It’s never a bad idea to plan ahead. As the old saying goes, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, and, true to the phrase, failing to prepare when starting a business can end in nothing but failure.
In today’s climate, business is fierce competition. Being fully prepared might mean the difference between success and failure.
This article aims to inform you how to prepare for starting your business in the trade, and making sure that you hit the ground running.
- Money
The unfortunate truth about starting your own business is that it is very difficult and requires hard work, if not impossible to do without sufficient funds.
Starting a business is expensive. Unfortunately, the spending doesn’t stop at paying for tools and a van. Advertising to clients, purchasing an accountant, paying for insurance, and getting the latest, up-to-date qualifications are all essential things to have to give you an advantage.
Don’t rush into a decision. Be prepared, save some money, and these additional worries will become manageable and normal.
2. Your Equipment
However essential money is for getting you off the ground, you can’t do your job without the tools.
The tools you buy will naturally differ depending on what business you run. A plumber, electrician, carpenter, construction worker, or gas engineer, will all carry different tools - that goes without saying.
The essential part is that you do the research depending on the nature of your business.
3. Driving A Van
As well as tools, a van is just as necessary to get the job complete. Not only does it allow convenient travel, but it means that you can provide your clients with a good service too.
Not only that, but a van is a mark of professionalism, and also the easiest way to advertise your business. If you have vans driving around the local area brandishing the name of your company, people will notice and remember you when it’s their turn to call a tradesman around.
4. Being Aware Of The Competition
Before starting your business, it’d be useful to stake out the local area for competition; as they say, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’.
That way, you can model your business around what’s already out there…or isn’t. Knowing where the competition is helps a great deal, and it’s likely there’ll be plenty of it. You can even use it to find a unique selling point about your company, something different that you can bring to the area.
It might be a lower price, a better service, higher efficiency or better deals - just anything to ensure that you stand out amongst the crowd.
5. Registering As A Sole Trader
When starting your own business, you must first register as self-employed with HM Revenue and Customs, to ensure that you pay the correct Income Tax and National Insurance.
Rather than doing this when your business is first kicking off, it’d be far better to do it in advance. You’ll have enough to worry about as it is!
6. Employing An Accountant
In addition to this, you’ll need to keep a strict account of your income and outgoing payments.
Even if you’re good with numbers, finding the time to deal with every financial detail will be extremely difficult. It might be worth thinking about employing an accountant.
This might not be among the biggest concerns when the business is first starting out, but as it grows keeping track of your finances and calculating tax payments could become too much to keep handle.
7. Insuring Your Business
Starting a business without business insurance is walking out of your front door without your clothes.
Insurance is what protects your business from the unforeseeable losses that unfortunately happen to businesses at any time: property damage, legal liability or employee related risks of all kinds.
There are many different kinds of insurance to buy, depending on what kind of business you run and how much money you want to spend.
Let Access Training Help You Get Started
At Access Training, if you become qualified tradesperson and want to use your qualification to start your own business, we offer all kinds of support and advice for you.
Countless students who pass through our doors go on to start their own businesses in the trade, and often they come back to requalify, either themselves or their own employees.
If you’re looking to make a career change and start your own business in trade, please get in touch with us on 0800 345 7492, and talk to our course advisors. They can offer you any information you might require to make the right decision.
