New era in bussiness

[ians]

After some consideration and advice from this forum, I have decided to sell my sole proprietor electrical business to my CC. One of the reason I have decided that it is a good time is because I have finally reach a point that I don't have outstanding debits and I believe it would be the best time.

I have been busy all day today moving everything across. I will have to send a couple of hours with my accountant getting advice on how to go about this merge, I think there is a lot more to just taking one company and moving it into another.

I have decided that after 22 years it is time to start running my business as a businessman not an electrician, by doing this I am hoping it will motivate me to get up and go again, I have found that my business pays the bills and entertains my hobbies so I have just got into a rut and just go with the flow. Just the decision to make the move has already got me motived and I have been busy today making the move, team talk with the staff, who are excited because changing from a sole prop to a cc they have the opportunity of becoming more involved and even look into buying in a members.

One of the big changes will be my salary, until recently I have never drawn a salary, just funded everything via the business, but that is all going to change, I will be drawing a salary and registering myself as a manager. I will also be removing most of my tools and equipment from the van and start focussing more on business management than electrical work. We will also be looking at using more sub contractors which I will be able to monitor instead of always be the one up the ladder facing the DB or job at hand, now I will step back and watch and make decisions.

I have decided not to register the cc for vat,

I will keep the vat registration bank accounts etc for the sole prop and use it for what use to be my hobbies and now will become a business entity, the reason I have decided to do this is because the hobbies are very little labour and lots of materials and consumables which I have to pay vat on, so the ratio will be 90 % vat deductible and only 10 % not, where as before it was 70 % labour, petrol and non vat deductible items and only about 30 % vat deductible, which was also part of the deciding factor.

The only issue is going to be the bigger customers who want my business to be vat registered so that they can claim the vat, which I am not too concerned about because of my next strategic move, neighbourhood watch and community policing forums, I will share my intentions once I have implemented my idea and been to a few community meetings to see if I can pull it off, with crime only getting worse and people worrying about contractors working in their house it is time to take advantage like all the security companies etc are doing.

Anyone have any ideas or comments or feel I am jumping into a cactus tree please feel free to comment.

While discussing the changes with one of the wholesalers today, he advised me that CC will be done away with in the near future, any advice on this?

I am also considering getting more involved in the electrical industry as a whole, I might even join the ECA again and get more involved instead of always just sitting in front of my computer complaining.

[Dave A]

I have decided that after 22 years it is time to start running my business as a businessman not an electrician

Well done. I'm sure you won't regret it

I might even join the ECA again and get more involved instead of always just sitting in front of my computer complaining.

I'll see you at the meetings then. I joined last month.

[ians]

Dave, I don't know if I have the patients to sit through the meetings and listen to the same thing month after month then all the contractors saying yes, yes , yes we must increase our rates and become better electricians

[Dave A]

I'm a good listener and have got no particular expectations at this point.

Fair to say I haven't joined to learn how to price our services though

[AndyD]

Well I'm happy it sounds like you're motivated again, you had me worried for a while. Sounds like a good move to me, I wish you good luck.

[ians]

Thanks Andy, I think I am gona need it because even though I have been doing this for so long, I believe if I change the way I think and do things it might improve my business sense, I do believe one of the most difficult things for me is going to be standing back and allowing other people to do the work, when you have done something for so long in the same, change becomes very difficult. The other is allowing my wife to stop my bad spending habits, by letting her manage the bank account. I have identified as one of my biggest downfalls in business and I believe a lot of other businessmen do the same, spend more then we should on stuff which is not beneficial to the business rather our own entertainment, it is just so easy to justify a brand new superbike as a delivery bike

Anyway I am finally excited about the move forward and will keep posting the status off the progress.

Damn now I have to register with the DOL because it is the right thing to do, that is going to be interesting

[ians]

The first step is to get all the paper work side of the things sorted out, my favourite part of owning a business, "NOT", however it is unfortunately the most important part of running a business. So it has been 2 days of hell for me, I hope to be out the office by this afternoon. Pity I didn't have Pamela Anderson helping me, it would have just made it a little more entertaining instead of just boxes and paper.

I have decided to make this business as paperless as possible from now on, so I have invested in tablets and loaded quickoffice pro HD, seems to be one of the top rated apps, and serves my purpose, load, edit and convert quotes and invoices etc from xl to pdf.
Combined with icloud, it will give me access to my job book and open a job card without having to go back to the office ( just remember I don't have anyone working in my office and never have, I do everything myself) I can also access my quote book to and quote template.

Anyway enough for today I must start work, enjoy your day people make lots of money, we don't want the government clamping down on us because we cant supply enough tax money to keep up their lavish lifestyles and pay for their private security because the police cant do their job.

[HR Solutions]

[QUOTE, load, edit and convert quotes and invoices etc from xl to pdf][/QUOTE]

Why don't you just go the proper route and get a accounting package like Pastel ? From this program you can link and send invoices quotes etc to your tablet or any other pc.

[ians]

I do have pastel, I purchased it about 5 years ago, by the time the consultant was finished with me I was down the crapper for almost R5000 it is still not working. I cant afford to spend anymore money on pastel at this point in time, I will get Neville to assist me and upgrade as soon as the business is in a better financial position and can afford it. Maybe I could build him a garden bench to sit and enjoy the scenery at home, it is not a priority at this point in time.

I am busy finalising all the invoicing and making up a list of all outstanding debts.

I am finished archiving and now busy setting up all the new templates,
letterheads
quotes
invoices
rate schedule
busy putting together a company CV
payslips
disciplinary records
employment contracts
temp employment contracts
etc

and don't worry this time a budget will be included, in fact I have finally decided to hand over the passwords to my wife so she can help me with my erratic spending problem, Hi my name is Ian I have a serious spending problem, please help , unfortunately they don't have a group for this kind of problem.

This time round I still don't have any capital, because I haven't saved any money, but at least everything is paid for, my van tools and equipment, computers, everything I need to start working for both companies. I also have a team which has already had months of training to work to my standards, they still have a way to go but it is work in progress

I have started a book to list all the requirements as I go, so when I remember things I need to do I write everything down, like safety gear requirements and a list of all the equipment we will need ( which we already have most of the requirements) just dust mask etc which need filters and safety glass which are scratched must be replaced.

I have a list of all the staff requirement, who I must register with, bank accounts (setup already)

Company requirements,
UIF
PAYE
Workmans comp

you get the idea

I have thought of sharing my book to help anyone wanting to start up a small business.

Today we start cleaning out the workshop and storeroom, I will have piles of tools and test equipment to sell, like fluke 189, 289 with all the software, power quality analysers with current clamps from 5 amps to 3000 amps, vibration analysing testers, you name, it is clean up day and all the money collected with be to invest in the new business and if there is enough, a deposit for a crew cab van.

I am hoping by Sunday night I will be finished and then it is all systems go for Monday.

Time to go to work, enjoy your day.