Starting Out: Setting Up a Small Business
V Rice, SfEP, 3rd edn, 2013, £5 (pbk), ISBN 978 0 9563 1645 5
Reviewed by Michèle Clarke
A review of the first edition of this booklet appeared in Editing Matters, May/Jun 2007, and it was well received by the reviewer. This latest edition has been updated with a little help from some colleagues.
Starting Out covers in the first pages the physical aspects of setting up a business: the office itself and how and with what to equip it.
Practical guidance is given on financial aspects:
- tax
- a business plan
- whether or not you need to become a limited company
- VAT
- claimable expenses
- whether or not you are actually self-employed according to Mr Taxman
- whether an accountant is necessary (I had one for many years until the HMRC website for filling the tax form became simpler!)
- pensions and insurance.
Val touches on how to find work and self-marketing, rates of pay and relationships with clients, plus CPD. There is a list of useful resources – websites and publications.
This is a small practical booklet – well worth the price to set you on your way to becoming an efficient freelancer.