Paye/Small Business/Student

Hi,

I'm a mature student independent of my parents so i'm self assessed on my income for my grant, i'm a part-time paye worker and earn about 15k a year.

I'm thinking of starting a small business which involves what i'm currently studying and i've had some offers of work already. It would probably generate about 3k extra in earnings a year, there are no expenses as such and i basically turn up do the job charge for material and the labour. I know I could keep this as a "nixer" but i'd rather keep it above board and do the little bits like registering, maybe get a small commercial van etc, and start getting my name out there for the future.

The cut off rate for my current amount of grant is approx. 22k annual earnings per year, so my earnings would now be eg 18k, so technically I'd still be below the cut off point for the grant.

However does anyone know if by starting a small business this would have a negative affect on my grant regardless of the fact i'd still be below the cut off point? I know if I was just a paye worker it wouldn't have any real effect but keeping my student grant at the same level is the real issue.

Really appreciate any info anyone has!!

Thanks