At Yorkshire Accountancy, we help new businesses get off the ground and encourage our clients with proactive support. If you’re thinking about starting a business, here are some key signs you’re ready to take the plunge!
1. You can explain your idea in 15 seconds
Even if your idea is complicated, you’ll have to explain it in a nutshell. Boiling your services, products, ideas, and propositions down to a 15-second ‘elevator pitch’ (as they call in The States), will help you hook in customers or investors whenever the opportunity comes. The process of reducing your idea to a single paragraph is therapeutic. It helps you define what you’re going to do and answers questions others will ask. Having a 15-second pitch rehearsed and ready means your gun is loaded. Pow Pow!
2. You know the problem you’re trying to solve
Good business ideas solve a problem. You ’ll have already researched your audience and market size and you’ll know your customer’s pain points and what motivates them. You will know what problem they are trying to solve when they search for your product or service. For example, Dyson created the bagless vacuum because they knew bags made vacuuming harder. Google invented the Google Glass headset because they thought people wanted to record every aspect of their life and get meeting reminders in their glasses. Turns out they didn’t and the product failed.
If you don’t know what problem your business will solve and for who, keep researching. Watch out for more about this on our blog in the coming weeks.
3. You have a business plan
The UK Government website has a section on templates for business plans and other documents you might need.
4. You’re ready to take a pay cut
In the first year, a new business won’t usually pay you the equivalent to the salary you had working for a company.
Even after that, pay and dividends might be restricted to establish a cash buffer rather than running on empty. Although this means reducing personal spending in the short-term, it will be easier to scale up so, in the long run, you’ll be better off. If you have a pension, your new company can keep up your contributions. This is tax deductible so worth doing if you can. Watch out for an article about this on our blog.
5. You’re ready to say goodbye to ‘Medium’ and hello to ‘High’ & ‘Low’.
When it’s your business, bumps in the road can feel like craters. You will question yourself during tough times. You will probably have to deal with late payers, competition, longer hours and your motivation will slip. But, when things go well, and you’re on a high, it can feel amazing. To achieve a target that you set yourself or receive a good review from a customer can be fantastic. So, the lows are very low, but the highs are very high. There isn’t always a medium. That’s just the way it is for small businesses. In a week, you might go up six ladders and then down one long snake. Read more about dealing with this on our blog ‘5 motivation hacks for small business owners’
If you’re starting or have started a new business, (or even run an established one), and you’re looking for an accountancy service that really understands what it’s like running a small business, and is on your side, we would love to hear from you.
