Everything to consider when starting a business?

[chris king]

I'm thinking of starting up my own business, what is everything I need to consider to do this 

 

[Steve Bullman]

Big subject, how about we start with your experience level?

[chris king]

Been doing it 8 years now and thinking about that next challenge 

 

[Paddy1000111]

As Steve said, it's a bit of a loaded question. Have you been working for a company or freelancing? 

[chris king]

Been working for a company those 8 years but freelancing on the weekend 

 

[topchippyles]

3 hours ago, chris king said:

I'm thinking of starting up my own business, what is everything I need to consider to do this 

 

As steve mentioned chris give as much info as possible mate. You will not make a business man with short simple answers on a forum

 

1) Working for a company doing what ? 

2) qualifications

3) Experience and any tickets you have 

4) Where in the uk are you based 

5) What is it your looking to setup 

 

Just a few general questions you should be replying to when people post trying to help.The more info the better.

 

 

[Will C]

What have you got in the way of Capital (never share your bank balance but are you able to invest if needed) and or gear owned already? 
 

the big thing to remember is to not sell your self short, find out what everyone else is charging in your area and match it, and never be available to fit a job in next week apart from genuine emergencies. You ARE always busy when asked, a trades man (in any industry) that isn’t busy can’t be much good in the public’s eyes. 

[Mick Dempsey]

2 minutes ago, Will C said:
 

the big thing to remember is to not sell your self short, find out what everyone else is charging in your area and match it, and never be available to fit a job in next week apart from genuine emergencies. You ARE always busy when asked, a trades man (in any industry) that isn’t busy can’t be much good in the public’s eyes. 

Dunno about that, if I’m slack and a sweet job comes up I’m doing it ASAP, I’m not going to wait weeks sitting around just to look busy.

 

You can always tell the client someone just cancelled so you’re free.

 

 

 

[5 shires]

10 hours ago, chris king said:

I'm thinking of starting up my own business, what is everything I need to consider to do this 

 

When I first started on my own well over 30yrs ago apart from all the usual things you need to consider and plan for such as advertising,get a good accountant,what and how much equipment you need,how to set out your quotations,yard etc etc the one thing I aimed at was not to be know as someone who is cheap.

 

There are 1,000,s of guys out there working there body’s to the max for silly money so you really need to set your stall out right from the start as you don’t want to become one of those busy fools.

 

The point you need to work towards is say for instance if 2 people are talking about haveing some tree work done and you have done work for one of them the scenario you want is for the one to say yes I know a guy who did work for me but he’s not cheap but he’s really good and well worth the money.

 

The other scenario you need to avoid is the one guy saying I know someone who is really cheap and his work is ok.

 

Don,t get me wrong sometimes you need to take the crap cheap jobs to keep your head above water but plan them so you can do a few on the same day and make all the small cheap jobs cost effective.

 

Working for yourself and being self employed is a lottery and it’s not like it used to be and you will have loads of crap times to a point we’re you want to jack it all in,but it can work if you want it enough.

 

You could do subbing for a couple of days a week and do 3 for your own work until you get established and get things up and running.

 

Its a long process but if you want it bad enough you will make it work,it would take forever to go over the pro’s and con’s for working for yourself,but it’s not for everyone especially if you are just starting out down that road and you have a young family to look after and consider.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by 5 shires

[Lowestoft Firewood]

Think carefully about what you're 

-good at 

-enjoy

-will make money doing 

 

What I mean by that is most people hate the mundane admin stuff like invoicing, sending quotes, chasing money, accounts work etc etc and therefore it may not be done as well as it could so invest in a decent software system that takes the time element away and ASAP get a virtual assistant or similar to do that work so you spend as much time pulling in the work and making it happen. 

 

And think seriously about handling machinery, 1 machine may cost as much as a guy does for a years wages but it will probably work harder than one guy and could mean you can take on bigger jobs with a smaller team and pay less in the long run. Probably some decent finance out there too which helps cash flow. 

 

A decent account will definitely go a long way, ours saves us £££ in tax both personal and at a business level.