The safety net of a self-employed entrepreneur (5 tips)

As a starting entrepreneur, you are bombarded every day with so-called shortcuts. Useful tips, life hacks, golden tricks and simple revenue models. This collection of shortcuts serves to make a starting company even more efficient. These 5 tips often stand out the most and can save you a lot of effort. We list them below.

Tip 1: Provide a safety net as a self-employed entrepreneur

It is a general fact that as a self-employed entrepreneur you cannot rely on a financial social safety net from your employer. That is a tricky point for any starting entrepreneur. What if for some reason you become unable to work, are the victim of a traffic accident or experience symptoms of illness? The entire government social system then suddenly disappears. Fortunately, you can prevent this situation as a starting entrepreneur by taking out AOV (disability insurance). This insurance prevents you from being without income in the event of illness or an accident. Hopefully this never happens, but it's hard to look into a crystal ball. In addition, as a starting entrepreneur you also have to think about your pension. As a self-employed person or self-employed person, you do not accrue an automatic pension yourself. This is a pain point that you will have to arrange all yourself. Nor should you lose sight of legal expenses insurance that will give you backing in the event of a possible legal conflict situation.

Tip 2: Make sure your taxes are in order

As a self-employed entrepreneur you have some tax obligations to fulfill. For example, you must file a VAT return every quarter and complete your income tax neatly every year. These are just 2 things that are mandatory but that have a major financial impact on your company. If you find all this too much hassle, you have the option to apply for a Small Business Scheme (KOR) so that you do not have to pay tax every 3 months. The key question is whether this special arrangement suits your company. Please note: there are some catches if you choose this KOR option. Please inform yourself in detail about this.

Tip 3: Opening a business bank account

Many starting entrepreneurs do not immediately see the benefit of opening a business account. After all, it is not an obligation and that is the main reason why the business part is also placed on the private account. The question is whether this is also a good idea. From an accounting point of view, that is not the best solution. Much depends on business payment transactions. If you only receive a few monthly payments, you don't really need this and a private account will suffice. It depends a bit on your personal situation.

Tip 4: Keeping the administration for 7 years

Most entrepreneurs hate keeping records. However, this is a legal obligation. The period is set at 7 years to carefully maintain all accounts such as incoming and outgoing invoices. Today you have different types of accounting software. Of course, you can devise a specific administration system that best suits your company. You can, for example, work this out in an Excel file. A little advice. Keep track of the number of hours worked in a separate file. You will then have this immediately at hand in the event of an inspection.

Tip 5: Always make sure you have money on hand for taxes

As a starting entrepreneur, it is very important that you provide a small buffer to pay your (unforeseen) costs. This can then be used for financial setbacks when you receive less income in a certain month or for money that you provide for the tax authorities. Keep in mind that you have to pay 30 percent taxes on what you have earned. Starting entrepreneurs sometimes lose sight of this.