IN previous Starting and Staying in Business features, we’ve outlined how best to avoid becoming a client of ours and shared some of the steps that can be taken by you to ensure you give our door – either the one for business recovery or insolvency – a wide berth.
Only optimists start up in business. You may be such a person – working for someone else and thinking how much better you could do things. Family and friends are encouraging you, telling you how great you would be. You are just about ready to take the plunge.
Look before you leap. Most overnight successes have been mastering their craft for years before they become what looks like an overnight success. Clearly there are some innovations where it is essential to be first to market. However, for a business that is not totally new it might be wise to stop and consider things – what might the numbers look like given other scenarios?
When you look at people in business from the outside you are likely only to see the tip of the iceberg. The five per cent that is visible above the water line is usually just the bit that they want in view. The other 95 per cent is not so much the serene swan gliding majestically across the water but rather the frantic paddling of someone plunged into icy water trying desperately to keep afloat.
Is this, then, an article counselling against going into business? No, not at all. The long forgotten Enterprise Act is all about encouraging responsible, risk-taking entrepreneurs. It is the responsible bit that sometimes gets missed. We see too many good ideas flounder because they run out of cash. Things take longer to be accepted than was anticipated, cash runs out, creditors won’t wait.
Paperwork may be the boring side of being your own boss but knowing where you are planning to go, what your cash-flow is going to look like and so ensuring a sense of wellbeing and of being in control is worth the effort and will enable you to concentrate on what you are good at and where you can add value to your chosen market.
Most of the people we meet are expert at what they do for a living. Unfortunately, too many are not so comfortable with the red tape being in business brings with it – this can tie them up in knots and trip them up. Sadly there are no readily available sat-navs to help you find your way through the business maze – but if you don’t have a business road-map when you set out, the chances are the destination you end up at might not be the one you thought you were heading for. Fail to plan, plan to fail.
Should you find yourself in possession of a great business idea, find yourself a local accountant and go through your plans with them in great detail; Northampton is blessed with many who can help you on your way.
If you find things have already got too difficult and you would like a free, confidential conversation about the things that are troubling you, call BRI Business Recovery and Insolvency in St. James on 01604 754352 and we will do our best to set you back on the road again.