How to start a business

Consider following these basic steps to start your own business:

1. Define your business goals

Start by establishing essential goals for your company. You can ask yourself some questions about your business idea to refine it. When evaluating business ideas, make sure they are actionable and viable. Consider both market demand and your ability to execute the concept:

• Why? Identify the purpose of your business and your motivation for starting it.
• What? This question helps you establish what product or service you’ll be offering.
• Who? Who is your ideal customer or client? Pay attention to specific demographics, such as age, location or income, and consider the needs and preferences of potential customers.
• How? Describe the steps that you can take to develop a product or service. Establish how you can deliver it to your customers.

2. Write a business plan

Consider using this information to write comprehensive business plans before officially registering and starting your company. Developing detailed business plans offers significant benefits, such as guiding your business decisions and increasing your chances of securing funding.

A business plan serves as a guide for every aspect of your new business. It’s a guide that takes you from a simple, inspiring idea to a successful company. Additionally, angel investors often require a comprehensive business plan before considering an investment.

You can start a business based on your unique idea or choose to open a franchise of an already established company. This allows you to focus on business operations. The company will share their expertise with you, which you can use to handle areas such as marketing and communications.

3. Conduct market research

It’s important that you know if there are other businesses in your area with similar products or services. You can gather this information by looking them up online using keywords relevant to your location and specific products or services. Pay attention to how they chose to set up their business model and prices.

When analysing market trends, also consider seasonal demand, as fluctuations due to holidays or weather can impact your planning and profitability. Doing this can help you structure your business in a way that allows it to stand out and attract more clients.

Another part of your research may include figuring out who your target customer base is and how your products or services can fulfil their needs. This information can also help you plan your social media and marketing strategies, advertising your business online and offline. For example, by printing posters or flyers or by promoting online courses through digital channels.

4. Design your business structure

At this stage, you can make some important decisions to define your business:

• Legal structure: choose the right business structure for your needs, as this affects your liability, tax returns and registration requirements.
• Business owners may register as a sole trader, limited company or partnership.
• Sole traders are the simplest structure, allowing you to retain all profits and make decisions independently. Keep in mind that you are personally liable for business debts.
• Limited companies are legally separate from their owners and are registered with Companies House. They offer limited liability protection.
• Banking and accounting: some business owners manage their finances alone, but you can consider hiring an accountant who will help you with daily bookkeeping and taxes.
• To take care of business finances, open a business bank account. This helps separate personal and business finances, streamlines cash flow management and is often a legal requirement for limited companies. Be aware that there may be eligibility criteria for opening a business bank account.
• Business name: choosing a fitting name can help your business be memorable to customers. Brainstorm name ideas and check availability to ensure your choice is unique and distinguishable from other registered businesses.
• Business location: it’s important to decide where your business headquarters is located and if you’re going to work from home or rent an office. Consider your business premises options, such as home-based work, renting or purchasing commercial spaces. Assess what best suits your business activities and your budget.
• Website and social media: once you’ve figured out your business name, it’s important to set up a domain and register social media accounts that you’ll use to share updates about your business. You can also consider starting a blog or newsletter to promote it.

Different business structures have specific tax obligations. Limited companies pay corporation tax annually. Sole traders register for self-employment with HMRC and pay income tax on their profits. Check which structure is best for you before you register.

5. Obtain funding

Some businesses need minimal capital to launch. For example, as an online consultant, you can often start providing services to clients immediately with little to no upfront cost.

In some cases, especially for start-ups, you’ll explore ways to finance your new business. Start by calculating how much money you need, considering setup costs, rent, utilities, materials and equipment. Estimate your monthly expenses and use that information to build an annual budget.

The following are some popular ways to fund a business that you can research:

• Personal savings
• Family loans
• Small business loans or grants
• Online crowdfunding
• Investors

Finance options can include loans, grants and investment from sources such as venture capital or angel investors. Securing funding is important for company expansion, purchasing new equipment or for hiring support staff. For start-up businesses, seeking support from mentors or business networks can also help you navigate funding challenges and build a solid foundation for growth.

6. Design and develop products or services

Once you’ve set your main business goals and defined your products or services, start creating them. Order the materials needed for production or partner with contractors or freelancers. It’s also time to develop policies, set up equipment and outline processes if you offer services.

During development, make sure to protect your business assets and intellectual property, such as copyrights and trademarks and consider appropriate insurance coverage.

7. Create branding and communication

After developing your products or services, create a strong branding and communication strategy. Choosing a consistent colour scheme, including logo and typography for all your activities, such as flyers or social media banners, can help you stand out. It also allows customers to easily recognise your brand online.

8. Promote your business

Consider how you can publicise your business so your target audience gets the message. Making sure your business information and what you offer are easily accessible can help you build relationships with customers that can positively influence your company’s success. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Print advertising
• Google advertising
• Billboards
• Discount codes and vouchers
• Influencers and affiliate marketing
• Indeed Company Pages

9. Build an effective team

As your business grows, you may decide to hire employees to assist with daily operations and customer service. This may involve deciding to hire your first employee. To find the most qualified candidate, you can advertise a job on Indeed.

10. Plan for business growth

During the first few years, focus on learning to lead, delegate and work with clients. If you succeed very early on, you’ll quickly expand your manufacturing processes or prepare to deliver services to more clients.

As your business grows, it is important to monitor your annual turnover, as reaching certain thresholds may require VAT registration and accurate financial record-keeping for tax purposes. Additionally, when managing profits and losses, consider the potential for tax relief, which can help offset business losses or reinvestments against other taxable income to reduce your overall tax liability. Growing your business may include:

• Studying market trends
• Testing new ideas
• Acquiring other businesses
• Growing into new markets
• Expanding product lines and services

In today’s AI landscape, you can adopt tools to help you manage your business growth such as ChatGPT or Gemini.

Tips for hiring and managing employees

Reviewing applications and recruiting new employees is an important part of growing a business. Here are some tips to help you do that:

• Research hiring tools: use Indeed’s Hiring Resource Library to monitor hiring trends and recruitment practices.
• Use remote options: consider learning how to conduct virtual interviews and manage a remote team to guarantee that your business operates smoothly.
• Advertise jobs: writing a compelling job description and advertising it online can increase your chances of finding the most qualified employees.
• Plan for onboarding: making new employees feel comfortable is an important part of your job as an employer. To do this, design an onboarding guide that ensures a smooth transition for new employees.