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Business Start Up

Starting a business can be an exciting but daunting time. If you have never done it before then there will be lots of unknowns. We can help you navigate this phase of your business and make the learning curve less steep.

Whether it is creating a business plan, sales and marketing advice or more general support and advice about running a new business, we offer our services on a consultancy basis.

Our advice is real, based on actual experience of creating and building businesses, and as a result can save you time and money.

Here are a few free bits of advice that we have found useful…

Registering a domain name and email address

Nowadays, one of the first things you will want to get arranged when starting a business is a domain name. There are lots of places to register domains name on the web but we recommend 123-Reg because they have a simple administration panel that lets you do everything you need yourself rather than charging you more money in the future.

Our other advice regarding domain names is to make sure you register them yourself. We see many companies who allowed their web designer or hosting company register the domain name on their behalf, only to have problems down the line getting them back! Your domain name is an important asset of your business so be in control.

Click on the banner below to get started registering a domain name:

Creating a limited company

If you are ready to create your limited company don’t pay too much to accountants or company formation businesses. Registering a limited company is extremely straightforward and you can do it yourself within 24 hours for as little as £25 at Companies Made Simple (www.companiesmadesimple.com).

Finding an accountant and bookkeeper

Finding a good accountant is essential for a start up business. There are legal and reporting requirements of a business that your accountant should take care of so you can concentrate on building the business. We would also advise using a bookkeeper to look after your books and administration. You can do it yourself but it will take up valuable time and energy, you are not making any money while doing your admin. We recommend Red Sky Solutions (www.redskysolutions.co.uk) as a modern and approachable accountancy and bookkeeping firm.

Creating an identity

Creating your business identity, business stationery, brochures and any other sales marketing literature is common requirement for a start up. We recommend Visual Marketing (www.wearevisual.co.uk) to help you create a professional and effective brand.

Building a website

There are very few businesses that can afford to not have a website in today’s world. Customers, potential customers and suppliers will expect to be able to find an online presence. Impresoft have a wealth of knowledge in this area and can help to create an appropriate online plan (www.impresoft.co.uk)

Controlling Costs

A tool that we have found very useful is Go To Meeting. A critical success factor for start up businesses is keeping control of costs. Go To Meeting allows you to conduct meetings remotely while sharing your computer screen with the other members of the meeting. This can save you hundreds of pounds in travel costs and lost time travelling to meetings (www.gotomeeting.com)

Two other useful tools to help you share stuff without getting in the car are Dropbox and YouSendIt. Take a look here for more information: http://www.ospgroup.co.uk/blog/who-needs-ftp-sites-anymore.htm

If you would like to discuss your new business with us please call 0844 544 0120.