Hi Guys,

Once again I turn to the nice people of the EF for a few questions I have to say that I checked already all the threads that have gone through this subject but I still have a few questions, so here I go.

I am a non-EU (married to EU man) woman, I live in Basel Stadt and have been here for a bit over 6 months now. I have been thinking that besides my job I want to have a small home-based business that would not occupy much of my time and would basically be done as a sort of hobby. My business (mini) would be about retail (clothes) and I would only sell online and/or through my friends (contacts). Again I am doing this for fun and am not planning to invest too much money (3000 CHF or so).
After reading the threads I think that an einzelfirma is what I want. I checked with startups.ch that starting this would cost me ~500 CHF for their help (including consulting, registration with social insurance (OASI), application for registration in the commercial register) and once I have the license I would pay another 200 CHF. I also talked to HR from my company and they told me that in principle I would just have to tell them what kind of business it was and w fill in a form and send them the papers, so no problems there.

My questions are:

-Would I be allowed to carry on this venture with my B permit? My expected earnings are not more than 1000 CHF.
-What is this social insurance? (sorry dummy question) is it AHV?
-If I put my home address as business address do I have to tell my landlord, and can he object?
-I know I don’t have to pay VAT but still I would have to declare if I make any money (sales) and report them to the my TAX advisor, no?
-Do I need to give out proper receipts?
Thanks!

Angela

I can't really help you on that matter...but I'm all for the entrepreneurial spirit...and I will be supporting you morally...and if the clothes fit..you can consider me a customer .

Thanks so much! I really hope to start this soon perfect excuse for shopping hehehe

Definitely, I'm also in the midst of starting my own business while working. I however plan to live off it eventually. I will post it on the forum once it's up and runnning (some time during March)....

Have you thought about setting up a small travel agency, perhaps catering especially for expats?

LOL I rather not venture in something I know nothing about...unlike some people

Related, but not primary:
i think, if you do this, you can deduct the cost of rental of part of your apartment, as a business cost, and pay less tax on earnings.

(total revenue - rent (+other expenses) = total earnings
tax = X% of total earnings)

On another note, I hang out a lot at second hand clothes shops (for kids)
3 of my regulars have closed down in the past 12 months, another a year before. One was going for 15 years
I think everyone sells on ricardo now.. so online is the way to go

Thank you! I will keep this in mind

My guess is no -- but it's just a guess. You need to check with your Gemeinde re visas for the self-employed.

Check this out ... sorry, couldn't resist.

Yes, and yes ... but if you explain that you won't have customers traipsing in and out (because it's an online business), he should be OK with it.

Only if you have an aversion to breaking Swiss law.

Yes.

Lets start your business on the right foot.You need to join the Union,thats where I can be of help.May I suggest I will be your shop Steward, business agent,business manager and national representetive,all in one.I demand the salary of all those 4 positions ,including vacation pay,13th month pay,a car BMW528e,an office with view over lake Zürich with all the furniture of the finest mahogany wood DB knows where to get this stuff (a live size painting of myself behind my desk) I am sorry I have to leave for a moment ,I have to go for a wet lunch.

If you find someone to hire you please contact me as I would really give a thought to quitting my current job LOL.

Silly you Thanks for the answers I will go to the Gemeinde then...

Even self you employed you will have to carry insurances and I suspect you will find they will cost more than you make.

If it is really no more than a hobby at this, I would suggest you keep it at a hobby and if in fact there seems money in it, then start the business.

The problem once you start notifying authorities they seem to have sheets of paper they like to send you and they all come with bills. AHV will want a business plan and a statement of expected earnings on which you will have to pay the insurance.

When I started as self employed I ended up with start up costs of over CHF1500 for required insurances, a quartly bill of CHF3000 for AHV and misc small bills.

The principal is that even self employed your employer (you) must protect the employee (you) and that costs.

Thanks, the thing is that I want to make things the right way. I could also bring clothes and declare they are for sale when I am going to sell through my friends if I declare these clothes?
I am afraid of breaking the law...I am a law abiding citizen

Have you thought about the fact that operating a business involves dealing with clients (horrible, horrible people) ? I know this guy who operates a travel agency, the stress is unbearable

LOL BasP, it's ok I think I can have some people's skills .
I think...

I agree, you don't want to break the law, especially when you are a guest in the country.

If you make a little money from selling a few items, you can declare that on your tax return. I'm not sure that that is any different from the many people who sell a few items via ricardo/ebay/ef etc as a hobby.

The question is if it is a hobby, do you want the hassle of running a business and meeting the legal requiremnts of running that business before you know whether it is worthwhile. If the hobby begins to grow and you can see a real income then I would have thought that would be the time to consider a business - at least you will have tested the market and seen if it is viable.

Good luck anyway.

Thanks, I will ask then a legal advisor if this is viable. Then if my hobby grows then I would think if setting up the business
Thanks!

A

I would second what Spacey said, start small, as a little side income, not a registered co. That is perfectly legal, just state it in your taxes. But start small and see if there's a demand and expand it from there on! I once ran a small website selling shirts myself, did ok but not spectatular and later on got bored with it and gave up. No point in making it bigger than you want it to be at the beginning.

Well, in parallel to my current job, which (although interesting I found it a bit sedentary for my liking and without any activelife I would have hatched already an egg or two ) I set up my mini business as a hobby which is restringing tennis rackets. The cost is CHF30 per restringing job string inclusive (always few CHF less than the cheapest shop). I do two to three rackets a week, so it is more like fun than actual income. My wife does better though with her tennis lessons.

I support any efforts to establish small enterprise, so if you feel energetic go ahead and just DO IT

I think spacey and simon might have a point, I do not want to spend 3000 CHF in AHV when I am the only employee, that would be ridiculous! But I will see what my tax advisor says anyways. I could :
a.- start this hobby and then see what happens, always declaring my extra income of course
b.- set the einzelfirma if AHV contributions are not that big. Then if I want to expand, I could hire someone else...given that I do make the money