ENTERPRISE Thinking about VAT.

VAT - or Value Added Tax - is a tax charged by VAT-registered businesses on the supply of most goods and services. If you are or become VAT-registered, you must charge VAT where appropriate on the goods or service you sell. However, you can also reclaim any VAT you have paid when buying things for your business.
There are three rates of VAT. The most common is the standard rate of 20 per cent. If you want to know more about VAT rates, and charging and reclaiming VAT, watch our video How does VAT work?
Charging VAT affects the price of what you sell and therefore possibly your profits. It's important that you get your VAT calculations correct. If you are not sure how to add or subtract using percentages, try our tutorial Calculating VAT.
You also need to keep records to show how much VAT you have charged and paid. Record keeping is covered in our tutorial VAT and your business.
There's a lot more to learn about VAT, so why not try watching our videos Simplifying VAT and VAT registration and threshold information and look at our tutorial When sales and purchases take place for VAT purposes. You should also look at our tutorials on Setting up and managing a VAT account and Making VAT payments to HMRC to help you get started. Finally you will find a link to take you straight to online VAT registration with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Please note: Our learning products show ways of working out VAT that HMRC recommends. VAT rates can change, but if they do the calculation methods remain the same. You would need to use different numbers in the calculations, but this information would be available on the website.

business plan so far

1.The nature of your business

1. Business name

Fourth wall

2. Business activity

We are a branding and identity company for events within the culture sector, located in the North of England.

3. Mission statement

We are a design agency that focuses on branding and identity for the culture sector, of the North. We offer efficient yet considered designs that will shape and transform or enhance your company / create buzz.

4. Business objectives


Our business objectives within the first 12 months are to focus primarily on promoting ourselves, getting known within the industry increasing our presence. To do so we expect 10% of our estimated income to be used to advertise. Resulting this, we intend on gradually increasing our profit.


Over the next two years we intend to expand outside of theatre to other sectors within the culture sector. Also, the option to collaborate is certainly something to consider in order to grow our business.


Long term goals consist of building reputable relationships with clients, In order to gain returning clients. We intend on making a bigger profit over time, and with this to expand nationally resulting in a bigger client list and reputation within the industry.

5. The people in the business
· Total of 4 people
· Simon Cherry Design work, Tea Maker, Branding
· Chris Lawson Design work, PR & Networking, Designer
· Stephanie Lawson Management, Promotion, Head Designer
· Liam Rushfirth Financing, Book-keeping, Design work, Creative Director

6. What is the structure of your business?


7. What is the legal status of your business?
· Partnership
· Share the profits equally
· Having four people in our business, there will be more money to be put into finances, allowing more potential for growth, thus resulting in higher profits.
· Being in a partnership, it will be less strict in management and the way it is run in regard to laws, as those in the business are the only ones who have say in the way the business is run as long as we can all agree.
· Shared responsibility allowing us to demonstrate the best of our abilities. We can split the management and running of the business in regard to our skills. For instance, some will be good with finances, some with design, and others with sales.
· When it comes to making decisions, we can help each other out in ways needed. Working in a partnership means we each have our own business ideas, which can be shared in regard to solving problems, that the business may encounter.


________________________________________________________________________________
2. Resources

1. Products or services


Our services as a branding and identity company;


90% Event Promotion
10% Branding for new and existing groups / organizations


The majority of our time would be taking jobs from existing clients and designing promotions for their next event, if they feel our work for them previously was to their taste.


The rest of our time would be to rebrand an existing company or to target new organisations that do not yet have a selected identity.

2. What resources do you require?
· Apple imac x2
· Apple mac book x1
· Adobe software x3 licences
· Printer / Ink
· Scanner
· Headphones x 2
· Desks x 4
· Computer chairs x 4
· Filing cabinets x 2
· Company car x 1
· Cutting mats x 2
· Craft knives x 2
· Paper
· Card
· Stationary
· Guillotine
· Kettle
· Toaster
· Culinary equipment
· Mice
· Internet (depending on location) – Router, Modem, Wireless support etc
· Telephone (depending on whether we are having landline)
· Waste bin
· Pin Board
· White board
· Microsoft software package
· Ipad x 1 (for presentations)
· Subscriptions to design magazines
· Light box
· Microphones
· Spray mount booth
· Metre rulers
· Shelving
· Pantone Books
· Graphics Tablets x 1
· Drawing Board x1
· Projector
· Fonts
· External Storage Devices
· Anti-virus, firewalls

Total = £15,000


3. How much stock do you need any stock to start your business?

£0 – Stock (paper, ink) is included in equipment costs

_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Prices

1. How have you worked out your prices?

Starting with individual spreadsheets to work out the cost of living, added to the price of running the business including equipment and premises. The result shows how much we would need to charge per day/hour.

2. How do your prices compare with your competitors?
· Name 3 competitors and give evidence of their prices

4. Customers

1. What evidence do you have that anyone will buy your product / service?


The service we provide already exists to an extent, which in itself proves its popularity and need. There are many Graphic Design related businesses, which design and cater for the culture sector, but not primarily.


Our idea is new in the sense no other company out there is solely directed at and focused on just the culture sector, we can put all our time and effort into simple this factor; other companies possibly wouldn’t do the same. New and upcoming businesses within the culture sector are more likely to want work produced by a solely based design business within the sector due to more experience and knowledge about the subject at hand.


Our target audience is based within Yorkshire and the surrounding areas, there are several new and upcoming developments currently in play, just one being the Leeds arena; the demand for branding and identity will be huge. Every year more places like this come about and design proposals are made, there is a continuous stream of work available for the culture sector.

2. Who are these people?
Our target audience is the culture sector, primarily theatre establishments. These are located throughout the country, with several throughout each city. Our target audience is vast, the establishments we can aim at can be anything from tiny, to huge, have very few visitors or thousands can be of popular culture or high culture.

3. Where are they?
· It may help to include diagrams or maps

4. How many are there of them?
· This must be described in numbers form. (e.g. population, tourist visitor numbers, number of local bands, number of retail outlets)

5. Why would they buy from you rather than anyone else?

Strengths:
New Graduated - Fresh and Modern approach to design
USP
Outside the box
Independent
Range of skills
Local
Personal and intimate services

Weakness:
No reputation
New company
Won't be trusted - yet
Small company - Unable to deal with large jobs due to short amount of creatives
Lack of capital - no money in bank etc

Opportunities:
Get into market
Increase market share
Expansion
Collaborating
Funding from government

Threat:
Competition
Economic climate
Demands not as high as we couldn't be
Recession - People not having money


6. How much will the average customer spend with you?
How often will they spend that amount with you?
Will your sales fluctuate due to external forces ( e.g. seasons or cultural / sporting events)
_________________________________________________________________________
5. How will you promote your business?

1. How will you advertise your products / services?
Contextual Advertising, social networking, social media websites, events, leaflets, business cards, website, vehicle graphics, posters and a mail shot are, on a whole, the way we intend to promote and advertise out services. Word of the mouth, from promoting events and holding our own will be a primary way of advertising ourselves, we intend to create a ‘buzz’.

2. What other marketing methods would be effective for you?
Personal Selling
Promotions
Public relations
Direct Marketing (Targeted marketing)
Internet

__________________________________________________________________________
6. Total set up costs

1. Legal costs
SUMMARISE FINDINGS ABOUT INSURANCE AND LEGAL COSTS IN GENERAL – PROVIDE SPREADSHEETS
What legal costs might you incur in setting up your business, on protecting your intellectual property, registering with Companies House ( if appropriate) or using a solicitor to look at your contracts?
2. Resources
SPREADSHEET SHOWING CAPITAL EXPENDITURE, BILLS AND OVERHEADS SHEETS
How much Capital expenditure in the first year?
How much will you spend on materials and goods for sale for the first 6 months ( Direct Costs)
How much will be spent on bills and overheads for the first 6 months (Indirect costs)

3. Marketing
SPREADSHEET OF COSTING / PROMOTING CUSTOMER
Cost of promoting your business for the first year

3. How will you finance the business start up?
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Name a suitable source for the kind of funding you need.
If it’s a grant – give evidence that your are eligible. You are NOT eligible for Prince’s Trust


7. How will you monitor your progress>

1. Financial control
· What systems will you use to monitor finances?
· What methods will you use to monitor your position in the market?

Branding for FOURTH WALL.

Here is our new logo for our newly named agency "Fourth Wall" We went into branding the agency with a strong yet minimal approach. As an agency dealing with a whole range of different and individual clients we strongly believe that the high quality work would speak for itself. We chose a strong sharp typeface (nevis) and replaced the "A" of "wall" with the number "4". This effectively shows clients that we believe in creative simplicity. We found the number 4 to be our lucky number for the group -

There are 4 of us in the group
we are group 4
the room we are in (umbrella creative) is ROOM 4
and we are called fourth wall.

A new name | FOURTH WALL

After deciding that out company will be based on directing our work toward the culture sector, I decided to look up a glossary of theater relating terms. Within this we came across 'Fourth Wall' - The imaginary wall of one box theater setting, removed to allow the audience to see the action.


Before we got our hopes up, we looked at the availability of the name, and didn't come across any called 'Fourth wall'. A few called 'The fourth wall' and one called 'Fourth wall design' so we've decided to stick to the two word version, possibly turning 'Fourth' into '4th'.


When we searched for the availability of the domain we had a few issues, as many websites with the two words were taken. We decided possibly to change the '.com' or '.co.uk' element. As we found fourthwall.biz and .me.uk to be available. This is something we're going to look into...

Enterprise - Thinking about taxes

Steph found some really useful information on business link which will come in handy when we're starting to think about Taxes

If you run a business, you will have to pay taxes of some kind - and to pay some of those taxes, you will have to use a particular tax calculation/payment process.
Exactly which taxes you pay and which processes you use will depend on a number of factors, such as your business' legal status, annual turnover and taxable profits. You can watch our video Welcome: setting up in business for a handy overview of what you need to do.
Whichever taxes and processes apply, it's vital that you keep full and accurate records of your income and expenses from the start.
The main business taxes are Income Tax, Corporation Tax and VAT. You may also need to think about National Insurance.
VAT may apply to your business if you trade solely within the UK. However, if you import goods from outside the European Union, you must also pay import VAT and any duty before the goods can be released. And there are VAT rules that apply if you export goods and services too. For an introduction to how VAT works see our video What is VAT?
The main business tax calculation/payment processes are:

* Self Assessment for the self-employed, business partners and business partnerships
* Corporation Tax - for limited companies and some organisations such as clubs, friendly societies, etc
* the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) - but only if you operate in the construction industry
* PAYE (Pay As You Earn) - but only if you are an employer

You can learn more about Self Assessment and self-employed tax and processes in our video An introduction to registering for Self Assessment. You can learn more about National Insurance in our animated video National Insurance for the self-employed: the basics. To find out more about Corporation Tax see our animated video What is Corporation Tax? To get an overview of your tax responsibilities when you take on staff see our video How we got registered as an employer.
For an introduction to the Construction Industry Scheme see our animated video How the Construction Industry Scheme works.
Finally for a good overview of how other businesses coped with taxes when first starting up we have a wide range of video diaries from real businesses covering everything from the first steps through to the highs and lows of running your own business to taking stock one year on.

Friday, 24 February 2012

FOURTH WALL LOCATION.

Location plays a vital role in a partnership. It becomes a second home and the headquarters of your agency. When picking a location we wanted somewhere convenient. We always knew we wanted to be based in Leeds because it's the "heart of the north" and very close to other big cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, York and Sheffield. It was my responsibility to find FOURTH WALL a suitable studio that kept our costs low.

Umbrella Creative provides low cost spaces for Leeds based creatives. Situated in Holbeck, a rapidly growing sector for Leeds creative industries, Umbrella has helped start ups, artists and small businesses grow by supplying spaces without the huge rent bills.

Here is a list of just some of the things you can use the space for:

• Space for creative work
• Space enough to make a mess or make a masterpiece of design
• Space for photography
• Space for art
• Space for graphic design
• Space for illustration
• Space for music
• Space for meetings
• Space for exhibitions
• Space to go wild

Umbrella is very convenient as it's very close to exiting and buzzing places such as the town centre and just a ten minute walk from the up an coming area of Holbeck which has seen a lot of investment in the last few years. The city centre is a 5min walk from there. The area is well served by buses and if you're driving you can get straight onto the M621. This ensures that we will be able to access the studio easily which also makes it easy for clients to visit us.


Photographs of the available room.

We were very impressed with Umbrellas low costs that kept the overheads very low which helped a small company like us starting out. We also loved the idea of the rooms being painted white as our very own blank canvas
So I emailed the company explaining our interest in renting an office space.

The email reads :

Good Afternoon,

Fourth Wall is a newly developed design agency, currently looking for a suitable work space for 3 designers. We were very impressed with Umbrella's low cost and warm approach to those who are just starting out. We're interested in room 4. Does the £285pcm rent include utility bills, internet and access to facilities?

Best Regards,

Simon Cherry
Fourth Wall.

I'm currently waiting for a reply concerning the things mentioned in the email.

Enterprise meeting. 15/2/12

Aims of the meeting:

To have decided on a new name.
To know of the location and establishments we intend to aim at.
To have contacted Solicitor family member in regard to gaining information about whats needed for a new company.
To have researched potential places to be situated in regard to studio and design space.
To have some idea of how we intend to advertise ourselves, the forms these take and prices.

On Wednesday (15th) We had an enterprise meeting. Prior to this meeting we were getting frustrated with the unproductivity of the group so this was our 'get up and go' meeting. We've actually been productive and got a large sum of work done within the few hours of being together. As we had a large list of 'Things that need to be done', it was easier to establish who needed to do what. Steph dictated a job / role to each of us, so there would be no confusion as to who was doing what task. Mine was to sort out studio space and get figures down on paper. I was also put in charge of branding the agency. Overall we feel this a fresh start for the group, with a new name, and new attitude. We just need to get a move on. We've arranged to meet up again in a new days to get on with work.