Five tips to start-up success
Take the time to plan and prepare, and your business will be more likely to succeed. Here are five key tips to get you started.
1. Plan
Start your business journey with a critical look at your ideas. Your business plan will be a key tool in communicating your ideas to potential suppliers, business partnerships or funding sources so you need to show you’ve thought through the essentials. Your plan will also serve as a benchmark to measure your progress against as your business grows. So, if things don’t go as you’ve planned, you can take steps to adjust them.
You can get help with writing your business plan here, and remember to keep reviewing it throughout your businesses lifecycle. As setting up your business can be a big adjustment to your life, don’t forget to diarise important administrative dates and think about how you will manage your time effectively too.
Not just insight into your market, but also the practicals like hiring an accountant and understanding your tax and legal obligations. Being proactive about the things you don’t know will help you feel informed and more confident to make important decisions.
Find out what might make a Unique Selling Point (USP) for your business in the market – you’ll likely have many competitors so how will you stand out from the crowd? For laws affecting your business visit the HMRC website for more information. It’s also worth checking if your industry has a trade association and asking them for guidance.
3. Money matters
Get your business going whilst you’re still employed to make that financial jump easier. You may want to take a huge leap of faith, but a bit of security in paying the rent means one less thing to worry about at the start. Consider asking to go part-time in your current job and make the most of your evenings and weekends.
Spend as little of your money as possible when starting up. Keep your funds for future investment in your business when you can see how the numbers are looking. And don’t forget to benchmark against your competitors too - finding out as much as you can about their figures will guide your business performance expectations.
4. Network
Word of mouth is still a very powerful tool, so get marketing with freebies and by spreading the word, even if you don’t feel fully set up yet. Talk to people and other businesses, host a launch event for potential suppliers and customers and print some business cards to get your contact details out there.
Don’t over-promise or act, just be professional and passionate about what you do, and be yourself. And make sure you ask people to recommend you to their families and friends. You may find you get customers and clients from networking – don’t hesitate to sign them up as customers straightaway.
Make yourself identifiable with a strong logo and brand identity, consistent across all your communication channels. And insight from your networking can feed back into your business plan development. Most people will struggle to go it alone, so have support in place from family members or find a mentor.
5. Get online
Whether you’re selling products or services, a website is a must - but it doesn’t have to be perfect on first review. Just make sure it’s easy to navigate and simple to use for your customers. Give as many contact options to potential customers as you can.
There are plenty of free or cheaper Do It Yourself website building sites with some good guidance on how to make your site more visible online. And remember, being online can mean free publicity by using tools such as social media. Doing one or two channels brilliantly is always better than doing them all half-heartedly, so decide which social accounts you have the energy for and which best suit your business.
Using your website as an expert information source for your sector gives customers a reason to stay on your website too – think about value-added content, like blogs and articles. As your business grows, you may want to invest more in specialist website development, design and strategies such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and making use of website analytics.
Important legal information
Lloyds Bank is a trading name of Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH.
Lloyds Bank plc. Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 2065. Bank of Scotland plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in Scotland no. SC327000. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Registered office 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 10399850. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 119278, 169628 and 763256 respectively.
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH has its registered office at Thurn-und-Taxis Platz 6, 60313 Frankfurt, Germany. The company is registered with the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 111650. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht.
Eligible deposits with us are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Please note that due to FSCS and FOS eligibility criteria not all business customers will be covered.
While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by Lloyds Bank for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.