[matt]

now, this has been on my mind for a while

i see other guys spending money on this and that i for a few weeks ive felt like i should be investing in my biz, though in reality i do a good job, i keep overheads LOW, thus more money for me to spend on myself / family ( ive just booked up another holiday, but thats another story )

so how do you do it, do you set aside a % for biz and a % for holidays

i was thinking of having 1 week of the month that all checks i get go into a fund to invest in the biz

serious replies only please

[LWC]

i try to keep my expenses quite high, so i have nice things but gets knocked off how much i earn...so in theory less tax

but still take home a good wage

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

I just let the business dictate what i need to buy , while also keeping one eye forward.

I never live hand to mouth and just spend what i need to, In the last 3 years i have spent over £35'000 on vehicles and equipment, that is apart from my running costs, diesel etc.

I also invested £2000 in advertising this year.

I have picked up some big contracts lately and that is forcing me to buy more and better equipment, eg i got away with a 40 ft pole for the last few years until i picked up a 5 storey building, that forced me into buying a  pole for a    grand.

Funnily enough just had a phone call from one of the biggest buildings in Cornwall so might have to invest even more if i get the job.

My next move is to look even more pro, I will be investing in another new van and this time will get some decent sign writing done.

I would say set a plan of what you need or desire , then set the budget to match within reason.

Dave

[matt]

Matt

I just let the business dictate what i need to buy , while also keeping one eye forward.

I never live hand to mouth and just spend what i need to, In the last 3 years i have spent over £35'000 on vehicles and equipment, that is apart from my running costs, diesel etc.

I also invested £2000 in advertising this year.

I have picked up some big contracts lately and that is forcing me to buy more and better equipment, eg i got away with a 40 ft pole for the last few years until i picked up a 5 storey building, that forced me into buying a  pole for a    grand.

Funnily enough just had a phone call from one of the biggest buildings in Cornwall so might have to invest even more if i get the job.

My next move is to look even more pro, I will be investing in another new van and this time will get some decent sign writing done.

I would say set a plan of what you need or desire , then set the budget to match within reason.

Dave

Dave, the thing is with me, i have no desire to be the biggest window cleaner in my area, im happy with my lot and would be happy to stay earning what i earn with the hours i work

this has been on my mind for a while and last weekend i was discussing with my wife  that i should keep a % back for holidays

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

Its not about being the biggest its about getting better jobs for more money

[Moderator David@stives]

I am still going to be the biggest though lol

[matt]

Matt

Its not about being the biggest its about getting better jobs for more money

dave, my reply wasnt meant to be having a dig at you, you have your aims ( which i hope you get ) i have mine and for the time being, is to stay as i am

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

I wish i had you philosophy towards work life balance.

My trouble is i am to greedy and dont know how to say no, just this year alone I have expanded my business by 70%.

Dave

[matt]

Matt

I wish i had you philosophy towards work life balance.

My trouble is i am to greedy and dont know how to say no, just this year alone  have expanded my business by 70%.

Dave

Dave

i sometimes wish i was more the other way and had more biz drive

on the note of your 70 % increase, well done, its what you aim for

my note of something i feel happy with, ive just booked up another family holiday, we worked out on sunday night that in the space of 18 months ( so over a 18 month period )  we have spent 16 K on holidays  scarey really

[Sanity]

Personally, I just spend whatever I need and bank the rest.  Means that on a day (£100 takings) I bank maybe £60 after the kids dinner money, wifes fAgs, bread, milk, diesel etc.

I need to get more organised and allocate myself maybe £5 or £10 a day to last me and bank the rest.  Then, at the end of the month, when the bills are paid I can put whatever is left in the bank into my savings account for a holiday etc...

[Ian_Giles]

to run your business properly (I don't by the way) you should pay all your money into one account, (business) and have a standing order into another account or different bank (personal).
I put the brackets in cos if you have a proper business account you pay through the nose for everything
So if you have two separate bank accounts - both personal and in different banks - you can treat one as business and the other as personal.

Run your business out of the one, fuel, car/van tax, insurance, equipment the whole works, pay yourself what you consider to be your income, do it as a standing order and not on an ad-hoc arrangement.

Then it is just a case of seeing how much you have left over each week/month to put away as savings for holidays or rainy days...from your personal account of course!
And remember to ensure that there is money left over each week/month in your business account to allow for future investment...don't treat this bit as more personal income though!!! (Even though it will still be taxed as profit at the end of the year)

Very few of us operate in this manner (myself included) but we would all have a very much better understanding of exactly how much our businesses cost us to run, and also be sobered by just how little our wages really are That £500 - £600 quid you've made at the end of the week isn't your wage, it's your business turnover...totally different to your actual income!

In fact, many on here who think there are others who charge rip off prices for their work, were these doubters to operate in the way I have suggested above they might soon realise those others are not rip off merchants after all....


Ian

[Londoner]

Ian is correct in what he says about "double banking" and if you should be unlucky enough to have a run in with the taxman you will probably find that he uses the fact that you don't use Ian's method as "proof" that you are on the fiddle.

You will probably find that the taxman will insist that you use that system in future although, as Ian correctly says again, business accounts are one big rip off.

[elite mike]

Ian is correct in what he says about "double banking" and if you should be unlucky enough to have a run in with the taxman you will probably find that he uses the fact that you don't use Ian's method as "proof" that you are on the fiddle.

You will probably find that the taxman will insist that you use that system in future although, as Ian correctly says again, business accounts are one big rip off.

i have used the girobank for 27 years as a business account, and never had any charges.
its run by the alliance & liester now
regards
mike

[dai]

I mate of mine passed on recently. He had an architectural reclaim business, he was also on the books of a couple of oil companies as a hammer man on the rigs. He would be called up at a minutes notice and jetted out to some eastern or Asian country, he may have been away for two weeks at a time and they paid him $600 a day.
A lot of this guys business was cash based, and he gave me some advice many years ago that I wish I had taken now.
When ever he went out east, he used up any spare cash to buy Kruger rands. This was his pension pot, he said that as nobody official knew he had them, he wouldn't mention them when it came time for him to retire.
His plan was to sell a few as needed, and they would come in very handy for his foreign holidays.
This guy was paranoid when it came to paying taxes.

Sadly, he died of cancer a few weeks ago, I can't help wondering what happened to his stash of gold
I wish I had bought a few on my trips through Dubai, no VAT there, and gold has now reached $1000 an ounce.

I don't know about putting a percentage away to invest in your business, but we all have to think about the time when we can no longer work. Dai

[D.Salkeld_Ltd]

Hi Folks,

The trouble I find is we are "workers" not "businesspeople".
We tend (well at least I do :) to think all the money we are paid is ours.

My accountant has taught me that the money I get paid for window cleaning is NOT MINE.  It belongs to D.Salkeld.Ltd.  It's taken me a long time to get to this situation.

Takings - All into D.Salkeld.Ltd bank or cash tin
Each week I pay the wages out of the cash tin
At the end of the month the company Direct Debits go out.
Then I take out:-

My wages.  Travel allowance.  And a SET amount of Dividends.

The dividends are worked out on:-

                 Monthly Takings
              -  Monthly Expenses (includes My Wages and Travel allowance)
              = Monthly Gross Profit
              -  Monthly Tax Liability
              = Dividends available

Now I have set an amount I take out on the amount I NEED to cover my personal expenses.  Most months the amount I need;  dividends is less than the dividends available so money is left in the business.

At the end of the financial year, after the tax is paid, I decide what to do with the surplus.

Simply:

Don't bother about the Bank balance - it is the businesses.

ALL you can have is:-

Takings - Expenses - tax = balance available.
Then take out ONLY what you NEED.  Leave a bit in the business.

So if you increase your business still take out ONLY what you NEED.  That way there will be more left in the business 


That's the THEORY...............................................Only just getting the hang of it :
 :

David

[twt]

to run your business properly (I don't by the way) you should pay all your money into one account, (business) and have a standing order into another account or different bank (personal).
I put the brackets in cos if you have a proper business account you pay through the nose for everything
So if you have two separate bank accounts - both personal and in different banks - you can treat one as business and the other as personal.

Run your business out of the one, fuel, car/van tax, insurance, equipment the whole works, pay yourself what you consider to be your income, do it as a standing order and not on an ad-hoc arrangement.

Then it is just a case of seeing how much you have left over each week/month to put away as savings for holidays or rainy days...from your personal account of course!
And remember to ensure that there is money left over each week/month in your business account to allow for future investment...don't treat this bit as more personal income though!!! (Even though it will still be taxed as profit at the end of the year)

Very few of us operate in this manner (myself included) but we would all have a very much better understanding of exactly how much our businesses cost us to run, and also be sobered by just how little our wages really are That £500 - £600 quid you've made at the end of the week isn't your wage, it's your business turnover...totally different to your actual income!

In fact, many on here who think there are others who charge rip off prices for their work, were these doubters to operate in the way I have suggested above they might soon realise those others are not rip off merchants after all....


Ian

I dont think you have a very high opinion of people's intelligence on here as your always saying that people on here don't realise that their turnover is not their wage.
     
It is very easy to work out your wage it is the amount you pay tax on at the end of the year divide this up to show how much your wage is each week or month. Compared to most other businesses a lot of window cleaners will find their wages to be a high percentage of their turnover.

You don't have to pay through the nose for business accounts you can even get them for next to nothing. If all you want from a business account is somewhere to put money in via cash, cheque and internet/telephone transfer and  take it out via cash, cheque, transfer, bacs chaps etc then you don't have to pay for it.  Most months I dont have any banking charges and they have never been more than a pound.

[Captain Scarlet]

to run your business properly (I don't by the way) you should pay all your money into one account, (business) and have a standing order into another account or different bank (personal).

Thats how I do it, one standing order for my mum and one for me, Luke

[Moderator David@stives]

my bank charges are about £250 a quarter,

 just another business expence
 

[Captain Scarlet]

Heres a good question to ask yourself. Does your business have enough put away so if you lost everything ( van etc ) and there was no insurance pay out for some reason, you could buy it all again? Luke

[Village Gleam]

Some very good replies and some excellent advice. None of it addresses what you asked so I don't see why I should either.

Given that you're not stupid you probably have the bank thing sussed. I'm assuming your partner earns  etc but be aware that all this leaves a  stamp.

I'm not that keen on holidays and I always worry and think about work. My wife makes me go.

By Investing in your business  you will get more money out.Not competing with Dave or me or yourself is almost like a badge of honour. You are better at making things than we are and you should have the best system/kit on here. Your work will be easier, you will achieve more in less time.