Changing Times

Back at the start of the year, I was thinking about whether the company I’ve had for the best part of seven years should fold. I’ve been self-employed for a lot of that, doing the IT contracting etc., but I’m wondering if that contracting era has come to an end – or is, at the very least, in need of a change.

So today I’ve started off the process of closing down my old company. It shouldn’t take too long, but the first step is to close the bank account, and the business insurance. No bad thing, the insurance was setting me back about £110 per month, but it’s a necessary business expense for a limited company. Once the bank has confirmed that the account’s closed I get to play with Companies House, the taxman, and VATman. VAT shouldn’t be an issue either, and tax has been taken care of through the year.

So – and I know I’m going to regret saying this – it should be a fairly painless process. But it’s definitely the right time to do it.

I’m currently undecided which way I’ll go next. I could form up a new limited company – and indeed would have to were I to start contracting again – or for the moment I could stick with simply “trading as”. I could even continue to use the same company name, it simply wouldn’t be a limited company any more. Or I could close the chapter entirely, and let some new idea rise, phoenix-like.

We’ll see – but for now I’m closing one door, and letting several others slide slightly open in its place. And that’s a good place to be.