The Advisor needs Advice!

[gmac1414]

Hi my name is Gerry and Im trying to turn my Welfare Advice Skills into a self supporting business.My idea is simple enough to run a Wefare Rights Advice service that will pay me and anyone who works for me a wage.Its not for profit Im just sick of doing mundane jobs Im not suitable to want to use my skills in the field they were designed for.So my problem is where if anywhere can I approach to help me set up such a business.The plan would be to provide advice on benefits and preparation of benefit appeals giving the client who has no understanding of the system the best chance of sucess at appeal.The next problem is most clients would be unable to afford more than a nominal fee,this would be acceptable as long as it covered my admin costs,but where do I get my salary from?So if anyone can help please email me at [EDIT] and I will be grateful and all constructive criticisms are welcome many thanks

Edited September 5, 2012 by ims21
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[MARTIN3030]

Please observe site posting rules.

You could pick up some experience and knowledge from voluntary work at your CAB or other Welfare advice centres.

[gmac1414]

Thanks Martin for your reply however I have 25 years experience in this field of work and most of it was voluntary.Im looking to get paid in the future many thanks Gerry

[sequenci]

Thanks Martin for your reply however I have 25 years experience in this field of work and most of it was voluntary.Im looking to get paid in the future many thanks Gerry

 

You could get a specialist role at somewhere like the CAB or Shelter?

[EveOwes]

Hi

 

Do you intend to do this online or have premises? Funding for any business is tough to get and there's a lot of competition for it. If you were doing this online you could try and grab advertisers at some point - those who might want to sell something to people who have financial problems, eg self-help booksellers, debt problem solving companies, pay day loans/quick money lenders!!!! sorry, I think most of those are probably leeches, but they're the sort who would target your site.

 

If you are setting up in premises you might try and find out if there's an equivalent of legal aid for people seeking benefit claims/appeals - I don't think there is but you never know. If the work you are doing is reducing the admin burden on the government agencies, then you could try and sell this point to them and seek funding that way. Just a thought.

 

Finally, local businesses whether selling goods/services or seeking employees. Make it a community-based scheme sponsored by local supermarkets etc as a charity and so on. All of these suggestions will require a knowledge of marketing, and so it might be worth investing a few hundred quid in getting specific marketing advice. It's all down to hard boiled business at the end of the day, I guess.

 

Good luck with this venture, there is definitely a gap in the market. It's almost impossible to get an appointment with a CAB rep these days.

 

Eve