The earliest stages of creating and building your new business are guaranteed to be some of the most thrilling, nerve-wracking times you’ll experience during the life of your enterprise. There are few things which will match your early successes; watching your ideas come to life before your eyes, overcome obstacles and ultimately succeed.
Equally, few things will frustrate you more – some days you’ll feel like you’re trying to break-out, but every time you scale one wall, another rises up before, stopping you from moving forwards. Here are a few things that every start-up should know in order to sweep those obstacles from their path.
–People won’t want to give you money
Some businesses are considered to be better risks than others. If you’re trying to start a retail or service enterprise then you’re particularly likely to struggle, as financial institutions are notoriously reluctant to fund such enterprise. This means a loan is unlikely to be forthcoming. Although there are business grants available, start-ups are ineligible for most of them.
However, if your start-up is suitable, you may be eligible for a government-backed support scheme. This will provide you with some initial funding to test and develop your business idea. Gov.uk has a finance finder tool to help you discover the schemes you’re eligible for.
–Don’t give up your day job just yet
The chances of your start-up turning into an overnight hit are minimal. It is often the case that business owners don’t make enough money to cover their personal bills for the first year or so after launching their enterprise.
Keep your day job until you’re savings are high enough to cover at least six months of bills and mortgage repayments. Even if your business is a roaring victory from the get-go, your savings will act as a buffer, allowing you to plunge all of your profits back into your business so that you can make it an even greater success.
–Plan first
You might be enticed by the spontaneity that running your own business will afford you, but try to be sensible for a little longer. A seat of the pants approach is a disastrous way to start a business. Even the best laid plans can go awry, so just haphazardly deciding to do this or that is a recipe for disaster.
There are a lot of things you need to do before you can successfully launch your enterprise, so write a well-thought out, well-researched business plan to ensure that you don’t forget any of them. Don’t skip steps/items because they seem tedious. A little elbow grease now will pay well in the long-run.
–You need much more than a good idea
A prime example is Nikola Tesla, whose most famous inventions include fluorescent lighting, the Tesla induction motor and the Tesla Coil. Tesla has even been credited with inventing modern radio. Yet Tesla died destitute, proving that it’s not only the idea that will make you rich and successful but the way that the idea is developed and marketed.
–Get somethings right from the start
Make sure that everything is legal. This means making absolutely certain that your business complies with all government taxes and regulations. Once you’ve made sure that everything is above board, think ahead and choose the correct business structure for your enterprise, making sure you get all of the coverage you need. One Sure has packages specifically tailored to different commercial enterprises to make sure that you’ve covered every eventuality.
Starting a business takes a great deal of time and investment of a person’s financial, mental and physical resources, so you can’t afford to fail. Think ahead, for, after all, forewarned is forearmed.
