Behind any business is a business plan, this will help you describe your business idea, give you clarity and start to point to the starting line. You need to be ambitions but realistic set achievable goals.
These goals need to be sensible if you set the goal to low and go for a safe number you will lack the motivation to drive your business forward. If you set your target too high without steps to get there you will find your business loses its way to soon and you will become demotivated. You need to find and happy medium, a realistic goal within a framework that will challenge you but will also reward your hard work. For example, I wrote down an income figure that I’d like to aim for, and then ended up doubling it because I believed with hard work and discipline I could get there. It is not easy starting a business it takes hard work, resilience and dedication, just look at the list below for ideas!!
- Know yourself as an entrepreneur before you start
- Generating new business ideas
- Researching the validity of your ideas
- Testing your business premise in the real world
- Creating an initial business plan
- Setting up the right legal structure for your business
- Understanding your financial, accounting and tax obligations
- Protecting your business from a legal and disaster perspective (insurance)
- Creating an identity for your business including building a brand and website
- Get your business essentials sorted including setting up internet and stationary
- Funding options for starting your business including investment, grants, loans and more
- Devising initial marketing and sales strategies
- Building your initial team including recruitment, management and company culture
- Starting your business whilst keeping a full-time job
For help on starting a business plan, visit the Prince’s Trust website
What are you spending money on?
You need to keep a record from the outstart, I started simply using Microsoft Excel but there is a large a growing number of accountancy packaged that wouldn’t break the bank and will help you to plan and grow your business from the start.
Many packages allow you to take photos of your receipt and store them electronically however I have found it best to keep your paper receipts just in case.
You are not alone
When you start out running your own business it can feel like you are on a journey on your own, but you are not people have sailed the path before and there is a lot of help and support out there to guide you towards achieving your ambition. For example, I found the federation of small business of great support, but there are chambers if commerce up and down the country who are keen to help and advice. Some councils even offer one-off advice drop in points for budding business owners. The help is out there you just need to find it.
Stick to the absolute essentials
It can be very tempting when you start a business to ‘splash the cash’ and invest in offices, bespoke stationery and evening expensive swivel chairs however starting any business can be challenging. It can be easy to underestimate how difficult things can be. By starting small and becoming an expert in what you do and how to run your business allows you to keep control and expand easily.
It is said that ‘learning is what keeps you young’, always try new things to learn from your mistakes and reflect upon them and use your new knowledge to benefit and develop your business. These are key cornerstones which have allowed me to develop my business. You will make mistakes, you will have setbacks but treat all these as lessons.