Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic many regional and local bodies have launched financial assistance for startups. Besides, using your savings or taking on debt may cause additional stress at a busy time. Self-funding your business is the simplest option but it’s often not possible. Talk through your business plan with someone you trust, to raise questions and identify research areas or opportunities you might have missed.
“The scheme taught me how to write a business plan, forecast, brand and market,” she says. Helen Hardware, the founder of the women’s coaching business Empowering Transformation, sought help from Barclays’ Female Founders First. The Virgin StartUp scheme offers a template that you can download, and mentors you can access for your first year. Start with a brief summary of what your business will do, and go from there.
There are masses of tips, free templates and examples online. It can also be used to measure your progress.
You need to create a business plan if you want to secure investment or a bank loan. This is the blueprint for your business and should pull together information on what you are offering and how it differs from competitors, alongside your plans for funding, marketing and sales. Photograph: Tetra Images/Getty Images/Tetra images RF There is plenty of help available for setting up a business as you set out your goals. The library has 19 national network centres around the UK offering free resources, and a programme, Startups in London Libraries, offers remote workshops.īe willing to change your plans once you see the results of your research, or there is not much point doing it. It also offers webinars, remote support and potential funding options. The British Library Business and IP Centre is an amazing free resource for startups, where you can access reports on the latest trends for every industry. How are they attracting customers? If your idea is already out there, can you do it better? Think about what you like and dislike about your competitors. You could also use online tools such as SurveyMonkey to ask people specific questions. Tools such as HubSpot’s customer persona creator can help you build a profile of your potential client. You can do some of the research online and by asking your friends and family. However you hit upon it, once you have had the idea you should check that there is a demand for it. The idea for your business could arrive in any of a number of ways – it may be based on your skills, the bits of your current job that you enjoy the most, the realisation that there is a gap in the market for a product or service, or seeing a successful business in one industry or area and realising it could be emulated.