How easy is it to start a business?

The idea of being your own boss is tempting to most employees, particularly those who fancy a complete career change. If you spend long hours in an office, daydreaming about a career elsewhere, you might be wondering how many hurdles there are in setting up your first company.

In truth, all industries and sectors present their own challenges, so one article could never cover all eventualities. As far as the practical side goes, there are a few things you can do to make it simpler.

Get support

You might be starting out on your own, but it would be foolish to assume you can do everything yourself. You need to have the right foundations so you have support when you need it.

At the very least, you will need a bank account with a bank that’s convenient to you; check out the online access, since you’ll probably use it a lot. Get an accountant – not necessarily the cheapest – and lean on others who have started their own business before.

Get funding

The money you need to start a business will vary according to the work you do. Premises, materials, insurance and employees are all very costly, which is why many people start at their kitchen table.

If you do need funding, you will almost certainly need a detailed, costed business plan. Invest time in making it shine: this could win you an overdraft, loan or grant to propel the business forward.

Get time

If you’re starting a business while working another job, be careful that you don’t invalidate your contract. Employers expect you to have your mind on the work in front of you, and they don’t want you to be overworked and stressed.

You might be around less for family dinners and weekend outings as you build the business up. Many new businesses require complete commitment of 40, 50 or more hours per week. If you aren’t sure you can find the time, you will need a trusted business partner to drive your startup forward.

Get services

Cloud computing is a key innovation that has completely changed the IT landscape. Within this sector, small businesses benefit from services like VoIP telephony, collaborative tools, storage and backup. Enterprises find it more difficult to transition to cloud tools because they have so much data to move. For a new business, it’s easy to sign up and get started with the services you need.

For small businesses, it has three main advantages:

• Low cost, usually on a subscription, so you don’t put your cash flow at risk
• Scalability, so you can pay for what you need now and seamlessly change it later, perhaps when you hire an employee
• Portability, so you can get on with your work wherever you are

And if the worst happens, and cash flow starts to suffer, you can scale most cloud services back without penalty.

The next step

Interested in starting your business? Not sure where to turn next? Nimvelo will be running a series of business start-up articles to help you get off on the right foot. If you enjoyed the first instalment, we’d love to hear your experiences in the comments section below.