So you want to be the boss do ya?! Well you're not the only one, everybody at least one time in their life has thought about being the boss. Imagining how good it would feel to have the power to decide what you do, how you would be so different to your current jerk of a boss, and definitely how much more freedom you'd have. Sounds pretty good, don't it?! Well every year almost 300,000 people are jumping into that dream and becoming their own head honcho. If you haven't already taken the leap of faith, then maybe this year will be your year. Maybe you'll finally get fed up of working hard for someone else, feathering their pocket with money you're earning them. Instead of that bullshit, you want a piece of the action, a slice of capitalism pie, where you reap the rewards of your hard work. The problem with this glorified image is, this isn't the movies, and being the boss is not plain sailing. You need to do the unglamorous stuff, the grunt work behind the scenes and if you're new at this then get as much help and advice as you can! You need to consume content and leverage other people's knowledge as much as possible to get a solid foundation before you become the big boss man. Business isn't as it appears on TV, it’s bloody difficult, it's time-consuming and as I found out at my own expense, super isolating. But the hard work and difficulty won't stop at you, oh no. This venture will impact on those around you too, family and friends will need to be understanding with the inevitable changes that are coming. You'll need to lean on them from time to time, will have less down time to spend with them and you'll need their unwavering support in times of doubt. You can’t go into business on a wing and a prayer, I did that and it made things ten times harder, not impossible but so much harder than it needed to be. By not planning you're simply asking for trouble. There are organisations in the UK that can help you, like the government small business advisory service; Business Link. They can help guide you and work out whether an actual sustainable market exists for your particular products or services. It's a nationwide organisation which offers free for advice and support for people in or starting a business. If after all this you still want to be a show stopper and run your own business then you should at least know how to set one up. Meaning, is your business going be run as a sole trader, partnership or more often than not, a Limited company. Each one of these has differing tax regulations that you need to be aware of, and they also come with differing levels risk. I would highly recommend getting in touch with an accountant before moving forward with this decision, you need to discuss with them your current situation and your desired outcome before registering a company. A good accountant will point you in the right direction.Sole Trader As a sole trader you are basically self-employed, the upside is you get what you want, in that you have full control of all aspects of your businesses. Another positive about going down this route is that it's simple, a single for or two and your set up ready to roll. As with anything in life, and especially in business, there is a downside. That downside can be brutal because you will be held personally responsible for any debts you run up through your business activities, which means all of your personal assets, including your house are at risk. Now, if you're anything like me, I don't feel it's worth risking my family home, rendering my wife and kids homeless. As you can imagine I went a different route.Partnership You may decide that you'll be going into business with someone else, sharing the risks, costs, losses, profits and of course decisions. Whenever you bring someone else into the fray business becomes more complex, heck life is more complex when you're dealing with people. No matter how good your relationship with this person, you need to be clear from the beginning what your goals and priorities are. Partnerships are often useful for leveraging other people's skills or finances to get your business up and running, among other things. But really spend some time to pick your partner, do soso very carefully because many businesses fall apart due to partners disagreements. Having had some disagreements with partners in the past, I can assure you it can get bumpy!! I implore you to get yourself a solicitor who can draw up a partnership agreement before you begin trading. One that will set out exactly how the business will be run, who has the authority to do what and what’s expected of one and other. If you fail to do this then you will have no end of problems which are not easily resolved. I learned the hard way, spend the time to do it right!!! You will need to spend time addressing issues that will crop up much further down the line, such as how the profit will be split, how much each party has to put in financially and a whole host of other issues that could arise. SO DO NOT RUSH IT!!! With a standard partnership the same risks as being a sole trader remain. Meaning if all goes south and you end up owing a lot of money, then your assets are at risk. You have a partner, so you'll be equally liable. Problem is, if one partner can’t pay, any other partner or partners will be forced to pick up the tab, which is far from desirable. There is a way you can protect yourself to a degree within a partnership, that would be by setting up a limited liability partnership which can help protect you and your assets in this situation. If this is something you're keen to do then I would strongly recommend seeking the help of a solicitor to ensure things are done correctly!!Limited Company The other option and the path I chose is to set up a limited company. To me this is a no-brainer, protect yourself and your family as much as you can, preventing the very worst from happening. With a ltd company if all goes wrong you'll only be required to pay the debt up to the value of the shares that you hold in that company. If you've already put that money into the company for the shares, then you'll essentially owe nothing and only the business asset will be seized. I think most people opt to be a limited company for safety reasons, but there are the odd few who thinks that ltd after their business name adds a certain credibility. A thing to consider when starting a ltd company is that you will pay corporation tax on your company profits and have to send annual financial returns to companies house. If you're successful enough and have a large enough turnover, chances are you will also get audited. You've been warned.Employees Well hiring staff is a whole other world. While it may seem great to have your very own minions, there is a lot to learn about employing people, and it can be a steep learning curve. If you are going to be hiring employees then make sure you were aware of the Employment Laws relating to what you can and can’t do. Spend time researching this, it's not something you want to get caught with. You don't want to be at n o employment tribunal trying to avoid massive bills because you couldn't bother your arse to learn this shit!!Getting Money Raising money can be difficult to do, especially if you don't have a proven track record. Why? Well it's simple, remember the small business failure rates?! 80% in the first 18 months, equals a bad return on investment. Your best option is to apply for any grants that are available to you and avoid loans altogether if you can. You could even consider taking a look at crowdfunding these days, though I'd ensure that you get the details right, you could potentially get caught out here. I'd recommend a good accountant to help you with any financial setting up, the good ones will usually give you advice for free and be easily contactable.Getting paid Here's the real joy of being your own boss, seeing the money roll in from all of your hard work and effort. It's not the sole reason you do it, but it's a key element, after all this is what keeps you afloat and your family with a roof over their heads. In my opinion, whenever you are selling a service/product you need to have a good system to make sure you actually get paid on time. You need something in place that makes it easy to deal with and prepare invoices, as well as chasing any money that’s owed I've spent far too much time in the past chasing people who owed me money, don't let yourself get into that situation. Set clear payment terms and stringently enforce them from the start, for example I now to not deliver any goods or services without a payment upfront. The one good thing I learned by being owed money is that you can actually charge interest. If you don’t receive your money in 30 days you can charge interest, the rate you can charge is the Bank of England base rate +8% on any amount you're overdue. A handy tip and way to encourage people to pay on time, but of course you don't want to get to that point, or worse still, end up in court.