Planning tips for new businesses

The first step if you’re considering starting up or running a small business is to write a business plan. This is not such a daunting prospect as you may think, help is available. An attractive and well thought out business plan is a crucial tool, especially if you need to raise funding for your new enterprise. Your business plan should incorporate how you expect your business to grow, the people involved in the business, market trends, and how successful you are at selling your services or product. Other things that need to be considered are how you will market your business. What would you do if disaster should strike?

You will definitely need a cash flow forecast – if you run short of funds your business will struggle to survive. If you can’t pay your supplier’s bills you will have nothing to sell and it is an easy road from there to insolvency.

It pays to familiarise yourself with tax requirements. This can be a minefield for small businesses but it’s usually possible to find ways of saving tax. Consider if you are really the best person to do your bookkeeping or VAT returns. Your business will benefit from some expert advice - what you think you are saving in accountant’s fees you are more than likely losing out by not claiming all you are entitled to.

Sooner or later you may need to recruit staff. Commercial Partner Matthew Fretten  highlights, "as an employer there are a huge number of responsibilities you have to absorb. Employment law is varied and very complex but by employing the right people this will ease the workload on you. Good staff keep the business running from day to day so you can focus on making your business more successful." 

Our Commercial Team, based in Christchurch, also cover Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Matthew or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.