Starting A Business
BE Enterprising - Creating enterprising communities in County Durham
Starting and running your own company is never easy. Whatever it is, from a garage to a double glazing firm to a web designer, there are a million things to think about and questions you need answers to.
SASDA manage the Be Enterprising's ‘Enterprise Coaching' project in the former borough of Sedgefield. Click here for more information and to meet the team
Setting up in business or becoming self-employed is big step to make and can be quite frightening and stressful.
It's worth running through a quick checklist to make sure you have covered the basics before you make the move:
Have you done any market research?
This is one of the common failings. Most people think that if they have a good idea for a product or a service, everyone will want it. The reality is that there might be many reasons why people don't want to buy, it might be the wrong area, the wrong product, the wrong price, people are not quite ready for the service or maybe there are just too many people providing the service or product.
Market research isn't a matter of just asking your friends and family, they will always heap praise on your ideas. You need to put some real effort in.
How do I do market research?
You need to cover several areas:
Who and where are your customers?
Don't guess, research on the internet, look at the competition by going through the Yellow Pages, local papers etc. Send out questionnaires, knock on doors if necessary, but make sure you get a good idea that there are enough customers to supply your business. If you are sure there is a market then do some test marketing.
Test Marketing?
If you are already in employment, then that's the best time to do some test marketing. You should already be thinking about how you are going to promote your business. If you are going to use flyers or adverts in local papers then why not try it out. It's better to know if your strategy will work. Better to spend a few pounds now, than when you have left your job.
Money and budgets?
OK, so you are now sure that the business is viable. You have done your research on your competition so you know how much to charge and you have a rough idea of the number of customers and your ability to supply goods or services.
This is where money comes in. How exactly are you going to fund the business, you will still be paying out for the mortgage, your car, electricity, gas, food, credit cards etc and those first jobs are not going to roll in straight away. Where are you going to find the money to manage the first slow months and still cover your day to day running expenses. On top of this you may need to buy extra equipment, product and public liability insurance.
You need to factor everything into your budget to make sure you can afford to live and write it all down. Be generous with the amount it's going to cost you and be conservative about the amount of money you are going to earn. Make sure you budget for the worst case.
SASDA can help you sort out these basics before you make the final commitment, we can hold your hand during those first tentative steps and give you the advice and support needed to grow.
If you are ready, then take the next step.
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