By: Nick Howe, Enterprise Manager at NatWest
Welcome to 2024, where it’s very popular to want to be your own boss and start up a business. Working for yourself has many positives, freedom, flexibility; being the boss and doing something you love doing. But running your own business is not right for everyone, you will need support, be prepared to invest time and energy, be self motivated, have bucket loads of tenacity and ability to review your progress and adapt as needed.
This year is pivotal for those starting a business, the SME community is growing and there is lots of support available. If you have an idea of what you want to do, here are a few points you might want to think about before taking the plunge:
- Ask yourself whether you are passionate about your business idea. You want to be passionate, but not blind passionate so that you pay attention to feedback from prospective customers as to what they like or don’t like about the idea.
- You will have strengths and weaknesses in your own skill set, so you will need to identify those gaps and think about how they will be overcome. If the business is just going to be you to start with, then any weaknesses that you have may also be weaknesses in your business.
- Research your idea. There is great, free support at Small Business Research + Enterprise Centre. Use databases to find out about potential customers, suppliers and competitors you will need to look into. Research trade magazines and stories. Consider reviewing Census information to determine whether enough of the audience you are targeting live in the place where you are setting up the business, if you are starting a brick and mortar business.
- Test trade your idea. Asking your Mum if she likes your idea is not enough evidence to take the plunge. Even stopping strangers and asking questions from a clipboard may not get accurate enough answers. Test trading could be working on your business in your spare time, setting up a website or eBay store, car boot sale, craft fair, market stall or pop up shop. This process will provide you with evidence, via cash in your till, as to what the market in that area will support…and what it will not.
- Surround yourself with other like minded people to learn from and work with. Entrepreneurship can be lonely but there will be so many people working through the same challenges as you.
Having got to this stage if you are still passionate about your idea then it is vital to consider how the business, when fully launched, is likely to work. Earlier stage ideas can be aided by using the Business Model Canvas before starting to work on your Business Plan as you reach the Test Trading stage.
- NatWest have launched a partnership with Digital Boost that connects you with volunteer experts in strategy, marketing, digital, finance and more for unlimited 1:1 or small-group business mentoring. You won’t pay a penny for their services and you can access free resources, events and tools to help you grow your business
The term ‘side hustle’ has become part of the business start up vocabulary. One particularly healthy aspect, and one that I expect to continue during 2024, is how running a ‘side hustle’ allows a founder to test trade their idea. This precious period of time allows the founder to dedicate whatever spare time they may have to building their venture without a pressure on it to deliver a certain amount of income. This breathing space makes it more likely that the natural fit in the market and finding out whether customers want the product of service you are offering rather than jumping in with both feet brings many positives an one that I hope will continue in 2024.
It is easy to open a business in the UK. However the businesses that thrive and last are those that take the time before launching to truly understanding their product, market, customer, operations and ambitions.
You can hear more from Nick as he runs through more of his insights via this Podcast
*We strive to do our best when supporting small business and their growth. Our business databases can give you information and data that can help you with advertising, market research, company information, and industry factsheets. If you have already taken the plunge, we would love for you to join us at a seminar, our workshops cover digital marketing, business model canvas and planning, demystifying taxes and intellectual property to name a few. Visit our events page or website for more information.
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