You
have done it! You now have the freedom and determination to run your own
business. We have put together a short piece of advice for you as you venture
into your newly self-employed role, the following highlights the key areas to
think about during your start up phase.
The
most important element of your business is ensuring positive cashflow. Ask
yourself how far would you get with the money you have in the bank? Most
businesses will say they would make the next 6 months, but it isn’t uncommon
for a business to say they will not even make the month. To assist with your
cashflow, make payment terms as short as possible, however an important point
to note here is you still need to remain competitive, for this your payment
terms will need to be long enough. The nature of your business might mean you
receive income on a prepaid basis or cash immediately on deliver of your
product or service.
What
works for one business will not necessarily work for another. There are lots of
exciting happens at the start of a new business, sometimes so many you might
forget about the less exciting areas such as self-assessment registration and
HMRC compliance.
You
will find your hunger to succeed will keep you motivated, however it is
important not to overstretch yourself, you cannot do everything. What you can
do is ask yourself; Do I need it? Can I afford it?
It
pays to ensure areas such as your accountancy and tax affairs, marketing,
administration and possibly ICT are looked after by professionals. You are likely to see a return from such investments.