Starting a Business

Growing even a small business needs enthusiasm, commitment and skill in the chosen product area. It is hard work, but can be enormously self- fulfilling for the entrepreneur when it succeeds. In due course, it may even make meaningful money!

Most businesses are run ‘for profit’ and growing the ‘bottom line’ is a main priority. Others will be ‘not for profit’, with social or cultural outcomes as the main objective.  (see the topic page on Social Enterprise).   But even these must be able in due course to have a surplus of revenue over costs if they are to be sustainable.

Most entrepreneurs are relative experts in their chosen product area, whether it is writing software or repairing antiques. To ‘incubate’ a successful business out of that personal expertise normally requires entrepreneurs to broaden their skills into areas with which they may be less familiar, such as marketing or finance or distribution or making their businesses ‘investment ready’. Hence, having a business partner with overlapping skills is of great help, and greatly increases the chances of success. Making use of mentoring services and tapping into the appropriate networks ('networking') is the best learning process for entrepreneurs building their breadth of skills.

The start-ups and small companies of today are the seed corn for the big companies of tomorrow, and there is help available to encourage the start-up and growth of early stage companies. Many will only ever be ‘life style’ companies (viz with no desire to grow beyond a size where it meets the personal needs of the founder) but in aggregate they are meaningful sources of employment and wealth and are important to the economy for that reason. 

  Will you be  in good company?   Nesta research shows that people over 50 have a significant role to play in growing a new business, particularly as part of a mixed age team.    Whilst the probability of third agers participating in a start up begins to decline past 50, it does not decline substantially until age 60. Third age high growth entrepreneurs are just as likely to be innovative as younger high growth founders. Motivations to start a new company include the opportunity to keep working, giving something back to society, or exploiting a specific business opportunity.

See:

www.greatbusiness.gov.uk.  The UK Government's website on how to grow your business  

www.startupbritain.org.uk is a private sector inititiative by James Dyson et al to kick start a new generation of successful entrepreneurs.  It aims to connect them with all the resources they need to succeed.

For a comprehensive guide to writing a business plan and starting a business see http://www.discoverbusiness.us/business-plans/...


  for a one stop destination for all the help that start-ups need  see http://www.discoverbusiness.us/

 http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Working/WorkingToSuitYou/DG_10027003

  has information on becoming self employed if you are over 50.   For information on tax and national insurance issues see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/ 

 Perhaps the single most important factor in building a business is to choose the right people with whom to work.  Making the wrong choices can have a long term negative effect on the future of the business. .  For a helpful guide on hiring,. see 'Recruit Faster and Hire Smarter'.

For independent advice and support on starting and developing your business talk to your local Enterprise Agency http://www.nfea.com/about-us/nfea-network.html

For advice on writing a business plan see http://www.discoverbusiness.us/business-plans/

New   7 Modifications to make to your business in 2017

 

See also: www.bl.uk/bipc/  the Business and Intellectual Property Centre at the British Library. To get the most out of it you should visit the Centre (in London) but they have a growing online presence.  The Centre offers free acess to a very wide range of online services and databases for entrepreneurs researching their product and its market, as well as business advice and workshops - there is even an entrepreneur in residence to give you some practical tips.

See 'Starting a technology company' (a guide for University of Cambridge staff and students) edited by Miranda Weston-Smith and Peter Luebcke. Call Cambridge Enterprise on 01223 760339 to request a copy. www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk

See http://www.smarta.com for advice and a networking resource for anyone starting or running a business


 Remember  -  hiring the right people to work with you is just about the most crucial decision you will make.  See a guide to good hiring -    http://nectjobs.com/recruiting/

MENTORING

 for help and hand-holding with experts see our topic page on Mentoring. 

Are you thinking of starting a new tourism project and would like a mentor?   See more

FOR FINANCE

Looking for finance?

For  a comprehensive view of the market see  http://www.ukfunders.co.uk/      and http://www.businessfunding.co.uk/.

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If you are passed the stage of relying on the traditional initial funding from ‘friends, family and fools’ then try the business angel network. There is a list of members of the British Business Angels Association on  http://www.bbaa.org.uk/index.php?id=12   , but there are many more small angel syndicates operating informally. See our topic page on angel investing. If your business has the prospect of becoming a gorilla (viz a really sizeable company) then the Venure Capital community may take an interest. See www.bvca.co.uk



NEW   If you are bidding for funding, see 'Top 10 tips fo preparing funding bids'

There is an excellent site called www.thefunded.com  which gives entrepreneurs ratings of early stage finance providers, but these are mainly US companies. Unfortunately there is no UK equivalent at the moment.

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There is a growing sector of 'peer tp peer lending', where lender and borrower are put together without involving a bank.   The UK Government is enthusiastic about trying to develop this sector, particularly as a way of enabling small businesses to get the loan finance whcih banks are often unwilling or unable to supply.     See our topic page on 'Peer to Peer lending'.

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for a comprehensive list of funding sources for technology UK small businesses see the Technology Strategy Board's associate Fundmap   www.fundmap.co.uk             

Business Link website   www.businesslink.gov.uk  

advice from a Bank:   www.business.barclays.co.uk

UK’s leading catalyst for innovation:   www.nesta.org.uk

Magazine for entrepreneurs:   www.entrepreneur.com

STARTING A  BUSINESS FROM HOME

www.enterprisenation.com will give you 'all the information you need' to start and grow a business from home, and build a network with other home business owners.

If starting your own business makes you feel a bit lonely and you miss the networking of office life take a look at http://www.ecademy.com which aims to offer an online business network and claims that half its membership are self employed professionals.

For women starting or growing a business who would like help in building their business contacts see http://www.everywoman.com/Networking/  .   See  also http://www.prowess.org.uk which is the UK association  of organisations and individuals who support women to start and grow businesses.

 FOR IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Looking for ideas and opportunities?  See http://www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk/about

For another source of business ideas,  see www.springwise.com .  Based in Amsterdam, Springwise has 8000 'spotters' in over 70 countries reporting on the most promising new business ideas and new ventures.

 STARTING A WEBSITE  

 http://www.gbbo.co.uk/   'Getting British Business online' for free is a joint promotion by the UK Government (BIS) together with Google and BT.   It looks good for a small business looking to start a presence on the web.

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