As we enter the month of April and spring is in the air, it got us thinking about new beginnings and fresh shoots. So this month we are hoping that the article that we add will be useful to those starting-up in businesses.
This article concentrates on why you might need to take advice.
Starting up in business for yourself can be both a very exciting and also a very stressful time. For many the lure of being your own boss and being in charge of your own destiny is a dream that overtakes the reality of running a business.
Owning and running your own business can be very rewarding but there are also a number of pit-falls that need to be avoided (or at least planned for) so that you can make a success of the venture.
It is a well known fact that between 20% and 33% of businesses fail in the first year, and as many as 50% fail in the first 3 years, so surviving as a start-up can be tough. Often the reasons for failure is not just down to lack of sales, often it is bad (or lack of) planning and advice. A recent survey by the Financial Times discovered that 20% of failed businesses would probably still be in business after 2.5 years if they had sought sound advice at the outset.
In addition when starting out, you may be an expert in your subject area, or you may have the best product knowledge there is, but do you know about all the other things that a small business owner needs to know? To make your start-up a success you will need to know about Human Resources, Sales and Production, Legal Issues, plus Business Finance and Accounting – not many people have all experience in all these areas, so it is vital that you plan ahead and take correct advice from people that do have the experience.
Additionally, most new business owners usually come from other employment or corporate life and are not used to running a small business, they have also come from an environment where they have benefits such as Company Pensions, Life Insurance protection and Personal Health Care as part of their employment package. These are things that do not come as “standard” when you set-up a business and often these things are not thought about as there are other higher priority and more important things to think about, and often they get totally overlooked.
So we hope this has got you thinking about why it is a good idea to get advice at the start of your business adventure, whether that is from an Accountant, a Human Resources expert, a Business Mentor or a Financial Advisor like Davies Finance, getting proper advice and planning could mean the difference between success and failure.
