ideas ...

Hello

might i suggest a one stop shop to get all your advertising and print done.


when started my business up it was difficult to make special journies out to each and every business that might be able to help me. I realized that the best friend a new company can have is the internet. from the comfort of my favourite armchair i could research everything from competition to best prices for materials and services.

on my travels I came across a site which enables the customer to either design their own stationary on the website and then pay and within a week it all arrived. Or you could design your stuff before and they would check it and print it for you. The more I looked the more I found, from stickers to billboards. Stamps to brochures. They were called flyer24.co.uk

thank you for the input, any others ...

1 & 2 -

I recommend:

http://www.companiesmadesimple.com

We found the entire process to be painless and efficient. If I'd known it was this easy I would have done it years ago and avoided sole trader status.

Note that as of April 08 new legislation removes the requirement for a Company Secretary, but I would still always recommend seeking appropriate, professional advice on the subject first.

3 - An accountant would be best for advice on VAT matters. Don't rely on any other opinion as in my experience the average layman invariably gets *something* wrong.

4 - Highly recommend www.fasthosts.co.uk, one of the best I've ever found in the UK - and I've been using the net since before the "World Wide Web" was invented!

5 - I compared them all thoroughly and it ended up with a choice between Alliance & Leicester and Barclays. I eventually settled on the latter as they have a terrific Startups service (incl. free banking for initial period) and great support service. They will however try to sell you a range of business software on a subscription basis. It's good stuff and worth the money, but don't allow yourself to be talked into anything you don't really need for your particular business - their Local Business Managers are clearly driven by commission or some other form of "sales" benefits!

6 - No advice to offer, sorry.

I wish you the very best of luck.

For number 6 (o8 numbers) I would say don't bother, the recent changes from ofcom have changed the 08 numbers profile. As the news becomes more widely published, consumers are likely to see them as a real turn off because they will know you are robbing them on phone charges.

03 are the new national rate numbers where YOU will pay a proportion of every call received... if you really want to get an 03 number, then suppliers are all as much of a much ness, and they have very unattractive charges.

Maybe it's worth considering that online purchasers go for price savings, having a normal telephone number isn't going to make a difference to them either way.

My company has them but it’s likely many company’s will ditch them when it’s starts to cost money, so presently we’re updating all our promotional literature, livery, websites, adverts etc ready to make the changes… an expensive exercise for any business 

Good luck
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www.mistore.co.uk - Great business websites and online shops that you control from only £9.99 a month

Hello Googler

Just a plug for my web design business, but you may need a site that is clean looking, designed well and that won't cost the earth, and by that I mean prices in the hundreds, not thousands :-)

All the sites are CMS (Content management system) which means you can change text, pictures in fact everything about your site

I will let you know what we can do in plain, non geek speak and am positive I can produce what you want and on time

samples of my work are

http://www.urbancolour.co.uk
http://www.canditravel.com
http://www.urpropertysolution.co.uk/

Let me know if there is anything I can help you with and good luck with the business

Julian
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www.urbancolour.co.uk - Property bought for cash - www.shoutoutdoor.co.uk - Outdoor advertising at less than newspaper rates

Hey mate,

ok.

1, 2 check out this site, thats all you need really. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073865436

3. as mentioned earlier - accountant is a person to talk to. Maybe you have got some friends who are accountants.

4. I would recommend my company - yeah really. We are a service provider for new small and medium companies. Have a look at http://launchdeck.co.uk/ basically it provides a complete online marketing package for small and medium business' for a single low cost monthly fee. So everything from initial design+domain name+hosting+unlimited email account with auto responders to marketing if needed. Cost is from £14.99 per month.
For examples have a look at the web projects tab http://digitalforest.co.uk/#/portfolio/4530733756

5. we have an account with abbys - and we have been really pleased at the moment. For sole traders lloyds was quite good some time ago.

6. http://www.t-numbers.co.uk/ -


Ok, i hope that helps.

If you are interested give me a call or email me. Contact details found on http://launchdeck.co.uk/#/liftoff/4530846562 ask for Enriko

1. www.uk-plc.net

2. www.uk-plc.net

3. HMRC

4. UKreg (cheapest) and owned by Fasthosts, so reputable

5. Shop around... a lot

6. www.switchboardfree.com

That lot'll cost you less than £200. Sorted.

Gimme a bell if you need any help with the web site and on line marketing... I'm really good

Phil
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Philip John; Internet Consultancy
www.philipjohn.co.uk