Details about VAT registration

From HM Customs website

You're doing business in the UK, or intend to start

You may need to register for VAT, or you may be able to choose to register voluntarily, if you are doing any of the following kinds of business in the UK:

• Supplying goods or services within the UK. If your turnover of VAT taxable goods and services supplied within the UK for the previous 12 months is more than the current registration threshold of £73,000, or you expect it to go over that figure in the next 30 days alone, you must register for VAT. However, if your turnover has gone over the registration threshold temporarily then you may be able to apply for exception from registration - see the section later in this guide for more information.
  There is a section later in this guide on calculating your VAT taxable turnover.
• Taking over a VAT-registered business from someone else.You have to add your own VAT taxable turnover over the last 12 months (if any) to that of the business you're taking over. If the total goes over the registration threshold on the day of the takeover (currently £73,000), you'll have to register. However, if your turnover has gone over the registration threshold temporarily then you may be able to apply for exception from registration see the section later in this guide for more information.
• Receiving goods from other countries in the European Union (EU).If you have received goods from other EU countries in the UK (these are known as acquisitions) with a total value greater than £73,000 in the current year since 1 January, or you expect to acquire more than that value in the next 30 days alone, you must register for VAT.
• Supplying goods or services from the UK to other countries. See the section in this guide on supplying goods or services from the UK to other countries.
• Supplying goods or services to the UK from other countries. See the section in this guide on supplying goods or services to the UK from other countries.

The magic number is a turnover of £73,000.  So if in our first year if we were fortunate enough to hit the £100k projected turnover we would have to register for VAT.  Initially we could start trading without being VAT registered which would present us with a distinct advantage on pricing against our competitors.  Also as we would be mainly a Service provider we would not buy a considerable amount to offset as input VAT so there is no advantage to be gained for our type of business being VAT registered.  However if we were to invest in a lot of nwe equipment/desk etc it may be advantageous. Alternatively we could each be self employed free lance graphic designers so then individually we could earn up t £73k without having to register for VAT.

Re Logo -Colour, stationery and invites

We had our meeting with Jane which proved useful for more than one reason. We discussed the logo briefly just to get it finished. We decided that the direction of the arrow could imply that we are situated down South a the fact that it is pointing in  downwards direction gives it a slightly negative idea of decline. The concept behind the design is strong but the execution is a little off. This isn't a logo design module so all this needs is a quick redesign to make it work and we can move on with the important parts.

Charlie developed the logo so that the arrow was not pointing down and also considered different colours.

Marty chose the font Quicksand

 Marty developed the business cards

As our presentation was going to be our first 'Business Breakfast Charlie mockup some invitation ideas.  These would be posted out to companies .

Years one and two - Working out what to charge

Due to the distinct lack of Bank funding available We are looking to grow this business organically which means borrowing no money initially.  This way we can establish a reputation and an order book before we think about approaching any investors or banks for funding to grow the business at a faster pace in year 2 to 3.


We are realistic about the time it will take to establish ourselves and the aim would be to start finding live briefs and entering competitions whilst still at University.  We have also discussed the fact we each may have to get another part time job to support ourselves in year one and two.


  
Year one is based on using the Virtual Office support at The Unit in Leeds and also working from home. This would provide us with a city address, 10 hours meeting room a month, business mentoring and hot desking facilities as well as use of the City college facilities. We would supply all our own equipment and only buying one Mac Book as a spare.  


Year two is based on us upgrading our Virtual office rental to an actual office space in the Unit.  this would avoid the need for costly upheaval and keep continuity with our customers.

So in Year one to break even and pay each team member £20,000 each we would have to achieve a turnover of £99,516.  Even if we did not pay our salaries in the first year we would have overheads of £ 11,756to cover.


In year two to break-even, rent in Leeds (on a shoe string) and earn £25,000 we would have to achieve sales of £123,750.  Our overheads included in this are £14,050.


These figures are quite sobering especially as this is cutting the budget to the bone and relying on us using our own equipment initially.

Re: Business development

The best structure for our business could be a limited liability partnership where we would all have equal or determined shares in the business.  By valuing all equipment and the amount of capital each individual could contribute this could decide how much 'share' each person has in the partnership.


Step by step business planning on Business Link

Also Business plan templates


We agreed as this was so concise we would use this template and just customise with our branding and typeface which is Quicksand:

Open publication - Free publishing - More business plan

Also from Business link advice about legal structures online.businesslink

We have been getting slightly confused about the best structure for our company from a financial point of view so i am clarifying this by researching the Business Link website in a bit more detail.

From HM Customs & Excise 

From Companies House

In summary I think to remove the risk from us as individuals we should register with Companies House as a Limited Liability Partnership.  This would require us to complete an annual return however would not be liable for Corporation tax or have to account for PAYE and NI of the partners.  Each individual partner would submit his own self assessment and one nominated partner would submit the required Partnership return.  We would not need to be VAT registered unless our Turnover exceeded £73,000.

Potential locations and office spaces around Huddersfield and Leeds

Batley Business Centre

Benefits - Proximity to Leeds, Dewsbury and Huddersfield
Flexible terms from on month
Start up business support - rent a desk from £20 per week.
60 Businesses currently tenants there - potential clients
Free parking
Four minutes walk from train station on Manchester/Leeds line
Conference facilities on site


Drawback - the cost!

Heritage Suite - Huddersfield

benefits

Proximity to M62

Stylish

Meeting rooms

Free car parking

From £75 per week

The Media Centre - Huddersfield

Benefits

Proximity to transport links/station/ Cnetre of Huddersfield

A Creative hub of businesses - 70 Businesses

First mth free -

Meeting rooms

Catering

Virtual office space which gives youan address and telephone answering service cost for both £75 or £60 per mth

Connect - touch down space by the hour.  EG one day per week/40 hours costs £80.

Potential neighbours?

http://www.aidannolan.co.uk/

bornreadydesign

collaborator.ltd.uk/

Common Agency - Apps and website design

Georgeand.co.uk Advertising and design

Jerichomedia.

makeonline - digital agency

qtcreative

print-pod

Leeds

Roundfoundry

Benefits

Impress clients just with the 'space'

One mth minimum - easy term contracts

An example of what is available at mo.

Work pods

Similar to the Media centre they also offer a virtual office space ie postal address and reception.

0113 3944500 (no prices online)

The Unit

From £150 per mth

Virtual support from £30 per mth use of meeting room use of address and also college facilities

The unit has one Graphic Design company who specialises in print based outcomes and three web designers and an SEo results co. so no strictly direct competition on site.  If anything we could see these businesses as potential collaborators in the future.

studiobellytimber

"SBT Design are a Leeds based graphic design studio specialising in design for print. We offer a full creative service - design, copywriting and print management - that is friendly, fast, flexible and affordable. We work with clients across a wide variety of sectors including public sector, legal and professional services, charities and local authorities.

Our aim is to provide our customers with better visual communication helping them achieve their full potential. We offer a variety of services including, design, print and print management. Our goal is to offer value for money with a consistent high quality service generating long successful partnerships with our customers and suppliers.

Fast, Effective, Affordable graphic design!"

Honeypotdigital

"We deliver market-leading Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), taking the risk out of an SEO strategy to obtain guaranteed results with fixed deadlines and a fixed investment. This delivers a sustainable and cost-effective sales channel to clients on a risk-free basis.

We work with Partner Agencies to integrate a Guaranteed SEO service into their businesses, allowing agencies in the marketing, web and graphic design areas to develop an edge over their competitors and add value and lock-in to their client relationships.

We also specialise in Adwords Consultancy, helping clients reduce their Adwords costs by 50-60% by using top natural positions in Google to replace paid clicks with free clicks, again with a risk-free, pay-on-results model."

dynofusion

Welcome to Dynofusion Design, Leeds based specialists in Web Design & Development, Graphic Design, and Online Marketing.

Regardless of the size and industry sector, Dynofusion Design promise to deliver effective new media solutions whilst exceeding client expectations. All with the same end result in mind.

Umbrella Creative - Holbeck

From £150 per mth

Probably fit two comfortably but four maybe once a week? £285 PCM

Leeds address - location

East Street Arts

£95- £250 per calender mth

A creative hub of other artists and designers

Factory 4  - Workshop facilities such as Screen printing...

'Hebden Bridge the fourth most funky town in the world.'

Hebden bridge creative

From approx £1400 pa

Virtual office from £25 per mth

Other designers/printers in Hebden bridge

planet

Printbureau

catherinebyrne.co.uk/ 

Near home

Design Mechanics 

End of module Evaluation of Design production: Digital

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 05
Module Code OUGD202
Module Title DESIGN PRODUCTION - DIGITAL


END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION


NAME Lisa Whitaker


1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?


Although I had a brief introduction to After effects last year for Speaking from experience, I embraced the Mac tutorials and did not try to run before I could walk. I kept the five second silent movies quite simple, using techniques Mike had shown us. One of the most useful techniques was copying paths from Illustrator, particularly effective using the spiral path. Also the significance of different types of key frames ie linear and hold frames contributed This gave me the confidence to explore more advanced techniques for the second brief such as 3d layers, cameras, lights and using different types of layers to create effects.
I feel comfortable in After Effects and have also learnt some new Illustrator and Photoshop techniques along the way. I have also learnt the importance of storyboarding, frames per second and planning. The key to success with After Effects is methodical file organisation. I feel I have fully utilised what I have learned in After Effects and the other workshops; part from falling down with the storyboarding for the Top ‘10’ and also not having time to analyse the final sequence Post production.


2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
The detailed timeline storyboards produced for the five second silent movie assisted with key framing the sequence. Using ‘markers’ in after effects especially along the sound track assisted with making the moving image running in time. Also once set up it avoided having to keep returning to the key frames in the sequence.
Importing Photoshop and layers was integral to the whole top ten sequence and deciding whether to retain layers sizes was also a key decision.
As mentioned above file organisation and also naming conventions were crucial to the success of the Design production. Keeping all the album sequences as separate composition enabled me to create several nested compositions and also take this and experiment with 3D layers and cameras.




3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Pushing the boundaries of what we were taught n 2d to discover more advanced techniques in 3d meant I achieved a more polished finished result.
I managed to keep on track with the action plan i set on 25th January which meant I achieved the burnt disc for the SHow and Tell on the 7th.


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?


I would have liked the Design concept to have a more experimental feel. I think because of the time constraints the outcome is quite literal ie the Album covers. I think if I had spent more time earlier in the research (ie at Xmas) developing the concept I would have been better prepared to run with it earlier in the process.
I focussed on getting across the context as opposed to the actually Graphics and titles which is apparent with the weak finish to the sixty seconds. Focus on this first before the full sequence.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?


1. Make more time to storyboard to achieve a more considered outcome


2.Be realistic about what can be achieved in the time, the outcome may be simpler but can meet all the requirements of the module

3. Resist the urge to learn too many new techniques and learn how to apply the simpler ones more effectively.

4. Try not to leave printing to two days before the deadline!At least i now have a back up (Rossington Street)if James is not in again.  It will give me time to refine the design/layout and print again to achieve a better finish.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
(please indicate using an ‘x’)


5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
1 2 3 4 5
Attendance  5
Punctuality 5
Motivation  4
Commitment  4 
Quantity of work produced 3
Quality of work produced  4
Contribution to the group 4
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Lecture 8 How not to fail

getontherollercoaster.com


Five reasons why businesses fail:


1. Failure to adapt to a changing market
2. Failing to continuously market yourself
3. Not seeking advice or professional help when necessary
4. Inadequate accounting records
5. disregarding or misinterpreting financial records.


Smart business people hire or subcontract people who are more skilled or intelligent than them.


1. Failure to adapt to a changing market

• keep up
• Be informed
• Understand your macro and micro environments.
• SWOT your competitors (3 in presentation) be objective, only criticise if your would say to their face
• PEST your environment - Why is it a good idea at this time?

NESTA website - quotes, evidence research for presentation

Design week website - quotes,

A-N.org.uk - knowledge bank - how much to charge, contracts, business plans.

  

Creative Choices - videos - Essential tools for artists - 

Subsribe to website.  Focus on careers guidance, graduate startups.

2. Failing to continuously market yourself

Refer to slide /  Marketing Communication mix (Murray and O Driscoll /Use three methods to promote your business

3. Not seeking advice or professional help when necessary

Video off Creative Choices website - Its time to stop dreaming

Collaborate, get your team excited, compromise, be brave and original, be passionate, 

Frank Design belfast.com videos. Damian Craney.

Presentation - how we are going to organise ourselves - administration, promotion and accounts.

4, Inadequate accounting records

How much money do you need - do you need a professional?

5. disregarding or misinterpreting financial records.

Business plan

What resources will you need

Equipment

Space

Stock

Will you buy, rent or lease your equipment

Why will people but from you

Look at 3 competitors - look at strengths and weaknesses

Say what opportunities this presents to you

Compare 

Marketing plan

3 effective methods

Explain why they will be effective in reaching your particular target market.

How much will it cost

Start up costs

Overheads -rent, equipment, insurance, 

Product Direct costs (Materials and labour).

Your presentation

No more than 10 slides

Use powerpoint only as a visual aid

Do not use it as a crutch

Hold your notes in your hand.

How to use this stuff for interviews

• To get that job
• Remember the employer is in business to make a profit.
• Look at their competitors / market, discuss this at interview.
• SWOT analysis - Look at their strengths - how can you add value to these?
• What are they developing?
• Know what their unique selling point is - values, people
• What someone who can make a difference.
• Looking for passion/interests. what makes you unique?
• Ask about their competitors at interview?
• Ask them about what is effecting their business - Read three serious newspapers - know what is going on globally especially if its effecting the creative industries.  What threats?

Organisations around Leeds working with Graduates

Arts Mix - Building Enterprise through the ARts - freed mentors and advise.

Factory 4 -  Creative facilities -Screen printing facilities, laser cutting, 

East Street Arts - Artists and small business units - cheapest space in Leeds. Mainly disused mills.

Umbrella - Small business start ups - space for creatives. Virtual creative agency

Limehouse - The Creative Production Comapany - expert advise, managed space, share wih others,

Round Foundry Media Centre - Holbeck - Pods. Heart of Creative Industries.

Mention these types of spaces if you cant afford to rent a normal office..

Old Broadcasting House - hot desking workspace. 20 creative businesses starting up.  Theatre, exhibition space, coffee bar.

Wildfire - Business advise for young people. - Info., subscribe

A business pitch -  Promote your idea..