Thanks for the excellent replies, I'll read up and post some questions if I have any

Yeah I'm definitely scared of jumping without a net, if I were to suddenly drop all my benefits I wouldn't be able to keep even a small home business going so it'd be a huge relief if I could keep at least some of it while testing the water. Thanks for the reply, I'll keep my fingers crossed that someone with experience in these matters comes along

Did I put this in the wrong section?

I've been receiving Incapacity and Housing benefit for quite a few years due to various mental health issues but now I have a decent chance to start up a home business repairing computers and I'm worried about losing all my support if things don't work out. I've spoken to Incapacity Benefits and they told me I can apply for Permitted Work which would allow me to work up to 16 hours a week and earn £101, anything over £101 will be deducted from my benefits. I also got in touch with Housing Benefit and they told me that as long as I sign up for Permitted Work and keep them updated with my monthly earnings I would be able to keep a certain amount of the benefit. If the system really works this way then I think I could make a go of this, I'm just staggeringly anxious about it all I still need to ring the Tax Office to ask for advice, I'm utterly clueless about tax but I'm told that at this level I won't have to pay anything and I will need to apply for Self Certification. If anyone has been through this sort of thing I'd greatly appreciate some guidance, I feel a bit like I'm jumping without a parachute.