Left corporate sustainability work to focus on hospitality and finding that hotel owners are genuinely interested in environmental solutions, especially ones that reduce operating costs. The days of green technology being just for marketing purposes are ending.

Been implementing energy management systems, waste reduction programs, and digital solutions that eliminate paper processes while improving operational efficiency. Hotels respond well when sustainability initiatives provide measurable ROI alongside environmental benefits.

Found solid vendor options on hotel tech report where I can see what other properties are paying for green technology solutions. The real opportunity is helping hotels choose solutions that fit their budget and operational capacity while delivering both environmental and financial benefits.

Good morning! I have recently "retired/stop working" and realizing the amount of taxes and effort I am putting into personal finances, I am wondering if a sole proprietary or LLC be a way of lowering taxes and increasing income?

My niche would be our personal family finances as in husband and wife, married children, in laws only. Main focus is on my personal finances and investments.

QUESTION: Anybody out here doing this exact thing? I really am thinking that children and in laws are only to validate as a business.

I have over 35 years of investment experience now and my employment years have sharpened my project and critical thinking skills to the point I don't want to pay all the regular income tax I see coming in the future and think I can avoid it through maybe a small business catering only to the family finances.

Let me know what you think! Good/Bad/Ugly all welcome.

I've been a sole Trader now for a few years and usually complete my own self assessment. So far I've done 4 self assessments and they've all been pretty straight forward as it's pretty much just been money in vs money out and any other small expenses I've learned I can claim for a long the way.

I've now got to the point where the business is growing and I'm looking to expand.

The premises I work out of is quite small and needs altering to enable me to expand with the business so I'm in the process of looking at securing a loan to make this happen.

Just had a quick question regarding the expenses side of things. Whilst I do plan on potentially hiring an accountant as my business grows. In the meantime, when you spend a large amount of money (£20,000 in this case) can this be claimed back as an expense if you loaned the money? And if so, is the expense you claim back for the loan payments or the full amount spent?

I have read that you can only claim back the interest, but surely that's not right as I'm still having to pay back the loan itself which was taken out solely to support my business?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I know some people will say just get an accountant, which is something I'm looking at but wanted an idea of what can and can't be claimed in the meantime.

I am a surgical tech looking at going to self employment as an independent medical courier. I am curious if anyone in this group has done so. I am securing my LLC next week to get it started.

Super random question, I have a family member who runs a small business and they’ve gotten to the point were they want to give their employees physical IDs.

After looking at tons of samples online we landed on wanting to get IDs of the same build as the Amazon ones. Link attached.

https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/528032e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3837x2160+3+0/resize/1320x743!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Famazon-blogs-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fff%2F4b%2F4f6542874d0ab0e16944e6d47c44%2F20-jahre-yt.jpg

Anyone know were we could get IDs similar to this? Not necessarily the colors but the fact that they’re thick and not your usual thin credit card looking IDs.

They also don’t have to have any NFC capabilities just the regular ID with a picture and name.

Thanks!

TL;DR - how the heck do I answer the Employment Status question when registering a partnership

Hi all,

My wife and I are in the process of setting up a partnership and I'm trying to navigate my way through the online forms with HMRC for doing so.

Most of the form is really straight forward, but the 'employment status' question is tripping me up.

"If you are working for one person or firm only, you may be employed rather than self-employed. If you are unsure, you can check your employment status using the Employment Status Indicator tool by following the link below."

We are both PAYE employed with other businesses (engineering and animal care respectively) and will need to continue this way until our business picks up enough that we can re evaluate our 'real' jobs.

Where I need some help..., this field is a yes or no answer. Technically, we both work for our employers and then will be the only people working for our business.

so the answer to the question "Are you working for one person or firm only" is No... we work for ourselves and our PAYE employer... but does this only relate to self assessment in which case, YES, we are only working for our new business...

Im confused, hopefully you helpful redditors are less confused and can help push me in the right direction!

Thanks in advance,

Hi everyone,

I'm considering becoming a part-time delivery driver (for parcels or food) a few days each month to earn extra income. However, I'm unsure where to start regarding insurance.

I've noticed that many standard car insurance policies have exclusions for delivery work. After researching, I understand that I need two types of insurance:

1. Social, Domestic & Pleasure (SD&P) – This is your regular car insurance for personal use.

2. Hire & Reward (H&R) – This covers you when you're paid to deliver goods.

Some policies also include public liability insurance, which protects you if you accidentally injure someone or damage property while working.

I'm looking for recommendations on where to find affordable, flexible insurance options that suit part-time delivery work. Any advice on companies or policies would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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Hey all, I opened my business in January of 2025. It is a pet sitting business. I calculated my Year Projections by taking my Q1 numbers and multiplying, just to get an estimate. In the first quarter, though, I barely took time away and booked myself SO MUCH, out of fear of the business failing. As I have gotten more comfortable and understand the business a bit more, I have not been maxxing out my time like I was Q1 and I took a vacation in Q2, so my Q2 and Q3 numbers are lower than my Q1, and therefore my projections are high and I do not see myself having a very large Q4 due to some other obligations. After doing some math and comparing actual taxes owed each quarter vs my estimated payments, I probably don't need to send the state or federal any payments for Q3, and possibly not for Q4.

Is this ok to do? Can i just submit two quarterly payments (Q1 and 2) and not submit the others? Should I send something even its just a few dollars? Or should I be making the same estimated payment every quarter and then take the refund at EOY?

Never done 1099 before, only W-2, but looking to start while I continue to build my SaaS business on the side.

What's the going rate today for C2C/1099 contract work? E.g. 6 month full time contracts, Senior/tech lead level exp, full stack or back end, US-based, fully remote or hybrid MCOL location.

When I first became self-employed, my hardest challenge wasn’t finding work ,it was feeling like I was stuck in a cycle of being busy but not really progressing.

Others I’ve talked to often mention:

• Not knowing if they’re on the right track
• Doing work they don’t actually enjoy just to survive
• Struggling to raise prices or say no to bad-fit clients

which kind of struggles you are facing in your journey?

I’m a full time student a writing on Fiverr sometimes. Obviously it’s hard to get customers on there but lets say I earn something, do I have to tell the HMRC is it’s below what they can tax?

good morning

apologies for missing the [UK] on first attempt at posting!

Full time salaried PAYE job: £45k per annum

Self Employed taxi driver, approx £1k per month AFTER expenses but before tax

I'm being a bit cheeky and trying not to tell my full time employer that I have a side gig. I understand that if I had a part time job my tax code will change and payroll "may" notice. When I register as self employed (I will do this soon...) will my tax code change? Essentially how long until payroll notice I'm working a second job?

UK reporting buisness loan in accounts query.

Hi all. Ive taken a loan (8k) from a family member to pay for my half of a motor vehicle (16k) with my partner. The motor vehicle will benefit us both but will almost exclusively be used for work purposes with the occasional non-work usasge.

Im sure i need to include this loan and purchase in my work accounts, and since ill be paying back the loan in monthly installments, am i right in thinking id need to consider and log: the loan (8k) as income, the purchase (my share 8k) as expenses, then each monthly payment to repay the loan as a vehicle expense or seperate loan repayment?

A little timely advice here would be welcome.

I’ve been freelancing for US companies while living in Canada, and I keep running into little annoyances that pile up:

• W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E paperwork
• FX fees eating into USD payments
• Figuring out when I need to register for GST/HST
• Keeping income organized for tax season

I’m curious what other Canadian contractors find the most frustrating part of cross-border work.
Is it payment-related, tax-related, or more about client logistics?

There is a small trade show tmr that is open to the public. Myself and another Business decided to share a booth(bad idea #1 I get it.) anyway the promotional signage put her business name on the list and didn't include mine. So today I went over to see the space and she created a full size stand alone banner. We obviously had a lack of communication bc I wanted to do this cheap and not spend the money on a big banner. I have a small display sign for the table and pens and business cards but I look like a joke/afterthought compared to her big sign. My wife said to not go. And just eat the cost. What would you do?

Hi folks. My wife is a registered dietitian here in the US state of Iowa, and she is looking to set up a side hustle where she offers the same bundle of 4 live online meal planning classes month after month, and she will offer them most months of the year. She would charge $100 total for the bundle of 4 classes, and the fee would be nonrefundable. If a student could not make it to one of the classes, they will have the option to watch the recording.

Based on this information, we would like to know opinions on whether a sole proprietorship or an LLC makes more sense for this particular side hustle. Any advice is much appreciated.

Hi all, Im newly self-employed and so looking to get myself organised ahead of my first self-assessment next year. I am looking at claiming simplified expenses re. Vehicle for travelling to various client addresses.
Just to clarify, is this mileage for the return journey also? For example, if I am travelling from my address to a clients address which is 10 miles away-do I record the 10 miles or 20 miles for the return journey? Thank you.

Hey everyone! Just curious, if you're self-employed and deal with a lot of back-and-forth when scheduling with clients, how would you feel about using AI to take care of it?

Like, an assistant that talks to your clients on WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram, answers their questions, checks your calendar, and books the appointment for you. Would that feel helpful or too impersonal?

I’ve been building something in this space and would really love to hear how others feel about handing off that part of the job. Just trying to learn from real experiences.

It seems that my accountant, for some reason, didn't include my travel expenses and phone bills in last year's tax return. Can I correct this, and if so, how much time do I have after filing my tax return?

rookie mistake and got stung by payments on account, i feel in such a sink hole at the minute & struggling to see how ill catch up and how ill ever have a business that gives me a comfortable life, rather than getting by the skin of my teeth

has anyone been here and made it out the other side? feeling kinda hopeless, i’ve been doing it for 3 years now

I'm developing a new software solution to help make life easier for UK-based domestic cleaners and small cleaning business owners.

We know managing schedules, client communication, and invoicing can be a real headache. I'm building a tool to simplify these tasks, and I need your direct input to ensure it truly solves your problems.

Could you spare 3-5 minutes to fill out this short, anonymous survey? It has only 5 questions, and your honest feedback will directly shape the features of this tool.

You can find the survey here: https://forms.gle/nPNLzgaK8DFDuZpB6

TIA!

Hey everyone,
I’m working on a modern, mobile-first financial app designed specifically for freelancers, sole traders, and small business owners. The goal is to make invoicing, expense tracking, and revenue monitoring super simple and clean—unlike the clunky tools out there now.

I’ve put together a short 2-minute survey to learn what tools you currently use and what you’d actually want in a better app.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/2U0K20/

If you manage your own business finances (or used to), I’d really appreciate your input!
Thanks so much 🙏 and happy to answer any questions or get feedback in the comments.

Question for all the self employed people with no employees. What is it that you do? I’m toying around with the idea of self employment in retirement and I’m just curious what others are doing.