Starting a Web Design Business
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- mas
- Sr. Rocketeer
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lol I'd hope your business teacher would have pointed out to you the higher costs of operating a business account then! No bank accounts are cool!
The only benefit at this stage to you would be if for some reason you wish to trade under a different name than your own - even if you do you will legally have to have your own name on all business transactions anyway.
I can't recommend any business accounts personally - when we did look (about 3 years ago now) they were all pretty similar - just see who offers the best deal at the time and take a close look at the charges.
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- Leckenby
- Elite Rocketeer
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Well theres Barclays that do one that 16's can open
And I will be trading under my company name, rather than 'James Leckenby'
As for the charges, they seem pretty reasonable
So, in your opinion though, you think it is better to just have a current account say and use paypal API for everything?
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- James Spencer
- Preeminent Rocketeer
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That sounds much better, in the initial stages, you are probably not going to be inundated with jobs and money.
I would just like to add, Business Studies sucks
I did it for 2 years and I am never going to look back on it 
- James Spencer / Developer & Support / Hull, UK
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- mas
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 104
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thats a good solution I hadn't thought of that to get round banking. Bear in mind that unless your company is a properly registered company you'll still have to state "James Leckenby trading as [whatever your company name is]" - this is on all business forms (letters, invoices that sort of stuff). I think on your website you'd just have to have details somewhere.
In the future if you do open a business account as a sole trader this is also how your cheques would be written (I think you can then accept cheques written as either your company name or your own name but can't remember to be sure). Paypal accept cheques & things too don't they? Personally I hate paypal but hard to beat their convenience - I'm hoping google checkout will work out well......
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- Leckenby
- Elite Rocketeer
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Well I am going to be a sole trader, obv. with a business name
I realise I gotta but my name below the business name all the time etc
So what are the actual benefits of a business account compared to say a current account
All I want to do is keep records of everything that I do for my clients + payments, and also want API access (allowing for me to take payments on my website without the client going to an external payment page like paypal)
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- mas
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 104
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I don't know about API access (think you might need a merchant account for that?) Other than that I don't think its so much that there are benefits to having a business account - more the case that if you can by without one then do it because if they can the bank will insist on you having a business account so they can charge you more!
Only sole traders can use an account in their own name - once you're a registered company you have to trade as the company name because the company is a separate legal entity - which also means banks can shaft you for more cash! That said there were some good deals for business accounts for new start ups (free banking for a year etc.) but if you're having hassle opening one I just wouldn't bother for now - keep it simple and learn what you need as you need it rather than filling your head with all sorts of confusing & complex info! (lol so maybe I'll shut up giving out more & more info!!)
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- Leckenby
- Elite Rocketeer
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Okay, so what your saying is...
It's better for me to just open a current account with anyone, then use Paypal to take orders (they also provide API access)? This would work well, and I could keep track of things from my account. The only downfall is that I have to pay Paypal's fees.
As for my business name, I have a business account registered to James Leckenby and my business
I'll have to consult my teachers to explain it all to me, but your also saying that I have to trade under my name sorta thing? How do other soletraders handle this
My basic situation:
I want a website where clients can put products such as 'Joomla Website', 'HTML Website', 'Domain Name' etc.
Once this has happened, I will supply what they want
I want to trade under a business name, and will be a soletrader (although sub-contracting)
I also want a seperate bank account for all money to go into rather than putting it in my own
Lastly, I want to use API in virtuemart to provide users with a seemless experience, rather that getting redirected to say a paypal page in the middle
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- Leckenby
- Elite Rocketeer
- Posts: 714
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www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/det...l2=1073859131&r.s=sc
Just an update, saw this page, anyway - am I right?
. Display Business Name, My Name + Address on everything and when I deal with customers
However it also says this:
Displaying a name online
If you are an online business, you must display:
* general information about your business - including business name, address, email address, VAT registration number (if applicable)
* details of any relevant professional body that you belong to or any authorisation scheme to which your service is subject
Does this mean I don't need to display my real name, only my business name, address, and email (don't need VAT yet
) on my website etc?
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mas wrote:
don't bother with a business account for now - you can use a personal account as a self employed person as all cheques etc. will be in your name - its just a good idea to keep a separate account so you can keep track of income & expenditure when you need to do your self assessment (+ to check you're making money!)
Here here - don't bother unless the bank complains. Also remember you have to register with IR within 3 months of starting business or could be fined.
As for NI you can get a form if have main job as well to declare that your earnings (ie net profit before tax) will be below certain defined level and won't be paying NI. Quite easy to do really. Check out IR website. Loads of info.
Good luck. I don't do web dev. but have p/t business. V hard work
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