"I have just completed formulating the Kentucky Fried Chicken flavour and have produced a breading mixture for people to be able to recreate that flavour right in their own kitchen."

Well, the first thing that strikes me is legal issues - even before you get to structuring your business. I assume you have got legal advice on this, but I would have thought that KFC had at least their name protected, let alone the actual mixture.

"I have media waiting to conduct an interview for an article, and I have interest from The Mad Butcher. However i am also guaranteeing a percentage of every sale to 4 local community organisations that help where help is needed, and I would like to make this an opportunity that others can participate in to make some extra capital."

I assume by capital you just mean money - as an accountant capital generally means the basic funds of a company.

"Of course this would also raise funds for the company by selling localised area distributorships, but generally speaking it would enable others to look after their local area, making a profit from each sale. A micro business network of sorts."

So now we're down to the basics. There are no rules for this. For example, I don't know about KFC itself, but MacDonalds is a business using a full franchise system - where they specify every aspect of how branches run. Other franchises are less prescriptive - and therefore the quality of the service more variable.

One of the things that makes MacDonalds so popular is it's the same pretty much anywhere in the world - although with national variations. This makes the business more dependent on franchisees being committed to the same standards and ways of working. In turn this means the franchisor puts considerable effort into their systems. Other franchisors are more hand off - so the business is more dependent on the franchisee - and presumably the franchise fees are lower.

A quick google seach will lead you to various sources of info on franchises. Of course you can create a network without creating a formal franchise - but I'm not sure there's much difference (as you can tell I'm not a legal advisor) and many of the issues you face will have been faced by others.

The more control you want over how the individuals represent your business, the more work you need to do to ensure things in the agreement are specified in full. For example If you have four organisatons you want supported, I assume you would want your distributors to support. Even if you pay them out of your franchise fees, you'll want to support them through your distributors.

I hope this is a little help and at least points you in a direction that gets you more detailed help.

Now that I've seen the detailed question (we only see the one line question unless we "take" it) I'm not sure I can help much - but then again I'm not sure if anyone else would be better positioned, so I decided to have a go anyway. Hopefully anyone with more detailed info will be able to join in.

When you say you want market analysis on freelance graphic design in CH, that's very specific. And as it's not a specific area I know about, I'm not quite sure exactly what you want. But I'm assuming (always a risk but these days quite common) your work is largely computer based?

The reason I wonder about this is your specifc requirement for Christchurch. I have a client / friend near Wellington who used to publish printed material - but now extends to web sites, etc. Among his clientelle is a national Christian organisation with the main contact (another friend of mine) in Chistchurch. I mention this to show that geography may be less of a factor than you think. It all depends on exactly what you are looking for.

The other aspect that intrigues me is "Christian organisations". That's quite ambiguous to me. I should say that I'm quite ambiguous to a lot of Christians - I'm part of the simple church movement - which tends to make "normal" church people think of me strangely. Also a business experience, involving a Christian who didn't behave like one, and a non-Christian who did, made me rethink my previously fairly conventional views.

So when you say you want to market yourself toward Christian organisations, the first question that comes to my mind is what do you mean by that? Are you thinking of churches and other Christian organisations? Or are you thinking of any organisation which tries to follow kingdom principles in all they do?

As you can see, this may not be the specific advise you are seeking - but in our business model, the very top of the structure is vision. Now this word is much bandied about, but in essence what I mean is a short (2-3 sentences) statement of what your business is about.

One client did this - a husband and wife team. They identified it as one of ten steps they needed to do as high priorities. Wife had it no 1, Husband had it no 10. They ended up with it at no 3. And when the time came, the husband gave me a "vision statement". As paying clients I had to be polite but it was trite and meaningless. After discussion he agreed to have another go.

The next meeting was amazing - it was like a rocket had been lit. Not only did he have a real vision statement that said it all about their business - but he had suddenly seen what his wife and I had been trying to say about a part of their business. It wasn't working. We could have scrapped it - but he did an alternative and reworked it so it did fit their vision - and then it made money.

Vision is too often thought of as something vague and wishy washy. As that is the top of the hierarchy of organisational parts, that is why most businesses (and I include non-commercial operations in that) fail to really fire. I suggest that if you are about to start marketing yourself, you need to work out exactly what it is you do - what makes it unique in a clearly understandable way - and then your marketing efforts will be more focussed.

I hope some of this helps - and that others with more specific advice might help you.

This is always a tricky question as rules and regulations vary from one council to another - and then the interpretation of these can vary from one person to another too.

None of our experts is qualified to give you a definitive answer because of this. What follows is not advice for your specific situation, but some general observations which may be of some assistance in reaching your decision. 

Generally, councils don't want businesses operating from a residential neighbourhood if they are going to be a nuisance or create a hazard. Issues which are likely to be of specific importance in this regard include things like traffic volumes, parking being taken up, noise, smell, hygiene, waste generation, clutter, creation of an eyesore, emmissions, etc. In some industries, e.g. food, health, massage or tattooing and body piercing, there are also stringent industry regulations, in addition to council bylaws, that determine if and how your business can operate from home. It seems a second-hand shop could definitely generate some issues, but you may have ideas on how these can be managed. There is a saying that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission - but you don't want to risk fines or other legal issues, so it is worth doing your homework (and documenting it, even if just in emails with the council). All the best for your business venture! 

Hi Mark

We certainly can't help you with a lead broker or promoting your services here, but in terms of advice regarding getting a network marketing business off the ground, there is little difference between that and a traditional business - lots of hard work!

If you have a good upline, they will train you well and their advice will be invaluable. Even traditional businesses can learn a lot about marketing from good network marketers. It's all about building relationships and solving people's proble.

Good luck with your new venture!

Well, this is a good place to start. And those who know me will know that I'm going to recommend that you read the classic "The E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. That discusses some of the major issues faced by small business owners in a very readable format. And it's old enough that E does nor stand for electronic.

In terms of next steps, I suggest you need to think quite widely. No matter how small a business may be, it faces the same broad issues as larger ones. And if you just focus on immediate issues, others are likely to come up in major mays at the worst times.

So for example as a first step I'd encourage you to think about a vision. That's only 2-3 sentences that say what you're about - and prefereably includes what is special about it. That might seem woolly and unnecessary - but if you do it right, it will help with many other decisions you'll face. It really helps develop a clear focus.

As for other stuff, there are a few places that provide help in some form. These include govenment web sites (such as IRD, business.govt.nz, WINZ, etc) and private web sites. It's probably helpful to think about each operational area of the business - goods and services, marketing and sales, people (even while it may only be you, you have different roles, and need different advisors), systems and processes, and finance. They're all areas which you need to manage.

One of the reasons I mentioned WINZ is that you may be able to get some help from them - they do provide help to get back to work. Of course they're not experts at business - so you will need to work closely with a range of people - and some of these may cost.

There are also business mentors - I'm thinking particularly of a group I've heard advertise which charges only $100 as a registration fee. I'm not sure how useful they are - especially to newbies. I've come across people whose advice I regard as worse than useless - so be careful with any advisors - sadly not all advice is sound.

Finally specific areas I would recommend to newbies getting started in business include checking for special regulations for your industry (and you may want legal advice on some issues), record keeping (I'm a chartered accountant so my advice can be seen as biased, but you need good records from the start), and even the format of the business (sole trader, company, etc). of course you'll also need good banking facilities - including at least a separate bank account for the business.

And you really want to think long and hard about even something as basic as a name. I suggest you might want to check not only that a name is available as a company name, but also a domain name, and maybe even a trademark.

This list should keep you going for a day or two - but it's by no means complete or comprehensive. So feel free to ask more questions - either here or in the forums.

Hi Charles

"I have been preparing to set up and register a business"

I'm a little unclear as to what you mean have been doing to date. One of the first things to do is to sort out what form / forms you want the business(es) to take. This has implications as to how the businesses are taxed, and other issues. So this requires some thought and a greater understanding of you and your goals. If you start off as a sole trader (the default) you can change at a later date - that's what many do - but there are issues - even such as trading names.

"1. Can you please tell me what are the fees that I have to pay in order to keep the business running(apart from tax/GST)? Do I have to have a certain amount of cashflow to keep the business running?"

You don't need to have any specific cashflow - especially while a business is getting started. But if it never generates a profit, there will come the question: is this a business or a hobby?

You mention GST, and you mention that the business includes property management and vehicle repair. First there's the general rule that you don't have to register for GST until your turnover exceeds $60K (per year). Usually it's best to register unless your clients are not registered. Then it requires working out with more care. However, in this case there's an added complication. I'm unsure what this side of the business will be doing, and for whom, but it may or may not be subject to GST.

"2. I'm also looking into starting a business which will include property management and vehicle repair. What I need to know is can those two all be put under one business name or do they need to be under separate businesses?"

If a property is rented for normal rental accommodation, then it's own cannot be registered for GST, and GST cannot be charged or claimed. If this business includes that, then you need to separate out the GST business from the non-GST business. While you can run both in your own name, you have to keep the records of both separate. It may be that keeping them as separate entities is a good idea.

"Business name" can be a complex issue. The legal name and the trading name are two different things. Generally you can use any trading name (subject to a few niceties such as avoiding trademarked or otherwise protected names) so you could operate both entities under separate trading names, even if both are legally operated by the same entity.

So there are a number of inter-related issues here which require further consideration. You can ask further questions here - but you may want to bite the bullet and use a Chartered Accountant to help you resolve these and other issues. For example you haven't mentioned accounting (and tax) systems - it pays to have these in place before commencing business. If you are still sorting out these while establishing your business, that is problematic - you need to keep good records from day one. And if this is your first business, you want to know about the possble tax savings available in the first year by paying possible "provisional" tax.

And of course you may want to think about other advisors also such as insurance. You're undertaking a big effort - even though you may be the only person in the business, you face many of the issues larger business face - which is why you might benefit from using people with different experience and outlooks on life. One book I always recommend to people in business - and especially to newbies - is "The E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber.

Hi there

You don't say what your work is, so I assume as mentioned in a recent discussion there are no special requirements (e.g. hygiene, hazardous materials, etc). And as far as the rental property is concerned, I assume you are not doing anything which might affect the insurance of the landlord. I also assume you don't have clients coming to your home office - if you did there might be a few extra worries - from OSH to parking.

As you can see, all of that assumes plenty - and I hope I'm not making an ASS out of U and ME. But given all of that (assuming there's nothing special about your work), then there are no particular rules / regs you need to be aware of.

Hope that helps

Hi there

I am a small business fan - some might even say nut. However I have to point out that it can be hard work - and quite nerve-wracking at times. So I wish you well in your endeavours.

In terms of registering, you can simply submit your data for the tax year. Nothing too complex there. However, that's a bare minimum. There are all sorts of issues you might want to do - and in fact I recommend you do.

I generally recommend most people starting a business do so as a company. However in this case while you're testing the waters, it's probably not a good idea at this stage. So I'll assume your doing this in your own name - which means there's no "registration" process to go through.

Another issue is GST. While you can work without being registered, there are some advantages. I suspect in your case your customers are private people - not GST registered businesses. In this case it is generally NOT in your interest to be registered - so this is probably only an issue if your business grows.

It's much easier if you keep a separate bank account for business activities. That simplifies life no end - you don't need to separate out transactions to be accounted for. This applies whether you do it all yourself, or use an accountant.

I also recommend an accounting system. Of course it has to be used properly, and kept up to date, but it does simplfy things. I don't recommend cashbooks - or overseas-based products - but a good local product is only a little bit more (perhaps $300 or so). If kept poorly it's a waste of time, but if kept properly it will produce meaningful accounting info. An alternative is to use BankLink - but again it has to be used properly or it's a waste of time.

Then it's just a question of knowing which transactions are business and which are private. Generally this is fairly obvious - although there are some that have specific rules around them. An obvious one is the use of a private motor vehicle. It's too complex to deal with in detail here - but you need to keep a record of distance travelled privately and for work, as well as ALL costs.

Then there is the use of a home phone - and even a home office. These two can be done at year-end, so that's not a major issue.

As I've said before there's a lot of info needed to get things right - I include three links that might help. But personally (and I'm a chartered accountant so might be accused of being biased) I recommend having a chartered accountant on your team. Given your business might still not be able to sustain the cost you're in a difficult position - but not using one can lead to more risks and higher costs.

www.business.govt.nz/starting-up

www.ird.govt.nz/yoursituation-bus/starting

www.businessmentors.org.nz

So I hope this at least provides you with a starting point. over the years there's been a fair bit a advice, etc available here - so feel free to ask more questions as they arise.

Phil Astley - www.businessacademy.co.nz

That's a really good question - and one which it's not possible to answer categorically, though we can give you some guidance which hopefully will get you started in the right direction.

Regulations regarding home businesses vary between councils. They are usually set out in the district plan so asking your council for a copy of this document is often a good starting point. It's not always easy to wade through and council officials will sometimes help with giving you a verbal summary or some pointers.

The kinds of businesses which are usually forbidden or discouraged in residential areas are those which create significant additional traffic in the form of customers or deliveries/couriers, attract undesirable elements, create nuisance through noise, dust, smoke, smell, rubbish generation or use of toxic or dangerous chemicals. If your business is going to create an eyesore - for example working on wrecked cars in your backyard - you may also run into problems, as you would if your business is somehow detrimental to health or the environment or generates undesirable waste products. Restrictions also usually apply which govern both size and placement of business signage.

Apart from council regulations, you need to be mindful of industry and other regulations which might affect your business - for instance, you will almost certainly need to arrange to use a commercial kitchen if you plan to offer food products for sale. And, of course, whatever activity you plan on needs to be legal.

We hope this helps to highlight some of the issues you need to be mindful of and give you an idea of where to start your search for detailed information. It is very definitely just scratching the surface and you will need to investigate further with regard to your own situation. We wish you great success with your business!

The first question depends on your business. If your customers are GST registered, then simply adding GST to the sales price is fairly simple and costs no-one. If you're customers are private, then adding GST to your price will mean they are paying 15% more - or you may keep the same price and get 15% less. And of course many people do both - up the prices a little and wear the GST cost.

The other side if the equation is your costs. If you have a lot of costs (but not interest and wages) then being GST registered lets you claim the GST.

And there is another point to bear in mind. I always encourage people to begin with the end in mind. If you're likely to be changing to include GST at some stage, you have to think through the issues associated with that change. In particular what effect will it have when the time comes?

The second question is also interesting - and has three parts to it. The first is how are you going to do your accounts and tax returns? If you're going to use an accountant, then you should probably choose them first. Many accountants prefer a particular vendor. Now MYOB is often the preferred vendor with many accountants for various reasons - but it may not be the best program for your situation. As well as accounting there's the question of ongoing support. If you can do it yourself, you may want to pay extra for access to support. OTOH your accountant may well include support.

Second, which vendor.you prefer depends on a variety of factors. The one I used to recommend (and still use for my own companies) is now just one of four I recommend. Since you asked about MYOB I will say that's always been low on my recommendations for one reason above all else. At year end you lose the old year's data. This has improved over time - but it's still an issue. The other three on my list - MoneyWorks, QuickBooks and Xero all don't really have a year-end procedure.

Third which level of the program do you want. The normal programs are great - but can cost around $800. Smaller cheaper versions can cost around $300 and may do all you want.

Note: you have to be careful here. For example QuickBooks has a smaller sister called Quicken. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about cheaper versions of the main program (in this case QuickBooks) which have some features disabled. Don't get caught - Quicken can be adequate but is really designed for private use - a bit like MS Money. But lower versions of QuickBooks (and the others) can be cheaper and still meet your needs.

Have fun sorting it all out.

That's a bit of a broad question - but a good one as it can be quite intimidating starting up from scratch, and once you have clients on board they can refer more business, etc.

The best strategy is to "fish where the fish are". In other words, your most effective use of time and money is to direct your efforts where you will find concentrations of your ideal potential clients.

You will probably need to leverage your network of friends and associates, attend business networking functions, and advertise your services through fliers, letterbox drops and/or your local newspaper or a targeted publication or web site your ideal clients are likely to read or visit. Alliances with other service providers (e.g. accountants tired of handling clients' messy books), can be very effective.

Your first task will be to work out who your potential clients are - businesses, associations, individuals? What size of organisation? Where will they be located? What functions do they attend? Who is already talking to them?

Direct mail and even the dreaded cold calling may also have their place in your strategy. There are plenty of articles on this site which will give you more detail about both of these techniques. Done well, they can be very effective - but a lot of people spend a lot of time without getting results because they are not following the process properly.

When you start building up a client list, leverage it. Ask for referrals, there is no better salesperson for you than a happy existing client.

There's no restriction on who you can borrow from. But there are some catches you need to be aware of.

First, loan payments aren't deductible - only the interest is. The cost of the vehicle covered by the loan is of course depreciable. Of course this is one of the areas under review - probably to be changed by 1 April. If it's also used for private use, you have to adjust for this - and that's what's being reviewed - esp the GST treatment. I won't go into that level of detail here - it's a who lot of detail of it's own.

The loan can take two forms. With H/P you add the interest up front, and write it off over the term of the loan. It's not as simple as spreading it evenly - interest is more up front, and less at the end.

The other form (a loan / mortgage) interest get's added as you go. So the loan balance is only ever the principal - plus the current interest which is normall paid each month.

But you have to watch this last option. If you add it to your mortgage, it may well be repayable over a long term. If that is longer than the asset's useful life to the business, then it's probably not deductible once the asset has expired / been sold, etc. It's all to do with the basis of deducting interest as an expense - this changed a while ago for companies - but not sole traders - so please be careful.

Hopefully this will have covered most of the issues involved in financing a car - haven't covered other issues - like insuring it as a business vehicle.

Well, if ever there was an open-ended question this may be it. And there is so much missing information - all sorts of possibilities are running through my mind.

For example, who is paying? If it's students and their families then they're probably very price sensitive. If it's a funded agency they're also price sensitve - and you have two clients to satisfy.

If you can take the risk instead of leaving it with the client, you may be experience a higher take up. So it may be more successful if you could charge on another basis. Of course that means you have to sell something other than units of time. One thing that is sure is that you will want to reduce your risk. The last thing you want is to charge say $100 and then spend four hours providing the service.

That's where the details of the service and who's paying are important. For example, if you provide a weekly meeting, do they have "homework" to do? That way you may develop the exercises once, and charge each time for it - thus breaking the link between time and cost. Alternatively, you may deal with each student individually - therefore making such an exercise more difficult.

There are many aspects to pricing - whole books have been written about it. Ulimately though, to charge more you need to be perceived as providing more value. And this comes back to what your service really offers.

Another aspect that intrigues me is the national aspect. If you're going to provide this service nationally, it seems to me there are three possibilities. You coud do this with technology. You could do it with travel. Or you could do it with employees / contractors / franchisees. Each of these has it's own challenges that need to be factored in and affect pricing - as well as the service provided. Given I don't even know who the "we" is who created this programme, we can't really get into detail.

But having been through some of the issues concerned, I still feel as though I haven't scratched your itch - mainly because I don't really have any understanding of what and how you are providing.

One thing I could suggest is you may want to talk with your accountant. Of course most accountants are still in the school of hourly charges - so how much value they can provide may be limited. If you know of a marketing advisor who understands pricing (another big question) you may be able to get their advice.

Ulitmately it all depends on how you define the value of your service and how the customers perceive that. I've probably raised more questions than answers, but I hope you can glean some ideas from this.

You are not alone! Many business owners find they are good with product or service development but not the marketing side of things. It can be a good idea to split off this function and bring in someone else to handle it - but bringing in a business partner can also be risky. Like marriage, a business partnership can hit some roadbumps, and getting out can be emotionally draining, time-consuming and expensive. Think through the options and get legal advice before undertaking such a big step.

There are alternatives, though. Perhaps there is a distributor who carries a line of complementary products who is already seeing relevant buyers? Could they sell your product too? Will they take it non-exclusively or can you limit exclusivity so you can still sell directly to other areas/outlets?

Can you bring in a part- or even full-time contractor or employee to do this? Or if you can outsource it to another business which does marketing for clients you can side-step the issues of employment contracts and relationships. There are businesses offering a range of marketing services. There is a distinction between marketing and sales - be clear on which you want (or maybe both).

It may not be necessary for your marketer to be somewhere where you can meet up. These days you can connect quite easily with others on-line, though it could be nice to get to know them face-to-face and depending on what they are doing for you, it can be desirable.

All in all, don't give away too much (e.g. exclusivity, or part of your business) without setting agreed performance targets and giving yourself an "out" if these are not reached. And do incentivise and reward sales which are at the top end or over and above target. Get legal advice if you are committing to anything long-term (including bringing in a business partner).

Good luck with your marketing!

It can take time to get good traffic to any web site, especially if the domain is new, as Google won't index brand new sites for a while - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make a start. When you do get into Google's index, you'll have a head start - and besides, much traffic can come from elsewhere.

The first thing to cover off in getting traffic to your site is good design (see the search engine optimisation articles and discussion on this site). We'll assume you already have this.

Then it's a case of doing lots of small things regularly, rather than one big thing. Getting other sites to link to you is very valuable, especially if they are relevant and have a good Google ranking. Leaving a question, such as the one you have here, and including your URL, is a great starting point. Perhaps you already knew that and it's why you did it. Commenting on articles, posting in forums, contributing articles, creating blogs and profiles, etc., all of which include links to your site, are very useful too - not only on Bizbuzz but other relevant sites. Also approach others in your industry and see if they will agree to reciprocal links - not competitors, so much as suppliers or related service providers, or outlets through which you market your products.

Don't forget basic things either, like including your web address on your business cards, letterhead, email signature and any promotional material.

Google ads can be reasonably priced too, though it does depend on your industry and whether you can find relevant keywords for which there is not too much demand.

With regard to your offline marketing, your money will be best spent if you can target your prospects rather than take a shot-gun approach. Is there a magazine which they are likely to read? This is likely to prove better than a newspaper with broad, but not very specific, appeal. You might even find a web site or email newsletter which is small, but targetted, which can get good bang for your buck. Unfortunately it's a case of trial and error - test with a small budget, track results to work out what gets the best returns, and spend your money where you know you get results.

If you are really strapped for cash, go through some of the marketing articles on this site. You may be able to team up with another business to market to each other's databases (include their fliers to yours and vice versa), and word of mouth marketing can be excellent if you know how to leverage your networks to get referrals without being the person everyone avoids at events! You might like to talk to your local chapter of BNI (www.bni.co.nz).

One way people offering services such as yourself reach a number of prospects at the same time is to offer seminars or workshops on a relevant topic. This needs to be high value for attendees, giving them an insight into what can be achieved through, in your case, a good assessment of their insurance needs and finding suitable cover. Pitch the seminar to the kind of audience you want, for instance, assessing and mitigating business risks if you are targeting business owners. Prompt attendees to bring a friend, and ask them to refer friends to your next one.

Another way would be a letter-box drop with a quick and effective checklist which a home owner might go through, with a call to action at the end.

These are just a couple of suggestions but hopefully they will get you thinking along the right track.

Hi there. Usually the best way to market a service business such as yours would not just be one way. Word of mouth is usually cost-effective and referrals can bring in the best quality business leads - so get out there and network!

That alone is usually not enough for a startup, so add to it strategies which target your market rather than adopting a shotgun approach. Fliers dropped to local businesses, dropping and and talking to business owners in a specific area, and even getting some accountants on-side (who after all know which clients need your help and you will be making their job easier and cheaper for the client) could all be good.

Don't get disheartened. It takes time to build a client base but they can become your own best advocates. Let them know you appreciate referrals and make it easy for them to pass on your details.

Wishing you well with your business!

We actually agree with your friend that the best solution is not to advertise your home address. Apart from security, which can definitely be a concern, have you thought about the possibility of customers turning up on your doorstep uninvited, and possibly outside business hours?

While we believe home-based businesses have gained in credibility over the past decade or so, there is still some way to go and, depending on the industry you are working in, it may be a drawback.

If you feel the cost of a PO box is not warranted (and for the sake of your branding, it may actually be worthwhile), there are other services offering mail solutions or perhaps you can share with another home-based business?

Well, first a disclaimer - I'm not a lawyer - I suspect you need to talk to one of them. Just be aware that lawyers can have different opinions - even on trusts. I have a trust and sought out some legal advice on it - including trustee options. As well a lot of clients have trusts - for people in business my POV is you should have a good reason not to have a trust to protect your assets, etc.

As for specific answers to your query - you haven't really provided a lot of detail - e.g. why you have a trust, and what other factors may be relevant.

It seems there are three general options for trustees: one person, a team, or a company. I personally favoured the latter - but when I talked with my lawyer, he gave me some reasons why that wasn't necessarily the best for me. I still have my doubts - but eventually accepted his advice. Sadly I cannot remember now the detailed reasoning.

As far as one person vs a team is concerned, I know one lawyer who argues quite well that one person can do the job. However, knowing how many trusts are run, I am convinced that not having an independent trustee is asking for trouble. Having the same person as trustee, settlor and beneficiary is (IMNSHO) asking for the trust to be challenged.

So I feel a company as trustee could be worthwhile - but you need detailed legal advice on the implications for you. Sorry this isn't a black and white answer - but obviously you think there's a benefit to having a trust - so making sure it can't be ruled a sham is surely worthwhile.