By Shirley Hermiston, Business Support Manager at North East BIC
If you can dream it, you can do it. So if you’re thinking of starting a business, why not dream big?
When thinking big from the outset you will have business growth in your sights from the get-go and will be prepared to scale-up when the time is right.
Scaling up is essentially growing your business up and out, and it involves more than just selling more products or hiring staff. We understand it can be daunting and challenging for new businesses, but careful planning of certain processes can help make running a new business much smoother in the long run, and will increase your chances of business success.
When planning to start a new business, you first of all need to think strategically and develop a business plan – something our business advisers at the BIC will always support their clients with. After all, the most effective leaders in business are those who analyse, plan and look ahead when solving problems and making decisions.
And in business, there’s lots of processes and systems that need to be planned well from the start, an example of a system that needs lots of planning is I.T. infrastructure. New businesses should consider things like data access as you may need to create a central network location such as a server or cloud area to allow colleagues to access files from anywhere.
You’ll probably want to keep costs low; an effective tool for storing and sharing information is a file hosting service called Dropbox. It’s free to use when you create a basic account and it allows various users to log in to a shared Dropbox account and share files. A lot of I.T. considerations like data access and others such as hardware, data storage, backups and choosing the right email platform will all help futureproof a new business.
Our experienced business advisers at the BIC will always suggest you think about goal setting at the outset, and this can include getting you to think about what you want to achieve and what your company values are.
Remembering business values will guide your recruitment and help you build a team of like-minded people. One business we have on-site at the BIC is Arktek Group Limited – a three-year-old company which operates on a set of core values and went into business initially with a “big company mentality”. This approach will help you attract the right calibre of people, but crucially, they must have the right attitude to fit in with your company ethos and stay with you as your company grows.
Here at the BIC, we know it can be difficult to think about setting goals and analysing how your new business will succeed, that’s why we’d love to hear from anyone who is thinking of going self-employed. We can help you write a business plan and give you the confidence you may need to get started.
The one-to-one support we provide is free and confidential, and as well as helping traditional businesses launch, we’re now supporting social enterprise and helping social entrepreneurs change the world and make it a better place for all.
Inspired to go self-employed?
Call 0191 516 6111 for more information or book a free appointment with a specialist adviser.