Social Network - Income from Ads, Business setup, taxes etc (UK)

[GDevDir]

Hi, i'm new here, and apart from throwing a few links out to other members, I've yet to ask anything .. so here goes...

Now, I'm brand new to this... I've worked my (old) dream job since 17 and have only just thought about taking my financial well being into my own hands.

As such I am now smack in the middle of creating a social network niche with a very active and large audience, its been done before, and failed... numerous times and so, I'm trying a different approach, this means a lot more work, but, lets hope it will payoff.

Now, about my questions...

Declaring it a "Business"
Being a social network, it has nothing to sell... in fact i even plan to give away free gifts to all users (if they hand over some information/feedback). For now i don't plan on inviting anyone else to help me with the project and will probably see it to launch by myself. However later on I can foresee; if the website becomes successful, the need to employ others.

Do I need to register the website as a business? and if so, how would i go about this? links to websites with this information would be great!

Paying Tax
Again, I'm not actually selling anything, but I'm going to assume the UK government wants a cut...
Would i have to pay tax on ALL income, or just what I am "paying"myself?
Also would it be worth considering to relocate? is it possible to "host" the business in 1 location, and "live" elsewhere? What kind of benefits (if any) could i expect from this. Again links would be great.

Tax Breaks
On the flip side, can i expect tax breaks? would that count towards hosting costs? computers i buy for the work... internet providers etc, and does it then become company assets? Also, the social network niche is for cars. As such, I am in need for a "show/demo" car, would tax breaks then apply to that + fuel / maintenance / parts etc?
Links again would be great on this subject.

Employment Status and Titles
So whats the deal, am I unemployed until i see some revenue from Ads, and if so do i jump to self employed over night? What happens when i hire people? At the moment I have "Founder" as my title on Linked-In, but i assume when i go to hire someone, a CEO is in need.... me? (lol, me... a CEO... haha!) depending on the success of the launch, would it be worth hiring a CEO with more experience if needed? When it comes down to it, I'm here for the money, so if i can give all the time/responsibility to someone who can handle it and still turn a good profit, I'm more than happy to throw whatever title their way.

Working from Home/Studio
In the early days of launch, i can see myself being quite comfortable tending to the project from the comfort of my own home (Parents House... keeping costs down and what not), however I'm assuming, if its a business, i will need a business address? Also when we grow (pending success...) a studio would be on the cards,, what kind of complications can i expect to run into during this transition and does this change my employment status at all now that i have people working with me?

If there are any websites you could recommend that cover any/all of the above + more, it would be great to take a look through them

As you can see, this is all a bit foreign to me, however, I'm eager to learn and its in my nature to know EVERYTHING, i hate handing something i have no knowledge of over to someone and having them "handle" it for me, thinking its some kind of voodoo magic, especially if I can learn and do it myself. However saying that, I'm more than willing to hand it over to someone if i know whats to be done and what to expect, especially if my time is better used elsewhere.

Thanks
Chris

 

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