Decisions

Currently, I’m looking at what I need to do with regard to sorting out some business stuff for myself. Up ’til last year I had my own company through which I did all my IT contracting and so on, and then when I moved down here with Herself, and settled into working for other people again, I folded up the old company. In theory I could resurrect it, but it’d involve going back through Comapnies House etc., and a buttload of extra paperwork which frankly I can’t be bothered with – besides, if I’m going to do that, it’s much more fun to do it with a new company rather than some resurrected revenant.

Anyway, with the new company (the name of which has already been pretty much decided, although the paperwork and ‘official’ stuff hasn’t been done, as currently it’s more ‘Sole Trader’ than ‘Limited Company’) I have a few options. They are:

• Option One : Have one company. This then becomes the umbrella for all my activities over the next few years (of which more at some other point) which includes possibly IT contracts, but also photography, and other business ideas.
• Option Two : Have one company purely for IT contracting, and then figure out another one for all the other stuff, the photography, creative gubbins, etc. etc.
• Option Three : Don’t form any limited companies, and instead just work as a sole trader, still using the company name as a trading name, but without all the extra gubbins involved in a limited company (but also obviously without the limited liability advantages of a company)

Option Three is probably easiest, but does mean that should things go horribly wrong then there’s a lot of potential issues that I’d rather not have to deal with. But ’til things get going it’s one that has a lot of possibilities.

Option One makes a lot of sense – but I’m not sure how the website would work, without being horrendously complicated. Although I suppose I could do it, with a bit of thought. Hmm, that’d be novel. But is it me, or do Photography and Web Design not really go together as an easy concept?

Option Two is, of course, just a buttload of extra paperwork and hassle, so I suspect that’s been struck out immediately.

Bah, I’ll figure it out, I’m sure. Maybe it’s going to end up as Three for now, with an eye to One in ’07?