WinWeb

Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

July 26, 2010

A growing number of businesses are being started by people under the age of twenty-five. Although it is always good to see young entrepreneurs, these people will often find it much tougher than older people who are more experienced. Luckily for them, there is a lot of help available if they require it.

One of the most prominent national programmes that aims to support struggling young entrepreneurs is run by Shell UK. The scheme, entitled Shell Livewire, provides help and assistance to entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 30. Not only does it offer a wealth of information and advice to anyone that needs it, they have given away over £3 million to aid SMEs since the scheme began in 1982. They have directly helped over 600,00 small businesses and give away £10,000 annually to the winner of their Young Business Start-Up awards.

The Prince’s Trust is a charitable organisation which provides opportunities to 14-30 year old young entrepreneurs. The trust is often the only option for those with troubled backgrounds to receive finance for their business venture. Amongst the services that the Prince’s Trust provides are low-interest loans and small grants, plus advice from mentors for the first three years of trading. Every year the trust helps around 13,000 young people to start a business and many of them have gone on to great success.

Another option for wannabe entrepreneurs is the Young Enterprise scheme. This helps young people to develop the skills that they will need to run their own business. They run summer schools all over the country that give over 1,000 14-16 year old young adults a chance to learn all about business. If you are a parent of a child in that age range you might want to consider sending them to one of these camps during the summer months – they might not thank you at the time, but they certainly will if it leads to them becoming a self-made small business millionaire!

Essential Tasks For A New Start-Up

June 15, 2010

Starting a new small business is a stressful time for many people, especially if it is their first attempt at business ownership. If you are starting your own business, there are some obvious tasks that you must complete.

Firstly you must decide on a name for your company. Sometimes a business name will come to you in a flash of inspiration, while other people can debate for weeks about to call themselves. A business name should ideally be the embodiment of what your company stands for – ambiguous titles are a luxury that small businesses cannot usually afford. People that hear about your business should be able to get some idea of what you do just from the name.

Next you will to need to register the name to avoid other businesses copying you. Check online first to make sure that no-one else is already using that name. Even if you unintentionally choose a name that conflicts with another business, you may be required by law to change it if they object and could potentially be sued for damages. Your business name might also be restricted slightly depending on which business form you choose to take.

Another important step is opening a business bank account. Do not attempt to run a small business while only using your personal account as this will very quickly become confusing and impossible to manage. Many banks will also offer specialised accounts for businesses with numerous benefits and reduced rates.

Don’t be shy about seeking advice. There are many organisations that offer free advice and the Internet is full of people prepared to share their knowledge and experience with others. On a more practical level, accountants and solicitors will need to be consulted at some point in the future and it will not hurt for you to start building relationships with them now.

How we can help…

WinWeb.com provides the following software and services to help small businesses that are just starting out:

WinWeb Business Support Services – We also offer a multitude of personalised services from our Business Support Services team. These allow you to outsource basic business functions, leaving you free to concentrate on making your new business a success.

Contact us for further or details, or visit our website to find out more!

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Starting A Business For The First Time

May 13, 2010

It can be very overwhelming for first-time business owners to know where to start. Business planning is a critical element of building a successful start-up. Tools such as SWOT analysis and cashflow planning help you to acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses or set goals and targets.

Just having a brilliant idea is unfortunately not enough to create a prosperous business. It often helps to make a check-list to try and identify some of the most important issues that will face your business. Firstly, try to examine whether your business will be unique or if it is simply a copy of something else on the market. You should also look at any potential competitors that you will have to face and then learn more about them.

Other important aspects you should consider is whether or not there is a market for your business in your local area. Unless the business is based solely online the majority of small companies will only have customers from the surrounding area, so bear this in mind. You must also determine if it will possible to raise enough capital to make a success of this new venture.

Research your market thoroughly before you try to formulate any sort of business plan. Business plans are essential to any new start-up, but they needn’t be too elaborate in order to be successful. A business plan must not only identify the goals that you hope to achieve, but also provide a clear strategy for getting them done.

It is an unfortunate fact that a large number of start-ups fail within the first few years of their existence. This is why any decision to start your own business should never be entered into lightly, especially if it will involve you quitting a secure job. Entrepreneurship is particularly risky at the moment with the economy currently still recovering, but all the main political parties believe that small businesses are the key to recovery.

If you decide to start your own business, remember to stay positive and remain patient. The odds are extremely unlikely that your business will be an overnight success, but with perseverance you could build a very strong business over a number of years.

How we can help…

WinWeb.com encourages people to start their own business whenever possible. This is why we provide the following services:

Business Planning Software – Software to help your business get off to the best possible start. Our business planning software will help you plan you finances, and keep your eyes on the goals of your small business. WinWeb Business Planning software will help you to complete a comprehensive SWOT analysis, meaning that you can focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses where possible.

Online Shop – WinWeb allows you to create an online shop to help you grow your business start up from the very beginning.

To find out more about WinWeb Applications and Business Support Services just visit our website, or contact us for more details.

Avoid Start-Up Failure

March 17, 2010

The high mortality rate of start-up businesses is something that we at WinWeb strive to help lower. Most business failures are due to relatively simple errors that occur through lack of experience. With this in mind, consider some of the following common mistakes that a rookie business owner can make.

Don’t become arrogant and start assuming that just because your business started off well it will continue to do so. You need to continue to work just hard as you did at the start. Also, don’t be held back in the mindset that your company is too small to compete with the big boys and will never grow any further, or this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Be careful not to underestimate how much start-up capital you will require. The early days of your business are likely to be quite slow and you will need a lot of capital to fall back on. It is advisable to have around three times the amount of capital you expect to need. This will safeguard against miscalculation and economic slowdown.

Try to avoid cutting corners wherever possible, especially in terms of the technology that your business requires. It may seem cost effective to purchase cheap second-hand equipment but if it breaks or is unreliable it will affect your profitability.

The most important thing to remember is that your primary goal in business is always to be profitable. It is wonderful to be creative, but it is very easy to head off on a tangent and lose focus on your core business. Your ideas must be able to be monetised or else they are useless to your business.

WinWeb offers practical solutions that allow small business owners to focus on their business by making the back-office of the business run smoothly. Just visit our website for a free trial and see what a difference it can make to your small business.

Exhibit Your Product At A Trade Show

March 12, 2010

Trade shows are an excellent way of gaining more exposure for your product or business idea. However, they can also be quite a daunting prospect for anybody who has never previously exhibited, so here are a few tips to help you make the most of it.

Make sure that your booth has a high level of visual impact to catch the eye of anyone who passes by. It may sound obvious, but remember to smile! This is easy to forget if you are nervous.

You should be able to pitch your product or business within thirty seconds to people who ask about it. It is important to rehearse this before the date of the show, but don’t be afraid to stray from the script if the people you are talking to have specific needs. Your speech should describe all the features and benefits of your product.

Try to gain feedback from the people that you talk to at the show. If a lot of people throughout the day are all raising the same concerns or suggestions then it is probably something you should think seriously about when you get home.

Take business cards and contact details from everyone you can. Follow up with these people after the show by sending them a personalised ‘thank you’ for their interest, alongside a brochure for your product.

Ultimately, remember that the trade show is not just about you and your idea. They are a perfect opportunity for you to do some networking and learning.

Have You Considered A Franchise?

February 16, 2010

Making the decision to start your own business is an equally exciting and daunting prospect. One way of significantly reducing the risk is to buy into an existing franchise. A UK survey conducted by NatWest showed that nine out of ten franchise businesses were profitable in 2009 – an astonishing figure considering the current economic climate. The average cost of starting a franchise also decreased last year by nearly £15,000.

The main benefit of entering a franchise is that you know you are purchasing a successful business model that has been proven to work in the past. It is estimated that franchises are five times more likely to succeed than small businesses trying to make it on their own.

Franchises already have a recognisable brand, saving you the hard work of trying to build a corporate reputation from scratch. It is also often much easier to raise the capital you will need to get started, as lenders recognise there is far less risk involved.

You will get far more assistance as part of a franchise than you would alone. The franchisor will provide ongoing support and training as part of the franchise fee. You can also easily re-sell the franchise on to someone if you decide to move on.

Of course, franchising is not for everybody. You will be bound to strict rules and regulations about what you can do in terms of branding and marketing. It may still feel as though you are still working for someone else and not running your own business. You will also have to give a certain percentage of your profits back to the franchisor.

However, the positive aspects of franchising far outweighs the negatives, so if you are passionate about a certain brand then you should certainly consider franchising as an option.

Whatever your small business needs, WinWeb has a range of software to help your small business succeed, check out the WinWeb website.

Could You Leave Behind The 9-5?

February 5, 2010

Quitting a steady job to start a small business is often a very daunting prospect. The days of receiving a guaranteed salary and having fixed working hours will be behind you, often replaced by financial uncertainty and very long workdays. Despite this risk, the promise of greater rewards and increased job satisfaction drives hundreds of people every day to step outside their comfort zone and try to make their business idea a success.

If you are still trying to decide whether to leave your office job you should consider some of the following points. Firstly, you will probably gain far more experience about the world of business in your first year of trading than you have done so far in your entire career. Even if the business is not a great success, potential employers in the future will be impressed with your CV and you may be able to find a better job. You will also have the experience necessary to try running your own business again at some point in the future.

If you are unhappy with your current job or feel that your career has stagnated, the challenge of running your own business can be just what you need to get you out of a rut. In the current economic climate no-one’s job is secure, so if you are offered voluntary redundancy it can be a great impetus to change your life completely.

Another reason many people leave their job is to avoid the unpleasant expensive daily commute. Try to work out how much time and money you could save by running your own business closer to home. Using our OnlineOffice software suite will even allow you to run a business from the comfort of your kitchen table.

It has never been easier to start your own business – find out more at www.winweb.com

Pursuing Your Entrepreneurial Dream

November 17, 2009

Being your own boss, being self-reliant and master of your own time – that is what many of us are dreaming about. Running a virtual assistant business from home, not having to commute to work everyday and being more around the kids when they are home, has more than mass-appeal.

Starting this business while still being employed is one way into becoming your own boss. Making sure your own boss knows about your entrepreneurial plans is not only good practice but a prudent business move. Your current boss could be your first customer.

But one big question is ‘how can you start a business while still working?’ You can’t leave your job before your business is off the ground.

Advances in technology make it possible for you to run your business while you are still in full-time employment. Our OnlineOffice is an office online, allowing you to stay in touch, control and most importantly allow you to outsource the daily admin tasks, leaving you free to spend your sparse time on business development and not business admin.

Using our OnlineOffice ProEdition to find new customers, do your bookkeeping and keep your IT running like clock-work makes it easy for you to focus on your business goals.

Pursuing your dream has never been easier.

Planning and Starting Your Business The Easy Way

These days many of us are thinking about starting a business and many of us are overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of things to consider – is that how you feel?

It can be a lonely business starting up a new business, especially if you do it for the first time. Like so often in life there is good news and there is bad news.

The bad news is – you’ll need all these business tools and services to succeed:

• accounting & bookkeeping software
• a domain name and web hosting
• a website and online shop
• online payment software to take money
• blog for online marketing
• business planning software
• complete IT setup
• find a bookkeeper
• find customers
• setup your company

All these issues are very distracting and don’t help you to focus on your business goal – making money. Because they are a distraction they actually stop you from making money, since you are not dealing with customers and sales, you are dealing with admin. We all know you do not earn money by doing your admin.

The good news is WinWeb can do all that for you for a very low monthly price, that does not break the bank and no artificial limitations, like the number of users, or number of transaction, invoices, etc. The fact that our OnlineOffice is very highly integrated makes it the best way to manage your business and office online – you can try it for free for 30 days.

Find out more @ WinWeb OnlineOffice – Your Office Online

The Best Way To Manage Your Small Business

November 16, 2009

Managing your business begins actually before you even start your small business, let us explore some of the issues facing the new entrepreneur.

When you analyze the numbers of business failures during the fist 12 months, you will find that about 28% to 34% of businesses close their doors again. While these numbers are horribly high it is very easy to avoid becoming part of this statistic. Let us look at how:

1. Your goal – what do you want to achieve, not for the business, but for yourself? How much money is enough? Think about this and make a note of your goal.
2. Your business idea – can your business idea deliver this kind of return in a reasonable time to allow you to reach your goal? You can test this by doing a break-even calculation and cash-flow forecast.
3. Bootstrapping – make money, don’t spend it or even worth borrow it – being frugal in a recession is a no brainer, but being frugal as a business model is a winning business model.

These simple rules will help you to stay in business for much longer than 12 months. They will enable you to build a long term business and generate a good income for your family while still allowing you to enjoy your life.

Questions? Contact us @ WinWeb Business Advice.

Plan Your Business Start-Up With SWOT

October 21, 2009

During the planning phase of your new start-up business, you have to consider many different aspects of your business idea, yourself and your business environment.

We would like to introduce you to a simple and effective tool to start planning your business pre-start-up online – “SWOT”.

While WinWeb OnlineOffice is primarily designed to help you run your business, it is also the right tool for your pre-startup business planning. One of the tools included to help you plan is the SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats – of your business start-up idea.

• Strengths & Weaknesses – these are internal considerations:
  • Strengths – you write down what you and your team, if you have one, are good at, your daily activities should be centered around these strengths
  • Weaknesses – these are the areas of work you may want to outsource as soon as you can, to a WinWeb virtual assistant for instance using our pay as you go business services
• Opportunities & Threats – these are external considerations:
  • Opportunities – represent the areas where you think it will be easy to generate business & revenue and you should play on those opportunities
  • Threats – will list your challenges in comparison to your competition and you may want to improve on these or adjust your business model accordingly

You may want to use this and other business planning tools inside WinWeb OnlineOffice to enhance your business chances. As usual we have plenty of help text and our online One2One tuition to help you to get started.

Try our business planning tools for free @ WinWeb OnlineOffice – Business Planning

Business Start-up Software essential to Business Survival.

October 18, 2009

Before starting a business, it is essential to plan your business and check the viability of any business idea to avoid costly mistakes.

The minimum requirements are an articulated business idea and an understanding of the associated production and overhead costs involved.

This will allow for the projection of a cash-flow plan. Once the cash-flow plan is established it should be much easier for the budding entrepreneur to estimate the survival chances of this business idea, once compared with the set business goal. Planning cash-flow will allow you to estimate capital requirements, or work out the time scale until you break even.

Following on from that a SWOT Analysis will further help to explore the Strength – Weaknesses – Opportunities & Threads to the business. Following these individual points may help to understand additional challenges the business owner faces and will give him/her the opportunity to re-evaluate the business idea, based on the new facts.

All the necessary tools are included in WinWeb OnlineOffice, which makes it into a perfect pre-startup business tools, helping to fine tune business ideas and avoid unnecessary business failures.

Plan you business for free for 30 days with WinWeb OnlineOffice – Your Business Planning Software.

Advantages Of Family Businesses

October 16, 2009

Thinking about starting a business? Want to be self-employed, work from home or have a small office? What about help in your business? There is another way to start a business.

Many are starting family businesses in these times to beat the economic downturn. You may wonder what the the benefits may be?

• Common goal – all the family members understand the common objective, this will help to focus on the business objective.
• Loyalty & Trust – there is less worry about sensitive information sharing, trust builds a stronger business.
• Commitment – when things need to get done, you are likely to have less problems with overtime.
• Future – with the extra stability a family brings to business the company will have a stronger future.
• Cost-control – it will be easier on the cash-flow to work with family, especially if some members only help if needed.

Family businesses are a great way to start a business, in many countries family businesses have a long and successful history.

Read more @

• womanspassions.com - Family business: lacks and advantages
• coutts.com - On the Advantages and Disadvantages of being part of a Family Business.
  

5 Questions To Consider For Your Pre Business Startup!

October 14, 2009

Are you thinking about starting a business? Yes? Then you are one of the millions of people who play with this idea every year. Many don’t start their business ever, because they are concerned about all the things that could go wrong.

Starting a business is like so many other things in life, you just simply can’t plan for every eventuality, but you can try to consider a few basic questions to judge how ready you really are:

• Do you have the necessary drive and desire to succeed?
• Can you focus on what is core to your business idea and not get sidetracked?
• Do you have a plan B, C and D?
• How long can you last before your money runs out?
• Where do you get your advice, help and reality check?

10 People You Should Talk To Before You Start Your Business.

October 13, 2009

Starting a business, especially the first time, can be a challenging experience – what can you expect to happen? Will it work? Have you forgotten something? All these and more questions worry most business start-up entrepreneurs but help is often closer than you think!

Running a business is not ‘brain surgery’ and just talking about starting a business often helps – with that in mind we have compiled a list of people in your environment you could turn to for advice:

• Your partner – you will need all the support you can get when running a business start-up and you may not be the only person feeling a little nervous about your new venture. Getting it out in the open and talking about worries and fears will help in more than one way.
• Your professional network – talk to others and get their insight and feedback. There will be people with a large amount of business knowledge who can help you to see things more realistically.
• Other business owners – talk to people how have done it, your butcher or baker even, they may not know what your business is all about, but they know something about running a business and can give you tips on what to look out for.
• Your banker – let your bank know what you are doing. Being open about your plans makes you predictable and this will generate trust, which may help you to get a loan or some additional advice, even if it only stops them cancelling your mortgage because of your ‘changed’ circumstances.
• Business Clubs – find out who in your area is running business clubs, local universities, government agencies, local colleges, chamber of commerce. These are all valuable resources for business advice and help.
• Your colleagues – they may have an opinion about your business idea, especially if it is their field of technical expertise. They may not have the drive to start a business themselves, but the next best thing may be to help you getting started.
• Your boss – you may be surprised about this one, but your boss could also be your first customer, especially if he/she is losing a valued employee. Don’t knock this, it could be your first big business opportunity.
• Your best friend – he/she may know you better than you think, listen to what they have to say about you and your idea. Learn that critical comments are often more helpful than encouragement. You will need people around you who will tell you the truth, as they see it.
• A Business Angel – even if you don’t need money, these ‘Business Angels’ have expertise and can be an invaluable asset to you, this is often worth a few per cent in your new venture. Remember it can get lonely at the top, having someone to talk to is important.
• An Accountant – these guys have great experience in planning cash-flow and business set-up. Their talents are often wasted on bookkeeping. Make your accountant into your virtual financial director, using online technology, making sure you get up-to-date and correct advice.

Believe it or not, exposing yourself to all these different sources of advice and opinion will help you to become a successful entrepreneur.

Assessing Your Business Idea – Pre Business Start-up.

September 27, 2009

Over 50% of business start-ups fail within only five years, and most of those fail in the first twelve months. There seems to be a commonality in the reasons why businesses fail at this early stage. Question is, does it really have to be like this? We think not!

Below you will find some easy to follow steps to make sure you don’t end up in these statistics, and if you do, that you have done no harm to yourself and others.

1. Make sure the numbers add up.

What is my break-even? How much money and turnover is needed to pay for your business costs, suppliers and get enough money out, so you can live without financial worries? You need to answer these questions before you start your business. Not doing so is asking for failure.

2. Trial your business idea.

There is no reason to quit your day job just yet. Work from home, run your business from 5 in the afternoon to 9 in the morning – it is possible. This will allow you to solve all those little problems you had not thought about, without the meter running, so to speak. There will be things you have not thought about, guaranteed.

3. Don’t use or borrow any money.

You are in business to make money, don’t start it by spending savings or borrowing from banks, friends and family. Prove to yourself that your business can work and make money. If you then “follow the money” – you may find that you do not need any extra funding.

4. Keep it simple and focused.

It’s nice to have the latest computer, the best car or any other gadget – but do you really need it to make your business tick? Probably not. Don’t waste money buying software or hardware, use online tools for your office – your office online – and make sure you can cancel anytime. Try before you buy and compare prices & features – often online software offerings are too expensive and too limited in their functionality.

5. Get a business advisor accountant.

The most important point last – get a business advisor accountant. These are often small accountants themselves and know how to plan cash-flow, they could even be your ‘virtual financial director’. While they might not be the greatest entrepreneurs, they certainly are the next best thing – a reality check for budding entrepreneurs. This will be the best money you ever spend, before starting your business. However many offer a free initial consultation – ask what cash-flow is and how to work it out.

Use these steps and failure becomes a friend and teacher, because you will have learned valuable lessons on how to become successful.

Read more about business planning @ winweb.com – Your Office Online.

100 Small & Home Business Start-Up Tips For Entrepreneurs

September 10, 2009

Today many more of us are planning to start a small business and becoming our own boss. Some want to escape the corporate grind and others were made redundant. The motivations are manyfold, while the the things to consider, when starting a business are always the same.

We have compiled a random list of 100 small business start-up tips and things to consider. This list is best used as a help in terms of ticking off all those business start-up questions you have in your mind, or helping you to think about different aspect of your business start-up:

1. To start-up a successful business do what you love, it must be important to you.
2. Before you start-up your business get your customers first, your business can’t survive without them.
3. To start-up a successful business do a lot of research.
4. A tip for a business start-up is to know your market.
5. To start-up your business write a business plan.
6. To help start-up your business get professional help for bookkeeping and web design.
7. Make sure you have the money for a successful business start-up.
8. Be professional in your business start-up use business cards.
9. Have a successful business start-up, know all the legal and tax issues.
10. A tip for a business start-up is to know your customer.
11. For a successful business start-up set your goals like how much you want to earn a month.
12. To have a successful business start-up check your idea with a cash-flow plan.
13. Find out what your overheads will be in your business start-up.
14. For a business start-up complete a S.W.O.T analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.
15. To have a successful business start-up bootstrap, don’t spend what you haven’t earned.
16. Always look for ways to keep your costs down for a successful business start-up.
17. For a successful business start up try not to borrow from banks.
18. In your business start-up look for Virtual Assistants instead of hiring full-time employees.
19. Work from home to save space for your business start-up.
20. Market online for a successful business start-up to keep costs down.
21. To have a successful business start-up focus on your goals and pay attention to those not met.
22. In your business start-up start cash-flow planning and bootstrapping from the start.
23. To have a successful business start up regularly review and adjust your cash flow plan.
24. A tip for a successful business start-up is to look at your cash-flow plan with each business decision.
25. For a successful business start-up identify your own talents and skills.
26. Evaluate your personal strengths and weaknesses to have a successful business start-up.
27. Find a niche market for your business start-up.
28. Your business start-up should be small at first without risking lots of money.
29. Your business start-up can take advantage of the flooded market, hire someone skilled cheaply.
30. Have a successful business start-up by providing unbeatable customer service.
31. To have a successful business start-up by being flexible to your customers needs.
32. Have a good business name to have an effective business start-up.
33. Your website is important to have a good business start-up.
34. Your business start-up needs to have the correct business structure.
35. Get some business training to help you in your business start-up.
36. Find out who your customer is going to be for your business start-up.
37. Discover what your business start-up costs are going to be.
38. Look for ways to cut your business start-up costs.
39. Decide how you are going to market your business start-up.
40. To have a successful business start-up find out who your competitors are.
41. A successful business start-up should have it’s product or service readily available.
42. Use the internet for a cheaper way to start-up your business.
43. Use networking to market you business start-up.
44. To have a successful business start-up know what skills you need to make it work.
45. An internet business at home is a great and cheap business start-up idea.
46. Use cheaper methods of marketing such as email to advertise your business start-up.
47. Use the internet to communicate to keep the costs of your business start-up down.
48. Continuously look for ways to improve your business start-up.
49. Have an exit strategy for your business start-up just in case.
50. Hire the best and manage them well for a successful business start-up.
51. Always keep your focus for a successful business start-up.
52. To have a successful business start-up have realistic goals and expectations.
53. A successful business start-up should keep costs as low as possible for as long as possible.
54. Keep on learning to aid the success of your business start-up.
55. Revisit your market review regularly to have a successful business start-up.
56. For your business start-up to be successful you need to be prepared for change and adjustment.
57. Learn how to manage employees for a successful business start-up.
58. Don’t buy more office supplies than you need for your business start-up.
59. For a successful business start-up hire employees as and when you need them, not before.
60. If you have little cash choose a business start-up that needs little cash.
61. Be prepared to do things to have a successful business start-up.
62. Do things yourself to keep costs low and have a successful business start-up.
63. Choose your business carefully to have a successful business start-up.
64. To have a successful business start-up ensure your product will have a demand.
65. Creativity is key in having a successful business start-up.
66. To have a successful business start-up take care of existing customers more than finding new ones.
67. Always remember that customer is king for a great business start-up.
68. To keep your business start-up successful spend the money you make wisely.
69. Ensure you have free time to relax when managing a business start-up.
70. Work out how much you want from your business to ensure the business start-up is successful.
71. To ensure you have a successful business start-up get some help and advice.
72. Know where to go for help and advice for a successful business start-up.
73. Look on government websites to find out local regulations for your business start-up.
74. For a successful business start-up be honest with yourself.
75. Organise yourself and your ideas to start-up your business successfully.
76. Evaluate your ideas, will it be a successful idea to start-up a business?
77. Ensure the name of the business you will start-up is trade marked.
78. Make sure the location of your start-up business is right.
79. Ensure your business you are starting-up has good financial management.
80. To ensure a successful business start-up know where you break even point will be.
81. To start-up a good business keep all your records up to date.
82. In your business you start-up ensure you know legal obligations for employing staff.
83. Keep up with new technology to start-up your successful business.
84. Careful planning of starting-up your business is vital.
85. To help start-up a business it is often beneficial to find a mentor.
86. Make sure you take the necessary steps to protect your ideas when starting-up your business.
87. Keep up on the latest trends to start-up a successful business.
88. Remember when starting up your business you are your best employee.
89. Bartering can be a good way to cut costs when starting-up your business.
90. When starting-up your business give your customers value for money.
91. Early on in your business start-up avoid long term contracts.
92. Ask yourself why you want to start-up a business.
93. Consider how to protect the business you have started-up should anything happen.
94. Write short, medium and long term goals to have a successful time starting-up a business.
95. Research into what price you should sell your product when starting-up a business.
96. When starting-up a business remember that your employees may need training.
97. When starting-up a business ask yourself if your employees will need supervision.
98. Make sure you get legal advice when starting-up your business.
99. To start-up a successful business make sure you have the motivation and self discipline.
100. Borrowing money from relatives to start-up a business is an option but is it worth involving them?

Not all of the above is relevant for every business scenario, but once you consider each point above you’ll be that little bit more prepared.

Small Business Set-Up

August 29, 2009

Now you’ve decided on your business idea, recorded your business goals and started planning your cash-flow you need to set up some essential areas of your business. The 6 steps below with give you a brief insight into what you will need to set up to get on track for running a successful business.

1. Website. Setting up your website should be one of the first things you do as it establishes your company online to help promote your products and services. Customers can use it to keep up to date with your latest offers and give you another way to interact with them. Gone are the days of only expecting customers from the 30 mile radius of your chimney. Publishing your website online will allow you to be seen and found by an international audience of customers and ‘keep the shop open’ long after you have finished your working day. We like to refer to it as the globalisation of the kitchen table/study desk that you may currently be operating from!

2. Domain Name. You will have already established your small business’s name so it is important to purchase the domain name as the home for your website. Purchasing a domain name will help your customers remember the address of your site and help establish an online brand for your business.

3. Business Cards. Everyone’s heard of Business cards but many small business owners view them as a luxury item for big meetings. Having a well designed, unique business card will give your customers something else to remember you by as well as helping your business retain a professional image. Don’t be afraid to hand out more than one to each customer, if they are talking about you to other people you should be very pleased with the free advertising!

4. Custom Business Logo. A customised logo will help your customers remember you and help with the branding of your business. This branding will give your business a ‘personality’ and distinguish you from your competitors.

5. Form a Company. Forming a limited company – LLC or Ltd. – will not only give you a legal name to trade under, it will prevent anyone else from copying or using your company name and damaging your reputation. Make sure you don’t violate someone else’s trademark!

6. Account/Business Adviser. A good accountant will act as a business adviser or ‘virtual finance director’ for your company, providing advice on cash-flow and business decisions, not just on tax once a year. Many accountants run their own small businesses and are very well informed when it comes to helping you through situations you may not have faced before. Picking the cheapest accountant may seem a good option in the short term but making sure you trust and can work with them is most important for the long term success of your company.

Completed all of the above? Congratulations, you are open for business and you’re another few steps closer to running a successful company!

Small Business Start-Up

August 28, 2009

The thought of starting a business can be a daunting prospect for anyone, regardless of experience and financial situation.

Breaking down the early stages into manageable steps will help you see it’s not as complicated as you might think. This brief overview will cover a few things you should consider if you are looking to become your own boss and how to go about it.

1. Set your goal(s). This may seem a simple and obvious step but it is also one of the most important. Without an initial goal in place, your measurements for success and failure will become impossible to judge. A goal is a destination you want to take your business to. When you get on a train, you know where the train will stop and where to need to get to. Do the same with your business, know how much you want to earn per month or how much free time you want to spend with family and friends.

Base your business idea on your goals. If one of your goals is to spend more time with children, you have to choose a business that will allow you to do that.

2. Cash-flow. Sanity-check your idea with a cash-flow plan. Force yourself to think of and record all of the potential overheads that running your business will incur. Calculate how much you will need to earn per month to meet your financial goals.

3. S.W.O.T. Complete a SWOT analysis – record your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Be as honest as you can, recognising these and taking steps to account for them will help you short and long term in your business. Maybe one of your business goals could be to improve on some of your initial weaknesses.

4. Bootstrapping. This is vital for anyone starting a business and may seem like another obvious step but it is often overlooked. Don’t spend what you haven’t earned and don’t borrow what you don’t need. Remember you are only in business once your customer pays you for the work you have done.

Look for ways to keep your overheads low, this could involve outsourcing work to a Virtual Assistant instead of hiring someone on a full or part time basis. Try and work from home rather than paying for office/workshop space. Focus on marketing your idea online for free rather than going straight to print where possible.

Try not to borrow money from banks, no matter what the latest high street offer is. They are there to help you when things are going well but will be the first people demanding payment when things are not.

5. Focus on your goals. Check back on your goals regularly and take pride in achieving what you set out to. Pay attention to the goals you haven’t met and think about where you can make adjustments to help you achieve them.

Getting into the practice of cash-flow planning and bootstrapping from day one will help put your business on course for success. Your cash-flow plans will need regular reviews and adjustments but will help you approach each new business decision with a more accurate perspective on financial stability.