Head Melt!!!

LegacyUser

I am just looking for a bit of advice on my situation at the moment. There has to be a solution that i'm not seeing and i'm just going around in circles trying to figure this out.

Okay. Well I am back in my parents house after living abroad and have a job until the end of September. I am in the process of setting up my own business but need a premises to do so. Just a room would suffice, no bells and whistles required. I am not actively advertising yet but I do have a website. At present, I have six clients waiting for me and i've managed to fob them off for the moment, citing that i'm fully booked etc.

Living at home is not an option. I do not get on with my parents at all and have no other siblings living there. To say its hell on earth at the moment is an understatement.

I have been looking at places to rent by myself but the rents are massive. Ideally, I would like a small townhouse with thickish walls as the line of business i'm in could potentially be noisy and I don't want to disrupt my neighbours or make my client uncomfortable. I could get away with an apartment if it was a ground floor with its own entrance (I dont want to have to be buzzing clients up etc etc - too much hassle).

At present, I am earning 2k a month. So I have said to myself that I would pay 800 a month or thereabouts. I am afraid to take on anything higher just in case business doesn't move as quickly as i'd like when my full time job ends in September.

I have been on daft literally every solitary second of every working day and there is very very little out there in my price range. I was thinking of basing myself around the Clarehall area as I have two friends living out there and it's quite close to the job i'm in now. But all the rents are much higher than 800 and if there is something for 800, its on the 4th floor or is really dingey and crappy. I don't want clients to be put off by really grotty surroundings. But even so, a lot of the grotty one's are higher than 800 too.

I have even thought of moving somewhere different but as i'll be living by myself for the first time, I dont want to feel isolated - away from my friends and in an area I don't know all that well. But again, even still I cant find something suitable.

The other option is housesharing and renting a room in a community centre to do the business in. I have checked out the rates in these rooms and was shocked to find that they're actually quite high and most require that I have to block book. So if a client doesn't turn up, i'm spending money that i'm not earning. And even still, the houseshares where I want to live are slim to none.

I've had a really crappy year and just need to get away from my parents and the stress of it all. I really want to make a go of this business but i just cant see a way out of this predicament.

Anyone got any advice?

Thank you.

ABajaninCork

Where do you live and where would you ideally like to live?

If money might be an issue due to the fact your business is still getting off the ground, is there any way you can run it part-time until you're on your feet a little more? Keep your job, just in case...

I've just seen a 3 bed house on Daft in the Cork area for about E650, but not sure where you are or how far you want to move...

LegacyUser

Sorry I should have been clearer.

I am from Dublin and living in Dublin. I want to live around the Clarehall area. Dublin 13.

I fully intend to do the business part time. Like i said, I have full time work at the moment. But it ends in September.

After that, it will be from my business that I make money. If however, I need to temp cos business is slow, then I fully intend to do that also.

ABajaninCork

Ah...

Don't know too much about Dublin I'm afraid, being from London. If Dublin's anything like London, then the rents tend to be hideous wherever you go, and they tend to be a bit grim the accommodation doesn't it? If you want something nice, then it costs more.

Not too helpful to you, but what about moving slightly outside? Rent tend to be cheaper the further away you move from the city centre.

I don't know the nature of your business, but perhaps you could rent a garage somewhere? What about an enterprise park? Not sure how it works here, but in England, you can get a deal on rent in these places if you can prove you're a start-up business. Are there any grants/enterprise loans (FAS??) you're able to access??

LegacyUser

Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't be eligible for FAS stuff or anything like that. I'd be giving lessons one on one to people. So it would be very small and so the enterprise park thing is a bit too much for what this business would be, if you get me.

Also - Dublin 13 is in North Dublin. Not near the city centre. And as i've said, I dont want to move out much further as i'd be isolating myself from my friends. I'm from the south side of Dublin. The rents are worse there.

Aaaagh - help. I feel so trapped. I jsut don't know what the hell to do.

ABajaninCork

OK - so what you want is a nice two bed flat then! . I'm assuming one room to sleep in, and the other for your business...

I'd then keep an eye out in the local rags, and somewhere like DoneDeal. They might have something more your speed there...