Table Of ContentWORKING FOR YOURSELF WITHOUT CAPITAL
Also fJy B. H. Elvy
HOW TO BECOME A CONSULTANT
MARKETING MADE SIMPLE
SALESMANSHIP MADE SIMPLE
Working for Yourself
Without Capital
B. H. Elvy
M
©B.H.Elvy 1994
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1994 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-60718-3 ISBN 978-1-349-13382-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13382-6
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Typeset by EXPO Holdings Sdn Bhd
Contents
List oj Illustrations Vll
1 You and Your Dilemma 1
1.1 Setting Up in Business Without Capital 2
1.2 Your Personal Characteristics 3
1.3 Adopting a New Outlook 5
1.4 Your Personal Capabilities 7
1.5 Seeking your Opportunity 10
2 Consider the Options 13
2.1 Options involving Minimal Travelling 14
2.2 Options involving Moderate Travelling 30
2.3 Options involving Considerable Travelling 43
2.4 Testing Options for Viability 51
3 Controlling the Money 53
3.1 Why Small Businesses Fail 53
3.2 Calculating Costs 55
3.3 Breaking Even 57
3.4 Utilising Time 57
3.5 Calculating Prices 60
3.6 Fixed Price Working 63
3.7 Getting the Money In 65
3.8 Dealing with Bad Debts 68
3.9 Cash-Flow Forecasting 69
3.10 Sourcing your Basic Equipment 71
4 Finding the Customers 73
4.1 IdentifYing your Market 73
4.2 Promoting your Service 77
4.3 Features into Benefits 85
4.4 Finding the Decision-Maker 88
4.5 Getting Appointments 90
4.6 Understanding Buyers' Needs 91
4.7 Dealing with Objections 93
4.8 Getting a Decision 95
4.9 Customer Goodwill 95
v
VI Contents
4.10 The Telephone in Business 98
5 Getting Organised 101
5.1 Organising Yourself 101
5.2 A Business Plan 103
5.3 Choosing a Name 106
5.4 Trading Style 108
5.5 Keeping the Books 109
5.6 Income Tax 112
5.7 Using your Home for Business 117
5.8 Your Bank Manager 119
5.9 Training and Enterprise Councils 120
5.10 The Rural Development Commission 122
Useful Addresses 123
Commonly-Used Business Terms 131
Index 135
List of Illustrations
3.1 Utilising time 59
4.1 The essential points for an advertising handbill 81
4.2 Letter to promote a business training agency 83
5.1 Cash book 111
5.2 A sales ledger sheet 113
5.3 Layout of a profit and loss account 116
VII
1 You and Your Dilemma
In what has been called the worst economic recession since the
thirties, hundreds of thousands of people throughout the coun
try have seen their jobs disappear or their business fail. Losing
one's employment is a shock. Even in times of relative prosper
ity, when the prospect of re-employment is good, the sense of
rejection that results from redundancy can have severe emo
tional effects. When jobs are vanishing every minute, the pros
pect ofj oining the ever-lengthening dole queue is devastating.
In this situation, people react in different ways. Some accept
the hand they have been dealt and resign themselves to the inev
itability of months, maybe years, of being without work. Others
seek every opportunity to find work. They apply for every
vacancy they see advertised, but with hundreds of others making
application for the same job, they know their chances are slim.
What can one do to help oneself?
The obvious alternative to employment is self-employment.
Many have taken that route. For a decade or more, national and
local government has encouraged what is called the Enterprise
Culture. Schemes have been set up to offer advice and assistance
to those who opt to work for themselves in small business ven
tures. Governmental and other agencies offer start-up loans and
medium-term facilities to encourage small business growth.
Understandably, since public money is involved, those seeking
such support have been required to make a financial contribu
tion from their own resources. This was not a serious deterrent
during the boom years of the eighties. Most of those concerned
were able to find the sum required from personal savings or by
re-mortgaging their house properties.
Today, we have a different situation. A lengthy period of high
interest rates, resulting in high monthly mortgage repayments,
has depleted savings. The housing market, meanwhile, has
largely collapsed. For many now experiencing redundancy, the
possibility of raising a capital sum to put towards funding a busi
ness is minimal.
Yet the problem remains. Where the chance of regaining
employment - at least in the short term - is unpredictable, and
1
2 Working for Yourself Without Capital
without the means to raise capital, how best can you provide an
income for yourself and your family?
The answer has to be to find a business activity that can be set
up without capital.
1.1 SETTING UP IN BUSINESS WITHOUT CAPITAL
Working for oneself is never easy. It demands courage, sustained
effort for years ahead and a lot of self-discipline. Self-employed
people are under constant pressure. They are responsible for
everything that affects their business. Family and social life must
frequently be sacrificed in the interests of the businesses. You
may imagine that once you are working for yourself, you will be
able to choose the number of hours you put in. In fact, the situ
ation is more likely to be the opposite. Until you reach a stage
where you can employ others, everything that has to be done in
the business will have to be done by you. You will be forced to
work far longer hours when working for yourself than anyone is
allowed to do in an employed situation.
You may believe that working for yourself will free you from
the stress involved in corporate employment because you will
not have a boss putting pressure on you. Nothing is less true.
You will constantly have to make decisions. Many will involve tak
ing risks. Every day will bring problems and you will not be able
to shelve them. If you try to do so you will find that, even during
your leisure moments, they will continue to nag you until you
find a way to resolve them. And it is not only business-induced
stress you will suffer. The demands of the business will take pre
cedence over family and social considerations, creating stressful
situations in these areas of your life. In working for yourself you
must expect to endure long periods of frustration and disap
pointment, relieved only occasionally, when things seem to go
right for a change.
But it is not all gloom. There is immense personal satisfaction
to be gained from even limited success when you know you have
achieved it yourself. And the ultimate prize of creating wealth is
always there, urging you onwards. There are many who insist
that the only way to really make money in the modern world is
to work for yourself. It is certainly the only way to gain freedom
