Major help needed!

[Hikaru-chan]

Let me begin by saying I do not dislike my job but really don't like the way the company I work for treats it's staff (or it's customers for that matter), I've been with them for 8 years and can honestly say all that what was originally discussed in my interview in terms of promotions and a chance to progress within the company as not even remotely happened.
I've seen hundreds (I'm not even exagerating) of staff come and go and as a general rule they leave because they were treated badly or screwed over, the company adopts a bulling tactic and if they don't like you they make you time there a nightmare until eventually you leave or they set you up for gross misconduct so they have an excuse to sack you.
When my old manager left a little under two years ago (who left shortly after being set up by the company but later proven innocent), they didn't rush themselves to get a replacement, a couple of girls started but left quickly cause they either didn't like it or couldn't hack it so I've been left in charge for the vast majority of the time at no extra pay and knowing for well that I would get a permanent promotion as it's a "my face doesn't fit" scenario.
We now have a new manager who is nothing short of a bully, she talk to you like shit, has angry little outburst when she doesn't get her own way and break the rules left, right and center but get away with it by either claiming she didn't know it wasn't allowed or by flirting her way out of trouble.
A few weeks ago I was taken of shop floor by said manager and accused of several thing that I was supposed to have done wrong but hadn't (similar thing happened a few months ago with my sister, who also works there she allegedly had a bad mystery shop result that was going to result in disciplinary action but she WASNT EVEN IN on the day alleged) I guessed straight away what they were up to but didn't expect to come in a few days later and be suspended for alleged gross misconduct. I've now been off for nearly 7 weeks and have had no response from them even though I have put in a grievance with them and they are supposed to answer the grievance within 28 days, they have nothing on me the supposed "witness statements" that they have are now invalid as the two girls who provided them with it have now left, they have not got a valid thing on me and have not followed procedure but here I am sat at home, doing nothing and loosing customers in the process.

After that incident me and my sister decided we would go self employed (different type of business to what we currently work in)
but I've been looking for treatment rooms to rent for the past 7 weeks and they are none, to be honest I haven't a clue were to start looking, I can get the supplies to run a business but the most important part, the premisses are proving to be difficult.

At the beginning of this week I recieved a phone call asking me to attend an interview for a job that I've wanted for ages, I'm not gonna mention who it is but it's for a cosmetics counter who's jobs are hard to come by as no one ever leaves, only negative it's still in the department store were I'm currently situated which isn't great but I'm willing to put up with for the sake of working for such a great brand.

Now here is were I've it a little snag, my sister is fuming and at the moment is refusing to speak to me as I'm supposed to go into business with her, I do see were she's coming from and do still think if we got the right room to rent it would be a success but how long is that gonna take?
If I refuse this job (assuming my interview goes well and I get it) I could be stuck at my current job (assuming they let me back) for who knows how long more and it would only bee a matter of time before they tried to get rid of me some other way.
I'm so sad that my sister as fallen out with me over this and I'm considering not going to the interview but it's an opportunity that most people (on here at least) would jump at . If my sister was in my position I would be jumping with joy for her, it's not like we've invested any money into this business idea, just time researching.

What do you guys think I should do, I'm so stressed by all of this that I'm not sleeping properly, I'm constantly down and feel completely alone, I can't talk to my friends at work cause I'm not allowed in the building while on suspension and my mother is best kept out of it cause she siding with me and it's causing friction between her and my sister.

 

[Okami08]

I think you need to sit down and have a heart to heart with your sister about how each of you sees the business you're starting together, and how each of you thinks responsibilities will be shared and all that. You don't mention your age or whether you live with your parents or not, but unless you two have a sizable amount saved up for starting this business, buying all your supplies, paying rent, modifying the space, advertising, and on top of all that, starting your own business can be really slow going at first, which means that it might be that between the rent and your expenses each month for the business, you two might end up paying more than you make for a while. If it were me, I would consider it for the best that at least one of you have a job already so that possibly not making money from your business for a while is less of an issue. Depending on what other financial needs and obligations the two of you have, it might be better for you both to have jobs until your business is at least set up and you start reliably having a certain number of clients per month.

I don't know what business the two of you are going in to, but is it possible to do appointments at peoples' homes for the time being? It would possibly mean that you would have an easier time working around your regular job, and it would give you two a chance to start working before you find a space. It would also be give you both the opportunity to experience things before you commit to a lease, which I think always helps, because it makes it easier to tell if a space will suit your business or not. When you start a business, it's easy to think that you've got everything planned and have all the equipment and supplies you need, only to find out once you start that you didn't account for every single thing after all (and that's definitely a time when having other income helps, if you need to buy supplies).

I'm also not familiar with laws in the UK, but have you looked into becoming a limited company, insurance (to cover your business), things like that? Here in the US, I consider having an LLC essential because it separates your liability from the company's liability, which means that the vast majority of the time, if there are problems, it's only your business's assets at stake, and not your personal assets.

 

[Hikaru-chan]

Thanks for you reply.

When I say open up our own business I mean renting a room out, possibly in an hair salon so we can carry out beauty treatment (facials, waxing etc...)
It' relatively low cost cause you only have to pay rent to the shop owner and they often work on a percentage so for example, lets say we make £800 in a week then they take 20%, don't make any money and they get nothing!
We have to supply our own product and insurance but when renting a room it's not as expensive as if you were setting up your own shop.
An girl who used to work with us recently did this and she's happier than she's ever been and is making significantly more money.

We both have a little money saved and live with parents so we feel it's the best time to do this however it's proving difficult to get a room, no one seems to renting at the moment.
We would be able to go mobile as neither of us drive.

I do think we could make it work, it would be hard at first and the hours would be long (which doesn't scare us as we do the same type of hours were we work now) but t's just how long is it going to take to find somewhere? This is why I'm seriously considering this job that come up on a different counter, if I don't I might be stuck were I work for another year or more before something comes up.