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Rubbing Salter into the wound
Page 18
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AM ITHE ONLY ONE who inwardly cringes at the trials and tribulations of "Stobart wannabe" Rob Salter?
In the! January 2004 instalment, I was horrified to read the comment "I'm about to finally have a meeting with an accountant-. I would recommend this Lobe the first port of call for any budding businessman. Most reputable accountants offer a free preliminary meeting and having books, records and cash-flow projections in place, is the seedcorn of a successful business.
Reading the 22 January 2004 missive. I note he has now appointed an accountant —great, but why use him to do his VAT returns? These returns are incredibly simple and in the time it takes Rob to e-mail his figures to the accountant, he could have completed the return himself and saved £40! If he has any difficulty.he has already said how helpful Customs and Excise are (which I have to say is also my experience) and a telephone call to them will usually sort out any problem, without incurring any cost.You are an unpaid collector of taxes for them, so they should be helpful!
Ill can give one useful tip to Rob, it is to work out your earnings per mile, every night for each truck.You should know your costs per mile. If the earnings are less than the costs, then do not do that job for that price again (or check that your driver didn't get lost).
For the record.I started as "financially tight" as you, but am writing this from the terrace of my Spanish futca (farmhouse). Instead of checking tachm and maintenance sheets on Sundays, my main concern now is the pH level of the pool. Keep an eye on your costs and revenue and with a certain amount of luck and a lot of hard work,in the future you too could be sunbathing instead of snow-shovelling.
F. William Ellis MD, F William Ellis