Once you’ve done your market research and worked out if you can make a profit from the business, the next step is to take advice. This will not only confirm whether your calculations are realistic, but can take a lot of the pain out of setting up. The good news is that there’s lots of advice available - and much of it is free. What’s more, experts on small businesses reckon that over 60 per cent of small business failures could be avoided if only people took advice in three areas - money, management and marketing.
1 TECs/LECs A good place to start is your local Training and Enterprise Council (TEC), or Local Enterprise Council (LEC) . These can also put you in touch with other helpful agencies; such as your local Enterprise Agency and Business Link. You can find them through your telephone book, Yellow Pages or local library. The Department of Trade and Industry also has a hotline.
The service provided by the TECS and LEGS varies from region to region, but in general they should offer at least a few of the following :
- Enterprise awareness seminars, or courses, to alert prospective businesses of the requirements and pitfalls of starting a small business - and some training in these areas.
- An introduction to business skills such as book-keeping, marketing, training.
- Information about loans and grants that may be available to you. For instance, SOLOTEC, the TEC for South London, provides a comprehensive list of sources of finance for businesses in their area.
- A personal business advisor, to talk through your plans for
your business, (although you may have to pay for this.)
- The Enterprise Initiative Consultancy Scheme enables small firms who meet certain criteria to employ consultants they might otherwise not be able to afford, in areas such as design, marketing etc. However, this is of most use to those businesses that have already set up. For more details contact your local Business Link or TEC.
- Some TECs or Business Links can put you in touch with any start-up grants for small businesses. The discretionary Business Start-Up Scheme offers financial assistance and training to long-term unemployed people who are thinking of starting up a business in certain areas. You need to provide an acceptable business plan and the amount you are ‘paid’ varies between TECs - with a maximum of £90 a week for 66 weeks, although it can be as little as £20 a week for 26 weeks. Other TECs provide grants towards the cost of consultancy for your business. There are also grants for areas which are reckoned to be in special need of assistance.
Paul Mitterhuber, an osteopath who recently started his own practice, went on a two-day course at his local TEC. ‘It was really worthwhile, because they talked a lot about marketing, which gave me some good ideas for doing some marketing and PR of my own - perhaps getting the local paper involved, or local celebs.’
Elizabeth Newport, a former teacher now helping to run an accommodation agency for foreign students, feels that a course by her local TEC aimed specifically at women was ‘the best thing I could have gone on. It was brilliant not only in giving practical advice, but in making my confidence grow.’
2 Banks Another useful source of advice is banks, most of whom have a free start-up pack that they can make available to small businesses as well as a small business advisor. It is well worth chatting to local banks, before you decide to go ahead with your project, even if you do not plan to get finance from them at the time of setting up. The chances are that sooner or later you will need the advice/lending facility of a bank and the more informed you keep your bank, the more helpful they are likely to be. If you plan to ask for a loan, you could try rehearsing your business plan on a bank other than your own. If they snap you up, you are then in an excellent negotiating position with your own bank. If they do not, they may be able to tell you why not.
3 Trade or Professional Associations Your trade or professional association can be an excellent source of advice. Verna Wilkins, who runs the highly successful Tamarind Books specializing in children’s books featuring positive images of black children, says that much of her advice came from other publishers. `They let me in on how to get good agreements with distributors, passed on tips about bookshops and generally told me just what publishing was. I had a lot of lunches with people, went to plenty of meetings and generally got out and about. I not only learnt a lot about the business but I made some very good friends !’
Such advice is generally free, although you will normally have to pay a fee to subscribe to the professional organization.
The Association of British Chambers of Commerce can also be a good source of advice, as can organizations like the Federation of Small Businesses, who provide a free legal advice line to their members. Again, you will need to pay a joining fee. If you live in a rural area, The Rural Development Commission has a major role in helping rural businesses to start up. Other government help can be found through the Department of Trade and Industry and Local Government Offices. The DTI, in particular, has a useful series of booklets for small firms including A Guide to Help for Small Firms which not only gives details of grants and loans, but covers services to help Innovation and Technology based firms.
4 Legal Advice If you decide to go into partnership, or become a limited company, you will definitely need legal advice. However, in the meantime, it is well worth considering the Lawyers for Business scheme, which offers a free legal consultation to businesses who are setting up or established. Contact the Law Society and get their Lawyers for Business leaflet to find out who is taking part in the scheme locally.
5 Citizens Advice Bureaux Your local Citizens Advice Bureau may also be able to help with basic financial problems. Many branches can also provide, or have access to, a debt counselling service.
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