Posts Tagged ‘how to start a small business’

The 3 Must Do’s Before You Start A Small Business

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

How To Get Your New Small Business Off To A Flying Start

So You’ve Got Your Small Business Idea And You Want To Start A Small Business?

What do you need to do to get your small business off to a flying start? Well I’m going to share with you what I believe are the first 3 most important things to consider when starting a small business, especially a bricks and mortar business.

1. Research
You need to know whether your new small business idea is going to succeed and the only way to find out is to carry out some thorough research on the products or service that you are going to be selling.

When I started my first business more than twenty years ago, my original business idea was to open up a pet shop. I wasn’t actually sure whether there would be a demand for that type of shop, so during one of my week’s holidays I actually parked in the main shopping street for 6 hours a day for the whole week and carried out some thorough research which entailed:

Counting the number of people who visited the shops within the high street each day.
Speaking to shoppers to ask whether they felt that there was demand for a pet shop in that area.
Speaking to other shop owners in the locality to ask for any tips that they could give me on the best ways to start a retail business.
Checking what other competitors were doing in order to offer a better service .
Checking whether the area was going to be the right location i.e. making sure that there was a market for what I was selling within a given area. This would then determine for me whether I could achieve the desired profit margins within that location. Location is very important when considering a bricks and mortar business as property leases and the prices that you can charge for your goods or services, are largely governed by location and the overheads you incur.

Needless to say I did not open a pet store but I opened up a chain of convenience food stores instead, based on using the same research techniques.

2. Create a Good Business Plan
You can have the best small business ideas in the world, but you will seldom get them off the ground without financial backing. In order to gain that all important backing you will first of all need to present your potential lender with a business plan.

Do not be out off by this. All too often you will already have the business plan already in your head and will merely need to put in down on paper. Some things that you need to include when writing a business plan are;

The product or service that you are going to provide.
Who your targeted customers are going to be.
The cost to make or buy the product to sell on or how much it’s going to cost you to provide the service that you are going to be offering.
Your operational costs including rent, staff, fuel, vehicles, equipment, stationary, materials, legal fees, advertising etc, etc. You will need to ensure that you list them all.
The location where you are going to be offering your goods or services.

3. Financial Planning
Financial planning for a new small business is not just about how much money people they spend but more about planning the amount of sales that you hope to make each day, the purchases you will need to make, and the income that you expect to make after deducting the overall costs of trading. Many small businesses fail in the first year of trading because of poor cash flow. Below are some suggestions of how to avoid cash flow problems within your first year of trading:

Create a “small business cash flow forecast”. Simply write down all of your expenditure costs for each month for the first year of trading and then add them up. Then write down what you think you will achieve in sales. Deduct one from the other and this will provide you with the targeted amount of sales that you will need to make in order to break even or make a profit.

If you don’t feel confident to create your own cash flow forecast, you could ask an accountant to do it for you. They could also create a profit and loss statement for you at the same time.
It is advisable to have some emergency funds set aside when starting a small business. Every new business needs money to get started, even if is only to buy stock or stationary.
If possible try to allow a sum of money equal to the projected turnover for the first year of business to allow for any cash flow problems.
Get the best deals from your lender. Some banks like Nat West and HSBC now offer free banking for 2 years for all new small businesses. Check out a few banks as they all offer something unique.

Don’t be disheartened if you get a few refusals. Just remain focused and confident in your approach when discussing your business plans with the business advisor.

I can remember when I started my first business, eighteen lenders turned me down. However I didn’t give up and eventually a bank manager situated 90 miles away believed in my passion and drive to start my own business and decided to lend me the money that I needed.

These are what I believe to be the first three most important things to consider when you start a small business. The more preparation you do to begin with, the less mistakes you will make. It can take time but it will be worth it in the long run.

For further advice on starting up your own business feel free to visit our website. I’m sure one way or another we will be able to help you … www.perfectprosperity.com

Kind Regards
ROY DERRICK

Tags: getting started in business, how to start a small business, small business ventures, start a new small business
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Starting Your Own Small Business

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Why Start A Small Business?

People Start A Small Business Not just To Make Money, But To Also Create A Sense of Achievement And More Freedom

Over the years I have started, developed and sold numerous small businesses. For many people, the idea of running their own small business is extremely appealing for a number of reasons. Being responsible for your own earnings, rather than working hard for an employer can make starting up a small businessvery exciting and rewarding indeed. The other benefit that appeals to most, is the thought of being able to control the hours you work. This for me has proved invaluable.

That’s not to say that starting or running your own small business is easy. When I started my very first small business people thought I was mad, bonkers and an absolute idiot. They couldn’t understand why I wanted to give up a well paid job and do something outside of what everyone else was doing. The thought of starting my own business wasn’t the key reason it was being able to choose my own destiny that was the real reason. The reasons do vary for different people which is why I have listed 6 key points to consider when starting a small business

What personal qualities make a good small business owner?
Everyone is different but one of the key qualities successful small business owners have is self motivation and determination. Many small business owners work casually from home, so it is important to have the right self motivation and discipline to put in the right amount of quality and highly productive hours to make the amount of money you want to have available for you and your family to spend. The great thing about having your own small business is that you only have to work the same amount of hours as you would for someone else and yet earn double or treble the amount of money. In other words the hourly rate of pay is much more for less time worked plus you can choose the hours you work thus creating a better work life balance.

Taking the leap to start a small business
Some people decide to start a small business as a life changing opportunity after years of employment working for someone else – maybe as a result of losing their job, Thinking of ways to start a small business

Thinking of ways to start a small business

or starting a family and wanting more time at home. Others run their businesses alongside a job for extra money, or because they have an idea that they would like to test out around their existing job as a safe guard before giving up their full time employment. The best advice I can offer here is that finding a mentor and the right support to begin with will ensure that the whole process / leap doesn’t have to be as terrifying as you may think.

What will your small business do?

When may decide to start a small business based upon the skills you already have and can offer or you may have a great idea that you would like to launch. If you can’t think of a small business to start then think about what personal qualities and skills you may have that you could put to good use or even things you enjoy that you could learn to do professionally – things like photography, driving, typing, catering, hairdressing or manufacturing. Every business I have started I have never done before. What I did do was to put into action ideas I had. Every small business i started proved successful. Some of the businesses we set up simply did something better than someone else. But guess what..? I didn’t have anyone to help, advise or mentor me… I simply struggled on. I only wish I had, because I know that if I did have a mentor to begin with I could have achieved much more far sooner.

What are the costs going to be to start your small business?

The costs of setting up a small business vary tremendously and depend on whether you need premises or whether you will work from home, will you need to hire staff, stock or equipment. Even if you do work from home you will still need some funds to buy a computer, printing sundries, software and web subscriptions etc so please don’t think for one moment that you can start a small business without having to spend some money to get started. If you think that you will need to borrow some money to start your business get help to add up all of the costs up until the sales start to come in. Accurate planning is the key.

Market research, promotion and advertising your small business

For most types of small businesses market research, promotion and advertising can be cheaply using social media and other Internet resources. Trust me, regardless of what business you are thinking about starting there are plenty of ways for every small business owner to take advantage of things like Twitter, Facebook, Pinerest, blogs, Youtube, Foursquare, article writing and Press releases to promote what you small business has to offer and best of all it can be done for free. It can be extremely beneficial to get as familiar as you can with social media and build up a strong, well written, well branded web presence. It can be time consuming but once you get established you can hire someone to do this for you if profits permit.. hire someone else to do this for you.

Measuring the success of your small business and tweaking the results

As your business venture develops, it is very important that you regularly review whether you need to do anything to boost sales and profits. You can measure results like customer feedback, reputation and sale performance against other similar businesses within your market place. As times tend to change so quickly these days it is important to make sure that you do so as well. Running a small business can be one of the most rewarding ways to make a living, and with the right idea, planning and strategy you could soon be on the road towards creating a boss free lifestyle.

Choosing a small business to start is not always easy which is why some people turn to Franchising. Starting a franchise offers people the opportunity to start a small business that is already set up with branded products. However, franchising can be expensive and so can the running costs.

As an alternative you may want to look at some of the exciting opportunities that we ourselves have packaged enabling people all over the world to start a highly successful and profitable small business. Many are already having incredible success with our recommendations. To view what we have on offer CLICK HERE.

You can also down load our FREE STARTER GUIDE HERE which illustrates the most common and profitable small businesses that we come across each and every day.

Feel free to contact us at any time

Kind regards
ROY DERRICK

Tags: Benefits of Starting A Small Business, how to start a small business, small business ideas, Tips For Starting A Small Business, Why Start A Small Business
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Help Starting A Small Business

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

Help Starting A Small Business

The Beatles once famously sang, “Help! I need somebody.” Well, help starting a small business is what everyone should look for when thinking about starting a new business. In fact even if you have an existing small business that is struggling, you should never be afraid to ask for help.

The sort of help starting a small business most people look for is of course financial assistance. However, it’s just as important to find the expertise to help create and develop a new business with the aim to ensure that it becomes a very profitable one.

There are many people, consultants, mentors and companies that offer and provide help to start a small business, many of which can be found online. However, it is always a good idea to check what costs they may charge for providing you with help to start a small business.

Help starting a small business can also be obtained from government back organisations and enterprise schemes many of which can be found in local small business directories, help centres and from local trade organisations. Further advice and even information packs can also be found in local employment centres, banks or from online small business forums. I always remember the time I was thinking about starting my first serious business… I actually went out and visited other similar business owners and asked them for their advice, most of whom where happy to give it. It might sound a little cheeky but it was the best way to get real down to earth facts and advice.

As a small business mentor and coach, I often find that people who desperately want help starting a small business are generally afraid to ask. You have to be able to overcome that fear. By doing so you can literally save thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds / dollars in the long term.

Some years ago Sir Richard Branson flew my wife and I out to New York as a gift for one of our businesses being voted the Best in it’s sector. Ever since meeting Mr Branson and discussing his back round during dinner together, I discovered just like many other famous entrepreneurs that he himself had a mentor who gave him the help starting a small business that he needed during his early entrepreneurial days. Sir Richard Branson continues to inspire me and is someone who to this very day will tell you that having a mentor will give you a massive head start in creating a successful business.

Finding the right person to help start a small business has to be priority to ensure that you receive all of the critical advice and support that is needed. Although I help people start successful online and in particular home based businesses, I am finding that more and more existing small business owners are also now seeking help towards turning their businesses into more profitable enterprises. Finding the right support, advice and help will dramatically increase the chances of any business surviving and prospering.

There are many ways a mentor can help you start a small business, some of which are illustrated below.

1. Sales. They can provide real-life training and provide the extra help need to find and attract customers and even close sales for you. Believe me that can be a huge bonus during the early days! Mentors can provide weekly one to one mentoring to help increase your skills, your knowledge and provide you with the best practices towards making your new business a highly successful one. Mentors can provide state-of-the-art training so you can keep on top of new ideas and customer’s needs. We generally find that individuals who we mentor are able to get their businesses off the ground far quicker than those who don’t seek our help

2. Marketing. Marketing is the key for driving customers to your business—and that’s particularly true in challenging economic times. Being able to produce high value but low cost advertising campaigns is a skill in itself and again something skilled mentors can help you with.

3. Reducing Costs. The recession is hurting most businesses hence why help starting a small business is required not only to help start a small business but also to ensure that it continues to grow and prosper. All businesses need a strategy to be able to survive. Having started numerous successful small businesses I know that keeping overheads down to a minimum is crucial at all times. Always keep your overheads under control.

4. Financial Assistance. Financial help starting a small business is no longer readily available from banks and small financial institutions. Running a business is all about having the correct finances in place to ensure that you can continue to trade. Mentors can help you find lenders to finance a new business.

Most small businesses require a large investment of cash to be able to get started. Having an excellent product and a 1^st class service is always paramount. Having a good mentor means that you will be able to seek the advice and establish how much money (capital) is required from the outset, in other words to help you produce a business plan so you can forecast growth and success for your business.

Help starting a small business, whether it’s to open a new store, shop, franchise or to provide a service, is always available if you look hard enough. It’s imperative that you fully understand what starting a small business entails before you start splashing out any money or wasting your valuable time and effort on something that could end up being a disaster. Make sure you do your market research before hand.

Start up costs for most small businesses are generally quite large. One way to avoid this is to consider starting a home based business, as they generally require a small investment rather than a large one.

I have started and owned numerous businesses including franchises, but in all honesty I can say that a home based business and in particular an online business is definitely the most cost effective and most profitable small business worth starting. The profits and work / life balance are generally much better and more rewarding than a traditional bricks and mortar type of business.

Franchises generally provide a well known brand and product that enables you to start a new business without the need of having to start and create a service and sell products that customers may not have confidence in buying from you. However, franchise start up costs, are usually very high and entail you having to pay monthly royalty fees to the franchisee for using their brand and products, profits that you would otherwise get to keep if you started a business without entering in to a franchise contract.

My advice to anyone seeking help starting a small business is to get to know someone who is already successful in business…someone who is willing to help you get started and willing to share experience and success with you. This will give you the heads up and the confidence that you’re not all alone during what can be a stress time to begin with.

Help starting a small business is available in many ways but remember hard work is still needed to succeed. Make sure this is what you want and that the business it is right for you and your family.

In time the rewards and lifestyle that working for your self can create are well worth the hard work.

Plan carefully, stay focused and over time you will be able to live a better life..

For Further Free Help Starting A Small Business You Can View Our Presentation Using This Link Here

Regards

ROY DERRICK

Tags: 5 tips to start a small business, help starting a small business, help to start a small business, home business, how to start a small business, Small Business
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