- 01 Aug 13, 17:22#367968I've been self employed for the past 12 years since leaving the Royal Navy,
I've always been a keen sailor, and have raced at club level since i was 13 with my dad, after being discharged from the Navy because of a car accident
(caused by a ****ing drunk driver)
i had no idea of what I wanted to do or even what i could do for a job
so after about six months feeling sorry for myself and getting fit again I rejoined the yacht club, one Saturday night after a race, I was approached by a guy had sailed with before who asked me if i would be interested in helping him take his boat to Portugal.
I said yes thinking it would be a good laugh with some friends and i had nothing better to do anyway, the trip was fraught with problems and breakage but we made it and i thoroughly enjoyed it.
whilst waiting for a free shower stall in the marina i stood reading the notice board, there were five or six adverts for boats wanting voyage crew, two of them were paid positions. In the shower it dawned on me I might be able to do more of this and maybe get paid as well.
that's how I became a delivery skipper, now I take peoples boats to where in the world they want them and bring them back, sometimes with the owners onboard sometimes alone , I love it
don't fear the taxman, like RC says get a accountant then its easy and cheeper !
I tried to do my first tax return and i calculated that I owed £4800, then I went to see an accountant and he got it down to £1600 even with his bill i saved £2500
I think the biggest setback is the loss of free time, you cant just Finnish at 5pm and go home, holidays are a problem (not for me its just one long holiday)
the other problem is you have to pay for everything, if s**t goes wrong it's guaranteed someone's going to give you a bill, so if you like the easy life it's probably not for you but if you are determined like a challenge and can handle a bit of stress then I can fully recommend self employment.
