You’ve got a great idea for a business, and you’re getting excited by the prospect of making it serious. But you keep thinking about a year’s time, and what the fallout could be if you haven’t set your company up correctly.
Starting a business is never easy and everyone is different. But there are some key areas you can spend your time and energy getting right so that there’ll be no doubt in the success your business will find.
In today’s post, we’ll go through some key areas that will help you to grow your business from the best of starting points.
Research
With a plethora of information at your fingertips and advice at every turn, it can be hard to know exactly where to start — especially when you don’t know much about business.
You’ll need to ask yourself questions like:
- How do I want to structure my business? Do I want to be a:
- sole trader: that means you’re running your business yourself, taking on all profits and all responsibility
- partnership: splitting responsibilities, experience, and profits with another person
- limited company: you are responsible for managing and reporting the business’s finances, but these are legally separate from your personal finances
- What’s the current market for my product or service?
- Who are my competitors and how can I stand out from them?
- Who is my ideal customer or target market demographic?
- What legal steps do I need to take in order to set up my business?
- How do I register my business?
- Do I need permits or insurance?
- What are the rules for selling goods online or abroad?
Asking yourself these big questions early on will make all the difference and give you a clear pathway for your business’s next steps. You can then start to plan your approach and set out what makes you different.
Plan
Creating a business plan is a surefire way to turn your ideas into reality. Of course, forming one that actually works is always a challenge, no matter the type of business.
But by taking the time needed to map your vision, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and through listing actionable steps to reach your goals, you’ll be starting on the right foot.
This plan should underpin all of your hopes and ambitions, and serve as a point of reference should you ever feel confused or stuck about something you’re trying to do. It’s also a good idea to communicate the broad themes and goals of your business plan across your team. Transparency will make all the difference.
We’ve got a dedicated business planning service designed for the busy modern business owner. We’ll help you map out your goals and build them into a proper plan you can use for the years to come.
Setup
Having solid foundations means you’ll be able to achieve the things you set out to, without taking unnecessary risks.
That means routine tasks like bookkeeping, tax, VAT returns, and accounts preparation all need to be done in order to make your business run well behind the scenes.
Using a cloud platform like Xero or Quickbooks is a great place to start — it will allow you to monitor and track your finances, expenses and transactions. These records will form the basis of your accounts.
And you’ll want to make sure you’ve got an accountant who can check everything through for you when it’s time to send off your return.
Invest
By spending time and money early on, creating solid systems, and building a foundation from which to do business, you’ll be setting yourself up for a successful time in business.
Hiring an accountant is a great early investment — just by outsourcing payroll or bookkeeping, you’re saving yourself time that you can spend better on other parts of your business.
We’re here to help you with your new business. For advice, bookkeeping or creating a business plan, reach out to us today.
