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Any advice would be great thanks

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  • 04-09-2011 8:59pm
    #1
    swordstrade
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭


    I am a 51 year old unemployed man . Out of work for 2 years mostly with a little xmas work in between.
    I sit at this computer daily looking through job sites,and i have enough experience to start a local business directory online charging for business listings and Adsense etc,and my father has agreed to give me a small loan to start it.
    I am aware of the process for an ie domain name etc
    However i claim jobseekers benifit and depend on it so much to get by, and i am told if i register a business with the cro it will be considered self employment and i would not be entitled to this benifit.Is this true ?
    Is there a way around this ?
    I want to try this and yes be Self employed eventually ,but just as the saying goes ROME wan'st built in a day, and i would need some growing space first.
    Tagged:


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    #2
    scwazrh
    Registered Users Posts: 2,660 ✭✭✭scwazrh


    The safest way is for you to set up a limited company with you and someone else as directors ( possibly your dad) . The reason the ltd company is better is because it is seperate entity to yourself and providing you don't take a wage , which you can't until it's is making money anyway ,it won't affect your welfare as any profit is not "your" money.Any money it does make in the first few months you will be re-investing into the business so you will not have an income as such..


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    #3
    MyPerfectCousin
    Registered Users Posts: 741 ✭✭✭MyPerfectCousin


    scwazrh wrote: »
    The safest way is for you to set up a limited company with you and someone else as directors ( possibly your dad) . The reason the ltd company is better is because it is seperate entity to yourself and providing you don't take a wage , which you can't until it's is making money anyway ,it won't affect your welfare as any profit is not "your" money.Any money it does make in the first few months you will be re-investing into the business so you will not have an income as such..

    That might be true as long as you don't register yourself as an employee of the company with the revenue. When you do that, you'll be registering as a director, and getting the "self-employed" PRSI designation.

    You might also qualify for a back to work scheme. I know someone on this - still getting benefits for a year or more while starting his own business.


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    #4
    tucked
    Registered Users Posts: 70 ✭✭tucked


    You can apply for Back to Work Enterprise Allowance which will allow you to continue your benefits for a significant period. You may also get assistance with training or funding. Check this link & good luck!

    http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/JobseekerSupports/BackToWork/EnterpriseAllowance/Pages/ea.aspx


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    #5
    Cianos
    Registered Users Posts: 4,850 ✭✭✭Cianos


    swordstrade wrote: »
    and i have enough experience to start a local business directory online charging for business listings and Adsense etc

    Are you sure this will support you in the long term? There's a lot of competition out there and you'd need to be getting serious traffic for it to provide a solid income.


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    #6
    Axwell
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,462 Mod ✭✭✭✭Axwell


    Not sure the first piece of advice is correct but I would be wary of taking such steps anyways as to set up a limited company and dive right in. You should be able to go on the back to work enterprise allowance which will allow you to retain your benefit at a scaling factor for 4 years, 100% for year 1, 75% for year 2 etc.

    As was said above though I would be hesitant to go into such a business. There is a huge amount of competition for starters but also you need a huge amount of budget for marketing something like this to compete. You would need to be sure of getting the businesses signing up but also that you could drive the traffic to the site and as you said yourself Rome wasn't built in a day so that wont happen overnight or just because the site is up there. You wont make huge money off adsense either if you dont have all of the traffic etc and generally you wouldnt want to be depending on it anyways.

    You should be able to get the BTWEA anyways so no matter what business you went to setup you should be entitled to that. So maybe consider all the options and weigh things up first.


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    #7
    TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan
    Company Representative Posts: 1,740 ✭✭✭TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan


    Cianos wrote: »
    Are you sure this will support you in the long term? There's a lot of competition out there and you'd need to be getting serious traffic for it to provide a solid income.

    I'd echo the above, I'd suggest heavily research into the viability of the project. I'd think this is a diminishing field and the window to make money isn't great. There are three main reasons for this, the Google Panda update means that links from such directories, the main reason a company would be interested in having a link from your site, now carry far less weight. Second Google local really have a great product now, so the reason for a human using such a service is lessened.

    Lastly you have a chicken and egg scenario. You won't have much traffic when you start, hence noone would really pay for the listing (and Googles local listings are free anyway so its a hard sell). Without listings you have limited content, limited content means less reason to rank, which means less traffic.

    On the entitlements side, As well as BTWEA (the back to work enterprise allowance sceheme) there is also SETA - Short Term Enterprise Scheme. Both are worth a look.


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    #8
    TylerIE
    Registered Users Posts: 1,635 ✭✭✭TylerIE


    scwazrh wrote: »
    The safest way is for you to set up a limited company with you and someone else as directors ( possibly your dad) . The reason the ltd company is better is because it is seperate entity to yourself and providing you don't take a wage , which you can't until it's is making money anyway ,it won't affect your welfare as any profit is not "your" money.Any money it does make in the first few months you will be re-investing into the business so you will not have an income as such..
    MyPerfectCousin wrote: »
    That might be true as long as you don't register yourself as an employee of the company with the revenue. When you do that, you'll be registering as a director, and getting the "self-employed" PRSI designation.

    You might also qualify for a back to work scheme. I know someone on this - still getting benefits for a year or more while starting his own business.

    I would be wary of being even a director - this may affect your eligibility for job-seekers allowance (Vs Job Seekers Benefit) so if you in the future went to seek job-seekers allowance if a business didnt work out you may find yourself in eligable.

    Also if you have children who may be of college age in then next few years a directorship can seriously affect Student Maintenance Grant eligibility.


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    #9
    swordstrade
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭swordstrade


    Thanks
    To everyone that replied, and so fast too.You have given me good sound advice,and now i can at least explore this as up to now ive been at a loss.
    Jim


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    #10
    ifah
    Registered Users Posts: 576 ✭✭✭ifah


    swordstrade wrote: »
    I am a 51 year old unemployed man . Out of work for 2 years mostly with a little xmas work in between.
    I sit at this computer daily looking through job sites,and i have enough experience to start a local business directory online charging for business listings and Adsense etc,and my father has agreed to give me a small loan to start it.
    I am aware of the process for an ie domain name etc
    However i claim jobseekers benifit and depend on it so much to get by, and i am told if i register a business with the cro it will be considered self employment and i would not be entitled to this benifit.Is this true ?
    Is there a way around this ?
    I want to try this and yes be Self employed eventually ,but just as the saying goes ROME wan'st built in a day, and i would need some growing space first.

    why not post what experience you have up and then invite comments/suggestions on direction etc.

    I would echo other's sentiments - I don't see a viable business in what you are proposing.


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    #11
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    Issues:

    Correct pricing model.
    Critical mass.
    A very significant marketing and publicity budget, 5 figures minimum.
    Late to market.
    A small handful dominate the market with a load of minnows 'surviving'.
    Niche, localised and/or complimentary markets?
    Customer/client feedback/metric flows.
    Real knowledge and experience, a lot more than most think.
    Proactive listing moderation - time-consuming.

    Don't get it right and this happens: http://www.bendunne.com/ (despite large publicity budget)

    One of the matters you mention which rings an alarm bell for me is you looking to AdSense. That dilutes your customer's presence/value propostion, doesn't make as much as you think unless you have huge numbers, looks less professional and as it is third party, you have limited control.


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