free. Link

Also, have you factored in costings for web hosting, processing payments etc. These are not obvious expenses in an online business that should be factored into the price of your products.

All the best with your new venture.
 
[broken link removed]

A lot of the women on this forum have online businesses. Worth a look for advice....
 
I run a small online business from home, would second irishbusinesswomans website for advice.

Enclosed are answers to the questions.

 2. I dont plan on giving up the day job - I intend to register as a Sole Trader. Must I alert revenue now or do I just go ahead and submit my self assessment form in Oct (12 mths) ?? - I would alert revenue now, I think it looks more upfront.

3. Can I register the Business name and not register as a Sole Trader? - Yes, as far as I recall, one is with revenue and the other is company registration office.

4. How do other Online commanies manage deliveries? Who is the recommended Delivery Comapany. Product will be gifts. - I use fastway.ie and find them great, I know others have had mixed experiences but four years down the line, can't fault them

5. What is the recommended formula for working out the Profit Margin on my Product? -
selling price is ((+Cost price/(1-%margin you want))) I think

6. AOA appreciated.
 
Hmm. That advice is not that convincing!

If you're setting up a business, register for tax with the Revenue. If you need to register for VAT, you can do this at the same time. There is no seperate process for registering as a sole trader.

You only need to register the business name if you are doing business under that name and receiving payments under that name. You can do this online at http://www.cro.ie

The profit margin is what's left over after your costs. If you buy a widget for 50 and sell for 60, your Gross Profit margin is 20% (10/50).When you deduct your administrative and advertisign costs, your Net Profit margin will be lower.

Best of luck. Don't give up the day job until you're sure it's a runner!
 
Any suggestions on setting price if it's a service or do you just try and gauge what the market will support (particularly if there currently aren't any competitors)?
 
Hello Again,

As a PAYE worker and in the process of setting up an Online Nappycake business.
If I make a loss as a Sole trader in my 1st year (Due to set up costs – web design, IT equiptment
Purchase, Phone costs...) – can I claim back my Tax paid through the PAYE system or against my Rental
Income?

I don’t envisage giving up my Day Job and I can’t see my Online Business being hugely profitable
This year as I try to bed down my market and Suppliers of choice.

I am waiting to attend an Enterprise Board – Start your own business course and I look forward to obtaining
The knowledge to do things correctly!

I have registered my Business Name but not my Sole Trader Status and I am not online just yet but I have incurred
The Setup costs. Can I still claim for these when I do register as a Sole trader or is there a limit on the time
Between incurring these costs and registering.

Also on the VAT front, I’m obviously paying it on my purchases, and won’t hit the limit to be obliged to register for it
but what benefit would it be for me to opt to be registered for VAT. I assume I would need to add that on to my Gifts
which would be a mixture of O% (Nappies) and 21% VAT (Baby Gifts, Clothes etc) – complicated!! Can I claim the
VAT I pay on Purchases as part of my expenses if I don’t charge VAT to get it back??

Thanks in Advance!!
 
Oh and I would like to thank Flax for his recommendation of Scriptlance.
Almost there on the website Flax and did save myself a Fortune!!
 
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