Are you thinking of starting a new business this year? You’re not alone. In fact, 2023 saw record numbers of companies start up, and over 830,000 new businesses were registered. The majority of these (56%) are sole proprietors.
With so many people setting up businesses every year, you might think that the process is relatively straightforward, right? Well, yes and no. It is if you know what youre doing and can go through the steps easily without missing anything.
But that isn’t the case for most people, and the steps involved in creating a business can be confusing, especially if you do not know what is involved or have never been a part of this landscape before.
These tips can help you make your life easier when setting up a business and ensure that you follow all the steps.
Registration Services
You need to register your business; that’s a given, but how? Whether you are unsure of the exact process or you want to hand over the responsibility to others, you can choose to use an established service to register a company and handle other tasks for you, too, such as PAYE, tax obligations, confirmation statement filing, and more. These experts can assist you with a range of legal issues pertaining to setting up a business, and while this will incur an additional fee, it can be worth it for the peace of mind that everything is taken care of.
Mentor or Coach
A business coach or mentor is someone who has a wealth of experience under their belt in setting up and running businesses. They typically work with those in the early days of setting up or running business, and their advice and wisdom can be invaluable when you first start out. They can assist you in making better decisions, alert you to new ways of thinking and avenues to explore, and steer you clear of making disastrous decisions that will harm, not help you. A mentor can guide various business aspects, such as strategy, operations, and marketing, and can also offer emotional support during the challenging early stages of business development.
Research
Setting up a business on a whim and not doing any research is simply a surefire way to make your life much harder than it needs to be.
Research is the backbone of any business, and you need a lot of it prior to doing anything. Researching others in the sector, doing what you are thinking of coding, search the demand and market size. For instance, you can research costs and pricing, changes to the industry, trends, consumer habits, and consumption, and even ways you can expand and adapt as you progress. There is so much research you can and indeed should do. It would be a massive oversight on your part if you didn’t do this and a guaranteed way to make starting a business difficult.
Write a Business Plan
A business plan is standard for all business owners, even if it is not very detailed. However, a detailed and thorough plan can make your life easier by helping you make the right decisions and choices regarding your new venture and guiding you in the right direction. It can be all too easy to get swept up in what you’re able to do or capable of, and it can be easy to lose sight of why you’re setting it up in the first place.
A business plan can help you stay on the right path, understand your goals, and make decisions that benefit you and your goals.
Understand Finances
If you really want to make setting up a business easier, you need to educate yourself on the financial aspects of running a business, know what you need, and know how you will obtain the appropriate funding.
For some, all you need is a laptop with an internet connection. For others, significant investments, loans or backers are vital to helping them get up and running, and gaining access to the right amount of funds is vital.
Understand what you need, how much it will cost to get up and running and sustain the business without profit for 3,6 or 12 months, and what costs you can expect to face in order to get operational and generate a profit. Know your forecasts and potential revenue, understand how you will pay back anything you borrow, what it means to bring investors on board, and the implications of failing to meet your financial commitments. The more you understand about the world of financing in relation to business activities, the more prepared you can be and the easier it will be to make more astute financial choices.