I’m just wondering what its like running your own small business? I know it can’t be easy, but surely it has to beat working for anyone else, being your own boss?

I’ve tired of working for other people and sitting in an office all day. Is there anyone else in the same boat that passionately wants to start their own small business?

I’m not saying I want to run a business to do with game fishing etc or whether there is any niche area within the sport that I would be able to run a successful business or where there is room in the market to grow? But for example running your own fishery despite the toil would have to certainly be worth the rewards regardless of being in tough times and managing to scrape a profit each month?

If you run your own small business I’m just wondering how you got it started up and running and what are the few basic things you need to do to start off? Did you just start up or did you first gain any professional advice as to whether it was viable the area you were considering going into e.g. selling your own flies and lures? Do you have anyone working for you or is it just yourself and what are the biggest costs and risks you face? How much tax etc would you say the government takes off you each month as a percentage of your turnover?

Firstly John,if your a tax man the goverment take too much in tax from small business and hamper the growth of it.
for example if VAT goes up to 20% those in the fishery business will find it hard.Fish being non vatable and is th ebiggest outlay for a fishery cannot reclaim any vat which THEY pay on each ticket they put out.So you could be putting out over £15000 of profit and getting nothing for it in return,To me this is a mans years wage who like you couod be working at a fishery doing something you enjoy.
The fishery business is NOT one to just jump into and there is alot more to it than people realise,believe me.its not just a case of finding some water and putting fish in it and the money rolling in as many think.
you need to understand the fish them selves,what happens if you get a hot summer,or a long winter,weed control and how to sort it,diseases of fish and how to identify good stock or bad stock,self control as you are dealing with the public,Long Hours with little money return.On the other hand it is satisfying that it is something you enjoy,you are your own boss and not restricted.
I wont go into detail how I started or what I have now,but to say I am content and happy,doing something I enjoy and its not all to do with money.
it is NOT been easy and it is hard work but wouldnt swap it.

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Kevin

John, I don't mean to discourage you, but I'm going to discourage you. Forget about turning your "passion for fly fishing" into a business. Once it becomes your day/night/weekend/holiday job, it'll never be the same.

If you want to start your own business, find a place where there is actual demand and somewhere where the supply doesn't already exceed that demand. Fishing is totally saturated with people who are already trying to make money from every possible direction.

Selling flies is just a great example of too much supply chasing too little demand. Think of it this way: If you were to just go online right now and spend the next 30 minutes looking, how many places could you find offering a GRHE nymph for sale? Over a dozen? Almost certainly. 100? It's completely possible.

Recreation-based industries are the worst possible situation because they're under extreme price pressure in good times and demand totally evaporates in bad times because people don't spend on recreation.

Grouse

Any room for me the mrs and 2 kids Kev.....thinking of chucking this life behind me.

To paraphrase: 'You don't own a business, the business owns you.' And that means 24/7/365 per year.

fae

Thanks! I wasn't in particular thinking of starting a small business within game fishing. There's only the odd area I could think of within the sport that isn't saturated, and even then there's other products outside the sport in that area that could also be suitable for use within it so it just isn't worth it.

I take the point about selling flies or lures. Even if the market is not saturated I am wondering at what price point it becomes worthwhile or easier selling a product? I am thinking if its too low or equally to high that it could be difficult. Too low and it's eating up a lot of your time for little return and too high and you may struggle in the time between making a sale?

I recently read something that said in the next couple of years there is going to be an increase in small businesses and that it is going to be easier for them to start up. I'm not sure how true that was and can't remember whether it was a newspaper article or something on the news. I think that could be affected by who wins the election and what they do afterwards.

It's hard, very hard but if it's in your blood you can't do anything else. I've worked for others and whilst I've been successful I've never enjoyed it. It has it's benefits such as a cheque in your account every month, paid holidays, paid sickness, possibly company pensions, health care etc. You have none of that when starting a business, so think on.

The best advice I can give you is research. Write your ideas down, however stupid they may seem, and explore them as much as possible. This could take months but you really have to do it. All the info you need is out there, in fact quite often there's too much. It's almost forensic especially when looking over competitors accounts if you can get them. I could write pages but honestly, start jotting down your ideas and take it from there. I'm a big fan of mind-mapping to make sense of my thoughts.

If you want to PM me feel free.

Do you believe that VAT will go up to 20%? Surely that will kill the economy and hit people hard in the pocket? 20% would be higher than in France. I think it would benefit whoever wins election greatly from putting it back down to 15% permanently it will help the country.

I know owning a fishery is a lot of hard work. I'd love to own both a mixed fishery where there was a smallish trout lake and also a separate carp lake. I think it could be easier with c&r carp lake though. If I was ever fortunate enough to go down that path and I had my own fishery I would see some sort of lodge selling other things, with catering facilities as also vital for income.

Cheers!

Ditto. I have'nt had a proper holiday in three years! Just a few days here and there when the business allowed. Running a business is very satisfying but also very demanding and it can be difficult to switch off from. The government are not particularly helpfull with the likes of the business gateway scheme only offering advice and the likes, you really do just have to make the leap yourself. One good point is get yourself a bloody good accountant, they will save you a fortune.JB

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http://www.fishleven.co.uk/
http://www.edenangling.co.uk/

Best bet keep your job for the forseeable future until we see what way the economy is going to swing . Might be clearer after the election .But in the immortal words of Frasier the undertaker from Dad's Army.

" we're doomed,doomed "

O' Reilly