Starting a Business For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

Colin Barrow

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 708

Beschreibung

Starting your own UK business is an exciting - and challenging - time. This updated edition of the startup classic shows you how to build a business agile enough to take advantage of emerging trends and opportunities, and sturdy enough to weather any storm. Packed with real-life examples and links to hundreds of valuable resources, Starting a Business For Dummies, 4th UK Edition gives you what you need to make the leap from employee to successful entrepreneur with confidence. All your favourite, trusted content has been updated including: * Laying the groundwork and testing the feasibility of your business idea * Writing a winning business plan and finding funding * How to operate effectively, including managing your finances and employing people * Growing your business and improving performance New content includes: * The latest funding schemes, including government funding and crowdfunding * Tendering for public sector work * Avoiding business cyber-crime * Franchising and pop ups * Exporting (the government has set a target of doubling the number of exporting companies by 2020) * Environmental impact (a recent survey found 77% of SMEs wanted to know how to measure and improve their environmental impact)

Leseprobe

Starting a Business For Dummies®, 4th Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2014

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex.

Registered office

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-118-83734-4 (paperback); ISBN 978-1-118-83724-5 (ebk);

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Printed in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Starting a Business For Dummies, 4th Edition

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/startingabusinessuk to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go From Here

Part I: Getting Started with Your New Business

Chapter 1: Preparing for Business

Understanding the Enduring Rules of Business Strategy

Focusing on focus – and a bit more besides

Appreciating the forces at work in your sector

Recognising the first-to-market fallacy

Getting in Shape to Start Up

Assessing your abilities

Discovering a real need

Checking the fit of the business

Confirming Viability

Researching the market

Doing the numbers

Raising the money

Writing up the business plan

Going for Growth

Gaining economies of scale

Securing a competitive advantage

Retaining key staff

Gaining critical business mass

Chapter 2: Doing the Groundwork

Understanding the Small Business Environment

Defining Small Business

Looking at the Types of People Who Start Businesses

Making your age an asset

Considering location

Winning with women

Being educated about education

Coming Up with a Winning Idea

Ranking popular start-up ideas

Going with fast growth

Spotting a gap in the market

Revamping an old idea

Using the Internet

Solving customer problems

Creating inventions and innovations

Marketing other people’s ideas

Being better or different

Finding a contract in the public sector

Banning Bad Reasons to Start a Business

Steering clear of bad assumptions

Avoiding obvious mistakes

Recognising that the Economy Matters

Spotting cycles

Readying for the ups and downs

Preparing to Recognise Success

Measuring business success

Exploring the myth and reality of business survival rates

Chapter 3: Can You Do the Business?

Deciding What You Want From a Business

Gaining personal satisfaction (or, entrepreneurs just wanna have fun)

Making money

Saving the planet

Exploring Different Types of Business

Selling to other businesses

Opening all hours

Making products

Servicing customers

Working from Home

Finding the space

Checking out the rules

Dealing with the family

Vanquishing visitors

Assessing Yourself

Discovering your entrepreneurial attributes

Working out a business idea that’s right for you

Figuring out what you’re willing to invest

Weighting your preferences

Chapter 4: Testing Feasibility

Finding Enough Product or People

How much is enough?

Buying in equipment and supplies

Hiring in help

Sizing Up the Market

Figuring out what you need to know

Finding your segment of the market

Checking out your competition

Budgeting for your research

Doing the preliminary research

Conducting the research

Working Out Whether You Can Make Money

Estimating start-up costs

Forecasting sales

Exceeding breakeven

Part II: Making and Funding Your Plan

Chapter 5: Structuring Your Business

Choosing the Right Structure

Going into Business by Yourself

Advantages

Disadvantages

Settling on sole-trader status

Building up to Network Marketing

Evaluating the pros and cons

Distinguishing pyramids from network marketing

Working with a Limited Number of Other People

Taking on an existing business

Forming a partnership

Looking at limited partnerships

Checking out co-operatives

Finding Your Way to Franchising

Looking at franchise types

Defining a franchise

Evaluating a franchise opportunity

Founding a Larger Company

Opting for a limited company

Buying out a business

Looking at Legal Issues in Marketing

Naming your business

Looking at logos

Protecting patents

Registering a trademark

Detailing your design

Controlling a copyright

Abiding by fair business rules

Setting terms of trade

Describing your goods

Dealing with payment problems

Chapter 6: Preparing the Business Plan

Finding a Reason to Write a Business Plan

Building confidence

Testing your ideas

Showing how much money you need

Providing planning experience

Satisfying financiers’ concerns

Writing Up Your Business Plan

Defining your readership

Creating the plan

Maintaining confidentiality

Doing due diligence

Using Business Planning Software

Recognising the limits of software

Reviewing packages

Presenting Your Plan

Starring in show time

Handling feedback

Making an elevator pitch

Chapter 7: Getting Help

Connecting with Government Services

Accessing national government support

Relating to a region

Choosing Small Business Associations

The Federation of Small Businesses

Forum of Private Business

The British Chambers of Commerce

A few more strings to your bow

Universities and Colleges

Entering an Incubator

Finding the right type of incubator

Getting into an incubator

Considering the cost

Finding out more

Assisting Inventors

Helping Young Entrepreneurs

Chapter 8: Finding the Money

Assessing How Much Money You Need

Projecting receipts

Estimating expenses

Working out the closing cash balances

Setting out your cash-flow projection

Testing your assumptions

Reviewing Your Financing Options

Deciding between debt capital and equity capital

Examining your own finances

Determining the Best Source of Finance for You

Considering the costs

Sharing ownership and control

Limiting personal liability

Going for Debt

Borrowing from banks

Going with the government

Financing cash flow

Getting physical

Uniting with a credit union

Grabbing cash locally

Borrowing from family and friends

Sharing Out the Spoils

Benefiting from business angels

Going for venture capital

Looking to corporate venturing

Understanding due diligence

Finding Free Money

Getting a grant

Winning money

Following the crowd

Chapter 9: Considering Your Mission

Developing Your Concept

Composing Your Mission Statement

Seeing the Vision Thing

Setting Objectives and Goals

Chapter 10: Marketing and Selling Your Wares

Making Up the Marketing Mix

Defining Your Product or Service Parameters

Using Advertising to Tell Your Story

Considering the customer’s point of view

Making an exhibition of yourself

Setting advertising objectives

Deciding the budget

Defining the message

Choosing the media

Choosing the frequency

Writing a leaflet

Using the Internet for viral marketing

Providing opportunities to see

Figuring your bang-for-the-buck ratio

Getting into the News

Deciding who to contact

Following through

Using Blogs and Social Networks

Selling and Salesmanship

Telling the difference between selling and marketing

Selling yourself

Outsourcing selling

Measuring results

Settling On a Price

Caring about business conditions

Working to your capacity

Understanding consumer perceptions

Skimming versus penetrating

Avoiding setting prices too low

Pondering Place and Distribution

Choosing a location

Selecting a distribution channel

Part III: Staying in Business

Chapter 11: Employing People

Finding Great Employees

Deciding on full- or part-timers

Recruiting and selecting

Testing to find the best

Exploring Other Ways of Recruiting

Using agencies

Using Job Centre Plus

Recruiting over the Internet

Outsourcing jobs

Motivating and Rewarding Employees

Getting the best out of employees

Dealing with difficult or demotivated employees

Keeping motivation in the family

Rewarding achievements

Staying on the Right Side of Employment Law

Keeping employment records

Preparing contracts of employment

Working legal hours

Granting leave

Avoiding discrimination

Keeping healthy and safe

Chapter 12: Operating Effectively

Proposing Premises

Calculating requirements

Finding the right premises

Renting or owning?

Sorting out equipment

Taking the Make-or-Buy Decision

Making it yourself – pros and cons

Outsourcing – a low investment option

Setting quality standards

Choosing a Supplier

Evaluating trading terms

Building a relationship

Buying online

Minimising Risk and Assessing Liability

Protecting your employees

Covering yourself against an employee suing

Protecting assets

Covering loss of profits

Goods in transit

Protecting yourself

Guaranteeing goods and services

Dissecting Directors

Finding and Choosing Business Advisers

Tallying up an accountant

Investing in a bank

Soliciting for a lawyer

Managing a consultant

Taking Cyber Security Seriously

Recognising common types of cyber crime

Adopting preventative measures

Making a Virtue Out of Going Green

Chapter 13: Keeping Track of Finances

Keeping the Books

Recording financial information

Starting simple with single entry

Dealing with double entry

Choosing the right accounting program

Outsourcing bookkeeping

Understanding Your Accounts

Forecasting cash flow

Reporting your profits

Accounting for Pricing

Breaking even

Pricing for profit

Building in more products

Handling price changes

Balancing the Books

A balance sheet

Categorising assets

Accounting for liabilities

Understanding reserves

Analysing Performance

Using ratios

Gearing down

Keeping on the Right Side of the Law

Carrying out an audit

Filing your accounts

Managing Your Accountant

Chapter 14: Managing Your Tax Position

Tackling Taxes for Different Types of Businesses

Figuring out sole traders and partnerships

Looking at levies on companies

Assessing the best legal structure

Paying Taxes

Valuing VAT

Minimising tax on profit

Handling Employment Taxes

Paying PAYE

Allocating national insurance

Accounting for employment taxes

Surviving a Tax Investigation

Part IV: Making the Business Grow

Chapter 15: Doing Business Online

Appreciating the Power of the Internet

Ruminating on richness versus reach

Checking out clicks and bricks

Recognising the limits – you have none!

Reviewing What You Can Do Online

Generating advertising revenue

Recruiting staff

Answering frequent questions

Carrying out market research

Establishing an Internet Presence with a Website

Deciding on content

Designing the website

Checking out competitors

Using a consultant

Registering domains

Hosting your website

Selling Goods and Services

Using third-party websites

Building a store front

Getting paid online

Fulfilling orders

Gaining Visibility

Understanding search engines

Optimising your website

Tracking Traffic

Chapter 16: Improving Performance

Checking Your Internal Systems

Keeping track of your routine

Analysing market position

Retaining Customers

Realising why retaining customers matters

Working to retain customers

Improving Productivity

Cutting costs

Increasing margins

Working smarter

Rewarding results

Budgeting for Beginners

Setting the guidelines

Analysing the variances

Budgeting from zero

Chapter 17: Exploring Strategies for Growth

Understanding the Importance of Growth

Measuring market share

Building a brand

Increasing Sales

Getting customers to buy more

Encouraging referrals

Entering new market segments at home

Selling overseas

Adding new products or services

Diversifying as a last resort

Forming Alliances

Going on the alliance trail

Investigating and approaching

Franchising Your Way to Growth

Bolting on a franchise

Weighing the advantages and disadvantages

Doing the pilot

Finding franchisees

Rolling out the franchise

Chapter 18: Becoming a Great Manager

Building a Team

Founding principles

Coaching and Training

Appraising Performance

Developing a Leadership Style

Understanding leadership

Delegating

Evolving leadership styles for growth

Managing change

Measuring Morale

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid

Knowing Too Little

Being Overly Optimistic about the Market

Underestimating Start-up Time

Spending Too Much at the Start

Mistaking Cash for Profit

Choosing the Wrong Partner

Ignoring Accounting

Forgetting Working Capital

Having No Clear Competitive Advantage

Choosing the Wrong Location

Chapter 20: Ten People to Talk to Before You Start

Speaking with Your Spouse

Making Use of Your Professional Network

Benefiting from Entrepreneurs Who Started a Similar Business

Spending Time with a Friendly Banker

Reaching Out to Customers

Communicating with Your Current Boss

Calling Your Colleagues

Bringing in Your Best Friend

Reporting to an Accountant

Plugging into a Business Angel Network

Chapter 21: Ten Reasons for Using Social Media

Augmenting Your Marketing Budget

Acquiring Cost-Effective Exposure

Increasing Website Traffic

Moving up Search Engine Rankings

Improving Market Intelligence

Attracting Interest to Generate Sales Leads

Growing Real Sales

Keeping Pace with Market Leaders

Creating Loyalty

Generating Referrals

About the Author

Cheat Sheet

More Dummies Products

Guide

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

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Introduction

If you pulled this book down from the shelf or had it passed to you by a friend or loved one as a gift, you don’t have to be psychic to know something about your current business situation. You may be in need of this book for any number of reasons:

A relative, hopefully a distant and elderly one, has died and left you, rather than the government or a dogs’ home, a pile of dosh and you don’t fancy leaving it to your stockbroker to lose on your behalf.