Starting new business

dennigerz

Hi all,
my wife is looking up starting a new business in the wedding industry, her biggest problem is trying to find out where to start first. As in what does she need to do, where does she need to go, who does she have to talk to. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

sweetdreamsire

Hi dennigerz,

The best thing would be to talk to you local enterprise board, they will be able to advise her on a lot of the start up issues. She should also consider doing a start your own buisness course which is also run by the enterprise boards and are generally very helpful. Wish her the best of luck with her new venture.

dennigerz

That's great,thanks very much for the info!

R3al

Probably one of her first decisions will be the type of business that she wants operate, i.e. sole trader or company.

A company has the advantage of the tax free period and limited liability (assuming she forms a limited company) etc. whereas operating as a sole trader means that all profit is taxed at the normal rates of income tax, however there are additional legal obligations when operating a company, further details can be found at www .cro.ie

If she decides to form a company there will need to be at least 2 directors, if she decides to be a sole trader then she will need to decide if she will be operating under her own name, if she decides to have a different name for the business then the name must be registered with the CRO.

A further consideration is whether to register for VAT or not, even though her turnover may not initially reach the vat thresholds, it may be advantageous to register for VAT as she can then claim back VAT on the goods/services that the business purchases.

There are quite a few decent 'starting a business' websites so she might want to have a look at these, also information is available at dept of enterprise, your town/county enterprise board, social welfare, basis.ie , citizens advice etc etc

dennigerz

Thanks for all that info, very helpful indeed.appreciated

JoeTurner

Without giving away too much info - what area of the wedding industry is she looking at getting into?

Once the legalities of setting up are sorted she should try and connect with a few local hotels so she can get involved in their wedding fairs etc (if of course it applies to her business). I know a few people in that line of business who get fed a lot of business through having good connections in the hotel industry....

CompanyBureau

She needs to do some market research also, Have a look at the 4 p's (7 p's) etc...

Southsider1

sweetdreamsire wrote: »

Hi dennigerz,

The best thing would be to talk to you local enterprise board, they will be able to advise her on a lot of the start up issues. She should also consider doing a start your own buisness course which is also run by the enterprise boards and are generally very helpful. Wish her the best of luck with her new venture.

You've obviously never spoken to a County Enterprise Board if you're recommending them? They'll talk you out of any entrepreneurial ideas if they can.

drunkmonkey

Southsider1 wrote: »

You've obviously never spoken to a County Enterprise Board if you're recommending them? They'll talk you out of any entrepreneurial ideas if they can.

+1
You'd get more support and advice in the pub.

dbran

drunkmonkey wrote: »

+1
You'd get more support and advice in the pub.

Hi guys

Can we have less of the negativity please.

I have had dealings with the Enterprise Boards and I have found them very helpful to me in setting up my business. I certainly wasn't talked out of it. The main problem as with all areas at the moment is that their funding is being cut to the bone which means less money to go in grants, services etc.

Regards


dbran

sweetdreamsire

Southsider1 wrote: »

You've obviously never spoken to a County Enterprise Board if you're recommending them? They'll talk you out of any entrepreneurial ideas if they can.

Hi Southsider1,
I have heard some people slate the enterprise boards before but having dealt with the enterprise board here in Cork over the past few months whilst starting my new company. I have to say that i found them extremly helpful with a lot of the questions i had being a novice. I did the start your own buisness course which i personally found very useful. These are completely my own views and I recommended them here as a starting point to someone who is starting out also.
Cheers.

stvcummins

Enterprise boards are very helpful. I've been on both sides of them as a web designer, doing websites for clients who have received funding & also as a client of the enterprise boards myself.

They are there to listen & to support & if a business is worth putting some TAXPAYERS money into, (because it's not free money lads), then they will. If they see that the business is trying to go into an oversaturated market or does not offer any competitive difference from whats already out there then they are duty bound not to invest.

I was grateful of the honesty of the advice doled out to me & I adjusted my business proposal based on the feedback from the CEB.

As for any advice for your wife? Do some market research. Is there a need for the service that she's offering? Find out what others are doing in the same area & see if there is a point of difference that she can offer; price, level of service, her availability, etc. Once it has been established that there is a market then hit the wedding forums & start speaking to brides. Hit the Wedding Fairs & if the funds are there take a small ad in one of the wedding publications. They are all suffering with lower ad sales so your wife should be able to negotiate some editorial to go along with her ad.