I'm interested in setting up a small business (in the UK) to buy and sell products to the general public. I am interested to know if anyone has any experience of knows of any good guides as to the procesess involved (for instance, becoming VAT registered and so on). Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Phil
Hi As Crimsonc said Business Link are really useful. Try giving your local one a ring. I did a business link course and found it very useful. They did used to offer a small grant to set up a business but the funding was withdrawn from ours right at the end of the course I was on (Grrr!). However the info and contacts, espeically about accounting and tax were very useful. Also I think Barclays bank has a huge info pack on setting up in business. Obviously they want your custom but I think they will still send a pack out if your interested. I guess some of the other major banks might do this as well. I also recommend startups.co.uk as there's quite a lot of info on there too. Good luck Lily
As above, most banks have small business packs they send out. Shell's livewire also sends a reasonable pack out when you register for their forums. Most accountants do a free initial consultation too and you can cover off items such as tax, company structure etc