Starting a business in the UK

I am creating an entertainment business based in the UK. Primarily I’ll be creating Youtube videos with other members of the business. We will also have a website where we will be selling content such as clothing, books, and web based guides. I’ve heard from a friend that if I set up as a proper company we are able to claim back VAT (which is quite a significant amount in order to pay for cameras, mics, etc) but I don’t know any of the other benefits apart from that. If that was the only benefit then it’d still be worth it for us. I’m not sure on the downsides as we don’t plan to be making much money within the first year and can’t predict when we will as of yet. Most of the content such as actors are all volunteer positions and my partners are willing to work for free until we have an established income so wages won’t be a problem. We’re just wondering if someone could shed some light on whether or not it would be worth it for us to set up as a proper company.


Thanks.

 

If you plan on selling merchandise like that, I assume that it will likely be branded by you and your partners to associate with your YouTube channel for fans. With this in mind, think about how much money you would need to invest in setting up even for targeting small sales figures to start, you will need to find a place that will sell you the base clothing, another to print your desired designs and stuff like that... If you're a registered business you will have access to certain outlets that will be at a reduced cost and then you can be exempt from the tax percentage of the price per order.

Without going through the registration of your business you will be paying full price for consumer clothing and such materials, which you will then on top of that pay for the printing or embroidery of, for the designs you want implemented on them and that will cause your end price to go up for your fans.

With what you're wanting to do, you will want to have such merchandise as affordable as possible otherwise you will find your fans less willing to show their support by purchasing such merchandise unless you're REALLY something special with the content that you'll be pushing out. The best way to combat this is to drive the cost of the materials you want to market down as much as possible...

I don't know as much about business related taxes to be giving out a lot of info on that, but I believe you're exempt unless your business earns over £10,000 in that year, I would look this up to be certain. I am not as educated on those facts as I would like to be.

As for hardware and equipment, for this type of thing you would save a significant amount of money if you're ordering as a business. Unless you have funds to literally waste, you may as well go through the registering process now and save yourself a lot of money, it doesn't cost a lot to set up and it's really not that difficult. Seeing as you will be registering it later down the line anyway then you may as well get it done sooner rather than later.

If you plan on making any kind of small indie film related entertainment videos for YouTube, with a registered business you may be eligible for certain business grants too, which could help you market your channel and get it out there as well as set up the whole merchandise side of it and get all of the quality equipment and software that you may need.

I hope this helps even in the slightest, feel free anyone else to correct anything I've said if I'm wrong... (especially regarding the tax comment)


Kind Regards,
NB.

 

If you are seriously considering long term business in UK. I recommend you to register your company as a Limited company, it will be good for your company reputation and also get registered for VAT. The reason is, if you exceed the annual income and VAT threshold, you have to pay the fine. (it happened with the previous company I worked for). There are many company formation firms that can help you with the complete process.