Starting your own business - Feel the fear and do it anyway

Start Your Own Business - Feel The Fear - But Do It Anyway!

Starting your own business should be one of the most terrifying things you ever do. If it isn't you might not be trying hard enough or maybe you just don't get where you really are. Thinking about starting a business is a bit like queuing up for a massive roller coaster. You should be really excited, yet afraid of how it may feel and what it may do to you.

The feeling should almost be perverse in so far as you know you want to do it, you believe that you can do it, you know that you are going to leave behind the safety and security of a salary or wage, yet you still want to do it.

I have started a few businesses and when things are going great people will say to me "boy you are a lucky guy, running your own successful business". I generally explain that luck had nothing to do with it and I may quote one of my favourite quotes (no idea who's it is) "Success is all about luck, ask any failure".

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway

Kieran Moulden www.trueblueloans.co.uk Copyright © 2014, All Right Reserved

I have started a few businesses and thankfully they have been successful. Now lets quickly define what I see as success. Success to me is:

1. Not going bust.2. Not losing any investors money.3. Not losing all my money.4. Being able to pay staff each month.5. Be able to pay suppliers each month.6. Enjoying myself – most of the time.

If you happen to build a business that fits the above criteria I would define it as successful. OK, we all want to make millions or build something that changes the world, or be the next Apple, but if that does not happen what would you see as successful?

Background


I have never started a business where I was the first in the market. I’m just not smart enough to invent sometime new. What I can do is see where there is room in a market for me to squeeze in.

I see business plans where entrepreneur’s claim to have seen a gap in the market and the market has been crying out for this product and they are going to satisfy the demand and and and….. Maybe they all do see this “gap”, I just see that there are few markets that are truly saturated and can’t squeeze another player in.

So, if you have always wanted to start a business but you can’t find that original idea for a business, don’t worry. Just stop trying to look so hard and see what is around, that you think you could do, where some companies are surviving and not doing it brilliantly and investigate.

The IdeaYou don't have to be original


Be honest with yourself – it is harder than you think.

Ok, we have the idea, we can visualise and feel it happening. Lets see what is out there, what it costs, what skills are required, where would it be base, can I really do it, do I need additional skills and people, can I really afford it.

With the internet it is easy to undertake research on most if not all industries. You should be able to see what other compan ies are doing, what they are selling, maybe even where they are buying and who their customers are. There are so many review sites that you should be able to get an opinion and view from existing and past customers.

Find out everything you can about the industry, ask as many people as you can, visit trade shows and exhibitions for that industry. Be certain that you have found out as much as possible before moving onto the next step.

ResearchDig, Dig, Dig


Great so you have £5,000 to put into the business and you have a photographer you know who wants to be involved. He says that he will put in £5,000 but he wants 25% equity in the business.

You are happy with the split and you know that whilst he will not be involved in the running of the business he will supply photos for you to sell.

I would strongly recommend that anyone with partners and shareholders in the business gets, and agrees, a shareholder agreement. Please don’t believe that nothing will go wrong or your great friend who is now your co director will not turn out to be a demon in disguise. A shareholder agreement will protect you both and set out the rules for the business relationship.

It is a great idea to have a lawyer draw one up for you, but this can be expensive. I have used for shareholder agreements, along with many other documents a company called Click Docs (http://www.clickdocs.co.uk/). You can buy a comprehensive shareholders agreement for a few pounds. You just need to customise it and produce two copies that you and your fellow shareholder sign and exchange.

Keep the details for this company, you will need them for other documents later.

The Structure of the BusinessYou have a business partner


I’m not saying that I am always right on what I say, but I do find this part of the process great fun. It is a time where you can relax a bit and maybe indulge yourself a little.

You need to come up with a company name and identity. If you are starting up a Limited Company then you need to make sure it is unique and that no one is going to get upset if you call yourself something that is close to what they are called. I would not suggest calling yourself MacDonald's (UK) Ltd if you were starting a takeaway business for instance.

It is easy to check on company names without spending any money. Just go to Companies House (http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/) and look up names to see if your chosen name has already been taken by someone. The section to go to is in the red circle of the picture above.

Have fun and pick a name which represents you or your business.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of picking a company name and then registering it at Companies House then a good way to go is to pick one of the many companies that will sell you a ready made Limited Company. Just search in Google for “off the shelf companies” and take your pick. They will sell you a ready made company or one with your choice of name for a relatively small amount of money. I have used these companies a number of times and found them all to be pretty good.

Setting Up The CompanyThis is what I do anyway


The task of writing a business plan can seem daunting, but it does not have to be. I have written a few and the most recent one I wrote, I used an online plan called Live Plan (www.liveplan.com). The reason I started using online planning software was because I wanted to be able to update and change the plan over time and also keep a structured approach to the various sections of the plan.

You may wonder why you need a business plan and you may question if you need one, but you do need one. That is for sure.

A business plan should be your guide, something that you can measure your success against. You will almost certainly be expected to provide a copy for your business bank, maybe for your landlord (if you rent space) and definitely for any external investors.

Your plans should cover everything that you want other people to know about your planned business. Every business is slightly different to the next and every business plan is going to be slightly different. This is what I covered in a recent plan:

1. Executive Summarya. Who we areb. Who we sell toc. What we are trying to achieved. Financial summary

2. The Companya. Company overviewb. Company structurec. Management teamd. Shareholding

The Business PlanWrite honestly and to impress


3. Products and Servicesa. Productsb. Trade associationsc. Competitorsd. Future products

4. Target Marketa. Market overviewb. Market needsc. Market growthd. Market trendse. Key customers

5. Strategy & Implementationa. Marketing planb. Competitive edgec. Exit Strategy

6. Financial plana. Gross revenueb. Personnel planc. Budget

7. Financial Statementa. P&Lb. Balance sheet

8. Appendix

The Business PlanCont.


So now you have legally formed the company and now maybe need a website.

It is really is quite simple to set up a website. I tend to do it this way.

I find an ISP (Internet Service Provider) such as 1and1.co.uk (there are hundred to choose from). and I select their cheapest package. I then search for a domain name (company-name.co.uk or .com or now .co). So if your company name is Biz Plan (UK) Ltd you might be lucky and be able to secure the domain www.bizplan.co.uk. Once you have secured the domain you need to decide if you want to build the site yourself.

We are going to presume that you are setting up an online business selling original photographs. So we know that we need to have a site that we can display the photos and also we want to be able to sell online so we need a shopping cart and a way for people to pay us.

We probably don’t want to spend a fortune on setting up the site, but it needs to look impressive and needs to look professional. Most of all it needs to work.

In this situation I would recommend finding a Freelancer to help you. I’m certainly not saying that this is the only way to do it, or indeed the best way to do it, but I have used a site called Freelancer.com many times. At Freelancer.com you can write a brief of what you want and developers from around the world will bid on your project. You can then review the bids, look at feedback from other customers and select the freelancer you wish to use.

You place money in an Escrow account so it is safe and you do not need to release it until the website is finished and delivered.

The more detailed the brief the better. Be clear in what you are looking for and what your expectations are.

WebsiteDomains, ISP's, Developers


Maybe you want a site with the following pages:

HomeAbout UsOur Products (photos)Check OutContact Us

The checkout section might need to be a plus in shopping basket function from your ISP, or from Paypal.

The brief might be as simple as:

5 page website needed with all design and logo included. To be built and posted on my ISL (1and1.co.uk). The pages will be:HomeAbout UsOur Products (photos)Check OutContact Us

The Contact Us must have a contact us form which emails to me personal email address. The products page needs to be easy to update myself from an editor. Needs to have a shopping trolley and check out section. I will provide all written copy for the site. I ideally want the design to be very modern mainly in blue and back.

Even a simple brief like the one above should give you enough to get started and should not cost very much money at all.

WebsiteDomains, ISP's, Developers


Whatever happens you will need a bank account for your business. You may need to borrow some money from the bank or you may need to raise external finance.

Let presume that you have some money, say £5,000 and you need another 5,000. You are planning on selling 25% of the business for that £5,000. You are lucky and have an investor lined up so you don’t need to borrow from the bank.

Select the bank you wish to use. There are some interesting offers from banks why want to attract you as a customer. In my humble opinion, I would look for free banking more than anything else. In 13 years of running my own business I have yet to pay any bank charges. Make an appointment with a local business manager, take along your business plan and sell hard. You should get free banking for at least the first two years of operation.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your relationship with the bank. You may not need to borrow from them at the moment, but you need to keep the door open, just in case you do need to borrow in the future.

Bank and MoneySell, Sell, Sell


We are ready, I think for you to launch. Of course I have over simplified the whole process and made it seem easy, but it does not have to be very complicated.

You have your photos on the site, the shopping basket is ready, you have a way for people to pay you. What could go wrong?

Test – that what you need to do. Get some friends and family to test the process from end to end. Make sure the website works, make sure they can see the photos easily, check the payment system works, check you know how to send the photos.

Assume nothing will work – test, test , test.

Are We Ready?Is it time?


Now this is truly a subject in itself. But you will have researched and decided how you were going to market you company way back in the planning stages. But just in case you haven’t, an easy place to start is going to be Google. At Google, be it .co.uk or .com it is easy to set up a Pay Per Click account in their Adwords business. Here you pay some money up front, select which words you would click on if you were searching for photos to buy and away you go.

Have a look at Adwords, well just search it on Google!

MarketingWill they come, will they buy?


Economy & Finance

Starting your own business - Feel the fear and do it anyway