Starting Your Own Small Business: A Checklist
People in the UK are more empowered than ever before to set up their own business. Growing independent scenes within a wide range of industries have seen thriving communities built, and an increased demand for products and services with a personal touch. Indeed, the last few years – and the difficulties they included – inspired a marked increase in new business incorporations in the UK.
However, starting your own small business can still be a difficult thing to do – especially without the right guidance from the outset. Here are some key steps to follow before you start trading with your own small business.
Draft a Roadmap
The first step in ensuring the success of any new small business is to create a comprehensive roadmap for its launch. There are a number of things to think about as you begin trading, many of which will command more of your time than you may expect – meaning you will have less time to plan for the future once you start.
This roadmap should include a 1-year and 5-year plan. The former exists to define short-term goals and expectations, while the latter is designed to map out your ideal long-term situation and any particular milestones for which you’d like to aim. This roadmap can act as a structure of sorts, telling you what you should be focusing on at any one point – whether reaching out to other businesses, expanding your customer reach or developing your products.
Set Up a Payment System
Next, you will need to address your business’ payment infrastructure. How will you solicit payments from customers, and how will you manage payments to suppliers? There are a number of ways to approach this, but new businesses can benefit from new advancements in commercial fintech – in particular, open banking.
Open banking platforms enable you to process transactions with ease; customers can pay online with the click of a button, streamlining the checkout process and decreasing bounce rates overall. You can also use open banking to handle regular payments to suppliers and distributors alike, minimising your time spent administrating direct debits.
Ensure Tax Legality
Before you begin trading proper, though, it would also be wise to ensure that your small business is legally able to operate. A general concern for any new small business owner is to register with HMRC – whether as a self-employed sole trader or a limited company.
Sole trading is useful if you are the only person in your business, as any profits can be treated as your income, and any expenses can reduce your tax obligations. However, registering as a limited company can be useful if you intend to retain staff and use commercial premises; assets are considered distinct from your personal estate, protecting you in the event of bankruptcy, while employees are enrolled in PAYE and benefit from state pension as a result.
Create a Marketing Strategy
