It’s A Setup
By: Haydn Martin
Tags: Independent Contractor, Fintech, Consulting, Fintech Startups, Logistics

In this post, I outline everything I did (and used) to get started.

Starting something new obviously requires a certain amount of up-front setup cost, both time and money. My approach was to minimise these costs by implementing ‘good enough’ structures that could be improved upon when the business was conceptually validated. I focused on the things that matter.

Note: I didn’t know about any of this stuff before I started. As always, Google saved my life.

The Basics

Company vs. Name . I chose to operate under a company, rather than using my own name because this gave the perception of a greater degree of professionalism. My thinking was that clients would be more comfortable hiring (and paying) a “company”. As I didn’t have any brand equity behind my name, I didn’t lose much by not using it. There will obviously still be strong links between my name and the business, but using a company name just allows for a small degree of separation.

. I chose to operate under a company, rather than using my own name because this gave the perception of a greater degree of professionalism. My thinking was that clients would be more comfortable hiring (and paying) a “company”. As I didn’t have any brand equity behind my name, I didn’t lose much by not using it. There will obviously still be strong links between my name and the business, but using a company name just allows for a small degree of separation. To LLC or not to LLC . After deciding to operate under a company, I next had to choose whether to establish an LLC or simply act as a sole proprietor. I chose the latter as I was trying to keep things simple and at my relatively-low levels of revenue, it didn’t make much sense to establish an LLC yet.

. After deciding to operate under a company, I next had to choose whether to establish an LLC or simply act as a sole proprietor. I chose the latter as I was trying to keep things simple and at my relatively-low levels of revenue, it didn’t make much sense to establish an LLC yet. Company name. I came up with “Special Financial Projects” (or “SFP”) by brainstorming what services I would offer and how they would be useful (see The Value Proposition). Or at least that is probably what I should have done. In reality, I don’t know where I actually got the name from, it seems to have materialised from thin air. I never actually questioned if it was a good name or not, probably not the best approach. But it’s here now and here to stay. I don’t think it’s the best name in the world but I also don’t think names matters too much.

SFP Logo

Logo. I used FreeLogoDesign to generate a decent logo. You can choose from hundreds of generated examples and make edits yourself. Pay $39.99 to get a high-res image or nothing for low-res.

The Business (thanks again, Google)

G-Suite . Setting up G-Suite allowed me to have a space in which I could store all material relating to SFP. Additionally, this allowed me to have my own email address with an “@specialfinancialprojects.com” ending. Very professional.

. Setting up G-Suite allowed me to have a space in which I could store all material relating to SFP. Additionally, this allowed me to have my own email address with an “@specialfinancialprojects.com” ending. Very professional. Email Signature . I used HubSpot to generate a basic, aesthetically pleasing signature. Probably not a requirement but it was a quick and easy (and free) process.

. I used HubSpot to generate a basic, aesthetically pleasing signature. Probably not a requirement but it was a quick and easy (and free) process. Google My Business. I registered the business with Google. This involved registering the domain (www.specialfinancialprojects.com) and verifying the business listing. This makes the business appear on the right-hand side of google when it is searched for. I’m not sure how much value this adds but it can’t hurt, right?

Email signature (minus email and phone number)

Financial

Business bank account . After a brief comparison, I decided to use Starling’s business account. This was primarily due to the fact that their account was one of the only ones that was FSCS protected and had essentially no fees.

. After a brief comparison, I decided to use Starling’s business account. This was primarily due to the fact that their account was one of the only ones that was FSCS protected and had essentially no fees. Accounting . I’m not sure I would call accounting a necessity at this stage. However, due to the low price and simplicity of Quickbooks, I decided to commit for ~£4 a month. They have a specialised account for sole proprietors that generate invoices for you, which is nice.

. I’m not sure I would call accounting a necessity at this stage. However, due to the low price and simplicity of Quickbooks, I decided to commit for ~£4 a month. They have a specialised account for sole proprietors that generate invoices for you, which is nice. Insurance . I really struggled to find professional indemnity insurance for sole traders (most were trying to sell me personal liability coverage as well, which I don’t need at this stage). Luckily, a friend recommended Dinghy who were able to provide exactly this service for ~£10 a month.

. I really struggled to find professional indemnity insurance for sole traders (most were trying to sell me personal liability coverage as well, which I don’t need at this stage). Luckily, a friend recommended Dinghy who were able to provide exactly this service for ~£10 a month. Tax. As discussed above I am operating as a sole proprietor. This is a fairly simple set-up tax-wise; you just have to register for self-assessment (in the UK). Then, before the end of the tax year, calculate your total income minus your total expenses and this is the amount you owe income tax on (assuming you don’t have to pay VAT because you earn less than £85,000 a year). Make sure you put enough money aside for tax. Otherwise, you’re going to be in quite a pickle when the tax man comes knocking at the end of the year.

These guys were very helpful

Website

For my website, I used Siteground for hosting (£20 a month on the “GrowBig” service) and WordPress to actually build the site. WordPress allows your site to be as customised as you want it. You can simply use an available theme, you can use a theme and customise it, or you can actually edit the code of that theme if you’re still not satisfied. I also used WordPress because I had used it in the past to build my personal blog so knew my way around the service.

Note: I am not an expert in this field. Far from it. There are maaaany levels of detail that you can go into when building a website but I just wanted something that worked and looked good.

The following process is over-simplified and skips over many details but provides a good outline of what to do. The steps to build my website were the following:

Decide the theme (I chose ColorMag) Install relevant plugins Customise the theme Edit the code Sketch out website design Input pages Input content to pages Ensure legally compliant (Cookie banner, register with ICO, legal info) Feedback (use Reddit and friends, if you have any) and iteration

The finished article

LinkedIn

On LinkedIn, I created a business page for SFP. This was done purely for the purpose of linking to this page on my personal page. Alliteration aside, on my page I included a link to the website in my header information, changed my header description and “About” section and updated my most recent experience. In the description section for my experience at SFP, I used the space for marketing purposes, rather than describing what I actually do.