The Student Room Group

Is my hobbie a business? Thansk

Hello i repair phones, tablets etc. It started as a hobbie but now i am making a fair amount on each phone. I usally buy, repair and then sell the phone but now i sometimes repair for friends and family aswell. I am only 15 years old and have been doing it for about 9 months now. I make about £30-£70 on each phone sold/repaired.
I am wondering if this is a buisness, if so do i need to regiser it?
I would like to make it a buisness as i'd love to have m own business and love repairing phones. I know there are alot of repair shops but i have a few USP that may give me the edge. If i were to make a business where would i start, what would i do, and how can i think of a good buiness name?
Thanks Lewis
Reply 1
I'm not a lawyer or accountant, so don't treat this as professional advice.

Do you repair many phones a week / month? If the amount you earn per month is relatively low (just a few phones per month) then it might not be worth the hassle. Though legally, HMRC do say you should register for any amount of income.

If you want to be entirely above the board, the most sensible route to take would be to register as a sole trader. This means that you'll be trading as a business that you personally operate. If you want to use a "Business name", you're free to do so, provided it isn't the name of another business. If you register as a sole trader, you need to fill in a self-assessment tax form each year and calculate how much tax you owe the government. If you earn less than £10,000/year (which I guess you do!), you don't need to pay any tax. You have a few legal requirements to keep all your receipts and an accurate record of the money you've earned.

This is way, way simpler than registered a limited company which involves a lot of paperwork and no small amount of additional overhead (usually including hiring an accountant to do that paperwork). Don't do that :smile:

Because you're legally a minor, you'll need to get your legal guardian to do any of this (you can't legally complete the sort of forms that are being discussed) as well as submit the tax return at the end of the year.

Aside from the legal registration stuff, it's normally making sure that you have a good business plan that will be profitable enough to live on, but if you're 15 I hope you're not in a position where it would be "risky" to not earn any money for a few months at a time.

Whatever you decide, good luck!
Reply 2
Original post by estel
I'm not a lawyer or accountant, so don't treat this as professional advice.

Do you repair many phones a week / month? If the amount you earn per month is relatively low (just a few phones per month) then it might not be worth the hassle. Though legally, HMRC do say you should register for any amount of income.

If you want to be entirely above the board, the most sensible route to take would be to register as a sole trader. This means that you'll be trading as a business that you personally operate. If you want to use a "Business name", you're free to do so, provided it isn't the name of another business. If you register as a sole trader, you need to fill in a self-assessment tax form each year and calculate how much tax you owe the government. If you earn less than £10,000/year (which I guess you do!), you don't need to pay any tax. You have a few legal requirements to keep all your receipts and an accurate record of the money you've earned.

This is way, way simpler than registered a limited company which involves a lot of paperwork and no small amount of additional overhead (usually including hiring an accountant to do that paperwork). Don't do that :smile:

Because you're legally a minor, you'll need to get your legal guardian to do any of this (you can't legally complete the sort of forms that are being discussed) as well as submit the tax return at the end of the year.

Aside from the legal registration stuff, it's normally making sure that you have a good business plan that will be profitable enough to live on, but if you're 15 I hope you're not in a position where it would be "risky" to not earn any money for a few months at a time.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

Thanks very much, that was very helpful. At the moment i don't see a point registering it for a business however i like the idea of having my own business and name. I am doing business studies at GCSE at the moemnt but may take it at A-Level too. i have been trying to think of a name but is very difficult. I repair say 1 or 2 a week, most weeks and like i said make anywher from £20 - £70 profit.
Thanks for your help i will have a look into it.
lewis
Reply 3
Original post by bballer99
Thanks very much, that was very helpful. At the moment i don't see a point registering it for a business however i like the idea of having my own business and name. I am doing business studies at GCSE at the moemnt but may take it at A-Level too. i have been trying to think of a name but is very difficult. I repair say 1 or 2 a week, most weeks and like i said make anywher from £20 - £70 profit.
Thanks for your help i will have a look into it.
lewis


Technically you should inform HMRC, as you're trading. However, if you're making £50/week you're far under your personal allowance for tax/NI, and you don't need to worry about VAT so the tax man isn't losing anything by you not registering
Reply 4
Original post by pjm600
Technically you should inform HMRC, as you're trading. However, if you're making £50/week you're far under your personal allowance for tax/NI, and you don't need to worry about VAT so the tax man isn't losing anything by you not registering

Okay thanks for letting me know. I could buy,repair and sell more devices however my GCSE's are coming up and this would take alot of my time up so i am sticking with this amount for now but in the future i will look into tax, registering etc. I am not really making enough at the moment so okay i think.
Thanks for your help,
Lewis
You don't have to register if it's just you and you're trading under a certain amount (which you are). You should declare tax in years to come if it keeps up but at the moment you need not worry.

If you keep it going though be sure to register as a sole trader when you turn 18 and you can start claiming back the VAT.

What you do in your spare time should be what you do with the rest of your life. I wish you luck young entrepeneur :h:
Reply 6
Original post by Hal.E.Lujah
You don't have to register if it's just you and you're trading under a certain amount (which you are). You should declare tax in years to come if it keeps up but at the moment you need not worry.

If you keep it going though be sure to register as a sole trader when you turn 18 and you can start claiming back the VAT.

What you do in your spare time should be what you do with the rest of your life. I wish you luck young entrepeneur :h:


Thanks very much, i will do. I do enjoy this i hope to do something in the IT area as my job or even make my own business which i am looking into now. Thanks for your help again,
Kind regards Lewis
Reply 7
Original post by Hal.E.Lujah
You don't have to register if it's just you and you're trading under a certain amount (which you are). You should declare tax in years to come if it keeps up but at the moment you need not worry.


I'm not sure if this is true - I think HMRC say that everyone should register as self-employed, even if they're going to be a long way below the tax-free threshold.

I don't think they /care/ very much, but it's definitely the official line: https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself/what-counts-as-self-employed

If you keep it going though be sure to register as a sole trader when you turn 18 and you can start claiming back the VAT.


Registering for VAT is a whole other question, if OP charges 20% more and loses business as a result, it might not be worthwhile.
Reply 8
Original post by estel
I'm not sure if this is true - I think HMRC say that everyone should register as self-employed, even if they're going to be a long way below the tax-free threshold.

I don't think they /care/ very much, but it's definitely the official line: https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself/what-counts-as-self-employed



Registering for VAT is a whole other question, if OP charges 20% more and loses business as a result, it might not be worthwhile.

Okay thanks for your help. I'll look into it a bit more...
Reply 9
Hello I'm 15 years old and I repair phones and tablets. I make a bit of profit but wanted to think of a business name. My name is Lewis Watson, maybe I could include that?
Any ideas would be great!

E.g WatsoRepairs

:smile::confused:
Hey I know this isn't answering your question but I was wondering if you could help. I have a HTC one m8 and have recently accidently deleted photos without a back up, any way to restore these, they're important :-( thanks

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by nerual26
Hey I know this isn't answering your question but I was wondering if you could help. I have a HTC one m8 and have recently accidently deleted photos without a back up, any way to restore these, they're important :-( thanks

Posted from TSR Mobile

Don't you have a "recently deleted" or "deleted" folder in your picture gallery? Depends how long ago you deleted them
Original post by AdamCee
Don't you have a "recently deleted" or "deleted" folder in your picture gallery? Depends how long ago you deleted them



No unfortunately on HTC One M8 this isn't the case :-( I feel like I've tried everything. The deleted photos in question were from a couple of days ago. Haven't used the camera since.
Original post by bballer99
Hello I'm 15 years old and I repair phones and tablets. I make a bit of profit but wanted to think of a business name. My name is Lewis Watson, maybe I could include that?
Any ideas would be great!

E.g WatsoRepairs

:smile::confused:

Good for you that you've decided to start your own business! I think the name is a good start but will need some work - it's not a very strong brand, in my opinion (but then, who am I to question; I'm not a branding consultant...)

Have a look at some of the guides out there on company branding... this one springs to mind: http://www.businessinsider.com/ten-keys-to-a-killer-name-for-your-company-2010-11?op=1&IR=T

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