Setting Up My Business

Hi guys,

I’m back with another blog — but this time, it’s about the steps I took to turn my dream of owning a business into reality. I really felt there was a lot of value in going through the proper channels, and as someone who provides administrative services for small businesses, it was important for me to get my own admin together… right?

So, to start with—and as a little heads up—no, you do not need a business management degree to run a business.

That being said, the degree I have is one of the best things I ever did. It made me adaptable and resilient and opened my mind to other possibilities. I learned some fundamentals that later helped me tap into creating my business years down the line. But that doesn’t mean you have to get a degree to run a business — far from it.

I actually ended up kind of starting fresh. I went back into the education realm by doing online CPD courses while juggling writing a business plan. I headed over to Reed, found a mix of free and paid CPD courses in my desired field, and started there.

My Four Starting Points

For anyone starting a business and wanting some unsolicited advice, these were my four starting points:

1. What’s the goal?

   Where do you want to be? Where do you want the business to go? And how are you going to make it happen?

2. Choose the right structure.

   Figure out whether your business should be set up as a sole trader or a limited company. There are benefits and limitations to both, but the deciding factor for me was where I saw my business going in the future.

3. Be honest about financial security.

   Evaluate whether leaving personal financial security (a full-time or even part-time job) to pursue the business is worth it for you. (I’ll elaborate on this another day.)

4. Get your head around accounts.

   Whether that’s hiring an accountant or taking a course – these are things I really wish I’d felt more confident with before setting up the business.

Having a clear goal — what you want, how you’re going to get there through the business, and where you want to end up — was the starting point that helped me turn the dream into something tangible.

It also keeps you incredibly motivated in your first year. The phrase " Most businesses fail in their first year” lived in my head for a long time as an insecurity. Changing that mindset into the what, where, why, how, and when of it all had a knock-on effect on everything else that followed, and to be honest, although the original goals I started off with changed throughout my first year, they were valuable lessons that changed the game for me.

And I’ll tell you how next.