Trader86

To be fair to you all, I was 50/50 and this forum contributed to the fact I stayed.. so sure big Thanks for advice. Its a solid 35k salary job. I still have 12 cars in stock and paying rent for the yard but I don’t mind that.. Looks like Boris will sort you all out tonight hopefully. I think measures he is taking are very reasonable.

Surely I made a right call to stay employed.. resignation all typed up, but still in my drawer... god knows when all this ends.. I hope you folks are all taking it easy. Am I even allowed to arrange any viewings as I had couple of people calling but told them not to bother, as don’t want to get into troubles..

Yeah I know. And I appreciated then I appreciate it now too. I ignored it then and will continue to do so, i have similar same mentality with any new manager who starts with us, where I have done this job for 13 year. Its natural and Its ok with me. Yes, bought few really good ones. All private sales. ie Qashqai 15 plate 50k 1.2T - £4800 1 owner. I don’t do auctions.

I was 50-50 but looking at the responses it looks like I may keep the job for now.. Can’t believe.. I was planning this for over 1 year, to finally leave that warehouse, no more 12 hrs nights but rather do something what I really enjoy. Last 2 months began to prep my cars really well whatever needed service has been serviced, whatever needed a deep 2-3 hrs valet has been valeted by myself to a very high standards. Paid £2.5k for the office, all the equipment as well. I finally had the balls to start no matter what and this.. Madness. Wow. Wouldn’t recession cripple new cars market and boost the second hand cars market?

Exactly what I thought, have you guys seen any declines in sales at all?

In a case of catching it - 2 weeks of sickness - no-sales wouldn’t have a major financial impact I guess. I am more worried about lockdowns and people simply not planning to buy a car as they won’t intend to travel in a foreseeable future. (1/2/3? Months)

Hi All, Just to give you an update on where I stand at the moment. I have managed to stock 12 cars now with total retail value of around 26-28k. Also had my cabin / office delivered. Its being kitted now. I am ready to hand my notice and list them all on 15th Apr. The only thing worrying me at the moment is that bloody virus, as I have no idea how it’s effecting the second hand cars market, or is it effecting it at all?

Around 20k

Yeah definitely harsh! Welcome to my thread Mr Landrover expert, so yeah we both seem to have bit of a dilemma.. I think I have made my mind up which will probably change next week..

I am well below, I had gaps. Month here month there.

Thank you all for your advises, I have genuinely taken them into consideration. I will post back here in couple of weeks and let you know the decision I made in terms of business/ work.

Flywheel would be probably a big one to look for too.. I wouldn’t make up a story about the accident, but rather advise him about the type engine it has, big diesel - good for long journeys rather than Bingo and GP trips..

I genuinely can’t see this 1 mistake being a yes or no factor. It took a while but I got over it. Those are the cars I managed to sell last week: I already pay: trade insurance, trade plates, rent, valeting, card machine charges. F Focus Auto - 1350/2000 T Yaris Auto 900/1800 T Yaris Auto 1600/2000 P 508 Auto 2600/3200 N Micra Auto: 1250/1600 normally sell about 1 a week, but that week just went really well. I had 7 or 8 cars listed. So I presumed selling similar amount while having 20 cars on my premises going forward..

Mark101 - great comment. I am trying to stay realistic here and I know you guys learned the business for years and years and probably went through few heavy losses that only contributed to your success, but then if I don’t try I will never know. I have been saving for this journey for years and managed to get around £30k but this does not seem to be enough to have a solid clean start.. And yes being on my own with people around me having absolutely NO CLUE about business and cars is not helping either. And I considered partnership too, but finding someone with a clear goal is lot more difficult than I thought... just that level of uncertainty is unreal.. with family and mortgage still at a back of your mind..

I only presumed so as I managed to sell 4 last week with only 7 cars listed. But thanks for heads up.

No, totally different job. I work as a warehouse manager. Thats one of the reasons why I started to be skeptical about the whole concept of my business... Car was listed on eBay as Buy it now. I hit the button expecting it to be write off as it came from a certain city which I found to be a mother of all Categorized vehicles. I don’t deal with any Cats but I thought to myself that for that much money surely there will be a 4 digit figure profit. Did the HPI - clear, which was surprising. Collected it, paid for it and lost it in less than week time.. (once proving I am not a suspect they are looking for but rather a victim) I was told by police that it was purchased with stolen credit card and within few hrs then sold to me.

Justina3 - will my current job earning counts towards the 80k VAT threshold for this year?

Thanks Matt. Well clarified. Do I need to keep hold of receipts for fuel, repairs etc ? or is it pointless from a TAX point of view I currently have 7-8 cars. And I purchase all of them on eBay and sell via Autotrader. I have not tried auctions yet. It might be a weird way to source my stock but it somehow works. I have not tried auctions yet. I am very skeptical about the fact that “big boys” will simply overbid me every time as they have lot of cash ready and they can sell it with better packages from their nice forcourts with better overall service - for more money. Their prep standards definitely exceed mine too. I will probably need to break this psychological barrier... Its both money and lifestyle but mainly money driven with an idea to expand to 40-50 cars in 5 years time.

Hi All, I have registered as a sole trader in Mar 19. Starting selling cars from home while working however got hold of premises last month and my portable office is being delivered next week. I now accept Cards and offer warranties. my plan is to quit my £35k / year managers job and go “cars only” from April. Nit handed my notice as yet, as I am undecided. I have some knowledge about cars but not knowledge about running this business. I admit. but no one knew at their very beginning I guess. Financial year is coming to the end and I have looked at my invoices and profits etc... Yeap I will be absolutely molested by Tax man. But its ok. I’ll declare it all and pay what I owe. I am not VAT registered at this stage as didn’t meet or exceeded the threshold. I will however need to register IF go ahead with my plan, as I don’t want to be dealing with £300 X reg Mondeos.. I am averaging pre-tax profit at around 300-500 per car (after expenses) and can see myself selling about 4-5 cars a week. Is this sufficient earning to sustain in this business? Can someone please please explain how much tax will I need to pay on a following example. Vauxhall Corsa purchased for £1500 expenses: transport £70, valeting 20, mechanical work/service: 150 Sold for: £2200 will any of the expenses above bring my taxable amount down or is it simply the £700 Difference I will pay tax for? whats the tax percentage? 20%? £2500 office I am about to buy, will this be knocked off my profits? I invested 10k to start with, will this count in my turnover? Last one, but a big one.. I got scammed on a car I have recently purchased. It was bought from another dealer using stolen card then I purchased it from them. Vehicle has been recovered off my drive and confiscated by Police (literally) during its sale. I lost £6000 + expenses. Will this be taken into account in terms off losses when it comes to paying tax? Any genuine help and advice would be highly appreciated. Thank you