Taking a look back to start a small business
The History
The typical day starts. I emerge before sunrise, get stuck in the rush hour traffic, my cascading pile of papers shows how much work is coming in. I do the work, while more papers pile onto my desk. I finish the day, battle to get on the train, then answer emails on my phone. I enter the house and shut the door, then turn the lights on because it has gone dark already. After realising I have not seen sunlight for over 72 hours, I sit back and look at myself and ponder for a moment. The business phrases that express 'low hanging fruits' or 'blue sky thinking' do not seem to be happening to me. I am doing my work but not how I want to do it. The company I work for can offer so much more if they adopted a different approach. I can offer more transparency, efficiency, control, support and work just as hard. There is an opportunity for me to make a change.
Its time
I felt like I had something to offer, but I was being pushed into a corner of ambivalence. A decision had to be made. I had a stable job and was earning a wage, should I continue as I was or risk everything and start my own business ?
I chose the latter. I knew it wouldn't be easy. I knew what I wanted to do and the opportunity was there. I needed to articulate this to someone else to ensure that it made sense and it was the right approach. In essence I created a business plan.
Having a business plan
Absolutely have a business plan. Even if it is your own head. Better still write it down, but at some point you will need to discuss your strategy for starting a business and how you are going to be successful with other people.
There are many guides on how to write a business plan. You must understand the business, explain the estimates of earning, talk about growth, talk about the market and explain the forecast for your journey. Most of all, the plan needs to make sense. You wouldn't see a celebrity chef opening up a fancy restaurant in the Outer Hebrides because it would not be profitable.
Planning for a new business
With any big decision in your life, there are pro's and con's. Starting a business is not for the feint-hearted and requires a lot of work. But it's like anything in life, such as building a wall, living happily ever after, or even baking a cake. Do the groundwork and get the basics right, then keep practising and it gets a lot easier.
I feared starting my own business for many reasons. The main factors were:
Financial flow
Understanding tax
Dealing with HMRC
Being fully responsible
Having to learn new skills quickly
Marketing myself
Realising I was on my own
Storing my data
I researched these points online, and after going through what seemed like endless HMRC data it finally became clear to me that it was not as difficult as I thought. I spoke to HMRC about my concerns(after spending many hours navigating around their switchboard to finally speak to a human being), and they were very helpful.
I knew I would be ultimately responsible for my own destiny, but to learn that there are business managers at most major banks who can talk to you and advise you was a great help. I sat down and talked to an accountant who was based locally, and he ran me through everything about the start-up. He explained the costs, jargon, time scales, and answered any question I had. The key thing is that people are there to help you, you are not on your own when doing this.
Finance was a major concern for me. However explaining my plan of finances for the next six months was more than acceptable to the bank. I was able to save some money to carry me through the first six months which was a huge bonus to my situation.
All hands on deck
At this point, I had decided to go for it. I had done all my research and talked to all the people I needed to collaborate with. My accountant created the company (for a small fee), but it can also be done on-line. My next tasks were to organise a bank account for the business, deploy a website and configure my email, and obtain a company mobile phone.
Now, a word of warning. In the whole world of purchasing services for a new business, it seemed like I was trapped in a vicious circle. I couldn't get a company phone that advertised as a "Business Starter Pack" because I didn't have company bank account. The bank required a company mobile phone number to set up the account. I could not use online services for a company because I had not registered for tax and I could not register for tax because I needed the company bank account.
I set up a business bank account, whilst obtaining a second mobile phone on a business account from another company by paying directly from the business account on direct debit. The weight off my shoulders, I proceeded to register for tax now that I had my bank account and company mobile (as the registration process requires this). Then I was able to deploy my on-line Microsoft services and start advertising my companies services as an IT Professional.
I then started my first contract. Then another, and another. Although creating the business was a big hurdle to overcome, I have not looked back since. The first purchase order is in a frame, remembering the journey I have taken.
Final Words
I want to continue this in another blog, as there are many other items I want to discuss here. I wanted to get the point across that starting a business is not that daunting. So long as you fully understand everything that needs to happen, and you engage with the right people then you can be successful.
Here are two points for new businesses.
1. Last year over 500,000 small business started up. This is the largest figure of new businesses in the history of the UK.
2. The Duke of Edinburgh offers business help and start-up grants to assist with your new venture.
So starting up a new business is happening all of the time. You are not alone and certainly not the first one to do it.
