Getting Your Business Idea Off The Ground

So you have a great business idea, but you’re not sure where to start with it? You’ve been knocking the idea about for a while in the back of your mind. You may have even sounded out a few friends and family members to see what they think about it. The consensus is that your idea has probably got legs, and you need to get it moving.

Getting Your Business Idea Off The Ground

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Where To Start

The first thing you need to do is get some research done. Start filling up notebooks with all kinds of ideas and directions that you could go. Having as many options open to you at the start will keep your mind open to the possibilities as they emerge. 

See who else out there is doing what you do. If your idea has a local appeal, who is your competition? If there isn’t any, ask yourself, why not? Is the demand not right? What is the competition doing, and how will you be different? 

If the idea is for something that will be carried out online, again ask yourself, where is your competition? What has brought about success in this area, and what causes others to fail.

Do some market research. You could use social media as a jumping-off point. Find relevant groups and ask the questions you need the answers for. Assess the demand and work out what people will pay. 

Creating A Business Plan

You’ll need to have a full business plan if you are to get started. This is a working document that you can take to investors, the bank, or even to potential partners to gain their support. Think about getting the help of a firm such as H.M. Williams chartered certified accountants in drawing up this document. It is a professional document that you will need to get right. It shows that your business is serious, and is well thought out. 

You’ll need to plan for every single cost involved in setting up. These may include rent, website fees, administration charges, staffing costs, taxes, insurance, as well as any logistical concerns. There will be some industry-specific costs involved. 

You will need to plan in a reasonable contingency to ensure that if you go over budget, you have the means to keep the project going. Many companies fail at this hurdle due to a lack of foresight into their set-up costs. 

Get Sound Advice

Make sure that you are speaking to as many business support groups as possible. If there are any free courses out there, take advantage of them, and if there are government-run initiatives for small businesses, see whether you are eligible for any. There may be grants or loans that you’d get a reasonable rate on. And you be able to get mentored during the startup phase. 

Setting up a business takes guts and determination. You’ll want to make sure that every effort that you put in is worthwhile, and finding the right sounding board to advise you is vital in the early stages of running a company. 

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