A few extra pennies

[Pan_chan_boo]

I'm looking to possibly start my own business on the side of working full time, just to hopefully earn a bit of extra cash and if it takes off perhaps even quit the job im currently in.

My parents currently have their own business, I have asked if they would mind me starting off through them just so I can get up and running without a bunch of extra crap just in case it goes horribly wrong. So I'll essentialy have a shop to sell from and advertise in, and all purchases of stock will go through their company for tax purposes for now.

My main concerns are the following.

1. My mother has said she would like a 20% cut of the sales I make as they will be taking orders from the shop while i work full time. Does this seem fair? I'm a little dissapointed since i currently help their business without any financial gain.

2. My supplier will actualy be the company I work for, my parents have an account with them and I have advised my employers that it is my parents who are expanding their business, not myself starting a new one. Any advice on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated as i would like to keep my job for now!

3. I will be looking into thesite.org's starting your own business info shortly, but is there anything i should look to research specificaly? I'm worried that there is a bunch of legal jargon somewhere that im going to need to sit down and study so i dont screw up big time.

[emilyrubrick]

hello!

This is sounds like a pretty brave move! On one hand having your parents to help you means you don't have to break out on your own entirely, but on the other it sounds like it could result in arguments or resentment if you don't sort out from the outset what the divisions of labour and payment are going to be. It also sounds like things could get messy if the people you currently work for find out that you're moonlighting. There are clearly some major questions which need to be resolved before you go any further with this.

Fortunately there's quite a lot of help out there for people starting their own business. You can speak to an advisor at Business Link on 0845 600 9006 if you're in England; (Business Gateway if you're in Scotland; Business Support Wales; or Northern Ireland Business Info)The Prince's Trust's Business Plan Guide might be a good place to look for info. You can also apply for the Prince's Trust's Business Programme, a 12-week programme to help you explore and test your business idea, or the National Enterprise Academy, where you can do the UK's first full-time accredited course in Enterprise. Hope this helps.

[RubberSkin]

Originally Posted by Pan_chan_boo

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My mother has said she would like a 20% cut of the sales I make as they will be taking orders from the shop while i work full time. Does this seem fair?

How much would shop rent/mortgage, phone, council tax, insurance, electricity, gas, internet, staff wages, etc cost comapred to 20% of your sales. Also, if your mum is taking orders when there'd be no one around otherwise you'll be getting 80% of something instead of 100% of nothing.

Sales count, even if you make a loss.

Originally Posted by Pan_chan_boo

I'm a little dissapointed since i currently help their business without any financial gain.

Then don't work for free, unless of course you live at home for £200 a month.

[Pan_chan_boo]

Originally Posted by RubberSkin

How much would shop rent/mortgage, phone, council tax, insurance, electricity, gas, internet, staff wages, etc cost comapred to 20% of your sales. Also, if your mum is taking orders when there'd be no one around otherwise you'll be getting 80% of something instead of 100% of nothing.

Sales count, even if you make a loss.



Then don't work for free, unless of course you live at home for £200 a month.

I live at home and pay rent. I even said I would pay her extra for advertising and using up extra space, but instead she wants a cut of all orders, not just those taken in her shop. Yes she may take orders, but if you knew my mother you'd realise she's probably going to loose sales for me rather than make them, her business is pretty much on its last legs.

Its not a large business im looking at, if I had my own place Id be working from home with the additional advertising i already have. I'm just lucky that my parents have a shop i can use.

If it was my Dad getting the money, that would be a different story as he puts in effort and will bring in orders for me. He's great. I think i just dont like the idea of giving her money when she is being so negative and she drives away customers. I asked her if she would do this for me to help get me started up, its not really help when im paying for it.

Also, if I got 20% of all the orders I did for the place i work. I'd be freaking rich! I just thought it was a bit much.

It also sounds like things could get messy if the people you currently work for find out that you're moonlighting. There are clearly some major questions which need to be resolved before you go any further with this.

I have explained to my supervisor that im looking into this, but as mentioned iv said it is my parents business and that they have asked me to be involved as i know so much about the industry. I am waiting for someone to come back to me and let me know if there are any problems with this. When I say I help with my parents business I already bring home the odd order for them, there seems to be no issue at the moment.