Small Business Thread

Cromulent · 2 Jun 2024 at 19:19

I've been thinking about setting up a business recently for a variety of reasons and was curious if there were any small business owners or people hoping to start a business on this forum.

At the moment I need to finish off a business plan and make sure I have the correct numbers in terms of budget and costings.

I'm a bit nervous of jumping on it as starting a business is a massive job and requires a lot of effort but having said that I think it could work out. I'm mainly looking at doing website development and website hosting / sys admin.

How many of you run / want to start a business?

Brok · 2 Jun 2024 at 19:32

You need to really want to do it to make it work, but it can be very satisfying to see the fruits of your labour. What's your main reason for wanting to do it? Do you want to remain a personal services company or are you looking to establish a business that employs others to do the work?

Context- started a business with 3 others around 6 years ago and we now employ around 50 people. Happy to answer any questions you (or others) may have on the journey.

Cromulent · 2 Jun 2024 at 19:41

Brok said:
You need to really want to do it to make it work, but it can be very satisfying to see the fruits of your labour. What's your main reason for wanting to do it? Do you want to remain a personal services company or are you looking to establish a business that employs others to do the work?

Context- started a business with 3 others around 6 years ago and we now employ around 50 people. Happy to answer any questions you (or others) may have on the journey.

My main goal is to be self sufficient but it would be nice to earn some more money and have others do some of the work but that won't happen in the short to medium term I don't think.

I'm just nervous about actually registering the company as once you do that there is no going backwards

. I'll go through the figures tomorrow again just to set my mind at ease.

gazref · 2 Jun 2024 at 19:55

Not a business owner but I have taken significant self employed career risks over the years. If you frame the risk appropriately ahead of time and have an exit strategy then follow your gut and swing away.

Most businesses go bust in the first couple of years so prioritise surviving as you're learning and growing. Tightening overheads in your personal life might give you extra time or reduce mental pressures.

Glglg

Cromulent · 2 Jun 2024 at 20:34

gazref said:
Not a business owner but I have taken significant self employed career risks over the years. If you frame the risk appropriately ahead of time and have an exit strategy then follow your gut and swing away.

Most businesses go bust in the first couple of years so prioritise surviving as you're learning and growing. Tightening overheads in your personal life might give you extra time or reduce mental pressures.

Glglg

Yep. Good plan. I already have a reasonable grasp of what I spend so I can budget effectively but I'll go through my bank and credit card statements again tomorrow just to make sure. Problem nowadays is that just about everything is a subscription and they add up quickly.

Brok · 2 Jun 2024 at 20:48

Cromulent said:
My main goal is to be self sufficient but it would be nice to earn some more money and have others do some of the work but that won't happen in the short to medium term I don't think.

I'm just nervous about actually registering the company as once you do that there is no going backwards . I'll go through the figures tomorrow again just to set my mind at ease.

There's no inherent risk in registering a business, its cheap and worst case you can file dormant company accounts until you are ready to trade. Obviously as soon as you start to take on clients it becomes more real but the act of forming a company is incredibly easy. Do you have some propsective clients you can hit to get the ball rolling or are you starting cold? If you can bootstrap with a couple of known contracts it will make things infinitely easier.

Before we started our business I freelanced for a few years and whilst it felt scary to start with, the rates were good enough that money very quickly accumulated to provide a safety net. If you can avoid any kind of lifestyle creep it will make a huge difference.

dlockers · 2 Jun 2024 at 20:51

Cromulent said:
My main goal is to be self sufficient but it would be nice to earn some more money and have others do some of the work but that won't happen in the short to medium term I don't think.

I'm just nervous about actually registering the company as once you do that there is no going backwards . I'll go through the figures tomorrow again just to set my mind at ease.

Registering the company is like step 20.... This sounds like peak cromulent thread again.

Cromulent · 2 Jun 2024 at 20:59

dlockers said:
Registering the company is like step 20.... This sounds like peak cromulent thread again.

I mean I'm pretty confident with what I can and what the market is like but there is a big difference between planning and learning and actually taking the huge jump to get started.

When you start to spend money it becomes a whole lot more real. At least to me.

Vandle · 2 Jun 2024 at 22:35

I started my own business in March of this year, I left full time employment after 31 years. One of the best things I have ever done.

subbytna · 3 Jun 2024 at 10:34

AI is going to wipe out website development in the future. Make sure you have other technical expertise avenues to bill for.

sidimmu · 3 Jun 2024 at 10:52

2 years deep in my own personal business.
Will be starting a 2nd business in the next couple of months.

Do it, you'll find out if you can make it work or not and if you have that motivation for it all.

I started mine out of a place of need and lack of opportunity.

darreny · 24 Jun 2024 at 10:14

Just relaunching mine now with a better idea of marketing. I make personalised clocks for kids and nurseries. It's just so hard to get the price down to an acceptable level

edscdk · 24 Jun 2024 at 10:56

Cromulent said:
My main goal is to be self sufficient but it would be nice to earn some more money and have others do some of the work but that won't happen in the short to medium term I don't think.

I'm just nervous about actually registering the company as once you do that there is no going backwards . I'll go through the figures tomorrow again just to set my mind at ease.

just register as a sole trader unless you are going to be taking loans / financial risks / employing people / risking getting sued..

If you register a company you have to file accounts / do extra paperwork

I have been doing a bit on the side for 20 years I managed to turn over 50 / 60k as a sole trader (15 years ago), registered a company about 10 years ago closed it last year (only turning over 10 to 20k a year now) - its always jsut been a hobby so dont really know the financials

if you are going to do more than just mess about probably a good idea to take proper advice there will be a lot of stuff you dont know - i loaded my business 20k an was able to change myself shocking interest on that loan..