I sometimes run live events.

Which I really love doing, despite my inherent shyness!

Because after the scary bits where I’m on stage, trying not to let my hands shake, I get to hear questions and feedback from customers and subscribers.

Of course, I get sent a lot of emails daily, and regularly chat to people online in webinars.

But there’s nothing like that human-to-human connection, where you get to hear someone’s tone of voice and see their facial expressions.

It allows me to understand what’s really going on in people’s minds.

So can I tell you a little insider secret?

You can pretty much guarantee that in ANY audience Q&A where we have discussed a project that could generate a profit if implemented, someone will ask a question about VAT.

“Ah yes,” they’ll say, “this all sounds great but I’ll have to register for VAT.”

Or they’ll look fraught as they say, “But what about paying VAT?”

It’s like VAT is a monstrous entity rising from the deep to crush our dreams!

And of course, it’s a pain.

You’ll hear small business owners complain about it a lot for various reasons…

It’s extra admin and form-filling that they need to do (or pay a bookkeeper to do).

So if you’re running a business, it’s definitely something to consider, and definitely something to talk to a qualified accountant about.

But here’s the thing…

If you are just starting your new business it’s not even close to being your problem yet

9 times out of 10 the questions about VAT are never from people who are currently running a business.

They are from people who are THINKING about starting a business, whether that’s creating a course, selling products online or starting up as a sole trader.

And if you have this fear, too, I understand.

Setting up a business sounds intimidating. And I know it’s frustrating to have to pay taxes.

But… (and please don’t take this as tax advice – as I’m not qualified!) as a rule-of-thumb, you don’t start paying 20% VAT on your sales until you get to over £85k in sales in a year.

Think about that figure… £85k!

Imagine selling £85K worth of digital courses in your first year.

What a great result that would be!

Bear in mind, once you have created a course, this is mostly a passive online income, which means you might only be working a day or two per week to make all that money.

So now that £85K figure looks even better!

After all, imagine if you went for a part-time job and you were offered an £85K per annum salary?

You’d be delighted!

So really, being at the point where you pay VAT is actually a GREAT problem to have.

It means you have succeeded.

Or look at it this way…

Just how sympathetic would you be if a friend came up to you and said…

“Help, I am making so much money that I need to pay tax!”

You’d probably think this was what’s known as ‘A First World Problem’.

At least they have a successful home business, right?

So yes, VAT comes with hassles, but by that point you can afford to pay a bookkeeper for the admin.

And as for the 20% hit on your sales, well, you can add VAT to your prices OR create more profitable courses to cover any losses.

But look, my main point is this…

When you’re at the stage of merely thinking about starting your own online business, VAT is not the kind of problem that deserves all that stress, worry and attention.

It would be such a shame to let it stop you from taking the plunge.

Because it won’t become relevant until you are making those great sales!

The same goes for so many other niggles I hear in Q&A sessions at live events.

Other examples include…

Worries about general tax and accountancy.

Worries about building a website…

Worries about registering business names…

Worries about what logo to have on banners…

From my own experience and also working with thousands of students and clients over the years I think there’s a deeper reason for it.

My hunch is that these are expressions of fear.

Fear of stepping into the unknown… fear of putting yourself out there in the world… fear of failure…

These fears take the form of objections about technical issues.

It’s as if we subconsciously SEEK problems that we can use as excuses not to press forwards.

So don’t let them get into your head!

The most important thing for you at this stage is to work out what kind of skills and knowledge you could pass on… what type of course you might create… and what information you need in order to get started.

This is where I come in.

I might not be able to give you tax advice for when you’re making £85K in sales…

But I can give you all the tools, steps and training you need to quickly build an £85K+ digital course enterprise.

When you achieve that, you’ll be more than able to handle any tax or admin issues that come your way!

If you’d like my help then just hit reply to this and put the word ‘ready’ in your subject line and I’ll send you free access to my course creation masterclass to get you started 😊