Starting a New Business Guide

11. Getting Paid If you are setting up a website and are having a store then you will need a merchant service to take online payments to connect with your bank account. If you have a template site such as Weebly or Wix they will already have apps set up to connect you to merchant services such as Paypal, Stripe, Square or Worldpay. If you are going to be out and about and want to take payments from a market stall or face to face, purchasing a card reader to make customers payments is a must in an increasingly cashless world. Most merchants have them and these offer pin and touchless payments e.g. Zettle, Paypal, SumUp. The device connects via Bluetooth to your phone and you make charges using the app on your phone or tablet. Once paid you will get your funds sometimes immediately, sometimes in a day or two with a small fee usually around 1-2%. Check out www.mobiletransaction.org/card-machine small-business-uk for examples. Of course you can still have a receipt book for cash sales.

12. Insurance In order to trade you may well need insurance. If you are driving as part of your business, you are going to need to change the cover on your vehicle to include use for business. The other main ones to consider are: • Public liability that covers you for accidents and damages at your premises or a client’s property. • Employer’s liability insurance if you take on staff and they get sick or injured. • Product liability if someone is injured from a product you made, repaired or supplied. • Professional indemnity insurance if a client loses income or has a damaged reputation based on the advice or knowledge you gave them. Insurance can be relatively cheap if you shop around. You can use websites such as comparethemarket.com or moneysupermarket.com to find a product that works for you. Tip – Think carefully about the level of cover you might need.