Hi, Me and a friend wish to create a computer workshop business. We however probably won't be able to afford rent on one, and therefore, i was wondering whether this was possible. (We live in England) You have to register a phyiscal address when you create a limited business. I was wondering whether it would be possible to register a new address in the form of '1a Our Street Address', with my mums permission, as just the garage, as we have a plot of land. EG: I will own the small garage, which used to be in my mothers ownership. We have done loads of research, but very few people tend to turn a garage in the corner of the area they live in to a plot. If you understand the benefits of a limited company, then you will understand why i am trying to do it this way. The garage is not connected to the main building. The garage has been up for over 5 years, if that helps at all, and it is placed next to the road, so if the worst comes to the worst, we won't have to create a new pathway. I am 17 so it is a higher risk of failing, and it is better to lose a shed then the whole house, if you understand what i mean. Can this be done? What complications will there be, and will there be an easier way which is as safe, or safer method than this? Cheers for any help you can provide. Rob
I think you are a little confused about what you can/cant do here, I'll try and explain as best I can. There is absolutely no reason why would lose the house, or any property for that matter. You can set up a ltd company and work from your own home. The company doesn't own the property. Lets say we get an extreme situation, you mess up someones computer and it blows up and burns his apartment down. He can't take your house off you, its not a company asset. You dont need to register a "1a" address, you can register your home address as the company address if you like. The registered address doesn't need to be the place you actually work. You can register a PO box as the company address if you want. There isnt actually any huge benefit to forming a limited company to start with. I would just start out trading under your own name. It'll keep costs down. If you're doing well you can speak to an accountant about forming a company. edit for more info - Also, the main point of a Limited company is limiting the liability of the directors in case the company ends up in debt. Your company won't end up in debt, since nobody will give you credit in the first place. You can't enter into credit agreements legally as you are not 18. And nobody is going to give a child anything on even a 30 day invoice. So I would advice save yourself the hassle and expense and don't bother with a limited company. If you do want to go down that route, I would certainly forget trying to rename your garage 1a. Use a PO box or your house address. If anyone tries to run checks on your company it won't look good for you if they realise you're using a made up address as the company registered office. They can easily check that your address is fake on royalmail.com.
Okay, rep added. It is possible to register a new postal address, which is what i was planning to do, to make it a real address. Shall i wait until i am 18 before i setup the business? It is only 6-7months away. Basically, setup the business now as a normal business, just doing computer repairs, websites and things not involving stocking parts. When i am 18, i could expand as a ltd company if it is successful, or forget the idea if it fails. The thing i was worryed about was putting my mums house at risk. Rob
i'm in austria (EU country) and registered a limited about 18 month ago. here are some facts: - you can have a registered office address with mail forwarding for about 100 euro (excluding the shipping/scanning fees) the formation company i used ( http://www.leevalleyfinance.co.uk/ ) targets german speaking people. or google another one like http://accounting-on-line.com/mail_forwarding.html at lee valley you get a registered company with a london street/suite address for 89.90euro. i used paypal to pay and so the company was listed in the Companies House database in about 24h. some advice: - if you don't break the laws (accounting etc.) you will not loose any private property even if your company is a mult-million-flop. - the most important thing: Directors are personally responsible for submitting yearly accounts and the company's annual return to the Registrar of Companies. more advice can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ysxbgv (it's a gov.uk address behind)
i don't know if it is possible for a 17 year old to setup a company (be director of a company) but you can be 100% shareholder of it. your mum could be the official director or a lawyer for 250pounds a year ( see http://accounting-on-line.com/nominee_services.html ) ... i would use a limited company. if you use your name it could be very expensive if sombody sues you (damaged computer etc.)
You need to be 16 to be a company director. I still think trading under his own name is a better option though. He's repairing computers, not doing brain surgery. The potential liability isn't very high. If he ruins someones computer he's either going to lose the money out of his pocket if he's trading under his own name, or lose the money from his business account if its a ltd company. Its not disaster enough to bankrupt him. If he chooses to have a ltd company, its £90 to form the company, £100 for a registered address, plus a nominee secretary (unless a family member does that), plus accountants fees. Its a lot of expense for a young person starting out on something that he doesnt know will work or not.