Top tips for business start-ups in 2016

It seems that with every passing year, Britain is becoming more entrepreneurial – an impression that is certainly backed up by the statistics. While 2011 saw the creation of some 440,600 businesses in the UK, that swelled to more than 525,000 in 2013, with the number of businesses created last year even breaking through the 600,000 barrier.

This year has already seen almost 200,000 start-ups launched, so follow the below tips to ensure your own firm is one of the new business success stories of 2016.

Make sure your business idea is sound

Coming up with a great business idea presents a tricky balance to strike: you want your idea to be distinctive compared to the competition, but it must also make money. Whatever your chosen sector, are you competing at an end of the market that is already well-served in your locality, or one that truly caters for un-met demand?

If your business idea is an especially unique one, make sure you protect it to prevent it from being copied without your permission.

Conduct extensive research

Even if you instinctively think you have a business idea that will strike gold, don’t neglect your background research, as it will probably present insights that make a critical difference to the form your start-up eventually takes.

Have you, for example, identified your likely customers, having carefully scrutinised what their ‘pain points’ are that would create a demand for your product or service? Have you then discussed your idea with them and gathered feedback?

Be clear about the financial side

Don’t allow your UK start-up to be among the more than half of such businesses that fail within their first five years. Make sure you have the right business plan, clearly informed by the results of the above research, in place so that prospective lenders and investors can see how your start-up will actually be viable.

Business finances are notoriously complex, especially when tax starts coming into play, so don’t get overly caught up in it yourself when you should be focussing on the growth of your core business – instead, have a good accountant by your side to lift the burden.

Have the right spending priorities 

Remember that starting out in business is not the same as moving into a new house – every spending decision that you make has to be based on what will power forward the growth of the business. Is it, for example, wise to blow big money on visually impressive office furniture when you normally only visit clients at their own premises, instead of welcoming them to yours?

After all, couldn’t those scarce funds make a much bigger and more positive difference if you ploughed them into a highly impactful social media marketing campaign, or signed up for an international calling account with a company like Planet Numbers, enabling you to contact your overseas clients for less?

If the aforementioned daunting start-up failure statistics surely show us anything, it’s that you can never underestimate the very real challenges that face your own new UK business in 2016. The dividing line between success and failure can be a precariously thin one for young businesses, so tread carefully in your new firm’s initial few months!