Vat (avoidance) - summer job

[Forestboy1978]

Thinking of setting up another business completely seperate to my gardening one.

Same theme though but basically mowing only!

I need a van anyway cos I am always filling my old and trusty peaugout 206 1.9 to the brim with crap for my projects and stuff. Love the car cos it never fails, does an average of 55 mpg and is only worth about £300 so I don't worry about it BUT....

I may have to do it next year cos it's late in the season and I don't have enough money and don't want to get a loan but what I was thinking was getting a husqy 36" zero turn ride on and a few other bits and just doing mowing. I've already got a few jobs mowing already that I can poach from the gardening business, vat man doesn't need to know about that.

What I figure is it's piss easy so gives me a physical break and actually you can earn good money. Was finishing off a job just today and a women asked how much for her tiny lawn. I said a fiver and it took 2 mins wiht my little push along haytor.

As long as I only use the van for that an personal use and don't use any of the other business facililities I think it's legit. I can even word of mouth advertise each other business as I work for whichever one I'm working for if that makes sense.

Make sense or what do you reckon. Either way I need a van and a ride on lawn mover would get used even if it flopped which I can't see happening as costs, materials etc. are minimal.

Also my bro and I are pissing each other off badly so it would benefit from that point of view also.

[Kuts]

if your other company is a partnership your ok to set up another company on your own....i think

[msh paving]

all of a sole traders income is added together for VAT calculations, the only way around it is a partner or ltd. company,

MSH

[dig dug dan]

msh is spot on. vat issue is too complicated to explain here for what you want to do.
One thing i will say, is that my mate spends two days a week in the summer pushing his honda lawnmower along and striming edges. Its great on a dry day, but if it rains solid for two days, it mucks up the schedule as those customers expect him back as soon as. he cannot postpone it for another week as what happens if it rains again??
£5 for a lawn might seem easy money for a few minutes work, but when you factor in the mower cost and maintenece, fuel, fuel and time to get to the job, is that enough?
My mate gets 4 years from a honda pro roller plus spares along the way, then its junked and time for another. £1200 a throw.

[mickg]

you need to ask your question on the landscapejuice forum as that's where garden maintenance guys hang out

landscapejuice forum

you make it sound so easy

[DNgroundworks]

Aye MSH is correct, you can have as many sole tradership businesses as you like but all income/turnover is accountable......or else you stay below the threshold by stacking cash under the mattress.....always an option

[Forestboy1978]

Yeah good info. I do have a partnership in the gardening business so this would be totally seperate from that. In fact, currently it's all my brothers cos when we set it up I was in a bit of debt so I'm happy to continue to get paid via the company. We've discussed making it a partnership but I'm not really bothered unless we start getting real assets, which we don't really have and probably wont. Anyway,

Re the mowing I do it for a living anyway and know a hell of a lot about lawn care so I know what I'm getting into and yes a fiver isn't enough but if you have 10 on the same street and you can do them all in 5 mins or less, it is. I appreciate you have to be in the position though before you can do those deals but as I live in the area I work generally and all my family and friends do and my personal vehicle will double as my work vehicle it should be ok.

Especially if I buy one of these.

http://www.steamandmoorland.com/acatalo....3C.html

rain or shine you can mow with one of those I wouldn't contemplate it without one to be fair.

Oh btw, DN, If only

[Forestboy1978]

Oh and btw guys I am talking about tax avoidance, NOT evasion. If it's good enough for Amazon, it's good enough for me lol!

[dig dug dan]

those mowers are great fro domestic use, but commercially, i would avoid. they are not designed for the use and you will need to keep spare belts with you for that cutting deck. The petrol costs for running that are high too. try and get a kubota diesel outfront

[michaelthegardener]

Im a soft sod sometimes and work for a fiver but not that often sweet little old dear and all that then they pass away and you hear they had 200k in the bank :laugh: ..... anyway I have some days when its just mowing only and to be honest I can make good money 9 times out of 10 I don't stop if its raining either as long as the mowers sharp and the lawns not under water it ull cut ok do you think you could get enough work to justify a 3k ride on :0

[dig dug dan]

Im a soft sod sometimes and work for a fiver but not that often sweet little old dear and all that then they pass away and you hear they had 200k in the bank :laugh:

and they always forget you in their will don't they! you think they have no relatives until they die, then all these mysterious nephews appear, and circle like vultures!

[r896neo]

If you want to keep it simple forget ride ons. They are a maintenance headache very hard to move around and a favourite for theives.

If just doing the basic strim mow blow service you can make great money if you keep your overheads low and are very efficient. Focus in on a good round of local jobs close to one another.

Trying to schedule lawns with other work such as hard landscaping is a real pita but they pay so well relative that its hard to give them the flick all together.

[Forestboy1978]

Im a soft sod sometimes and work for a fiver but not that often sweet little old dear and all that then they pass away and you hear they had 200k in the bank :laugh: ..... anyway I have some days when its just mowing only and to be honest I can make good money 9 times out of 10 I don't stop if its raining either as long as the mowers sharp and the lawns not under water it ull cut ok do you think you could get enough work to justify a 3k ride on :0

Yeah me too. I turned up once to quote a job for an old lady. She only wanted a 2 shrubs pulled out and I had a mattock on me. 2 hits and they were both out in 30 seconds. 40min round trip. I said give me a fiver for petty.

I don't do it any more though. I've done some amazing jobs for people for practically nothing for the photo and they know cos they've got other quotes and they haven't given a tip. Not that I expected it but you know when they know they've got the deal of a life time and they don't tip you a tenner even lol. Recently, a referee phoned me, an estate agent I work for regular and he said the guy wanted to check we weren't cowboys cos we were so cheap lol. It was a fence on a main rd so we quoted low for the advert.

Yes I do think I can justify a 3k mower btw. I've got a few customers already that I can steal and fill up with other work and a lot more that have asked and I've said no cos I have little hayter and it's not worth it. Just a massive flyer drop and a bit of advertisement and a lot of phone calls and I'll have £200 - 400 weekly I would think. Definitely £250 every 10 days instant and I could cover that in a day ish. I also do a lot of turfing so it wouldn't take long to sell myself.

I'm just trying to do less physical stuff cos I've got a spinal fuse and though I'm fit and workout my back it's only got so much life left in it I reckon. Even though manual lawn mowing is hard work I even like that cos it's great for the back, not like laying turf etc. etc. which kills me.

Yadayada

[Forestboy1978]

what does pita mean?

[mickg]

pain in the arse