Along with buying a property, getting married and achieving a master’s degree, starting up your own business is a great achievement. It’s something that takes plenty of time, hard work and dedication, but when it’s running successfully brings with it plenty of rewards! – No longer will you need to ask for a holiday, no longer will you need to ask for a pay rise and no longer will you need to request sickness days off.
When starting, it will be a big journey, you’ll have plenty of ups and plenty of downs, both of which will bring many lessons along the way. The sooner you start planning your business before launch, the greater the chance of success and the less stress you will put on yourself (although, unfortunately, launching is always a stress, because you will care so much for your new venture).
From choosing the software to support your business, to deciding on your accounts package and whether you will need employees, below we have put together our guide on seven things to consider when starting up your own business.
Writing a business plan
One crucial part of starting up a business is putting a business plan together. Business plans help you think about all the aspects of your business. You will need to answer questions on your objectives, your marketing, your strategies, your sales and more. By answering them, you will know more in depth about your route to success and it will get you thinking about things you may not have thought of. If down the line you require funding or finance from banks, there is a good chance that they will ask for you to provide your business plan as part of their procedures. With a quick Google, you’ll see a whole myriad of business plan templates that you can use to get you started.
Budgeting for your business
Another essential part of a successful business is having a good budgeting plan in place. In the early stages of putting your business together, you want to start putting together a budget for all the costs you think will occur. Budget for your website costs, your marketing costs, the costs to employ people, any rent for properties, debt repayment and more. The more time you spend on your business, the more other costs will have to be added to your budget, which is why you always want to stay on top of it. By having a budget, you will also be able to spot areas where you may be able to save costs. For example, if you require a transport team, a commercial fuel card might be worth getting, there are many benefits of a commercial fuel card
Getting your website setup
Every successful business needs a website, no matter the type of business you will be operating – whether a marketing firm, a building company or an online blog, (like a cocktail blog). A good website will help you promote your business to new customers as well as connect to your old and current customers to remind them you are still trading. A website also promotes trust, allows you to expand and it’s very convenient for consumers. In today’s world, getting a website created is very easy. You can hire a freelancer to build one for you, or an agency or if you are creative and feel confident, you could give it a go yourself. There are many drag-and-drop builders that you can use that are very user-friendly.
Purchasing insurance products
Insurance products are a must as a business owner! They cover you for a whole range of situations that may arise, that can be costly. Depending on your business will decide the type of insurance products you will need, a few which might be a consideration are: office insurance, product liability insurance, public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, crime insurance and cyber insurance, amongst many others. When getting quotes for insurance products, make sure you get multiple ones from different companies, prices can differ hugely. It goes without saying, always read the small print and terms & conditions to see what you are covered for.
Signing up for social media channels
In today’s world, social media can make a huge difference in whether your business will survive or not! Just like your website, social media allows you to reach new customers as well as reach your old and current ones. Social media is also very important for showing credibility and growing your company – a lot of businesses can rely solely on social media as part of their largest revenue income. What social media channels should you sign up for? This depends on the type of content you are going to create. Different channels are better for different content, for example, TikTok is great for short-form videos, whereas YouTube is better for long-form videos. X (formerly known as Twitter) is often used to voice opinions and Facebook is a good combination of the above channels. Other social media networks that you may have heard of are Linked In, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitch!
Employing people
Are you in need of employees to run your business? And if so, do you know how many you are going to need? Employees come with a heavy initial cost attached to them as often they are salaried, which means a monthly payment to them – the aim is for them to bring in more than their salary, however, this can take time when launching as you don’t often make profit in the first few months of trading. When looking for employees, there are a number of routes you can go down. You can recruit using job boards, discover candidates through social media or you may turn to recruitment firms (these have hire costs attached to them). If you haven’t got the budget to employ staff members, but still need support, it may be worth looking into freelancers to help you. Freelancers are great as you only pay them as and when you use them.
Choosing the software to support your business
You’ll be amazed at the amount of software subscriptions that you will need to run your business. There are so many different products that will support all aspects of your company. You’ll need a monthly email subscription, most companies use a CRM system to keep track of their interactions with customers and your website might need some software, such as a CDN or a Caching solution and hosting. You’ll need a phone line and you’ll need marketing packages for your email and content strategies – the list keeps going! If you know any business owners, we would recommend reaching out to them and seeing if they can provide you with a list of the software they use. This can help hugely with your budgeting.
Summary
Starting your own business is a journey and one that will be full of adventure. You’ll have your exciting moments as well as your stressful period, but with determination and belief, you can always succeed. The above seven points should give you some insights into a variety of considerations that you should know of before starting your own business. With a quick Google online, you’ll find a myriad of additional points for you to read and learn about. For example, tips on planning planning a career change.
Are you starting up a new business and what will your business be about? Which of the above tips on starting up your own business did you find most useful? Are there any tips that you think we should be adding to the above guide? Let us know in the comment box below, we would love to hear from you.
