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If You don't eat your meat, how can you have any Pudding?


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If You don't eat your meat, how can you have any Pudding?

Posted 06-20-2013 at 07:58 AM by STM
Updated 06-20-2013 at 08:00 AM by STM
Completely unrelated title, I just love the little screamy bit at the end of Another Brick in the Wall II from The Wall.

I applied for a job the other day at a retail store, the bonus was that they trained you throughout the year so that when your fixed term ended you left with a qualification. I could have used that for when I leave university. Unfortunately I was rejected after a couple of days.

Gotta make a fair bit of cash over the next year, about £5000-£7000. There are two ways I am viably going to be able to do this. I could get a 9-5 job after a great amount of searching (youth unemployment is about 20.5% at the moment) or I could set up my own website and work from home with a partner, which is something I'm in the process of doing.

The latter option is a lot less secure of course, but if I did it right, it would really pay off. It's basically a property advertising site where you pay a small fee each month for a listing and then 1% of the total cost of the land as commission when the property is sold.

What do you think? Try something a little different, take a risk and hold off on applying for jobs at the moment, or take the easy route and apply for as many 9-5s as I can find?

Genuine suggestions are appreciated.

In other news, I had a nightmare that I failed my exams last night and woke up covered in sweat panting like I'd run a marathon. I didn't realise I was worried about it but I suppose it's all there subconsciously.

e: I was watching this documentary about life in Tokyo earlier...I really want to go and visit Japan for at least a few weeks, it's on my bucket list, but this really confirmed it for me. I love those tiny little apartments people live in.
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Bullet Magnet's Avatar
I work a 10-6. The other 10-6. But it pays well.
Posted 06-20-2013 at 08:40 AM by Bullet Magnet

DarkHoodness's Avatar
Personally I'd go for your boring 9-5 jobs or take several part-time jobs. Seems a little more secure if you can find any good ones... Or if your site is successful and doesn't require much work, combine doing that with also having a part time job. Then if the site doesn't work, you'll at least have a backup. Depends what you want to do with yourself.
Posted 06-20-2013 at 08:48 AM by DarkHoodness

STM's Avatar
That's the thing, if the site takes off, it will be so lucrative that I won't have to worry about getting any other work to subsidise my time. Four average sized sales would have me more than enough money for university. At the same time, if it doesn't do well...I'll have wasted my time doing nothing.

Whatever happens it needs to happen soon. I think my parents are starting to feel like I'm mooching off them and I've only graduated for a week. :P
Posted 06-20-2013 at 09:13 AM by STM

Manco's Avatar
Is the site the sort of thing you could do while looking for a more secure job? Also, is it liable to bite you in the ass legally if it goes sour?
Posted 06-20-2013 at 01:09 PM by Manco

STM's Avatar
I think so, the site would be mostly automated so once it's set up but if we got a lot of adverts then I'd feel more comfortable offering a more personal service somehow, support to clients and such. The problem for me would be - if the site did take off, I would feel really bad about quitting a job I only just got you know?

I don't think there will be any legal problems, there is no regulatory body for estate agents and that's the business model that ours is most similar to (although not the same) and unless we make more than a certain amount we wouldn't even have to sign it as a company for taxes and such.
Posted 06-20-2013 at 02:35 PM by STM

Crashpunk's Avatar
I'm going to start working a 9-5 job next Wednesday. Getting an Apprentice wage which is under £3 an hour. At least it's something...
Posted 06-20-2013 at 02:50 PM by Crashpunk

Nate's Avatar
Get a lawyer. A good one. Possibly several.

First get a good, strong contract between you and your partner. You don't want any ambiguity in case it is a success.

Secondly get them to write up a bunch of terms and conditions and find a way to make the payments after selling enforceable. Consider also how you're going to prove that the house was sold through your site; most housesellers advertise in multiple media. They could use your site to find a buyer, then claim that they met through a traditional site.


Also, you're going to need a massive budget to advertise your site. You will definitely want to advertise it online, and probably in newspapers as well. A site like this is incredibly difficult to get off the ground; purchasers are not going to bother visiting a site that doesn't have many listings. Sellers are not going to bother listing on a site that doesn't have many pageviews. Catch-22.




All of which is me saying not to get your hopes up and try to get a 9-5 job.
Posted 06-20-2013 at 06:14 PM by Nate

STM's Avatar
Okay I'll reply to your points individually:

:
Get a lawyer. A good one. Possibly several.
I guess this was rhetorical but I can't afford the law fees, it's actually why I had to check whether there was any regulatory body we need to register with because I wouldn't be able to afford the fees.

:
First get a good, strong contract between you and your partner. You don't want any ambiguity in case it is a success.
I agree about this, although we won't register this is a company until/if it passes over a certain profit threshold by which point we legally need to register. If that point is reached, then we'll go ahead and get entitlements and control documents drawn up (forget the proper term for those).

:
Secondly get them to write up a bunch of terms and conditions and find a way to make the payments after selling enforceable. Consider also how you're going to prove that the house was sold through your site; most housesellers advertise in multiple media. They could use your site to find a buyer, then claim that they met through a traditional site.
My colleague is purchasing a framework which forces the buyers to do everything through our website, contact details are only divulged between buyer and seller once they have agreed to make the sale and our commission is held in escrow. My partner knows more about this bit than I do because he's really the person that makes it all work with all his other sites.

:
Also, you're going to need a massive budget to advertise your site. You will definitely want to advertise it online, and probably in newspapers as well. A site like this is incredibly difficult to get off the ground; purchasers are not going to bother visiting a site that doesn't have many listings. Sellers are not going to bother listing on a site that doesn't have many pageviews. Catch-22.
I thin this is going to be our biggest problem. The budget for exposure on the internet is a little small unfortunately and slow organic growth isn't going to cut it for a website like this. We were going to establish the website by offering deals to people buying and selling property such as no placement fees and a reduction on commission etc, but the problem still stands that people don't want to advertise on an empty site.

:
All of which is me saying not to get your hopes up and try to get a 9-5 job.
I think I'm probably going to have to. I suppose if by some lucky trick it did get off the ground I could always resign from the job, but as I said, I'd feel pretty bad about doing that.
Posted 06-21-2013 at 01:48 AM by STM

Nate's Avatar
:
I agree about this, although we won't register this is a company until/if it passes over a certain profit threshold by which point we legally need to register. If that point is reached, then we'll go ahead and get entitlements and control documents drawn up (forget the proper term for those).
All I can do right now is think of what my lawyer dad would say. And he'd tell you it's a terrible idea. I know you don't have money for a lawyer, but you can get screwed over at any point in the process of creating a business.

:
My colleague is purchasing a framework which forces the buyers to do everything through our website, contact details are only divulged between buyer and seller once they have agreed to make the sale and our commission is held in escrow. My partner knows more about this bit than I do because he's really the person that makes it all work with all his other sites.
Wait, what? I thought you meant property as in houses and land and whatnot. Who has ever bought a property without looking at it first? You're going to have to let them get in touch with each other, in person, weeks before any decision is made as to whether to buy the property.
Posted 06-21-2013 at 04:43 AM by Nate

STM's Avatar
:
Wait, what? I thought you meant property as in houses and land and whatnot. Who has ever bought a property without looking at it first? You're going to have to let them get in touch with each other, in person, weeks before any decision is made as to whether to buy the property.
Urgh, see this is what I said to my partner who assured me that it didn't matter, there was something he said, I can't remember what though, about this in particular. I'm gonna have to have a word with him.

:
All I can do right now is think of what my lawyer dad would say. And he'd tell you it's a terrible idea. I know you don't have money for a lawyer, but you can get screwed over at any point in the process of creating a business.
Makes sense, hmm I'm gonna have to talk to him about this more...it might be an idea to just offer advertising space and not take the commission, if at all.
Posted 06-21-2013 at 05:50 AM by STM

Nate's Avatar
Nathan Rose: Killing Dreams Since 1982!
Posted 06-21-2013 at 04:52 PM by Nate

STM's Avatar
Pssh, socio-economics has been doing that for years.
Posted 06-22-2013 at 02:47 AM by STM

AlexFili's Avatar
Pink Floyd is ace.

I'm looking for work right now. I'd say, try and do something you enjoy. If you can't get something right now, either study more, get some voluntary work or ask others for tips/help
Posted 06-23-2013 at 01:24 PM by AlexFili

STM's Avatar
I can't get voluntary work unfortunately because I need the money. If I could afford to have gone to university this year I would have done. Any way, I applied for a job at a charity shop in a nearby town today and fingers crossed I get it. The salary is double what I actually need so I'll have money left over to help pay for bills at home /and/ maybe have enough to take a little holiday. =)
Posted 06-23-2013 at 01:46 PM by STM

 

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