Our Story

In the words of Jo...

After graduating

musical theatre college, I was eager to start auditioning, working and generally loving my 'strong, independent woman,' self-employed life. Unfortunately for me, although my technique was on pointe (more puns to come I promise), I wasn't very well prepared for whatever being self-employed actually meant. Invoicing, tax returning, where to even begin?

The tears started

when it was time for me to register as self-employed and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My mum helped me but it was stressful from start to finfish and I was convinced that I'd done it wrong and that I was going to get some sort of fine that I couldn't afford. I imagine my mum thought that a basic self-employed requirement (like how to actually register to begin with) would've be included in the 3 year training programme I'd just finished, but no such luck.

And then I was saved

by swiping a (rather handsome) chartered accountant into my life - how convenient! A certain Wicked quote springs to mind...“I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason bringing something we must learn." Too much? Cringey Musical Theatre quotes aside, we decided to create something to address the anxiety, stress and frankly hopelessness around being self-employed that I, and so many of my friends and colleagues felt. SansDrama was born.

It had two dimensions and one intention...

1. SansDrama Blog

   A free platform full of industry-specific information to help educate people in the Performing Arts with the basics of being self-employed. Personally, I'm not great with reading endlessly, so there's videos of me explaining things (apologies in advance but I had to get on camera after graduating college somehow right?) Seriously though, the option to watch or listen in instead of reading is there if you find it easier to absorb information that way.

   I'm trying not to be offended that, after recording all those videos, it's our screenshot, step-by-step guides that are our biggest hit. They walk you through each of the two main self-employed tasks; registering as self-employed and completing your self-assessment tax return (the latter comes round annually).

   There's lots of resources too from the seafarers earnings deduction calculator (for you cruise ship lovers), to our invoice template, business expense database, foreign income calculator and much more. The aim is to get everyone feeling confident and in-the-know when it comes to being self-employed and managing their business well. Blog post suggestions are welcome!

2. SansDrama Web App

   I broke the spreadsheet that James had, lovingly, made for me to record all of my income and expenses. It would've given me all of the numbers I needed to do my tax return but i didn't make it that far. It needed to be easy to use, robust enough for my simple brain and "oh wouldn't it be great if I could upload photos of my expense receipts!?" James turned a spreadsheet into an App and things started to Excel...

   

   It's now the ideal tool for self-employed performers, creatives and freelancers who work in the Performing Arts industry. Our simple, organised and paperless solution to managing your accounts well. It's easy to use, is accessible on any device with internet and costs no more than a coffee a month.

To Finish...

We're incredibly proud of what SansDrama has become and we are so grateful for that people find our site helpful (particularly when you let us know!).

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