3. EDITOR’S NOTE
PAGE 10
It’s funny isn’t it? Time to stop
SSG flies around trying to come up with great new
ideas to help making running your own business that bit your money from
easier.
Our Recruiter partners all work hard, worry endlessly
and sometimes get good luck and sometimes bad.
slipping AWAY!
That’s what it is all about – right?
Well, a funny thing happened to me this month.....
NUMBERS YOU NEED TO KNOW!
Three Client meetings with three different businesses
all working in different sectors.
We ran through the Monthly Management Accounts
and we chatted about all the normal clever stuff & the
economy & interest rates & LinkedIn and all the normal
clever stuff like that. Fluffy Bits
But the bit that was really interesting was when it came
down to understanding some basic terminology which Regular Stuff 17
we were all using during our conversation – but Business Launches
applying different meanings to the same ‘recruitment
17 Some Jokes!
words’. 7 Chris goes DIY - Slow
In other words, we seemed to all be applying a different PC? 18 Thought for the Day
meaning to some other words!
19 A Word from Lloyds
8
OK – so for example, what do you think I mean when I
say: 15 Pop’s Pantry
Generated Placements Money & Things
Invoiced Placements 16 What’s New?
Paid Placements
Yep, I am sure that you all have your own clear 6 National Insurance
understanding of what these obvious terms mean (to
you).
10 Numbers you simply
So Serious!
I guess the important bit is that we all start to say the
HAVE to know
same things and recognise the importance of these 12 Madness of Small
definitions when we think about how these definitions
4 Employment Myths -
affect the ‘business side’ of our work. Business Funding
It made me think – truth is, we all need to keep it
Part Deux!
simple, not to worry about being too clever and 13 Part Time Employees?
remember that making a placement is the only bit that
really matters. 19 Terminology!
For a closer look at these definitions, please take a
peek at Page 19 (Terminology).
You might be surprised!!
info@ the-darkside.tv The Power of Three!
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otherwise apply.
3

4. Clare’s Employment Law Myth Stuff
More ym
en
t
plo
Employment Law g Em stice
tin Inju
Myths Figh Law
es!
id
You might remember from last time Yes, it is all extremely shocking I it h
ver
ere
(September’s Dark Side) that we were all will admit, but like any good Harry
engrossed by the discovery of a few myths Potter script there is even more w h
that surround good old employment law! to come.... If you have been forced to hire cover
at a higher pay rate or pay an
That’s right, the excitement finally grew to AND THE NEW STUFF? overtime rate to other employees
I am a
the point that it was hard to continue our ‘MYTH
to cover the shortfall in work
BUSTER’
exploration of the whole subject without caused by an employee's
the risk of boiling over at the sense of MYTH NO. 4 failure to give notice then
injustice that accompanied our it may be worth suing as
“You don’t have to pay an
revelations – well, to be more accurate my Employee who resigns but you can show financial loss.
I am a
colleagues at SSG begged me to stop and doesn’t work their notice ‘MYTH
BUSTER’
suggested that should any reader still be period”
awake after a couple of pages that we VERDICT: COBBLERS
MYTH NO. 5
ought to let them now rest in peace.
“You have to offer a new
So, heeding their advice (as I often do), I You know the score, a Recruiter (or any vacancy to anyone who was
made redundant”
put a hold on the excitement. other employee) walks out without giving VERDICT: MORE COBBLERS
notice.
But, that was then & this is now!
The logic suggests that the employee has
QUICK RECAP: forfeited the right to receive further
It is a popular view that employers that
payments from their employer.
have made an employee redundant must
There is a lot of nonsense touted around
offer him or her any future vacancies that
as fact when it comes to what is legal, However, as employers, you are not
arise.
what is illegal & what is just plain crazy entitled to withhold pay owed to
when it comes to Employment Law, employees who have left without giving
Employment Contracts, Employment notice, for work that they have already In recruitment, it is often the case that you
Breaches and the like. carried out, although you can withhold may have made an employee redundant
the pay that the employee would have due to you no longer needing someone to
As a business owner, you need to know received had he or she worked the notice perform in a particular role, only to find
what is real and what is hearsay. period. that, shortly after, due to an upturn in
business or the resignation of another
It might not seem important, but once If you have been "left in the lurch" by an employee, you need additional
you start to think about employing a employee you do have some legal redress. headcount.
Recruiter of your own or get chased by
In this situation, do you have to offer your
your own ex-employer, you might wish The employee's failure to give notice is a
former employee the available position?
that you taken a little more time to find breach of contract and you can (if you can
out where you stand. be bothered) bring a claim in the civil
courts for the financial loss that you have If you don’t, will this render the previous
Thus far, we exploded three myths: suffered. redundancy unfair?
Myth 1: However, it is often difficult for employers The answer is no – you are under no legal
Just because there is nothing in writing, it to establish loss or damage to the obligation to offer previously redundant
does not mean that there is not a contract. business and, as a result, very few claims employees future vacancies, and the
are brought by employers in these fairness of the previous redundancy is
Myth 2: circumstances. only decided by an assessment of the
Just because an actual contract wasn’t situation at the point at which you made
physically signed, does not mean that it is the employee redundant.
not valid. A friend got sacked from his
fairground job recently - he worked on The redundancy will be fair if there were
Myth 3: the dodgems and loved it. He's suing genuine reasons for it at the time and you
An employer can indeed withdraw a job his boss for for Funfair dismissal!!" followed a fair procedure and selection
offer once it has been made. process.
4

5. Notwithstanding this, it is worth being result in discrimination against their male AND JUST ONE MORE THING
careful about recruiting very soon after colleagues. (said in a Columbo Style voice over)
making redundancies as people may
question whether or not the In other words – don’t overcompensate! Here is a little story about a woman who
redundancies were genuine. stole an Apple Pie:
The mighty law firm Eversheds came a
You should keep thorough cropper with just this scenario where the Should she be sacked?
records of your reasons for Court of Appeal Tribunal found
making redundancies that they had discriminated A Little Chef employee lost a
and the selection process against a male lawyer by inflating compensation claim for unfair dismissal –
you followed. I am a the score of the other after she took an apple pie home without
‘MYTH
BUSTER’ lawyer in the selection permission and lost her job as a result.
pool because she was
I am a
MYTH NO. 6 on maternity leave. ‘MYTH Lynn Smith had been employed as a
BUSTER’
supervisor at the for 12 years with a good
“You can’t sack a pregnant
woman” record.
VERDICT: ACTUALLY.... MYTH NO. 7
“If you make redundancies, you Mrs Smith believed she had been harshly
can’t immediately start hiring” treated and made a compensation claim
VERDICT: YOU CAN against her employer.
A number of employers are
understandably cautious about making Little Chef did not attend the hearing and
employees who are pregnant or on was not represented, but had apparently
maternity leave redundant. There is no specific period of time that you written to the Tribunal stating that the
must wait before you can recruit new staff Little Chef rules were that food could be
If an employee is dismissed or selected for without rendering the previous eaten on the premises but that there were
redundancy for a reason that is related to redundancy dismissals unfair. strict rules about staff taking it home.
pregnancy, birth or maternity leave, the
Although there is no specific time frame The tribunal said: "Mrs Smith knew it was
dismissal will be automatically unfair and
during which you cannot recruit new against the rules to misappropriate food
will amount to pregnancy and maternity
employees, if you recruit soon after and Mrs Smith admitted taking the apple
discrimination.
making redundancies when there has pie.
been no change in circumstances, this is
The compensation payments are likely to cast doubt on whether or not the
uncapped and the whole process can be redundancies were genuine. She should not have taken the apple pie
very expensive. away."
Where you can point to a change
Little Chef currently charges £3.99 for a
However, employees who are pregnant or in commercial circumstances
serving of its delicious Kentish Bramley
on maternity leave can be made then you are more likely to
apple pie which is dished up with custard
redundant provided that the redundancy be able to justify the need
or vanilla ice cream.
is genuine and the employee's maternity to recruit only a short
I am a
situation does not disadvantage her in period after. ‘MYTH
BUSTER’ Regrettably said the tribunal , they had
any way.
decided Mrs Smith had lost her
compensation claim for unfair dismissal as
For example, you should ignore MYTH NO. 8 Little Chef had acted within the bounds of
pregnancy-related absence when “Fixed Term Contractors have reasonableness when deciding to dismiss
assessing attendance records for the no redundancy rights” Mrs Smith.
purposes of selection. VERDICT: THEY DO
You may also need to make adjustments
to the consultation process in relation to Employees who are employed on a
an employee who is unable to attend fixed-term contract are entitled to
meetings at the workplace due to her redundancy pay if their contract comes to
pregnancy or maternity leave, by carrying an end.
out consultation meetings closer to her
home. In the past (before 2002) someone on a
fixed term contract could waive their right
but not anymore!
While it is important that employers
create a level playing field when applying
redundancy selection criteria, you must Every myth is individual, so if you
be careful that attempts to neutralise OUR VIEW:
require further advice please contact
selection criteria that are potentially clare@supportservicesgroup.tv
discriminatory against employees who Always go for the Chocolate Fudge
are pregnant or on maternity leave do not Sundae – what a silly lady Mrs Smith is.
5

6. National Insurance
what’s it for and do i pay it?!
As shown in our May issue the most tax contributing for National Insurance and In the vast majority of cases the savings
efficient way to draw income from your get the relevant benefits. you have made over the years will be far
Limited Company is to take a minimal higher than what you could lose in
salary and take the rest as dividends. How much do I pay? benefits.
This in effect means that you are not At the current rates of NI for the tax year So put some of that saving to good use
paying national insurance on your 2012 to 2013 and with the salary we and look at a Company Pensions (there’s a
dividend income which is where the mentioned above the amount of National future article for you)
savings for tax come in. Insurance you will pay each month is
£11.96. What does the tax man do about this?
But what is this National Insurance we
speak about. This is as a deduction from the monthly
salary that we run for you each month. There’s not a lot the tax man can do.
National Insurance (NI) is an amount that
individuals (and employers) pay to the However, you don’t have to make this If you have a low salary your contributions
government calculated on wages and payment personally. are low, just like anyone else on a low
salary to contribute to social benefits salary.
including state pension, statutory The company makes it on your behalf. So
maternity pay and sick pay and also to each month SSG will supply you the However, he may notice you are paying far
fund the National Health Service. information and the company has to less than you historically did when
make a payment to HMRC from the employed so will try and get you to
Obviously the National Health Service is “voluntarily” contribute.
business bank account.
free to all and does not require NI
contributions.
And that’s it. No forms, no online returns... So do expect a letter in the post
explaining what National Insurance gains
However, other benefits are dependent and how he has noticed that yours has
on having paid NI historically. That’s all completed by SSG.
gone down.
You probably now feel that you would So what’s the catch then?
quite like the benefits. His suggestion is to “voluntarily”
The catch is that some of these benefits contribute yourself the National Insurance
But surely the way you process my are means tested so the more you savings you have made on your income to
income affects my benefits! contribute the more you get if you ever him (he obviously doesn’t word it like
need them. that).
The answer is yes, but you don’t lose
them! As we only run a minimal salary you willI can’t see many of you deciding to do this
though.
We run a payroll each month for you only be paying the bare minimum and
which is the minimal salary element of would only get the bare minimum back if Do I HAVE to pay National Insurance?
your income from the company. you ever claimed these benefits.
This will be based on your personal So that saving on tax does come at a In a word – No. We could reduce the
allowances and be in the region of £675 potential cost (but one we think is worth minimal salary element of your income so
per month. paying) that you pay absolutely no National
Insurance.
National insurance is paid as a percentage For example
of your earnings, so the more you earn the The amount of state pension will be set However, you will also lose the right to any
more you pay. based upon how much you contributed benefits that require contributions to be
paid.
However, there is an element of salary that over a 10 year period.
you can earn before National Insurance
contributions start. Statutory Maternity Pay amount will be That may conjure up thoughts of “hey ho,
initially based on the National Insurance I want to pay as little as possible!” But the
The monthly Salary we set is just enough contributions on a set period before the decision is entirely yours!!
to give you an income that starts to pay expected birth of your Baby
National Insurance (i.e. you don’t pay any If you would like to get any further info
NI on the vast majority of it) The result is that if you claimed these please feel free to contact me on 01442
benefits you would only get the minimum 200961 or you can email me at
Therefore you will still be shown as amount. However, don’t be alarmed. darren@supportservicesgroup.tv
6

7. Chris Goes all ‘DIY’
...... Throw it out of the window.... NOOOOO! Before doing the following, PLEASE ENSURE Finally her PC was back
YOU HAVE A BACKUP of all your critical data to normal. Just look
Before you resort to physical machine
- just in case! at that expression of joy!
violence, stop and try some of these old
checks and tricks - you never know, it may Windows Temporary Files
simply be a case of deleting loads of rubbish Other Stuff
that Windows puts on there for you. Now, back to these pesky Temporary files -
Other things include Disk Defragmenting,
thankfully this is one area that hasn't
Or a simple (and relatively cheap) hardware Scandisk, Temporary Internet Files and
changed with each version of Windows (the
upgrade. Read on ...... other built-in Windows tools (Windows is
location part anyway!) - go to "My
built to fail eventually - a bit like a car needing
Windows has a reputation of adding loads of Computer" (or "Computer") or, if you're
regular servicing!)
rubbish to your machine the more you use it - really impatient, click on the "Windows" Key,
building up temporary files, sticking them in hold it and press "E" - this will open up
the memory and stopping the things you Windows Explorer. Navigate to your local There are tools out there to do all these thing
want to work from working as it has to "read" Hard Disk (usually "Localdisk C:") click on automatically for you (System Mechanic etc.)
the rubbish as well as the good stuff! "Windows" and then "Temp" (some versions / but BEWARE - anything that gets onto your
setups of Windows will ask you for permission PC that you didn’t put there for doing this is
It also has a reputation of needing more probably Malware.
- just click yes!). Hopefully (or not whichever
memory (RAM) with each release (version) of
way you look at it) you will see hundreds of
Windows to allow it just to run - think of it as
files in there. Now, be brave - select them all More on these other elements in a later
when you get up in the morning, do you have
(Ctrl + A) and delete them. It may say "can't article.
2 or 3 Weetabix for breakfast? 2 will get you
delete XXXX as it is in use” - that's fine, delete
going, 3 will help you to really motor! See the
as much as you can. CAVEAT HERE - some The best solution is to completely reinstall
cut out box for minimum / recommended
working program data may be contained in Windows and all other software from scratch
RAM amounts for different versions of
these files (although unlikely) so you may (System Recovery) but of course this is a
Windows.
need to re-enter some program data as major job.
Need More “RAM”? necessary (although I've never had a
problem!).
It may be that if your PC is getting on a bit, As ever, if you are unsure and need a bit of
simply upgrading the RAM will help - if that help, please get in touch .....
option is available on your PC. To check what These are 2 simple things you can do to help -
you have installed, click on the Start a separate article on more “tricks” will follow - chris@supportservicesgroup.tv
(Windows Logo) Key - hover over My the "cutout" also gives some other things to 01442 200941
Computer (or Computer - Windows Vista, 7 try.......
and 8) and right-click it. Select Properties
from the menu and look for "Installed
Memory (RAM)". You can now check the
maximum allowable for your PC - drop us an
email if you want us to try and check this for
you or for us to recommend where to look. If
Slow PC?
your PC has the capacity you may be able to
upgrade - relatively cheaply.
DO - A backup of main data
DO - Check Your RAM - how much have you got? / can you have?
DO - A Virus and Malware Check
DO Delete Windows Temporary Files
DO Delete Temporary Internet Files
DO Run Scandisk / Disk Defragmenter
That’s one “trick”. There are also tools out
there to detect and recommend upgrades
7

8. Key
This month, Joe Zerafa of Arco Recruitment Facts
• Office Based
“dishes the dirt” on what it’s really like to • 4.5 Man Team
start your own business. Arco provides • 2009 Launch
recruitment solutions to the Building • 100% Perm
Services sector & is based in Surrey.
MOTIVATIONS So, what made you decide to SYOB? Why did you NIGGLING ANXIETIES
make the transition from Employee to Business
Expectation Reality Owner? For all of the rhetoric & seemingly Expectation Reality
endless discussions, was it money, freedom or
Freedom & Autonomy 7 9 perhaps the children which finally made you ‘get Legal Formations 7 2
out of recruitment & into business’? What did you
expect and what has been the reality? 8 3
Financial / Earnings 7 9 Accounting Issues
The Tax Man 8 4
6 9
?
Long Term Ambition
The VAT Man 7 3
Increased Family Time 8 7
Sourcing Vacancies 6 5
Reduction in Commute 7 6 Personal Cash Flow 9 5
Escape Office Politics 7 6 Personal Isolation 6 4
A Difficult Employer 3 6 Restrictive Covenants 0 0
Technical Issues 7 4
The ‘Right Time’ 5 8 And before you made the big decision to SYOB,
what kept you awake at night? What were the Staying Organised 5 6
Prove Doubters Wrong 3 7 awful worries, the ‘niggles’ you couldn’t escape?
Has the Tax man been friend or foe? Did your Impact on your Family 8 5
Work / Life Balance 8 7 Restrictive Covenant hold you back? What about
Making Placements 6 5
cash flow? Technology? Do you have more time
Shorter Working Day 7 6 for your family? Has it been tougher than you Room in the Market 5 5
anticipated?
50 WORDS ON WHY! 50 WORDS ON WHY NOT!
How I arrived at setting up on my own was not through a long term In the back of my mind was a slight anxiety around what if it
burning desire to do so but more to do with the company I was didn’t work but I kept positive and stuck to the path that I
working for going in to liquidation and a fortuitous meeting with had decided on. I also had 2 job offers on the table and it was
Mike Walmsley. He suggested that I go it alone rather than work for very tempting just to take one of them and be secure with a
someone else and he put me in touch with SSG. At the time, my good basic and good commission but something was telling
second child was very small, we were in the middle of a worldwide me that it was not the right thing to do and that in a strange
recession and yet somehow it seemed the most logical next step was way the liquidation had provided me with a great
to set up on my own. I thought that if we made it through the tough opportunity.
times then when the good times arrived, the company would be in a
good position to take advantage of it.
8 A: Our biggest challenge has 8 8
been expansion – A: Being in control andbusiness
having
Biggest challenge?
A: Yes! I have exceeded 10 10 10
Major upsides?
So far, so good?
sometimes I feel that we the time to work on
my own expectations – haven’t grown quickly that I feel is important is a
at the beginning I just enough and other times I feel major upside. I know what I am
that we should get more
wanted to work for myself employees on board and trying to achieve and the culture of
and now we have offices, capitalise on the good fortune work hard when we need to and
that we have had. At the same breathe a little when we don’t is a
employees, on a number of time, we must be careful not to really important aspect of how Arco
PSLs and a tier 1 agency in a lose sight of the fact that it is our operates – when we hit target half
personal delivery of the
multi tier arrangement with recruitment service that has made way through a month it is cause for
a very large company. us successful and that if we celebration – not a signal to increase
expand too much we may lose the pressure!
that.
8

9. 9.5 RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS
I had an opportunity to set 10
Why choose SSG?
How hard was it
up a desk for another company – And Now?
in the beginning?
the difference with SSG was that I “Our business is based
can have 100% say in the
on honesty and not
management of my company – no
one would be questioning what I being greedy ” Making Placements 6 4
was doing and nobody would be
setting unrealistic KPIs. Getting into a Work
Routine 5 5
10
10
Clients Paying Up 7 5
How was the launch?
Very pleasant, well structured and
Having Distractions 8 3
the process was very smooth.
Feeling Isolated 8 3
Having Family Support 0 0
The support Arco needs 8
now is very different from
Most important support
the beginning – then we 10
Getting Good
were reliant on all the
“We have a strong Candidates 8 6
operational support in the set up of
the business and getting us over the culture of working
Getting Clients on
teething problems. Now, we are
reliant on the back office support we hard...but only when
Board 8 4
get and also we have Clare as almost we need to! ”
a ‘silent’ partner who we can bounce
ideas off and who provides extra
advice whenever we need it.
Stress Levels 8 8
ADVICE FOR OTHERS? BIGGEST MISTAKE? LONG-TERM GOALS?
Just do it – believe in yourself and your My biggest mistake was probably not expanding I want to continue doing what we are doing
capabilities and don’t look back. Know your the business and getting an office sooner – I was – continue to expand and one day be
strengths and keep positive. used to a routine at home and was working in a recognised as market leaders in our sector.
reactive manner and I think I stayed too long Of course I would like the mansion and the
working just by myself when I could easily have
Ferrari but I really believe that creating a
taken someone on.
credible business in this market, being true
to my values and building a good team will
get me to my goals.
We have What to do Next?
r e a l l y Take the Challenge?
enjoyed
working Why not Volunteer to be
Clare’s next with
Last with Joe Clare?
Words and his
Surely, it is much better to
growing step forward and take a hit
Football Rugby Neither
Eastenders Corrie Neither
team. The for the team than to be
relentlessly tracked down
Rock Opera Neither stand out feature of this business by a seemingly pleasant &
Jogging Crisps Neither is the market knowledge and fair minded pseudo
Wine Beer Neither commitment to the client that Psychiatrist?
Literature DVD’s Neither Joe and his team consistently To take part, please contact
Casual Suited Neither
display. An ever calm presence
UK Hol’s Overseas Neither CLARE ARMSTRONG
and a focus on numbers means 01442 200 957
Glasses Contacts Neither
History Sci-Fi Neither that this company is likely to go clare@supportservicesgroup.tv
from strength to strength.
9

10. Learn them, or leak cash!
Numbers%
+
you simply
= -
have to
? £
know
Imagine you are dropped by parachute The numbers that only get bigger if you FOR NOW, ALMOST FORGET THIS LOT
into the middle of a jungle. are actually doing very well. TOO
You are surrounded by millions of obvious
Let’s also put onto a back burner the need
dangers – killer snakes, deadly spiders and FOR NOW, FORGET THIS LOT
to remember some other types of
a total absence of fresh pants, to name but
Ok, for now we can forget the ‘numbers’ numbers – like your average invoice value
a few.
which we Recruiters always talk about: or your drawings for the month or the cost
You might meet your painful demise as a of your advertising.
result of that horrible snake bite or Placements;
poisonous spider for sure but apparently All of that type of stuff ought to be
Interviews;
the most likely thing to finish you off is obvious to you all by now of course. I
Candidates Processed;
IGNORANCE. mean, let’s face it, you are working for
Ratios (of this to that).
yourself now.
In other words, it is probably not going to
be the most obvious dangers that mean All of that type of stuff ought to be No one needs to be told to record those
you don’t return to good old Blighty with obvious to you all by now of course. types of numbers do they?
heroic tales of your bravery, but much
more likely something daft like eating the I mean, let’s face it, you are working for
wrong kind of red berry or drinking water yourself now.
from a contaminated stream or believing
that abandoning your filthy pants & going No one needs to be told to record those
‘commando’ is a good idea. types of numbers, do they?
And, guess what? Running a business is a
little like that too! Forecasting the Future!
KILLING
YOUR BUSINESS Opening Waffle!
Not everyone’s favourite subject I know!
over 140 existing Recruitment Ventures start-up experience which I keep
and produce Monthly Management mentioning!
Accounts for each venture.
The avoidance of KPI’s and all of that type If we then sprinkle a dusting of magical
In addition, we are very lucky to SSG intuition (don’t laugh) then we can
of ‘stuff’ probably constitute part of the
reason that you decided to ‘paddle your communicate with the majority of the reasonably explain the businesses which
own canoe’ in the first place & opt for Recruiters who own those recruitment skew the performance curve – the odd
businesses. We are aware of how most of venture that seems to under or over
We all know that
business ownership I suspect (I know that
it was for me). those Recruiters operate and how they perform.
approach the sticky business of making
But, looking very closely at all of the placements.
empirical data that we have collected
your business will since we starting launching businesses We know for a fact ‘who makes what’. No
back in 2003, a few things are true:
1. Ventures that set and record
one can argue with our data – it is there. It
exists and it is now based on over 9 years
of results.
targets generate more placement
die if you don’t 2.
revenue than those that do not.
Ventures that operate to a formal
Cash Flow are more likely to grow
and expand than those that do
Some other more observational criteria
also seem to be valid:
1. Great Recruiters do not
necessarily develop great
make placements or 3.
not.
Ventures which do neither are
(empirically) more likely to peak in
terms of revenues after
businesses.
2. Great Businesses almost always
are owned by great recruiters. We are ‘serious’ ...
ARE YOU?!
approximately 18 months – after 3. Great businesses are almost
if you don’t get up in which, revenues tend to decline.
These observations are not based on our
intuition (such as it is!) or ‘thumb in the air’
always owned by frustrated
Recruiters.
4. Great Recruiters become
frustrated by lack of information.
In many ways, we seem to spend more
time with the budding entrepreneurs who
own the businesses which seem to skew
that curve than we do with those that
the morning and work really very hard. estimates or even the occasional analysis
of the numbers.
5. Great information is the basis for
great decisions.
Are You Serious?
conform to the accepted notion of how
businesses behave. I guess that makes
sense – the majority of our clients work
fairly consistently & work against what
Naturally, you all use the CASH FLOW
Empirical
Workbook which SSG created to help you
they want to achieve. That also means
Facts! As part of our role, we are lucky enough to that SSG is able to project what revenues
develop a real understanding of many are likely to filter into our coffers of course!
We all also know that you are probably Budding Entrepreneurs. We talk, we meet,
we engage. But, those businesses that do not seem to
track your performance as a business
‘conform’ to the norm are just as
Over the years, we have been able to fairly important – not just in terms of potential
accurately estimate how our Recruiter revenues to SSG but in terms of what
not going to succeed if you are not Clients will perform against their own lessons we can learn from their
objectives. We have reached the point experiences.
Based on
9 years
where it is reasonable for us to take a
pretty good stab at predicting what a So, what are the prime conclusions which
(please refer to Page 17 of the February
extremely careful with candidates or if typical start-up recruitment business will we can draw from this analysis?
of data! generate in Year 1, Year 2 and so on. All of
this ‘expertise’ is actually based on fact – Perhaps the most blatant is that Recruiters
we know which business made what
SSG is in a strangely privileged position – money and for how long. We have the
who start their own businesses really do
seem to fall neatly into a number of 2012 Dark Side).
you constantly irritate your 28
we legitimately need to collect data from data based on that priceless 9 years of categories:
ever-dwindling client base! BUT, WHATEVER YOU DO, NEVER FORGET
THIS LOT
But, what is just as likely to kill your Naturally, you all use the KPI Workbook
VAT,
business is being ignorant of the other which SSG created to help you track your
numbers that really count - the numbers performance as a Recruiter (please refer to CORPORATION TAX &
that you can control. Page 28 of the April 2012 Dark Side). INCOME TAX.
10

11. VAT Make no mistake guys; ignorance of this Profits of 50k mean that you will need to
holy trinity of numbers will kill more pay the tax man 20% of that (i.e. 10k)
DIRECTOR DESIGNATE (x2)
recruitment businesses this year than any within 9 months of your year end.
SEPTEMBER
2011
45k + Bonus + 10% Equity
Nr. Heathrow
The Opportunity of 2011
Page 18 for Details
number of drop outs, rubbish interviews
or grumpy clients. INCOME TAX: (see Page 16 of Jan 2012
Dark Side)
Let’s have a few words about each of these
first then: You know the score.
Sometimes
it’s hard to
keep up with
VAT: (see Page 12 of Sept 2011 Dark Side)
You have a Limited Company which helps
everything ........
Every quarter, all VAT registered SSG to help you pay as little Income Tax as
businesses (yours included) will need to is possible. You take your money from
Inside this issue:
Be a VIDEO Star! complete a VAT Return, which will your Limited Company either as PAYE or as
Is AWR Evil?
calculate how much money you need to dividends.
Start Your Own Business
Time to Sell Up?
physically send to the VAT.
At the end of your personal tax year
It’s an easy calculation: (which is March 31st every year for all of
us), you need to generate a Self
Page 12 How much VAT money have I Assessment tax return which tells the tax
collected from Clients when I man how much income you have made
send them a Recruitment and how much tax you owe.
CT Invoice?
Any tax that is due must be paid by
How much VAT money have I January 31st of the following year.
Dark side.tv
30k Basic 50% Equity!
NOVEMBER
2011
ww Herts base for
paid out to other
w. the
a GREAT Recruiter
See Page 2 for Details
Companies? Bottom line, because most of your money
will technically be taken out of your
What is the difference? business (& spent by you) as dividends,
unless you take out more than £40k+ in
Fancy a PhD in
Entrepreneurship? If you collect more than you spend, then the year up to March 31st, you will not
See Page 12 you have to physically send cash to the need to pay any income tax.
VAT office each quarter. If you spend more
than you collect, then you have to claim But, on any money that you take out of
Inside this issue:
Banks take a bashing the VAT back from the VAT man every the business above and beyond the £40k
Selling Up! Part 1
Corporation Tax Basics quarter. (ish) level, you will have a tax liability.
Google+ Exposed!
The Death of Cold Calling?
Who Owns YOUR Contacts?
BLAST OFF! August
2011 BLAST OFF! October
2011
CORPORATION TAX: (see Page 21 of Nov
R N
ENGINEERING AND RTR
COMMERCIAL AND FS
2011 Dark Side).
?
Great New Partnership formed by Unusual combination of
Experienced Recruiters looking to
exploit their combined 10 years E Engineering recruitment with a
side dish of RTR work! This is a
business led by a Recruiter with
of Perm’ based Commercial and
X lots of experience and lots of
U
Financial services experience.
Clients are UK based with a focus frustration about having worked
on salaries up to £50k
For more info, contact:
T for someone else for too long!
For more info, contact:
clare@supportservicesgroup.tv clare@supportservicesgroup.tv
9 Months after every Company Year End,
Page 21 you need to pay any Corporation Tax A FEW MUST KNOW NUMBERS
which is due on any profits that you made
in that year. My VAT Liability
- every quarter
Income Tax It’s another easy bit of Maths:
My Company Tax (CT)
- every year
What profits do my accounts
My Personal Tax (Income)
Dark side.tv
P in
PhD
JANUARY
2012
ww Entrepreneurship
E
show?
w. the
www.SSG-PhD.tv
- every year
Happy What is the Corporation Tax Darren -
New rate on that level of profits? 01442 200961
Year?.... SO, WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
Pay up 9 months after the
Company Year End.
How to escape the
2012 doom & gloom
(page 13)
For what the tax man classifies as a small At the end of every month, make sure that
Company (i.e. one which makes less than you absolutely know, 100% factually,
Inside this issue: 300k profit each year), you need to pay a exactly what you owe (to date) for:
Selling Up! Part Deux : 3 Ways to SYOB
Develop a Press Release
Meet SSG’s New Girl
: Clare is serious (again)
Making the most of SKYPE
CT rate of 20% of those profits to the tax
:
BLAST OFF! Very
Soon BLAST OFF!
Feb
2012
man. 1. VAT
R N
?
Your Best Friend
You from Home!
Bob made the break and he
Happy, content & safe in
the knowledge that whatever you E is doing well. You try to be pleased
for him of course, but as Morrisey
acheive will be for you and your family.
Never did the phrase ‘work for X might sing ‘we hate it when our
U
friends are successful’.Tough to
someone else’ sound so silly, you’re
T watch. It should have been you.
In other words, if you have sales of 100k,
motivated & progressing your life
Why not call David on
01442 200944 to chat through
how to break free
Why not call ‘The Samaritans’
or Bob (ask him for a job?)
2. Corporation Tax &
costs of 50k, then the tax man says that
Page 16 you have profits of 50k too. 3. Income Tax.
11