Thinking of going self employed any advice?

[Robyner]

I'm really seriously considering offering a cleaning/domestic service for the elderly.
I have nvq 3 in elderly care and I did help to run a domiciliary care agency a few years ago.
My thoughts are to put an ad in the post office and see what happens!
I wouldn't provide cleaning products and I would have a contract drawn up for each individual.
I thought I would meet them first to assess needs etc.
Anyone got any advice?
It would be on one set day to start with and I don't expect to earn much, but who do I need to tell? Register with? Etc must I have insurance?
I really want to give it my best but these details are putting me off!

 

[BlondeP]

Hi!

I am self employed and had no help starting up so it was really daunting and confusing.

Firstly , if you live in the UK you need to go to direct gov and register as self employed (unless your are planning to employ other people, that's slightly different)
You'll also need public liability insurance which you can get online quite easily. With the elderly you would need to get a DBS check done as they are classed as vulnerables. I would go to your local council to do this.

It's fairly pricey to set yourself up but once you're done it's fun! Personally, I would provide my own equipment and products if cleaning - once you have a business you can go to places like bookers or Costco and get things cheap in bulk.

Work out how much it's going to cost you to do this too, no point doing it if you won't end up making money. And also put some feelers out to see if there is actually a need or interest.

Good luck!

Xxx

 

[Robyner]

Thanks so much for your reply
At the moment I can only work Friday's.
Was thinking of just a couple of jobs each week to start.
Was wondering about putting an ad in post office to see if I got any interest.
Would I need to do all the official stuff before this or do the ad and see what happens?

 

[BlondeP]

You would need to do all official stuff before doing the work anywhere. It would be illegal to go into people's homes without them x

 

[Robyner]

Thank you x