Employment Work Coach Employment in UCFS

UCFS16a - Self Employment Work Coach

Advanced Self-Employment in

UCFS

Facilitator Led Brief V14.0

Advanced Self-Employment November 2017 V14.0

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UCFS16a - Self Employment Work Coach Advanced Self-Employment in UCFS

Contents

Contents ......................................................................................................... 2

Important Information: ................................................................................... 3

Module Aim and Objectives .......................................................................... 4

Gateway Interview ........................................................................................ 9

Business Plan ............................................................................................. 17

Claimant no longer self-employed .............................................................. 23

Tailored Commitment in the Start-up period ............................................... 25

SWOT and PESTLE Analysis ..................................................................... 35

Provision ..................................................................................................... 41

Module Summary ........................................................................................ 49


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To help facilitators prepare to deliver this module a

number of videos have been produced. These videos are

intended to show an example of how the module can be

presented. Throughout the module you will find reference

to these videos (LDO Prep 1 – 10) located in the Public

Info folders:

Public Info > Learning & Development > UC Full Service >

Video > UCFS16 Self Employment

NOTE:

The videos are for preparation purposes only and should

not be shown to learners.

Important Information:

Job Role Learning Required Duration

Self Employment Work Coach All 6 hours

Work Services Manager All 6 hours

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Show Slide 01 – Self Employment Work Coach -

Advanced Self-Employment in UCFS

Before delivery of this module you should familiarise

yourself with the contents of the Facilitators Preparation

Pack.

Module Aim and Objectives

Show Slide 02 – Aim and Objectives. Summarise and

check the learners’ understanding before proceeding to

the activity associated with Slide 03.

Ask learners to consider the following questions and

feedback to the group. Allow 10 minutes for this activity.

How do you determine if a claimant is gainfully self-

employed?

What is the start-up period?

When is the start-up period applicable?

When can the start-up period be stopped?

What is the Minimum Income Floor (MIF)?

Who is subject to the MIF?

What determines an individual claimants MIF amount?

When is the MIF applied?

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Show Slide 03 – Key Terms

The start-up period begins on the first day of the

assessment period that the claimant declares themselves

to be self-employed with Universal Credit, if the claimant

is entitled to one.

The MIF will change at least once per year, when national

minimum wage (NMW) or national living wage (NLW)

increases.

As a result of the NMW changing on 1 April, existing MIFs will

need recalculating. The ‘Update the Minimum income floor’ to-

do will be automatically created.

The MIF may also change for a variety of other reasons for

example, a change to the claimant’s age or changes to the

ages of their children.

Show Slide 04 – Changes to the MIF.

The slide is animated and contains three examples of

instances where the MIF can change. Each example has 2

clicks, one for the scenario and one for the answer.

Example 1 is a change of age leading the claimant from

NMW to NLW.

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Example 2 is a change in circumstances affecting the

number of hours that the claimant is available for work.

Example 3 is a yearly uprating of the NMW.

Run through the examples and check the learners’

understanding.

The Work Coach may anticipate the following:

NMW/NLW wage uprating

Claimant’s change in age will move them to a new

NMW/NLW wage level

Claimant’s youngest child turns 12 and they are no

longer entitled to reduced availability.

This list is not exhaustive.

At the gateway meeting you should anticipate any changes

and set a to-do to review the MIF when the change is due.

Whenever the MIF is changed the claimant must be asked

to attend an appointment to inform them of the changes to

the MIF. It is especially important that those claimants who

are subject to the MIF are informed about any changes.

Show Slide 05 – Determining Self-Employment status

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Only claimants in the intensive, light touch and working

enough Labour Market regimes are eligible for a start-up

period. Before a start-up period can take place, it must first

be determined that the claimant is self-employed and that

this self-employment is gainful self-employment.

To do this, you should consider:

what is the Labour Market regime?

is the claimant employed or self-employed?

are they gainfully self-employed?

are they in the start-up period or subject to the MIF?

Discussion

Discuss with the learners what the responsibility of the

Decision Maker is.

Emphasise that the Self Employment Work Coach is the

Decision Maker and that they are solely responsible for

making the GSE decision.

always refer to the Advice for Decision Making (ADM)

instructions first. If you are still unsure you should

discuss with colleagues/manager

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as a Decision Maker it is your responsibility to make

decisions based on your interpretation of the ADM. A

different decision maker may make a different decision

based on their interpretations

as long as you have gathered the evidence from the

claimant and considered it in conjunction with the ADM

your decision will be correct

you should use the ALP free text boxes to document

your decision

you should always be able to explain your decision and

what evidence/instructions you have used

Show Slide 06 – Is the Claimant Self-Employed?

If the claimant answers ‘yes’ to most of the questions, it

is probable that they are self-employed.

Show Slide 07 – Is the Claimant Gainfully Self-

Employed?

If the claimant answers ‘yes’ to most of the questions, it

is likely that they are GSE.

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When claimants answer these questions they will need to

provide evidence to support their answers. For example, if

they say they have a Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number

then they can show paperwork from the HMRC detailing the

UTR.

Refer the learners to Advice for Decision-Makers (self-

employed earnings): intranet > A-Z > A > Advice for

Decision Making > Universal Credit (UC) Chapters > H4:

Earner Income – self employed earnings

ADM self-employed earnings

Refer the learners to Social Intranet > Organisation >

Universal Credit > Universal Learning > Self-

employment >Self-employment business tools

Self-employment Business Tools

During the Initial Evidence Interview if a claimant says

they are self employed a 50 minutes Gateway Interview

slot will be booked.

Gateway Interview

The Gateway Interview is used by the Self Employment

Work Coach to:

determine Self-Employment status and

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http://intralink/1/lg/acileeds/guidance/adm/dwp_t758945.asp#TopOfPage

http://intralink/1/corp/sites/uc-replicable-model/guidance/DWP_T893229.asp#TopOfPage


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if appropriate, whether the claimant is GSE and

if a start-up period or MIF is applicable

Show Slide 08 – Gateway Interview

Emphasise to the learners that it is a Self Employment

Work Coach responsibility to ensure that all the points

are covered in the Gateway Interview.

E-mail a copy of the Self-Employment Guide UCFS5 to

the learners.

Page 3 of the Guide states that self-employed earnings

should be reported by telephone. This will now change

following FUN release 75 which introduces the facility to

report online.

It is crucial to discuss the importance of the UCFS5 to the

claimants. The UCFS5 can be uploaded to the claimant’s

journal.

When is the best time to issue the UCFS5?

It should be issued when the Gateway Interview is

booked, either by the case manager or Work Coach. The

UCFS5 explains what the claimant should bring to the

Gateway Interview.

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The claimant should read the UCFS5 prior to the

Gateway Interview

Why is the UCFS5 important?

The UCFS5 is important because it gives the claimant all

of the information regarding their responsibilities

relating to their self-employment while claiming

Universal Credit. It also tells them what information they

can provide to prove their self-employment so they are

prepared for the Gateway Interview.

E-mail a copy of the ‘Verify Self-Employment’ ALP to the

learners.

Slides 09 – 17 cover various parts of the ‘Verify Self-

Employment’ ALP. Ask the learners to follow the ALP

as you go through the learning.

For preparation purposes, a video has been produced

covering the completion of the ALP. The Video is called

‘LDO Prep 10’. Please do not play for learners.

Video ‘LDO Prep 1’ is available for preparation purposes

for this section. Please do not play for learners.

Note: refer to the ‘Important Information’ section of this

module for instructions on where to access this.

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Show Slide 09 – Legal Business Structures (1 of 2)

Animated slide – Click 3 times to reveal all of the

information

Most of the claimants you encounter will be either sole

traders or sub-contractors. A smaller number will be

company directors. They’re usually all treated the same for

DWP purposes however there are always exceptions

For example some sub-contractors are considered

employees rather than self-employed. There are company

directors who have no meaningful influence over the day to

day running of the business so would not be considered self-

employed for Universal Credit purposes. Further details will

be discussed later in the brief.

Sole Traders:

are most small business owners

are paid via ‘drawings’ from the business

make their annual tax return by self-assessment

have personal liability for business debts

Sub-contractors

are contracted to carry out a particular job

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most commonly found in the construction industry

Company Directors

the company is the legal entity

paid via salaries, dividends or directors’ loans

HMRC consider directors to be employees rather than

self-employed

DWP consider directors to be self-employed if they have

“meaningful influence” over the day to day running of the

business

more administrative commitments (for example, Annual

General Meeting (AGM), Company Secretary, Pay as

you Earn (PAYE) tax returns, annual audit, registration

with Companies House etc.)

There is no legal definition of ‘meaningful influence’. It

is the responsibility of the Work Coach as Decision

Maker to make that subjective decision based on all of

the evidence and the ADM.

Show Slide 10 – Legal Business Structures (2 of 2)

Animated slide – 2 clicks to reveal all of the information

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Company Directors often consider themselves to be

employees rather than self-employed because they usually

receive a salary through PAYE from their business and

HMRC often consider them as employees.

However, if they have meaningful influence over the day to

day running of the business then DWP usually consider

them to be self-employed for the purposes of Universal

Credit and treat them in exactly the same way as sole

traders.

DWP has legislated so that claimants cannot circumvent the

MIF simply by structuring their business as a company,

and/or becoming a paid director of that company, either

solely or as a partner.

Normal rules apply if the claimant exercises “meaningful

influence” over the day to day running of the business.

Regardless of their title, you need to look at the work the

claimant does, and determine if they are GSE or not.

Where they are GSE, you also need to determine their MIF

and any start-up period in the usual way.

The salary element of their profit should be reported

automatically via PAYE/RTI. Additional profits after salary

should be self-reported on-line via the claimant journal or

exceptionally, by contacting the Service Centre.


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ADM notes H4360-H4364 state:

“a claimant who is in a position similar to a sole owner or

partner… has to be treated as the sole owner or

partner”.

“these claimants are treated in the same way as

claimants who run a business… on their own account”.

“for the purposes of Universal Credit, a person trading

through a company is treated in the same way as one

who has not set up a company to conduct their

business”.

“whether a person who has shares in a company is

similar to a sole owner or partner in the business of that

company is a question of fact in each case”.

“when a business is jointly owned… the number of

shareholders in the company should be small and the

person should have some meaningful influence over…

day to day running”.

For more information on company directors, refer the

learners to Social Intranet > Organisation > Universal

Credit > Universal Learning > Self-employment >

Companies and Directors – Gainful Self-Employment.

Companies and Directors

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Show Slide 11 – Practical Information

Self-employed claimants should ensure that they register for

the following where appropriate:

HMRC - all self-employed claimants should register with

HMRC. This must be done by 5th October following the

end of the tax year when the tax return is due.

Unique Tax Reference Number (UTR) - this is a 10 digit

number provided by HMRC when the claimant registers

as self-employed

VAT - not all claimants need to register for VAT. Only

those with a VAT taxable turnover of £85,000 need to

register for VAT

Tax and National Insurance

National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are

set at a different rate (class) for self-employed

people depending on profit, when compared

to employed people

Income Tax is paid by sole traders

Corporation Tax is paid by Limited

Companies

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directors of Limited Companies may also pay

Class 1 National insurance Contributions if

they receive PAYE from their company.

Business Plan

Video ‘LDO Prep 2’ is available for preparation

purposes. Please do not play for learners.

Show Slide 12 – Business Plan (animated slide – 7

clicks to reveal the bullet points below.

At a minimum the business plan should contain:

executive summary

business overview

strategy and risk

sales & Marketing

operations & Policies

financial

appendices

Show Slide 13 – Business Plan (continued).

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A business plan provides focus and direction to the business

and evidence of the business for stakeholders.

A Harvard Business School study asked graduates if they

had set clear, written goals for their future and made plans

to accomplish them – only 3% said ‘yes’.

The students were interviewed again 10 years later. The 3%

that had made written goals were earning on average as

much as the other 97% combined.

Show Slide 14 – Marketing Documents

A claimant may bring in any or all of the documents listed on

Slide 14 to prove that they are taking appropriate steps to

promote their business:

Work Coaches can use the Commitment in order to get self-

employed claimants to complete a business plan and

provide copies for their scrutiny.

As a Self Employment Work Coach you are expected to look

at general business documents provided by the claimant

and analyse them in depth. You are not expected to be able

to write them but you are expected to be able to extract

relevant information from them.

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General types of documents that you might expect to see

from a trading business owner include:

business contact details

HMRC correspondence (for example, tax returns,

confirmation of self-employment registration/UTR)

business plan

insurance certificates for business and/or business

assets

licences (for example, Data Protection, DBS, Food

Hygiene)

certificates of achievement (for example. correct edition

of Electrical Installation certificate, hair & beauty

qualification, Construction Skills card etc.)

companies House registration (if applicable)

partnership agreement (if applicable)

contract for services (subcontractors)

list of customers/suppliers

copies of quotes for work carried out/list of scheduled

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Sub-contractors may provide evidence such as:

contract of employment

business accounts

record of expenses

Show Slide 15 – Business Finance Documents

Claimants may provide any of the following as evidence

relating to their business finances:

forecast/Actual Cash Flow statement (c/w Personal

Survival Budget)

accounts (including balance sheet and profit & loss

account)

transactions record/cash book

bank statements

invoices

receipts for business expenses

accountant details

business loan details

payslips (if paid through PAYE)

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Show Slide 16 – Business Contingencies

When you run a business there are a number of things that

substantially affect the ability of the business to earn money.

Businesses therefore need contingency plans for:

seasonal fluctuations

periods of illness

periods of low earnings

unexpected circumstances

Some claimants are reluctant to bring in a business plan.

Without this it will be difficult to see what contingency

arrangements the claimant has made for this business.

If someone runs an ice cream van they should have a plan

showing what their contingency is for seasonal fluctuations.

For example, they may vary what they sell during the winter

months such as hot drinks and food.

What sort of things could come under the heading of

unexpected circumstances?

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This could include anything from bad weather to bad

press about your products (for which there is

insurance).



Show Slide 17– MIF Calculator

This is what the MIF calculator looks like and can be found

in the ‘ALP Links’ folder.

The age and number of hours, in the yellow boxes, are

variable fields and used to calculate the claimant’s MIF.

Where on the MIF Calculator would you find the figure

used for the MIF?

The MIF figure is in the NET Monthly income box at the

bottom right hand side of the calculator

Do not confuse the MIF amount in the ‘Net Monthly

Income’ field with the amount in the ‘Monthly gross

income’ field.

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Claimant no longer self-employed

If the claimant reports that they are no longer self-employed

they will need to provide evidence to prove this. What

evidence could be gathered?

Show Slide 18 – Evidence of ending self-employment

Evidence of continued job search activity that is checked

robustly by the Work Coach on a regular basis could also

indicate an end to self-employment.

If the claimant has provided evidence to prove that they are

self-employed, it is also their responsibility to provide

equivalent evidence when the business ends. The MIF will

stay in place until this has been provided.

If the claimant reports an end to self-employment over the

phone, then a Gateway interview will need to be arranged

with the Work Coach to review this evidence.

An ending self-employment decision should not be

made unless claimants have provided sufficient

evidence that their self-employed has officially ended.

Slide 19 onwards refers to the Gateway Interview

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Show Slide 19 – Activity – Completing the ALP

Refer the participants to Handout 01 – Case study –

Maple

As the facilitator, use Handout 01FRN - Case Study –

Maple to answer questions from the learners. The

learners will be using the ALP to determine whether

Maple is GSE and if she’s subject to the MIF or in the

start-up period. The learners should use the ADM to

help them make a decision.

When the ADM is used ask the learners to make

references to the parts they use to help them come up

with a decision.

Once the activity is complete, go through the ALPS,

focusing in particular on what is written in the free text

boxes to ensure learners have provided sufficient detail.

Learners should discuss whether they have found

Maple to be GSE, in the MIF/start-up and why they have

come to the conclusion.

Maple is gainfully self-employed. She should be subject

to the MIF, as despite doing some employed work she’s

been registered as a self-employed bricklayer since

2014 and has been doing this sort of work ever since.

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Tailored Commitment in the Start-up period

More specific Commitments tailored to the business will be

needed for self-employed claimants in the start-up period.

What information could be included on the Commitment

for someone in the start-up period?


purposes. Please do not play for learners

Show Slide 20 –Commitment for the start-up period

Show Slide 21 – Quarterly Reviews

“Interviews need to be progressive/tailored and closely

monitored, with new requirements set to support progression

of earnings towards the MIF”.

This is a quote from the Universal Credit policy document.

These are the three main reasons to conduct quarterly

reviews in the start-up period.

Although the Gateway interview is important, quarterly

meetings are equally as important because they provide an

opportunity for the claimant to demonstrate how the

business is progressing towards the MIF.

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The meetings need to be progressive because they need to

help the claimant to move forward. They must also be

tailored because each business is different and one set of

rules doesn’t apply to everyone who is self-employed.

Activity needs to be closely monitored because the claimant

needs to demonstrate that they are engaging in self-

employment activity.

New requirements need to be set in order to keep the

business moving forward. Claimants should agree new

actions that will improve the business at each meeting, for

example, attending a marketing course or contacting new

suppliers to see if costs can be reduced.

Quarterly reviews are all about providing evidence of

progression of earnings towards the MIF.

Why do you think it is important for claimants to attend

quarterly interviews while in the start-up period?

It’s important because:

they help the claimant stay focused on growing their

business,

they can provide the claimant with details of

organisations that offer help and courses for self-

employed people,

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claimants are given the opportunity to discuss their

business and agree what courses of action they can

take, and

they encourage claimants to work on their business, not

just in their business.

This list is not exhaustive.

Video ‘LDO Prep 6’ is available for preparation purposes.

Please do not play for learners.

Show Slide 22 – Progression of Earnings Towards the

MIF

The graph represents the cash flow figures displayed at the

top of the slide. The example is Karen who is working as a

florist. This is what her start-up looks like.

This is a fairly typical example where the actual monthly

profit is quite different to the predicted monthly profit.

The blue line demonstrates the business initially trading

successfully but dipping below expectations in month 6. This

is partly due to the increase in MIF.

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Although the claimant should be seen regularly throughout

the start-up period, the need for a review is particularly

important in the third quarter to ensure the business stays on

track and increases its earnings for the remainder of the

start-up period.

Why do you think the MIF has increased?

The MIF can increase due to change of age, uprating of

MIF or change in availability. In this case Karen’s

availability changed, her youngest child turned 13 so

she was no longer able to restrict her availability.

Show Slide 23 – Work Coach or Business Advisor

A short video entitled Coaching or Advising highlights

the differences between coaching the claimant and

advising them about their business.

You can access the video from the Public Info folders:

Public Info\Learning & Development\UC Full

Service\Video\UCFS16 Self Employment

As a Work Coach you have to be careful not to give business

advice.

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Karen’s business earnings have dipped below expectations

in month 6 and her MIF has increased.

Earnings have not recovered by the time of her quarterly

review in month 8.

As a Work Coach, what would you suggest to the

claimant?

“what opportunities do you have to source additional

work?”

“I would like you to explore different marketing options to

help you raise your profile.”

“are there ways in which you can increase the amount of

money you’re making?”

“can we discuss the benefits of attending a 3-day

business course in the local area?”

As a Work Coach what should you avoid suggesting to

the claimant?

“I would suggest sub-contracting your services a couple

of days a week.”

“could you increase your prices?”

“please attend the business course taking place at the

local community centre next week.”

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What are the possible consequences of giving business

advice?

If a Work Coach gives business advice and the

claimants business fails then it can cause a number of

issues including:

reputational damage to DWP

legal action being taken against the Work Coach or

DWP



Show Slide 24 – Key Business Growth Areas

Most of the business topics that you discuss with the

claimant will fall into one of the following areas:

business planning

goals and objectives, values, strategies,

operations and personnel, risk and

contingencies, products/services, systems

and policies etc

All of the following areas should also be included in a

Business Plan:

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market research

methods, identifying a target market,

competitor knowledge, analysis and

differentiation, SWOT/PESTLE (Strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, threats/political,

economic, social, technological, legislative,

environmental) analysis etc

sales and marketing

sales activity, methods, advertising and

promotions, budgets, product

samples/examples etc

business finance

Personal Survival Budget, accounts, cash

flow, record-keeping, pricing strategies,

progression towards the MIF etc

All of these topics will be discussed in more depth later in

the module.

At all stages Work Coaches should consider whether any

local or national support would be appropriate. Information

should be available on the District Provision Tool.

These are the areas that should be discussed at the

quarterly reviews during the start-up period.


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Show Slide 25 – Business Planning - Market Research

There is a need to do business planning if you are self

employed.

Why?

is there a market?

is there a place in the market for me?

Market research is an important part of business planning.

It’s important to prove that the business can work. It enables

you to find out about two things - your customers and your

competitors.

What?

customers

customer profile / target market

demographics/Psychographics

Who are your customers likely to be?

What is your target market?

Where do they live?

How old are they, etc.?

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You should use statistics to prove that there are enough of

this customer group to make your business a viable option.

Demographics is statistical information is about where

potential customers live, their age, job, etc.

Psychographics concerns buying habits and the likes and

dislikes of your customers

competitors

direct and indirect

Unique Selling Point/Unique Perceived

Benefit (USP/UPB)

You need to analyse your competitors to establish who is

out there and how they differ to you. Knowledge about your

competitors is essential.

You need to consider the difference between direct and

indirect competitors. For example, if you’re a designer of

wedding stationery, your direct competition is other wedding

stationery designers. Your indirect competition is wedding

caterers, photographers, venues, dressmakers because

they’re all taking money from the same customers.

It’s essential to know about your competitors because you

can then make yourself unique.


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It’s difficult to have a USP as lots of business offer similar

service. Having a UPB makes a customer perceive you as

unique.

For example, Uber are often perceived as unique as they

offer a complete service via an app. Since Uber has such a

large share of the market, their customers see the app as

unique to Uber. However, there are a number of other

businesses that offer taxi service and payment via an app.

How?

primary and secondary methods

competitor Analysis

SWOT/PESTLE Analysis

There are primary and secondary methods of market

research. What do you think are primary methods of

market research?

Primary methods are anything you do that gives you

direct contact with the customer, for example

developing questionnaires and undertaking

questionnaires. This can also include asking around

friends and family, attaching surveymonkey.com to your

business Facebook page and mystery shopping.

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Secondary methods include research that someone else

has done, for example looking at on-line survey results,

national statistics etc.

Refer the participants to Handout 02 – Competitor

Analysis Template

Talk the learners through the template. This helps

analyse unique selling points and areas you may need

to improve. It also helps to maintain awareness of what

your competitors

SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

PESTLE – Political, Economic, Social, Technological,

Legislative, Environmental

It may be useful to write these acronyms on a piece of

flip paper.

A SWOT analysis is all about the strengths and weaknesses

of your business. For example, lots of connections in the

industry, access to cheap stock and lots of knowledge about

the product are strengths.

Weaknesses could be lack of transport, no contacts or other

commitments that affect your ability to run the business.

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Strengths and weaknesses are all about you and your

business idea.

Opportunities and threats are all about your market. What

opportunities are out there for you to take advantage of?

What is threatening your business?

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.

Opportunities and threats are external factors.

Opportunities and Threats can be broken down into

categories using the PESTLE analysis. The PESTLE

categories feed in to your SWOT analysis when looking at

opportunities and threats:

Refer the participants to Handout 03 – SWOT and

PESTLE Analysis template

Once the analysis has been completed positives are

associated with opportunity and negatives are associated

with threat. For example, Brexit may be positive for a builder

who is scared of losing business to builders from Europe.

However it could be considered a threat to a European

builder in the UK who may become uncertain about their

future and whether they’re allowed to stay.

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Ask the learners to complete the SWOT and PESTLE

analysis for a business they think they know quite well.

They can either work alone or in pairs.

They should complete the strengths and weaknesses

parts of the SWOT first, then the PESTLE analysis. Once

completed they should use the answers in the PESTLE

part to complete the Opportunities and Threats.

Ask the learners to feedback what they’ve done and any

conclusions to the group.

Allow 15 minutes to complete this activity.

All of the market research and SWOT/PESTLE analysis

enables you to then make informed business decisions

about the direction of your business.

Show Slide 26 – Customer Market Research

This is an example of the sort of customer market research

you can do. This sort of information would be useful if you

were going into a business as a child-minder in Sutton as it

tells you the number of people in Sutton with children in

relation to the national average.

Video ‘LDO Prep 8’ is available for preparation purposes.


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Show Slide 27 – Sales

This is about ways that you could improve sales. The

acknowledged ways of increasing sales are:

increasing customer numbers

increasing frequency of transactions

increasing average transaction value (ATV)

How the claimant does this is up to them. We would say to

claimants that they need to do this but how would they do it?

Go and look at competitors, etc. This is the sort of

conversation you should be having with the claimant.

Increasing ATV could be achieved by getting cheaper stock

or raising prices, for example, fast food businesses will ask

you if you would like to ‘go large’ on your order. This is an

easy way of increasing the ATV. The business has not

gained another customer but has increased the amount

received from customer, thus proving more cost effective.

Short term strategies to increase sales include:

setting Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

acting on feedback from customers

comparing earnings to MIF

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In the short term claimants can set themselves some

SMART KPIs such as:

“I aim to gather feedback on customer service and ensure it

is acted upon within a reasonable time period. “

Feedback for the business could be gathered via a

suggestion box or on-line questionnaires. For example

shops often provide a questionnaire at the till. To encourage

completion, there is often a competition associated with it to

win rewards.

While undertaking any of these strategies you should

continue comparing your earnings to the MIF. This will help

to see if the actions taken are helping to increase profits.

As well as making short term strategies self-employed

people should always be thinking about the bigger picture

and have long-term strategies in mind. These include:

growing the business

continuing market research/analysis

increasing sales and marketing activity

developing financial awareness

The claimant must consider how the business will grow long-

term. SWOT/PESTLE analysis and business planning must

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The claimant must always be looking at ways to increase

sales and marketing activity to boost profit.

Developing financial awareness is very important because

business owners need to make financial decisions based on

the money going in and coming out of their business. This

enables the claimant to make informed decisions about their

business.

Show Slide 28 – Marketing

Trade shows and exhibitions are things that all business

owners should consider attending for networking purposes.

Free publicity uses interesting and quirky stories in

newspapers to generate interest in the business. This could

be about things like charity events organised by the

business, etc.

Pay per click utilises the internet to its full advantage, above

and beyond social media and website.

Referral schemes can include recommending a friend for

incentive, discount, etc. This is a good way of generating

interest in the business and increasing your customer base.

Do subcontractors need to carry out marketing?

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Sometimes: it depends on the business.

For example, when their contract is due to end, sub-

contractors should be marketing THEMSELVES at the

appropriate time, as they are the business. A sub-

contractor may not market in the traditional way. For

example, they may be more likely to get another job by

talking to their builder friend rather than advertising on

social media. This would be considered networking.

Provision



Show Slide 29 – Provision

Animated slide – click 4 times to reveal all of the

information

The District Provision Tool (DPT) can be accessed using the

filepath: Intranet Home Page > A-Z > D > District

Provision Tools > index to all DPT’s. Ask the learners to

save this to their Favourites toolbar.

The DPT contains information about:

advice, support and business mentoring

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business workshops

links to online resources

enterprise clubs & networking

business funding

start Up Loans Company factsheet

working areas/premises

adviser Toolkit

The DPT is only as good as the information that is

available on it. Please remember to get in touch with

your local representative to update the information

available on the DPT – local initiatives in particular will

not be picked up at national level so Work Coaches

must update the information as soon as you become

aware of new provision available in your area.

DWP is seeking feedback/suggestions regarding the

development of the DPT. Any feedback or suggestions

can be made by following the link within the tool.

Show Slide 30 – Business Finance – Personal Survival

Budget

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Refer the participants to Handout 04 – Cash Flow

Learners will just need copies of the Personal Survival

Budget and Cash Flow tabs.

The personal survival budget is about personal income and

expenditure. The figures shouldn’t be guessed at. It should

be completed honestly with bank statements and receipts.

You should also consider occasional costs that don’t happen

every month such as birthdays, MOT’s etc. This is used to

determine drawings and salary requirements from the

business.

Show Slide 31 – Business Finance – Cash Flow (1)

This is the business version of the personal survival budget.

It’s a prediction of monthly business income and expenditure

for the forthcoming year.

Self-employed people need to know how much money is

going to be brought into their business. The answer is based

on the market research done, the amount of footfall

expected, seasonal fluctuations in business, costs of

materials, number of hours available to work, etc. A record

of the income generated in the past month must be made.

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Which figure or figures would count towards monthly

declared income?

Which figure or figures would need to be declared by a

director of a limited company?

The NET Cash flow and the salary they are drawing from

the business count towards monthly income.

Answer is on slide 32 highlighted in red.

Show Slide 32 – Business Finance – Cash Flow (2)

Interactive slide – click twice to reveal all of the answers

The owner salary will not need to be reported by the

director as this will be received via the RTI feed.

Show Slide 33 – Business Finance

At quarterly review meetings you must be prepared to

compare and contrast the evidence documents provided; for

example:

do the claimant’s company accounts, bank statements,

cash books etc. correspond with their monthly

declarations to DWP?

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are company directors providing evidence of any income

additional to their Real Time Earnings, and does this

correspond with their monthly declarations?

can claimants explain any anomalies in the data?

Work Coaches and case managers should look out for

round figures and be willing to question claimants about

these.

Round figures would be acceptable for forecasts of earnings

but when reporting actual earnings, round numbers would

not be expected.

Show Slide 34 – Business Finance – Evidence (1 of 2)

Here is a very good example of what evidence could be

provided by a claimant, including:

certificate of registration for VAT

certificate of incorporation

professional indemnity insurance certificate

payslips

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Do you notice anything abnormal about the payslips

provided?

The claimant didn’t get paid in September.

If a claimant hasn’t received payment then the Work Coach

should be questioning the claimant about it.

Show Slide 35 – Business Finance – Evidence (2 of 2)

Here is an example of a receipt provided as evidence by a

claimant.

What does this evidence show?

It is very difficult to use this as evidence. This is not an

acceptable piece of evidence provided by the claimant.

As a Work Coach, you should inform the claimant that

this is an unacceptable form of evidence and re-book

the meeting for them to provide additional, acceptable

evidence.

Show Slide 36 – Illustrative Example (Part 1)

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Ask Learners to consider Bianca’s Circumstance based

on the information she has provided.

What Questions could Bianca be asked in order to

identify any issues and opportunities?

This activity should take 10 minutes.

Possible questions include:

why do you think you’re not earning much money

what do you think you can do to increase turnover

what marketing activity have you carried out?

who is your competition and what are they doing?

Show Slide 37 – Illustrative Example (part 2)

Ask learners to consider the additional information

provided by Bianca. What questions could they ask her

in order to help her to identify how she could increase

her earnings?

This activity should take 10 Minutes

Bianca could be asked:

is selling English breakfast in Italian restaurant a good

idea?

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is there a customer demand for breakfast?

would she make more money by just opening in the

evening?

where in the city are you based? This helps to see if it’s

a busy area with a lot of passing foot traffic or if it’s

somewhere more out of the way that people may need

to drive to.

what are the reasons why business is slow?

have you considered doing a cost benefit analysis of

employing a waitress?

can someone else cover the waitressing role while

covering the take away?

why does the advert not mention all of the facets of the

business? It didn’t advertise breakfast or restaurant.

why offer 15% discount? What discounts are

competitors offering?

what effect has the advertisement had on the business?

are you making more or less profit?

We have now completed UCFS16A Advanced Self

Employment in UCFS. The next module will be (facilitator to

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Video ‘LDO Prep 10’ is available for prep purposes.


Module Summary

Show Slide 38 – Module Summary

If you need further help you should follow these steps:

check the ADM or Universal Learning.

consult your Self Employment Work Coach colleagues

refer to a trained Work Coach Team Leader

Stress the importance of consulting the ADM as they are

now required to make decisions in this role.

Useful resources include:

advice for Decision Making: Intranet > A-Z > A >

Advice for Decision Making > Universal Credit (UC)

Chapters > H4: Earned Income – self employed

earnings

self-employment Desk Aid & business tools: Social

intranet > Organisation > Universal Credit >

Universal Learning > Self-employment > Self-

employment Business Tools

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for general advice on business and self-employment:

https://www.gov.uk/browse/business

for local business events:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

for information about domain name ownership and

current status: https://www.whois.com/

freelance services for entrepreneurs:

https://www.fiverr.com/ or

https://www.peopleperhour.com/

for information about limited company ownership:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/comp

anies-house

Show Slide 39 – Module Summary

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https://www.gov.uk/browse/business

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

https://www.whois.com/

https://www.fiverr.com/

https://www.peopleperhour.com/

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house

Employment Work Coach Employment in UCFS

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Transcript of Employment Work Coach Employment in UCFS