A large number of us crave independence; in fact, our lifestyle can demand it. Jobs aren’t that easy to come by and working for large corporations often doesn’t allow for much flexibility. We still want to be able to live our life outside of work. Secondly, there are a few of us who have a clear vision of what we would like to be doing, and what better way than to do it for yourself?
Starting a business can be a complex ordeal depending on where you are based. There are different rules for different countries. If you’re based in the UK, then you can visit the government website for a step-by-step guide to registering your business: https://www.gov.uk/set-up-limited-company
However, this post is more about the fundamentals of generating your business idea, coming up with your plan and then putting it into action.
The most obvious place to start is your business idea. You need to have a clear concept of what you want to do in your business and why. Let’s say you want to do gardening. You need to be clear with yourself about why you want to do that. The ‘why’ is your driving force; your passion. Hold onto it as it will keep you motivated and it will also help attract the right clients. Are you starting a gardening business so that you can let your creative flare come out or do you want to help elderly people maintain what they already have?
Secondly, from that comes your business plan. That can sound like a scary document with a lot of work, but it’s the plan that helps you stay on track and achieve your goals. If you’re looking for investment into your business, then your plan will have to be incredibly detailed and professional. However, if it’s just for you, then you can present it in a way that helps you. Maybe rather than a written document, you can make a slideshow for each of the different sections. Put some effort into the detail but try not to stress about it. The plan is for your benefit.
The easiest way to start executing your business idea is by being self-employed or freelancing. It means you don’t need to set up anything special; you do the work, send out an invoice and get paid into your existing bank account. You need to be careful with paying tax, but again, there’s a lot of support on government websites. You can get an accountant too, which is a good idea whether you are self-employed or set up a business.
Once you have a clear structure, it’s a good idea to set up a limited company. That means you as an individual have limited liability. If the company doesn’t succeed, you close the company. If you’re self-employed and borrow money, you are liable to pay it back and can lose your personal assets. Running a limited company takes a little bit more work as you have more documentation to file with companies house (in the UK). Again, if you have an accountant, they take care of this for you. You just have to pay the bill. Speaking of which, if you have a limited company, you should have a business bank account. There is usually a small monthly charge for that, but it’s worth bearing in mind.
Away from the boring stuff, you can now focus on how you get started. The best places to start are social media as they are free to set up and offer a great marketing platform. Yes, it’s getting increasingly saturated, but it is possible to gain traction. You should treat it like you would any job. The more consistent and present you are on social media, the more people will notice your account. Social media companies reward their users if they spend more time on it. It’s the perfect place to showcase your work and obviously, the more clients you get, they can follow you and share your posts with their social circles. It effectively becomes the digital version of ‘word of mouth’ marketing.
Ideally, you’d have a website as most of us now use websites to get in touch with people, buy products, enquire, etc. It’s your online presence and gives you more credibility than a business with no website. Be sure to have an SSL certificate so people know your website is secure. The only downside with a website is that it costs money to host and run it. There are affordable packages and you can even host for free with businesses like Wix BUT you have to use their domain and that comes off as amateurish. If you’re not willing to invest in your own business, why should others?