Starting a new business can be an extremely exciting yet overwhelming time. It can be easy to get split up in the gardener aspects of opening the doors to speak and overlook areas that might have gone under the radar, or you didn’t realise you had to focus on. And neglecting to put all the right products and structures in place to ensure your business has the best chance of success can put you on the back foot. With the global failure rate of new companies being around 60% in the first year, pay attention to the commonly overlooked aspects of running a business that can put a dent in your plans for world domination.
Marketing
Marketing can often be seen as an afterthought, especially for smaller startups on a shoestring budget; however, neglecting to invest in how you are getting the word out about your business will result in no one knowing you are open for business. After all, how else do you expect people to know about you if you aren’t marketing? So before you declare yourself open for business or allocate your funds elsewhere, squirrel some away for marketing. It is suggested that enterprises put around 2-5% of their projected revenue on marketing to have the required results.
Health and Safety
Do you know the government’s legal health and safety requirements for your industry? If not, why not? Before you even get going with your plans, you need to know what measures you should have in place for your business and how to ensure safety within the workplace and for anyone coming into contact with your business. This could mean working with a supplier such as Chem Resist for the safe storage and transfer of chemicals or obtaining your food standards licence and rating for supplying food and drinks to the public and so on. This goes for small home-based businesses and more prominent startups too. No one is exempt. Stop, do your research and ensure you know exactly what your legal requirements are concerning health and safety for your new business.
The Right Ownership Structure
You need to register your business with HMRC. That is a requirement, but you also need to consider how you are registering your business and what implications this will have on you and anyone affiliated with your company. As an entrepreneur, you need to think carefully about how the business will impact your life and how you want it connected to you. Your options are to set up as a sole trader, a limited company or a partnership. If it is you working alone from your desk at home, then a sole trader can be best. This is easy to do and means you are solely responsible for your business’s debts and finances. A limited company will separate your personal and business finances, and you will be subject to stricter reporting and management responsibilities, while a partnership is for running a business alongside other people and sharing the obligations and debts of the business between all owners. So before you or anything else, determine your business structure to avoid any nasty surprises down the line.
Conclusion
There are many intricate details involved in setting up your own business, and you need to make sure you are aware of as many of these pertaining to your industry as possible it can be worthwhile getting business advice or a mentor who can assist you in ensuring nothing is overlooked, and you are ready for everything when you are up and running.
