Great news, you are going to start a business!
Now the hard work begins…
Market Research
Firstly, you will have done your market research to ensure there is a place for you in the industry.
Free market research is available doing surveys on the street, online, social media and by email which you should do before even following the next steps. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk
IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS
- Check that you can legally go about starting your own business in the UK
- Write a business plan. This is vital if you require funding and for your own financials. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281416
- Decide on your business legal structure sole trader or limited company? https://startups.co.uk/choosing-the-right-business-structure/
- Choose a business name and address – browse the internet to ensure you do not copy someone else’s name
- If you are a UK entrepreneur setting up as a Limited Company https://www.theformationscompany.com
- Register with HM Revenue and Customs.
Once you have established there is a gap in the market (even if tiny) then go for it!
Financials
The next important factor is financials. You must remember, depending on your business, that you need capital because it could be three months before you see any revenue from your product or service. You can try the banks or East Midlands Business Angels may be able to help https://www.knowyourmoney.co.uk/business-loans/start-up-loans/ is also a useful guide.
Marketing
- Marketing your business to let people know you exist is the third step, again there are many ways to do this:
- Direct mail – email campaign https://mailchimp.com
- Leaflets
- Networking
- Social Media
- Advertising
- Friends and family
- Posters
Customer Relationship Management System
Having a CRM system is also important to save time and keep track of all your leads and customers https://www.hubspot.com is free and a very good CRM. Once your business starts to make money you can utilise their marketing tools.
Virtual Office/Telephone Answering
If you are out and about as part of your business or because you are attending networking events etc and/or you need to concentrate on your work, then having a Virtual Office service https://dbs-centres.co.uk/office-space/virtual-offices
is the way to go. For a very small monthly fee, you can have a professional answering service who will take your calls, transfer them to you (if available) or forward messages to you by email, SMS or whichever method you prefer. You do not want to miss a call as you could well be missing business!
There are companies that are purely there to do that but of course, then you get different people answering, they don’t really know your business and your callers know it is a call centre.
Flexible Space Providers
The better option is to use a flexible space provider; https://dbs-centres.co.uk as there would be a small team of people taking your calls, who will know about your business, be able to answer as though they are your staff and know when not to forward calls (sales calls for instance). In a Flexible Space Provider, their staff are your staff. Not only that, there are meeting rooms which you can hire hourly, for half a day or a full day to impress your clients. Hot desking and coworking facilities are also available.
In addition, you can use that address as your registered address. All this gives the impression of a larger, established company with professional staff and offices to impress your potential clients.
If you would like more details on the above please Tel. 0116 232 5100 (Glenfield, Leicester) 01332 810 900 (Castle Donington) or 01530 353 500 (Ashby de la Zouch)