START UP COSTS AND OTHER EXPENSES

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1 FAQs Arise UK THE BASICS 1. What is Homeshoring? 2. Who is Arise? 3. What are the benefits of becoming a Client Support Professional with Arise in the UK? 4. What does the work involve? 5. What is a CSP? 6. What is an IBO? 7. Are there any limitations on the type of incorporated entity I can use? 8. Are we responsible for our own taxes, or is this handled automatically? 9. How does Arise pay its IBOs? REVENUE AND HOURS 10. How much money can my IB expect to make? 11. How many hours can I service? 12. If I have booked hours and no calls come through, do I still receive revenue for that interval? 13. Am I guaranteed a certain number of hours? 14. Is it possible to take time off? 15. Do I get paid holidays/sick leave? 16. How much tax will I have to pay on my earnings? 17. Can I change my schedule at short notice? 18. Can I service calls for multiple clients? 19. Can I service outside the UK? 20. How long are the Statements Of Work with Arise? Do they vary? 21. What are the reasons for why Arise might terminate an SOW? START UP COSTS AND OTHER EXPENSES 22. Are there any start up costs involved? 23. Will there be other expenses involved once I begin? SETTING UP A LIMITED COMPANY 24. Why do I need a Limited Company? 25. How do I set up a Limited Company? 26. Do I need to set up a business bank account or can I use my personal account? THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS 27. How do I contact the Arise Admissions Department? 28. What experience do I need to become an Arise CSP before I can apply? 29. What does the Admissions process involve? 30. When and how do I get results during and after completing the Admissions process? 31. I received my disclosure back from Disclosure Scotland. What do I need to do? 32. I failed part of the Admissions process. What is my next step? 33. No certification classes are available. What should I do? 34. I have seen a class on which I would like to enrol. What next? 35. Where and when are classes held? TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 36. How do I contact Arise technical support? 37. What type of phone line do I need? 38. Do I need a headset to take calls? 1

2 THE BASICS 1. What is Homeshoring? Homeshoring is the name given to the practice of transferring service industry work out of offices and call centres to home-based workers. The New York Times described homeshoring as "a sibling of offshoring, but while offshoring uses agents in call centres based overseas, homeshoring literally keeps agents at home, where technology has enabled them to work effectively". 2. Who is Arise? Arise is the only homeshoring organisation in the United Kingdom whose business model depends on people just like you: entrepreneurial self-starters who have a desire to manage their own time and workload. Thousands of Independent Business Owners have affiliated with Arise, because we make it easy to find rewards for your hard work, service well-known brands, and balance your career with your personal life all from the convenience of your home office. Please take a look at our social media sites for more news and information What are the benefits of becoming a Client Support Professional with Arise in the UK? Once you become a Client Support Professional, you will have: The flexibility to service Arise s clients from the comfort of your own home at the times that you choose. The ability to set your own schedule in half hour increments and to plan your work around your personal life and other commitments. 4. What does the work involve? You will choose the client you wish to service. The work typically consists of taking inbound calls involving customer service. There can be an element of sales involved. 5. What is a CSP? CSP stands for Client Support Professional. What that means is an individual who has gone through the initial assessment steps and who has successfully completed the CSP101 Basic Certification programme. 6. What is an IBO? IBO stands for Independent Business Owner. An Independent Business Owner is simply a person who owns an incorporated entity (for example, a Limited Company) and operates their business through it. 7. Are there any limitations on the type of incorporated entity I can use? You must join or form a Limited Company. If you don t already own a Limited Company you can establish one through Companies House. Their website is: 2

3 8. Are we responsible for our own taxes, or is this handled automatically? As the owner of your corporation you are responsible for your own taxes. 9. How does Arise pay its IBOs? Independent Business Owners are paid Service Revenues by Arise via direct deposit into their business bank account on the 9 th of each month. If the 9 th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the funds are made available the next business day. Arise provides Independent Business Owners with a report each payment period. The report is broken down by the fees attributable to the services performed by each Client Support Professional employee of your corporation. REVENUE AND HOURS 10. How much money can my IB expect to make? Independent Business Owners receive payment from Arise UK for services rendered in any one of three ways: per call, per talked minute, or per hour. All of these methods should result in average hourly revenue of 7 to 10 per hour uncapped. Of course, revenue will vary from client to client, and some opportunities will include a bonus or incentive for achieving established targets. 11. How many hours can I service? Every opportunity will have a minimum number of hours that each CSP will be required to service per week. This will depend upon the actual needs of the client. The minimum requirement can be as low as 10 hours per week, but this will vary from client to client. Some clients may also require that a small number of hours be serviced at weekends. 12. If I have booked hours and no calls come through, do I still receive revenue? Arise manages the call volume by making intervals available to a different number of CSPs depending on the volume of calls expected for a particular interval, to ensure that all CSPs receive a high volume of calls when servicing. CSPs can expect to be on calls between 85% - 95% of the time they are logged in our system. 13. Am I guaranteed a certain number of hours? Hours are posted weekly and you will book your schedule on a first-come, first-served basis. For this reason, Arise cannot guarantee a minimum number of hours; however, CSPs do not usually have any difficulties finding the hours that they require to work. You can certify for more than one client to ensure a maximum number of hours is available to you. 14. Is it possible to take time off? While the Statement of Work (SOW) will specify the minimum weekly commitment for the programme Arise understand that on occasion, you will not be able to service due to emergencies or other commitments. You should advise us that you will not be servicing for a period of time and will not book any intervals for the period in question. Please keep in mind that as an independent contractor, the decision not to service is yours; however, failure to meet the contractual metrics may negatively affect the IBO s standing. If you are not servicing for 30 consecutive days or more, you might be required to complete the certification class again. 3

4 15. Do I get paid holidays/sick leave? Arise is not an employment opportunity. CSPs can take time off but will not receive Service Revenue for the time not servicing. 16. How much tax will I have to pay on my earnings? How much tax you pay will, of course depend on how much you earn. Unfortunately, Arise cannot offer financial advice. However, there are some great resources out there to help you with your tax questions: Can I change my schedule at short notice? You can release hours at short notice if necessary. We ask all CSPs to release hours no less than 48 hours in advance. If hours need to be released at shorter notice, this is possible, however it may affect your metrics. Additionally, we provide all CSPs with the ability to swap intervals if a successful swap occurs then there is no negative impact on your metrics. It is also possible to book extra hours at short notice. 18. Can I service calls for multiple clients? Many CSPs are certified and service the calls for multiple clients. However the CSP cannot enrol on two client certification courses at the same time and can only service one client per interval. 19. Can I service outside the UK? Arise UK offers service opportunities in the United Kingdom only. Arise UK is currently not available outside of the UK, however, the opportunity to service in another language from within the UK may become available in the future. Arise is interested in agents who can speak more than one language. Please be sure to reflect which languages you speak fluently on your profile. 20. How long are the Statements of Work with Arise? Do they vary? The standard SOW duration with Arise is 4 months and will only vary if a CSP is terminated prior to his/her SOW end date. 21. What are the reasons for why Arise might terminate an SOW? The most common reasons a SOW is terminated are not meeting the minimum SOW service level requirements. Priority Commitment is the most common reason. If a CSP does not meet this requirement for 30 days or more, then the CSP s SOW is in jeopardy. 4

5 START UP COSTS AND OTHER EXPENSES 22. Are there any start-up costs involved? There are no sign up fees payable to Arise, but as with starting any new business, there are costs involved. Agents can determine which of these costs are tax deductible by contacting a reputable accountant. Costs will vary based on the equipment you already have; assuming you already have a computer and a broadband connection, other start up costs will include: Background Check costs 25 through Disclosure Scotland CSP101 Basic Certification Course 15 Client Specific Certification Course These cost from depending on length and complexity of the certification course. Consumer Check some clients require these from CSPs to service on their programmes and the cost is 30 payable to PeopleCheck. 23. Will there be other expenses involved once I begin? Your monthly operating expenses on top of your IT and telephony will be: Arise UK Monthly Service Fee 20 this will be deducted from your monthly IBO payment prior to the direct deposit. This fee covers the use of Arise s technology systems. It is the choice of the IBO (Independent Business Owner) whether or not to pass this on to their CSPs. The Monthly Service Fee is only payable once you start servicing. If you earned less than 20 in the month, you will not be charged the service fee. 24. Why do I need a Limited Company? SETTING UP A LIMITED COMPANY The Arise model is based on a business-to-business relationship and we only contract with Limited Companies, whose owners we call Independent Business Owners. You will not be employed by Arise, but instead you will run your own company and work alongside Arise to build your own business. 25. How do I set up a Limited Company? If you already have an existing Limited Company of which you are the principal owner, you may use this to contract with Arise UK. If you don t have a Limited Company you can establish one through Companies House. Their website is: You may also set up a Limited Company by going through a company formation agent or an accountant. 26. Do I need to set up a business bank account or can I use my personal account? 5

6 If you operate under your own limited company, you will be required to set up a business bank account in the name of your limited company. Arise cannot process payments to a personal bank account. You will need to provide us with the banking details before you can be contracted. THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS 27. How do I contact the Arise Admissions Department? You may contact Admissions by sending an to AriseUKAdmissions@arise.com or call , 9AM to 6PM GMT Monday-Friday 28. What experience do I need to become an Arise CSP before I can apply? Successful agents with Arise tend to have a combination of a clear speaking manner with a self-motivated desire for good customer service. Agents also need to be PC literate. 29. What does the Admissions process involve? Your first step in becoming a Client Support Professional with Arise UK is to complete an online profile Please ensure that you have fully completed your credentials, including letting us know your How Did You Hear About Arise. We would recommend reviewing the Arise UK workstation requirements prior to beginning the Admissions process. You can find them in the following PDF document: PLEASE NOTE Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers are not compatible with the Arise systems. You should only use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 when logging in to the Arise portal Once you have completed your profile, you may begin the Admissions process. The Admissions process is comprised of: Information Session: The Information Session step contains a short presentation, which each applicant is required to view. This will ensure candidates fully understand the entire Arise process. Admissions IQ: Admissions IQ assesses your voice clarity and general telephone manner along with your technical, customer service and/or sales experience. Background Check: Arise and its clients have high integrity standards and, thus, no one can become a Client Support Professional if they are convicted, pled guilty or pled no contest to a felony or certain misdemeanour charges (such as fraud). Some clients have more stringent standards with respect to being eligible to service their particular account. Any unspent conviction reported on the background check will prevent you from proceeding with the Admissions process. Driving convictions would not generally be taken into consideration. The UK Background Check is conducted by Disclosure Scotland. 6

7 When your residential address is in the UK and you have lived there for 12 months or more, you can apply for your background check online. If you have lived at your current address for less than 12 months you will have to apply by completing a paper application form that can be downloaded from Disclosure Scotland's website. Disclosure Scotland processes 90% of background check requests within 14 calendar days and charge 25 for the service. You pay Disclosure Scotland directly using a credit or a debit card. You will need to supply Arise with a copy of this document to complete the Admissions process, however you can also temporarily move through to the next stage (CSP101) using only the Application Reference Number which is provided by Disclosure Scotland upon application. This ensures no delay in completing the Admissions process. CSP101: CSP101 Basic Certification is an online, self-paced certification programme that covers the skills and knowledge necessary for an individual to perform customer representative services from a remote location. Join the Arise Network: You may contract with Arise in one of three ways Use your existing limited company; Set up a new limited company or join an existing IBO that already contracts with Arise 30. When and how do I get results during and after completing the Admissions process? At various stages, you will receive an message informing you of your results. Please be sure to check your SPAM mail or JUNK mail folders because in many cases your ISP may mistakenly mark them as spam. 31. I received my disclosure back from Disclosure Scotland. What do I need to do? Please scan it and to AriseUKAdmissions@arise.com 32. I failed part of the Admissions process. What is my next step? If you wish to reapply, you will need to wait 90 days before your account can be reset. Once the 90 day period has elapsed, please contact us to request for your account to be reset. Please note your account cannot be reset before this period has elapsed and you should not create a new profile in the meantime. We allow you TWO attempts to successfully complete Admissions IQ. 33. No certification classes are available. What should I do? Client Certification Classes are announced based on the business need of our clients. CSPs who have completed the Admissions process will be notified of new classes by and in the Arise portal. 34. I have seen a class on which I would like to enrol. What next? 7

8 Once a Client Certification Class is announced that you would like to attend, you will need to successfully complete Enrolment IQ and secure your place by paying the course fee. The course fee will vary depending on both the client and the complexity of the certification class. 35. Where and when are classes held? All Certification Classes are held online in a virtual classroom with a combined approach of instructor led and self-paced curriculum. You will attend from home and the opportunity announcement will specify when the classes are held. Full attendance is required for the duration of the class if you miss a class, you will be dropped from it and will need to re-enrol in a subsequent class; you will also be required to pay again as your dropping out will have prevented another candidate from attending the class. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS 36. How do I contact Arise technical support? When you are logged in the portal, click on Contact Support at the top of the screen, and select Live Tech Support Chat. Technical support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 37. What type of phone line do I need? To service clients, you are required to use a standard analogue phone line similar to those provided by BT, Virgin and SKY. If you do not use your existing telephone line for personal use during your working hours, you can make it your dedicated telephone line. The telephone line should have no functionality such as Call Waiting, Voice Mail, or Caller ID. VoIP/Mobile phone lines are not suitable for servicing Arise clients and are therefore prohibited. 38. Do I need a headset to take calls? Yes. You will need 2 headsets. A VoIP headset for client certification classes and a Telephone Headset to service the calls hands free. You do not need to use a specific brand, but we recommend using a good quality brand such as Logitech, Plantronics, Sennheiser or Creative headsets. 8