Brand Spankin New!

[Tarney]

Hi Everyone!

After living overseas for a couple of years, I have returned home to Oz and am almost settled. I knew there was no way I wanted to do the 9-5 thing ever again and working for someone was out of the question, so I decided to use the skills I learned in LA applying hair extensions to all of my friends, to start my own business here and see how it go's.

I have my ABN, I have started getting jobs, but I have to say I am a total newbie to the whole Sole Trader thing. I am kind of 'officially' starting today.

I have a million questions, and honestly most of them are pretty stupid and most likely common knowledge for everyone else, the whole sole trader thing is confusing me a little, im not sure if I am suppose to be acting as a business or just ME.

My business is all cash at the moment, I would like to have EFTPOS as well. Im not sure if I have to open a new bank account or just use my personal account (they would both be in my name anyway).

Basically my clients will pay me cash for the application, I will have to buy the hair and tools for each individual client. So thats how the money will come and go. I will be doing the work at the clients home and also my apartment. Being new to Sydney and having no idea where anything is and too scared to start driving around the city yet, Im catching cabs (can I claim cabs as an expense?)

Now this is prob. a really stupid question. At the end of the year the money in my account will be all the fees paid by the clients, minus the expenses, i'll pay the tax and the left over I assume is the profit....but what about all the money I need to live along the way, my rent, my bills, my food, my clothes...im not paying myself a wage, so do I just use the money in my account for this stuff? Only spend whats left after tax is taken into consideration? and if at the end of each year I do end up with a profit (fingers crossed hehe) what if I eventually want to get a loan for my own apartment or want to invest, is the profit mine or is it the businesses, even though I am the business, sorry this is what confuses me, is the money mine?

Ok ill stop there cuz a million more questions are coming to mind!

Anyway, thats me so far : )

Would love to hear what everyone has to say and again sorry for sounding so stupid. (I even purchased SMALL BUSINESS for DUMMIES only to realise that I probly just need SOLE TRADING for DUMMIES don't think it exists..)

xoxo
Tarney

[Burgo]

Hi Tarney and welcome to the forum.

You need an accountant and pronto.
Just look around the forum and you may find a good one here in Sydney that will shed some light on your predicament.

Believe me an accountant will guide you and put you on the right path, give you piece of mind.

[mexham]

Hi Tarney,

there are a few accountants around on this forum so hopefully one of them will give you some better advice.

But to start with you should have a seperate account for you business and personal stuff. This will make it much easier to keep track of your accounts without having to work out what is business associated and what isn't.

For expenses, like taxis, pretty much anything that is a cost/expense that is incurred as part of the business you should beable to claim. Some things are claimed at different rates though - where the accountant comes in. But just make sure you keep good records of every cost you have associated with the business, and keep all the receipts. Get receipts from your taxi drivers, and don't forget to price this cost into your service.

For day to day living costs, you could probably pay yourself a wage or take drawings from the biz, make sure to keep track of this also. Check out the ATO website also, this should have some good info, to easy you mind about how different structures work.

A good accountant should work with you to structure your biz the best way for maximum benefit.

Good luck and all the best with the business, I'm sure you'll do well!

[Tarney]

Thank you so much! Im in love with this site, so glad I found it...its true what they say, starting to work for yourself can feel a little lonely (but exciting at the same time).

Im definitely going to find an accountant, any accountants out there in Sydney (im in Darlinghurst) I would love to hear from you.

And im glad to hear that I need to open a seperate business account, my personal one is a LITTLE messy hehe. and I really do need to start from scratch.

xoxo
Tarney

[Brent Van Der Wel]

These guys are spot on. I've always been told that you should do the things you're good at. Obviously for you, it's hair extensions. A good accountant can take care of the tax and accounting issues for you. It's well worth the money by avoiding the potential fines if you undepay or overclaim. A financial planner may also be helpful in helping you with providing adequate income protection, super and additional ways you can save some tax.

Apart from that, I just wanted to point out that I don't blame you for taking cabs. I hate NSW roads in general!

[Hair]

Hi!

Fellow hairdresser here, I'm in Melbourne. Would love to know how it's all going for you Which bonding technique do you use? I was thinking of using Amore hair, have only just started doing research. I don't want to damage anyone's hair!

Vanessa
Butterfly Effect Hair Design