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Hello All,
I would appreciate as many views / comments as possible. I am currently a serving police officer age 39. As much as I enjoy my job i can't help yearning for a change. I have been mulling over various ideas / business opportunities that I can do in my spare time.
One of my friends is an Accredited Domestic Home Energy Assessor. He completed a 5 day course and gained the accreditation. He now has a thriving businesses completing these reports charging £60 - £80 each. The cost of such a course is about £2200. As much as this sounded appealing to me I had to balance the cost of the course against the time needed to break even (at least 45 home energy assessments required) just to pay for the course (as a new starter I would only be able to charge about £50 per report).
With ever changing Government rules and regulations (look what happened to HIPs Home Information Packs now obsolete) this avenue seems far less appealing now.
I have previously owned my own fast food business (albeit for 4 years) and together with my HND in Hospitality Management I have a basic level of understanding in Accountancy (I need to freshen up as it has been a long time now).
Having looked at various other ideas I have settled on the idea of an ICB qualifications. I have looked at their website and have contacted two distance learning providers. One of them offers a course called ICB career path which offers Levels 1-3 plus Sage and payroll.
I can commit to about 10 -12 hours study per week. In your own experiences can you tell me how long realistically it would take to study and pass these courses?
My final goal would be to become a Full Member of ICB and start a small bookkeping business. My wife is a fully qualified CIMA member and together we would like to provide a small Accountancy practice in addition to our day jobs.
I am by no means a whizz academicaly or with numbers, however I have the determination and dedication to do my best at anything I put my mind to.
Am I making a good choice? How hard is it to drum up business for a small bookkkeeping business? Am I too old?
Any views / comments appreciated.
Many thanks.
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