Starting a business

Britain is a nation of fearless entrepreneurs, but the likes of Richard Branson and James Dyson didn’t go from rags to riches instantly.

Branson needed a £300 loan to get his magazine up and running after dropping out of school at the age of 16, while Dyson produced 5,167 prototypes before inventing his vacuumless dust-buster.

In fact, Government statistics revealed that more than half of businesses founded in 2011 had folded within five years, so the lesson here is to think before you decide.

If you have a bright idea and have spotted a gap in the market, you’ll need to test, prepare and assess the risks and opportunities to give your new business the best chance of survival.

“You’ll find yourself extremely busy” notes Brooklyn Storme “You’ll be wearing lots of different hats. Whether it’s a Marketer, Admin, Bookkeeping, Cleaning etc. Be prepared to be run off your feet as you’ll be wearing many different hats”

To add to this, Rhys Horwood of No Stress Digital adds that “you have to think as the expert would at all stages in your business development. If you’re working on a name you need to think like a marketing/branding expert. Not only does the name have to sound cool and suit your brand, but think about whether it would work for SEO purposes. How would it rank on Google? Does you name include relevant keywords? Is it niche?”

Elena Korolkova, Founder of Kick Consulting offers some sage advice on how to handle this “Most owners and founder’s skillset leans towards sales and business development. We all tend to enjoy doing and prioritising the tasks we are good at; however, business operation and management are the most time-consuming and tedious tasks. My advice is to outsource what you don’t enjoy doing, otherwise, your business will start to chip away at your passion (the reason why you got into it).”

Jen Henson from Goal Digger ACT-Prep advises: “The experience I have had that could help encourage others to build their business is: 1) Finding what is needed. 2) Provide a solution using your gifts, talents, and what you are passionate about. 3.) Surround yourself with like-minded businesses owners and entrepreneurs who will challenge you to the next level, cheer you on and encourage you when the going gets tough.”

Testing your idea

You won’t be starting on this journey unless you believe your idea is a winner, and testing your idea can save you time and money if things don’t turn out as planned.

Piedmont Avenue Marketing Manager, Morea Pollet advises to “Market before launching the product. Make sure there is a problem and that the market is interested or ready for it. Most of the time people are creating products that no one wants to buy because there is no need or problem for it. Or simply it is not the product or service they were expecting.”

Living in an increasingly digital age means you can do much of this online. You could visit the websites of potential rivals, trade groups or industry publications for useful statistics.

It’s also an idea to identify your ideal customers – those who may be interested in buying your product or service. Think about their needs and habits.

If you have the cash at this early stage, you could hire an objective market research expert who will give you an unbiased assessment based on established techniques in your industry.

Tarek Alaruri from Fairmarkit says: “The most important thing we found was that it’s finding product-market fit and listening to customer feedback on what they like vs. what they don’t. We’ve built our product around our customer needs and requirements to add and remove features.

“Consistently taking and improving customer feedback into our product helps drive revenue, but more importantly, it creates a product that our customers want.”

Kaitlyn Gillies, Co-Founder of Oh My Digital Agency, also offers the following insight: “I’ve been running my online digital marketing agency for about 18 months with my Co-Founder Hayley Peters. Oh My Digital started as a side-hustle and as the business grew, I made the daunting but exciting decision to quit my 9-5 job in August and go all in. We have both been working on the business full-time for almost 6 months now and haven’t looked back.

“My biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to do something similar is to invest in building your brand for 6-12 months before expecting to be booked out with client work or reaching your sales goals. Similar advice applies for any other type of business too – today it is easier than ever to physically start a business and you can sell to anyone in the world, but that also means increased competition and consumers have more choice than ever. It will take time for people to learn about what you do and remember your brand before they will be willing to spend money with you.

“So, don’t get disheartened if it takes time to get your first customers. Invest in building a recognisable and lovable brand and build relationships with your audience. Over time, this is what will allow you to stand out from competitors and win their loyalty. Of course, there are many other factors to business success, but this has made a huge difference for us.”

Selecting a business structure

One of the first and more important thing to do is think about the structure of your business. Entrepreneur Marguerita Cheng, of Blue Ocean Global Wealth advises that “you must determine an appropriate structure for your business right away. Consulting with a chartered account can help you make these early decisions and can also help you to make the best decisions throughout the life of your business.”

In 2017, there were around 5.7 million private sector businesses registered in the UK. Sole traders accounted for around 60% of that figure, with the rest of those businesses being companies or general partnerships.

If you opt to become a sole trader, you will run your business as an individual and be entitled to keep all of the profits it makes. You’ll also carry the can for any losses it makes.

You must pay income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) on any profits by completing an annual self-assessment tax return.

You may also need to register for VAT if your taxable turnover is likely to exceed £85,000 a year, the current tax threshold for 2018/19.

General partnerships and limited liability partnerships define the partner’s liability for debts the business accrues.

Partners in a general partnership can be personally responsible for a partnership’s debts and are responsible for managing the business.

In both types of partnership, the individual partners are taxed in the same way as if they were sole traders. Profits are shared between partners who are responsible for paying tax on them in an agreed ratio.

With a limited company, the finances are separate from your personal finances, so your personal assets will usually be protected if your business gets into trouble without breaking the law.

As a limited company director, you must register the company with Companies House, and annually prepare and file statutory accounts, complete a confirmation statement, and company tax return.

As a director or shareholder of the company, you will not be personally taxed on the profits of the company which you do not extract.

Much like a sole trader and a partnership, you will have to register for VAT if your annual taxable turnover exceeds £85,000 in 2018/19.

Writing a business plan

Once you’ve conducted market research and selected a business structure to suit your needs, the next stage is to come up with a business plan.

A good business plan will help sell your idea to investors or banks, while also enabling you to think through every detail to plan for most eventuallities.

Considerations include what your business will sell or supply, its structure, how your products will be sold and how much they will cost, short-term and long-term targets and timelines for meeting them.

Where possible, analyse your customers and competitors. Who are they? Where are they based? How does your product differ and appeal? How do you attract these customers?

You should also factor in any financial forecasts – such as profit and loss, projected sales, cashflow – and any marketing or contingency plans.

Joshua Lewis, Owner of BEE (Business Efficiency Experts), says: “When you’re writing a business plan, it’s very important that you think about where you are now, where you want to be, when you want to sell the business and all the steps in between. It seems weird to think about selling the business when you haven’t even started it yet, but you should always be functioning with the end in mind. Doing that will make sure that the steps that you take beforehand are calculated and you have a beeline straight from where you are now to where you’re going to end up.”

Naming your business

With millions of companies registered, naming your business is not as simple as it sounds as your business’s name cannot be the same as another registered company’s name.

Come up with a shortlist of names and order them in terms of personal preference before checking that no other business is operating with the same name.

You can do this by checking the Companies House register.

It’s also wise to check that a suitable web domain is available, so you can set up a website to act as a business card or an online sales portal for potential clients to buy your goods or services.

If you’re planning to market or sell products globally, it’s important to check that the chosen name for your business does not mean something different in another country.

You should also check that the name you have chosen is not trademarked, and does not resemble a trademark.

There are also certain words or phrases you cannot use in company names.

For instance, those suggesting endorsement by the Government are banned, while others, such as ‘optician’ or ‘architect’, are restricted for use by people with the appropriate technical qualifications.

Deanne Heath of LaunchScaleAutomate offers a divisive opinion “Try not to name the business after yourself. It makes it harder to sell, should you wish to in the future. Also, ensure your name clearly states what it is that you do, ambiguity makes it a tough sell. Apple and co are the exception to the rule.”

Managing your business

How you manage the first 100 days of your startup will go a long way to determine how successful a venture it ultimately is. Below are some areas to consider.

Business insurance can protect you against mistakes, damage to stock or premises, and legal costs. Some policies can even protect against business interruption and supply chain breakdown.

Have a medium-term goal and stick to it. These should support your long-term visions for running a successful business and usually last between three and five years.

Pay attention to customers early on. Using social media platforms is often a constructive way to do this, and should set the tone for how you handle all customer feedback.

Keep track of the exact amounts of money flowing in and out of your business. Keeping digital records is a useful way to do this, and will help you understand your business’s cashflow.

Forecasts play a vital role in managing your business, with sales forecasts and profit/loss forecasts covering most of your business’s income and day-to-day costs.

Late payments are the scourge of entrepreneurs. This has a significant impact on cashflow, but there are things you can do to encourage customers to pay on time.

Be upfront about your payment terms and conditions from the start, including your right to claim interest on invoices or issue charges in the events of late payments. You could even offer a discount for fast or early payments.

As well as ensuring you have the right money coming in, you’ll need to be aware of your spending. Look at where you’re spending the most money and how you might be able to make savings.

For example, assessing your stock can help you focus on how long it takes you to sell stock on average, and where the majority of your profit comes from.

Another area to think about is the tax your business is paying, and whether you’re taking advantage of any reliefs or allowances available. At HWB we can check this for you and help to make your business more tax-efficient.

For further information on Starting a Business, please contact Gary Brown on 023 8046 1240.