Starting my own business... What do you need?

That's very interesting, thanks. So many of us have broken our old cars and sold the bits to friends/on ebay that it probably seems simpler than it is to do it commercially. That's exactly the kind of information someone in the op's position needs.

Its one thing breaking 1 or 2 cars a year in your own garage - its completely another doing it for a living and to be honest do you want your next door neighbours yard looking like a scene from Mad Max with cars being broken 7 days a week, stihl saw/ angle ginders cutters etc running continuously, then assuming you de-polute in a sensible way your going to have a load of fluids + a couple of skips of unwanted stuff a week to get rid of, interiors plastics etc etc, your not going to get away with taking that down the local council tip.

There were a load of prosecutions in Sheffield a few years ago for people running yards without planning and quite a few looked only to have 1 or 2 cars in at the time they were showing the footage on TV, complete with the obligatory waste oils running into the river shot/ nuns kittens dying

Anyway to get back to the original poster question;

If you can use a lathe (or learn how to) and have the space to have your own there are always people wanting little jobs done.
Also when you go self employed until you get a decent amount of work working tax credit is your friend, it comes in every week, unlike the jobs. Keep receipts for everything that is work related and speak to someone who knows what you can and can't claim for, tax minimisation isn't just for the rich - get an accountant by recommendation if possible like every trade there are good and bad ones out there.

Mmmm... At my rather advanced age, if I had my time again I would go to Uni. Why? Simple. It gives you experience, contacts and life skills, in a condensed time frame.

At what other time in your life are you going to get somebody to give you an interest free loan to improve yourself? You don't pay anything back until you are earning around£24k per year and even then it is peanuts, less than you would spend down the pub over the month. Do a 3year course with a years placement in industry, this will give you the experience you require to either, a) get a well paying job in an industry that excites you or b) will give you the experience to go off and do your own thing safe in the knowledge that if it doesn't work out, the market changes or the world economy collapses (again) you can step back into the workplace.

So, before righting off the uni thing altogether, it is not for everyone I will admit, have a good hard think about where you want to be in 10 years time.

Done that? Good. Now, get a roll of lining paper, mark today's date on it and roll out about 3ft.

Now write down what you want to have achieved or accomplished in 5 years time.

Having done that you now have a goal. Working back from your goal what do you need to do to get to that goal?

Take some time to do it and put dates against when you are going to achieve these small milestones

You now have a plan as to how you are going to achieve 'The Goal'.

Put the plan under your bed and come back and visit it in 3 months time. When you look at it again, have you achieved milestone? Are you still on the right track? Use this as a guide not a jailer by the way! Roll out the plan and add 3 months onto you 5 year date with an updated goal taking into consideration what you have learnt.

Update 'the plan and the goal' every 3-6 months and you will achieve what you want too.

If your goal can be achieved without going to Uni, then fine. But, if you find it would be easier and your goal more easily achieved by spending 4 years furthering yourself then consider Uni.

Get a book called Heaps that will give you the information on all uk Uni's to help with your decision. Russell group Uni's are highly regarded but there are many that specialise or have industry links in areas that might interest you.

So, if it feels that I am advising you to go to Uni, then yes, yes I am. Nobody is going to give you a business idea that is going to be successful, if it is that good an idea then they would be doing it them self and reaping the benefits!

This is the same advice I have given too my 4 children, some have accepted it and some have not, you have to decide what you want and then plan for it, sometimes life just 'happens' but for the vast majority you have to get out there, grasp life firmly by the throat have a plan and then take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way that helps you achieve!

I didn't go to uni and have regretted it all my life. I did do an apprenticeship and learnt a trade but realised after 7 years that it was not my thing. Since the I have changed career 6 times, started 2 business, made a fortune and lost several. My oldest friend did go to Uni, traveled the same path as me but seems to have avoided the fortune losing part...

Sorry if this has come across as too 'Dad' like, but the great thing about being old is it gives you experience and, as my old Dad always told me, experience is something you get 15 minutes after you really need it.... Unless somebody shares their experience with you.

As for starting your own business... Have a great idea or spot a gap in the market, be 100% focused on your idea, be careful who you trust, get everything in writing, be prepared to fail and never, ever, ever give up.

Here endeth the lesson. Amen.

Father P.

It's not interest free, and you start repaying at just over £16k a year, but other than that some sound advice. Definitely the year in industry bit; I dropped out of university before doing my placement (well, failed it in fact), and the circuitous route I then took to complete university meant I missed out on it the second time around as well. I regret this thoroughly, having done a placement seems to have made a larger difference to other people in my field of study (mechanical/motorsport engineering) than grades ever did.