You've had the idea, talked it through with those close to you, now it's time to start the adventure.
You’ve seen others do it and you feel like you could do it too. There’s this little voice in your head, whispering something about creating a unique business and you get butterflies in your stomach when you think about striking out on your own. There’s no doubt about it, if you want autonomy, the chance to master something and a shot at creating economic value, starting a business could be the path for you.
There’s only one voice you should listen to when answering this question, and that’s your own. That said, you can’t make a decision like this on a whim, so it’s a good idea to ask people you trust and do some homework to better understand yourself.
To help with the homework, we’ve developed a Vision Sketchbook that challenges you to think (and write) about every aspect of your life. It’s based on the concept of free association, so there are prompts and then you fill in the blanks.
Download your Personal Plan Sketchbook
There are just so many unknown unknowns and once you’ve made the leap, you’re fully committed. From initial concept, through company formation, proposition design, pricing, finding clients, delivering on your promise, dealing with suppliers and actually getting some money in the bank, there’s a lot to worry about.
We run regular workshops and base content on demand. We have a start-up simulation workshop that might just help. Our workshops are a chance to gain invaluable information, work through a case study and discuss the challenge with other like-minded people.
See workshops
Whether you actually need to write a business plan or not (to get borrowing approved etc), it’s a good idea to produce one and let a few trusted people critique it. If you’re lucky, your clients will tell you what they actually want, but you need to get to that point first and a plan is a good place to start.
We’ve developed a planning tool called ESP (Enterprise Strategic Process), which helps with business planning challenges. You can download it for free and there are a variety of other tools in the Resources section, to help you develop and present your business plan.
Download your ESP tool
There’s plenty of information available on the subject of starting businesses. Unfortunately, most of this information is generic. When it comes to your type of firm, you have to hunt high and low for relevant and credible information.
You’ll find some useful insights in our blog section and there are a variety of tools, guides and templates in our resources section. We hope you find what you’re looking for, but if you don’t, just get in touch and we’ll try to help out.
See resources
