Would you like to know how to promote your business using social media, google, payment process and design and upload your own unique logo

•  How to set up a your  business on Facebook
• How to set up your business on google places
•  How to set up online payments for your business
• How to design your own logo easily

Your free marketing package

So when ever you receive emails asking for information no matter how professional and convincing they sound just ignore.

This is known as phishing and many fall victims to these low life people sending emails from so-called legitimate services like banks, paypal, tax etc.

Just recently emails have been sent to inform small businesses of a tax rebate sounds nice right. HMRC will only ever inform you of a tax rebate through the post not email.

When ever you receive such emails whether the tax, banks or whatever just ignore it. Also ignore the scare mongering tactics that you receive too in many emails.

I know a lot of you know this happens and are aware but just a gentle reminder that they are all scams ready to pounce and take advantage.

From

Martin leyton wishing you a prosperous 2012

A Skilled Tradesman is still a very viable small business even in todays turbulent economy. Having a skill will always help you find a job.

As more and more houses/flats and commercial properties are still expanding then the need for  skilled tradesmen is still very much required. People work longer hours and have less time to entertain DIY.  Plus incomes have risen which means that people are more likely employ the services of a tradesmen. People look at properties as a good investment so extending or enhancing their properties will be an investment to them

The rental industry has also increased. As a tenant leaves the landlords will usually repair and refurbish the properties prior to the next tenant moving in.

Want career as a skilled tradesmen, then you will need to choose what trade that appeals to you. and there are many trades to choose from

You can choose to be a tradesmen in Industrial contractors, commercial and domestic.

Do you want to work outside the home or inside some trades of course will work both outside and inside the property.

Working in the UK  has a flexible climate allowing inside and outside work

But if you are considering work in other parts of the world then the climate may determine what type of trade you want to be in. Very hot countries sounds wonderful but constant heat pounding down on you every day can be extremely tiring and a health hazard.

What trade will be right for you. What do you think you will enjoy the most and that will interest you the most. It is worth making a list of possible trades and then narrow them down based on interest skill level training and rate of pay.

Once you have decided on a number of trades you would be interested in pursuing, then your research in where to begin starts.

Finding courses and training and what qualifications you will obtain is vital to your business the better the qualification in a particular trade the more flexible you will be in finding work and the income you will earn. My Resource Centre page will give you links for further information

Some trades will require you to have certificates to cover various work that you carry ou.

Apprenticeships

There are a number of apprenticeships available in the construction industry and vary on the type of qualification available to you. Not all trades are covered and you may need to seek privately if the trade you chose is not catered for. Contact local tradesmen and find out if there is  a position for you to learn from them. Also contact

For more information on skilled trades careers and Training or check out the Resource Centre page for more links and descriptions

Tax content provided by
Click on the following link for information about our tax and accountancy services.
www.twdaccounts.co.uk

 Q. Can I claim for pre-trading training?

No. Because it was your choice to become a sole trader, the training costs prior to actually trading are not allowable.

 Q. What pre-trading expenses can I claim?

Non-consumable expenses, such as books, business cards, advertising, motor expenses, tools, machinery, stationery such as clipboards and storage facilities.

 Q. What can I claim for using my home as an office?

If you have a dedicated office in your home, you can claim a percentage of

your utility bills, i.e. gas and electric, council tax, mortgage interest/rents and contents insurance, based on the rooms in your home, not including the landing or bathroom. You must also take into consideration the amount of time you use the office.. If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of calculating this, a reasonable claim would be between £5 – £10 per week.

Q. What records do I need to keep to claim travelling expenses?

Do I also need to keep receipts for petrol?

You should record the date, destination and distance of each business journey you drive in your own car. It is good practice to record the total on your car’s milometer at the start and end of each journey. You can claim up to 45p per mile for the first 10k business miles. Business journeys do not include normal commuting between your home and your permanent workplace.

If you are VAT registered it may be possible to reclaim VAT on fuel. However, there are special rules surrounding this and we would advise you to speak to your accountant before making these claims.

Q. I am worried that my bookkeeping records would not stand up to a tax investigation. What records should I be keeping?

You should keep comprehensive records with supporting receipts.

Anyone who has undergone an investigation will know that HM Revenue & Customs can spend months looking through your records, asking probing questions and wanting what might seem as meaningless information about your business affairs. This can be both time-consuming, stressful and very expensive – not just in terms of tax but in terms of your own lost time spent dealing with any investigation.

Prevention is of course better than cure.

One recommendation is to have a separate business bank account. If a credit card is preferable, then again, separating business and personal transactions into two separate cards could be helpful. Separating your business and personal life will not only help your accountant but it will also help in the event of an HMRC investigation.

Q. Does Self Assessment affect everyone?

No, however, self assessment rules state that, even if you have not been sent a return, you have a statutory duty to tell the Revenue of any untaxed income.

 Q. Does Self Assessment really mean that I have to calculate my own tax? It seems very complicated.

No. You do not have to calculate your own tax under Self Assessment. However, if you require the tax office to calculate your tax liability in time to pay the correct amount on time (31st January), you will need to file your return by 31st October. After this date, the tax office will still calculate your liability but they may not advise you of the amount to pay in time for the deadline and you will be charged interest on late payments.

Q. What is the deadline for submitting my return?

The online tax return deadline is on 31st January 2012.

The new penalties for late Self Assessment returns are: • An initial £100 fixed penalty, which will now apply even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time; • After 3 months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900; • After 6 months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; and • After 12 months, another 5% or £300 charge, whichever is greater. In serious cases, the penalty after 12 months can be up to 100% of the tax due. New penalties for paying late are 5% of the tax unpaid at 30 days, at 6 months, and at 12 months.

Q. Although my return was late, it was not my fault. Do I still have to pay the fine?

Not necessarily.The law recognises that some things are out of our control. If you can prove that there was a “reasonable excuse” for the lateness of the return, you may well get the fine overturned. Unfortunately, there is no definitive guidance on what constitutes “reasonable”. Some excuses will not be successful, such as not having information, your accountant letting you down or not having time because of work. Some excuses should be accepted though, if genuine. These include not having received the return in the first place, serious illness or bereavement, losing all your financial records through fire flood or theft. You may even cite postal delay, but there must be a provable reason for this in the Post office, such as strike or fire in the sorting office.

Q. I owe tax, how will it be collected?

The most common method for the employed or pensioners is to have your tax code adjusted which can be done on amounts up to £2000. It is done by collecting additional tax on your salary or pension each week or month. If you are going to send in a paper return, it will have to be in before 31 October to do this. If you send it electronically, you have until the 31st January. For self employed or those with large tax liabilities in excess of £2000 the amount is due for payment by 31 Jan following the end of the tax year. Payments on account may also arise for the following tax year.

 Q. How are payments on account worked out?

You will be asked to make payments on account equal to your tax bill for the previous tax year. Of which 50% is payable by 31 January and 50% by 31 July.

If you have any other tax questions visit:www.twdaccounts.co.uk

Or please email us at info@twdaccounts.co.uk

Alternatively call us on 0800 093 9433.

Content supplied by TWDaccountants

If you are new or even if you’re an experienced tradesmen estimating for your work can be a little scary after all this what determines your growth. We all been there where we take a few days sorting out costs talking to the customer only for them to come back and say sorry we have found someone who will do it cheaper really frustrating right but it happens. And quite often if is to cheap it is not worth the time and effort.

And there will always be someone who is desperate or not really skilled that will offer cheaper prices.

There are four basic elements to costing for the job

• Labour the time it will take to complete X your hourly rate this of course is where experience comes in as you know roughly the time it will take. For the less experienced it will be a learning curve and in the beginning be prepared to make some mistakes
• Materials what you will use for that job and how much
• Overheads what it will cost you to purchase and other cost that need to be taken into consideration  like fuel, rent insurance etc
• Profit    This is your price that you add to your material costs and overheads it is worth noting your overall overhead costs for the year and splitting into segments so that when you estimate you can identify those extra out goings and add them to your estimations for your customers

So we have all our costs overheads worked out and we have established how long the job is going to take and our profit margin on our materials and overhead so now we need to make sure that we have everything to present to the customer.

• Show you are an expert show photos of your work that is similar to what you have just estimated for and testimonials from other satisfied customers
• Explain exactly what you will do and how this will show the customer you know what you are talking about
• Give material that you will use this will depend on your trade and what you are doing but customers like to see everything
• Offer a guarantee of your work and materials
• Offer back up support in emails and other resources
• Give tips on the maintenance

By going that extra mile all your efforts of time taken to estimate, will likely reward you in obtaining that work. If you are new to the trades then this tip will help you. You might say well what about in the beginning i have no referrals or no testimonials what have a i got to offer.

Well you can show that you are skilled with your qualifications you can also get character  references from business people not family or friends. Customers like to see that your are respected and responsible person very important to the customer. If you have been trained from companies or individuals get references from them too.

Customer want not only experience but trusted and respected tradesmen too.

The face of the construction industry is set to change, according to the latest CITB-ConstructionSkills 5 year forecast.

The report reveals that output in construction is expected to fall by 3% during 2012 – and a further 45,000 skilled workers and tradespeople will be lost as economic uncertainty continues.

The annual Construction Skills Network report – delivered in conjunction with construction employers from across the UK, outlines that growth is expected to be slow and uneven over the next five years – with a 4% increase in output expected in 2013, followed by dips to 2% in 2014, 3% in 2015 and 2% in 2016 which is lower than previous long term trends.

Judy Lowe, Deputy Chairman CITB-ConstructionSkills, said: “The Construction Skills Network clearly shows that our industry is in for a tough time. Infrastructure investment, the first nuclear power plants and the revival of private housing will help, but the hard fact remains that despite an increase in growth from 2013 onwards, output and employment levels in construction will not have reached their 2007-8 levels by the end of the forecast in 2016.”

Whilst increasing economic uncertainty has plagued the construction sector, changes to working practices have also contributed to the gloomy forecasts – with the biggest falls in employment in the period arising from the loss of manual trades. By 2016, demand for painters and decorators is expected to be 6,300 below 2010 levels, manual labourers 3,000 below and bricklayers 2,500.

The greatest growth in demand is predicted to be for Construction Managers – up 30,000 by 2016 on 2010 figures, marking a real change in the operation and make-up of the industry.

(CD/GK)

Have you ever thought that marketing through email newsletter would be a useful type of marketing.

Email marketing can be very rewarding for customer retention and to increase income.

It is very simple to use and can be very effective.

How does it work for the tradesmen, well really no different from any other business.

Here are the main points of using email marketing

Email marketing helps you keep customers and prospects coming back—by using attractive, professional-looking email communications to stay in regular touch with them and build strong customer relationships. It’s better and more effective than regular email. You can send emails when you have offers or promotions on your products and services.

Email newsletters are fast and inexpensive to create. So you can send them more regularly than paper ones. And email marketing puts you in customers’ in boxes more accurately than regular email. So you’ll avoid spam filters and be seen by more people. And you’ll stay top of mind with people who want to hear from you.

What you need to do to make it effective

When a customer employs you to work ask them for their email address tell them it is for when you have promotions or information on your services. once they have given you their email tell them they will need to confirm their subscription to your emails. Once they have done this you can then start to send them emails that will promote you and your business so that they do not forget you. it is a very good way to keep customers coming back to you.

The beauty of this system is you can send to all on your list with a click of a button saves time which is very valuable all you need to do is write it save it and send it that’s it

Now most email marketing software has a cost per month but i have found one you can use for free yes for free and they have all your tutorials that show how to set it up.

Mail chimp is a free email marketing company you can use to get started when you build your list and start seeing the rewards if you want you can upgrade to a paid version but the free one is more than ample to begin with check out mail chimp.Mail chimp has over one million happy subscribers using their service to grow their business

MailChimp is completely free for lists with up to 2,000 subscribers.
No expiring trials. No contracts. No credit card required. check out mailchimp

Many companies will use emails but they are quite often classed as spam and deleted by using a reputable company and customer authorisation then your emails that are sent will arrive and be recognised by the customer.

Spam emails are a pain and are deleted i have them to me and i am sure you get them too we just simply delete them or their filtered to the spam box to be deleted automatically.

So just want to assure you that by using reputable companies and authorisation they get delivered as verified and trustworthy emails and can have an effective marketing strategy to grow your clients and keep them.

HCHEVHDV9EXV

Tradesmen in search of work are heading south where the weather is just a little bit on the chilly side

Britain’s frozen jobs market is driving people to the ends of the Earth after record numbers applied for work – at the South Pole.

Hundreds of electricians, carpenters, plumbers and chefs have already sent off their CVs to grab just 36 jobs at British Antarctic bases.

If successful they will have to brave five months of constant darkness and temperatures of minus 40C.

They will earn a basic salary of £23,700 plus a 10% bonus with all food and accommodation included as well as outdoor clothing.

According to sources a record amounts of tradesmen have applied for these jobs.

The work will start March through to October unfortunately cry babies should remain home as there is no get out once there and no visits.

If you are not among the candidates and prefer the slightly warmer conditions then

read my free report on how to grab your fair share of work

Want news fast and up to date then the tradesmen newsletters comes straight to you choose what news or choose all.

The tradesmen newsletter gives you the news. Want to know about grants or loans tax or jobs.

• Why sign up for the newsletter.
• You get the info on what you want to know
• No need to research we do it for you
• News as it happens
• You can unsubscribe any time no commitment
• Find the answers to your search
• Right now it is free if you act now

We research the latest on whats happening for the tradesmen.

Subscribe to the Tradesmen newsletter

Sign up for the Tradesmen Newsletter and stay in front of the game

As a tradesmen a website is not always at the top of the list but if you could build your own website mange it yourself and only pay £11.95 for a professional looking website that does not require html, source code or any technical ability that only programmers are capable of doing. Click by click tutorials that show you how easy it is to set up.

A website that is customisable to fit you and your business all for £11.95 no catch and guaranteed

You might ask why so cheap i am tradesmen like you and there is no reason why you have to pay high prices to get a professional website that attracts customers that cost the earth. Most companies will charge way to high for the same thing in my opinion we can have a very professional website that you can manage and keep the cost low and look great. I have extensive experience in teaching how to grow your business using the web. That is why i can show you how to put your own website up with ease get traffic and all for a very low cost.

A website that can increase your income and customer base without the headaches and to much messing around is definitely worth considering.

If you would like a website that can be

• Easily managed by you
• Click by click show how to do video instruction
• Takes literally minutes to change content or add
• A website that search engines love
• A top website for just £11.95 one time cost
• And a 6 month money back guarantee from me personally
• Complete set up from domain to fully functional and on Internet

Then click on the Button below and get all the details to a professional low cost website to grow your business plus some excellent bonus videos are included to get your business firing on all four cylinders