Starting a business? Here are 4 essential tips you need to know!

2 min read

Starting a business can be a scary prospect so to give you the best chance of success we have five essential tips for starting a new company. There is so much to think about when starting a new venture from how to create a business plan to seeking investors and hiring staff. Luckily, we have taken the guesswork out for you and with our essential tips you can get ahead of the competition and get stuck in!

Get it down on paper

With loads whizzing round your head, organise your thoughts into a lean canvas which is basically a one page business plan that helps you to breakdown your idea into its core assumptions. It strips away the need for gigantic business plans and replaces it with a single page business model. A lean canvas will identify the target customer, their problem you’d be solving, the solution, the alternatives, your elevator pitch, your early adopters, your measures of success, what you need to shell out for to start up and your revenue streams.

Chat

Ask around for recommendations for advice. We have had mentors our whole careers who we could ask for their thoughts and for additional people to speak to. Their advice was invaluable and helped us avoid pitfalls (we hope!). 

Network

You don’t have to schmooze in a double-breasted suit over stale croissants anymore. There are plenty of virtual networks online, like Lunch Club and the Kitchen Table Community to name a couple. Float your ideas with others, which helps you talk about your ideas succinctly and see how it feels, and gauge reactions from like-minded peers.

Take the leap?

Decide whether your company is a side hustle whilst you remain employed for full stability, or whether you are bold and ask for flexibility from your current employer for the best of both worlds. Or whether you take the leap fully after doing some sums to check you can afford to. We took voluntary redundancy to set up ours as we wanted to be 100% in it. 

Go it alone?

Having worked together for four years and spending the best part of our careers together, it was a no brainer that we’d set up together rather than go it alone. But that’s not for everyone. Going alone is scary and takes some balls, but the rewards would be all yours and there would be no arguments over the colour of the logo. We have too much fun together to split up, so we have decided to channel that energy into our clients. 

That’s it, get stuck in!

Starting a business may feel like a daunting task but with our top tips we hope it is all a little clearer for you. Best of luck starting your venture this year! 

Why not chat to us if you would like to talk through your ideas a little more and get some expert guidance?