BUSINESS START UP
Starting your own business? We help you to avoid the rabbit hole and give you the essentials!
Let’s face it, COVID-19 has made 2020 arguably the worst year in living memory for all of us, both personally and professionally: nature has a scary way of reminding us that she’s the boss and we’re just the earth’s caretakers! So, with thousands of firms going to the wall, the economy taking such a battering and only just sprouting its green shoots of recovery, why on earth are we even talking about business startups?
Well, let’s think about that one for a minute.
Commerce, like nature, goes in cycles; it never really dies just re-invents itself and, as it does, so must we. Despite the phenomenal vaccine rollout – and we owe a huge debt to the scientists, NHS, and front-line workers for their incredible achievements – life may never be quite the same again and the old rules don’t necessarily apply. More of us are working from home, we’re shopping differently, priorities are changing and, while some business sectors have been decimated, others are booming, and new ones are exploding, bringing fresh opportunities.
I thought long and hard before setting up Admin Made Easy: after all the prospect of giving up my long-term job and risking my financial security was very frightening. But like many people, I had a deep-seated yearning to start my own business and a persistent voice in my head that wouldn’t be ignored (ok I’m not really that crazy!). I couldn’t stop thinking about one day being my own boss and becoming the proud provider of valuable service. But I also felt a thrill at the idea of creating something from scratch and letting it blossom like the rose tree in my garden, which is now so strong it’s dominating the neighbouring plant!
Although my journey to setting up Admin Made Easy started a couple of years ago (and I developed it alongside my day job, until I left in January of this year to focus on the business full time) and in a less challenging economy, I still found it incredibly scary and confusing to pinpoint all the essentials I needed to know.
It’s a minefield out there guys so be on your guard.
To begin with, there’s so much ‘free’ information but most of it is vague and doesn’t go into the detail you need to know; websites only tell you so much, then you have to click on a link to find out more until you’re down a digital rabbit hole, going round in circles totally distracted and wasting a huge amount of valuable time. All I wanted was a simple list of things I needed – how each step would help and the consequences of not doing it, so I understood why it was important.
You’d think that’d be straightforward, right? Wrong!
Second of all, I found there wasn’t one company that covered all the essential criteria – it meant contacting different professionals for different areas (e.g., legal, financial and marketing, etc.) – a time-consuming process that could end up costing you thousands of pounds to get it right! I was lucky in that, partly due to my background in HR and compliance for a law firm, I’ve developed a wealth of specialist contacts and was able to quickly and cost-effectively enlist the necessary support.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have this luxury and don’t know where to start…
For example, do you know the full implications of being a limited or non-limited business? People will tell you that, in the case of the former, you need to be audited but that’s not always the case and there are exemptions to this, and it is always best to get advice on this subject.
Are you also aware of the legal requirements of paying yourself a salary from the business? Do you know if you need to be VAT registered – because not everyone does to start with! One business owner I know recently immediately registered for VAT only for me to explain that she didn’t need to – she can earn up to £85k before paying VAT. And little did she know that even though she didn’t have to pay VAT she still had to submit monthly nil VAT returns because she’d registered from the get-go. She’s now going through the process of deregistration…all time and money she could have saved from not registering in the first place!
Another complex area is HR and small businesses often don’t adhere to its legislation. Maybe you’re thinking of employing staff, which means you need to have evidence that your employees can work in this country. A contract of employment is essential to protect you as well as them. Issues like setting up a pension for them (now mandatory), deciding if they are employed as an agency worker or on a zero contract, hours, location(s) of work, pay, health & safety, and processes for grievance, disciplinary, sickness and dismissal are all minimum legal requirements. You have a duty of care even if your employee is working in their own home.
And now we come to marketing, the ‘luxury’ that many new business owners see it as, or even if they don’t they have no idea what it really entails. Most people are happy to invest in a website but don’t continually optimise or promote it then wonder it isn’t doing its job. To put it into perspective you would never print 10k flyers, hand out 100 and leave the other 9,900 in a cupboard, would you? But it equates to exactly the same thing. As a bare minimum, a domain name with a secure website and SEO (search engine optimisation) is crucial if you want to be visible to your customers.
So where do you go to find all of that in one place? Look no further because it’s all right here!
I initially created Admin Made Easy to offer help small business owners with admin, SEO, and social media, however as demand has evolved it’s become clear that there are many people who are just starting out and need an essential set up package and expert advice throughout the process to avoid the pitfalls.
I’m proud and delighted to say that we’ve now launched Business Start-Ups to take away the stress of the startup process for small business owners. You no longer need to pay separately for terms & conditions, financial advice, a web designer, and even a business advisor – we give you all the essential tools to hit the ground running in one package for only £2,250*.
Let us take away the uncertainty and save you time and money so you can focus on what you do best – your specialism, whatever that may be!
Click here to start your business journey the right way.
You can also visit Start Your Own Business, who we partner with for a free download start-up guide, which is ideal for new business startups, downloadafreestartupguide
*Monthly plans are available on request
