Whether you’re thinking of becoming a sole trader, a limited company or an LLP, when you make up your mind to be your own boss, there’s a lot of things to consider.

However, as the saying goes ‘if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!’

Successful start-ups need forward-thinking strategies. There’s no such thing as too much planning. Getting your ducks in a row right at the very start can make all the difference to your profitability in the long run.

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Know your audience

A great idea for a business is one thing, but who are your aiming it at? Having a clear understanding of your target demographic right from the start will help you to focus your marketing.

Clear and concise marketing campaigns that are planned for the coming year or two years will be both time- and cost-effective. Once you understand who is likely to want to buy your products or services, you can dedicate resources to using the right social media, publications, branding and tone of voice specifically for those people.

A helping hand

Apart from being daunting, starting a new business can be costly.

From office space, IT and raw materials, to business premises, staffing and promotion, there’s money to be spent before you even launch your startup.

By taking the time now to research what funding is available in the form of grants, investments or loans, you can help to ensure that your business is financially secure. Knowing that you have money available to keep you afloat for more than just a couple of months will help you to be able to put longer-term plans and strategies in place and build your company into a strong and profitable one.

Finding the right people

Even if you’re starting out as a sole trader, the chances are good that at some point you’ll need a helping hand.

Finding the right people to employ should entail more than just a cursory quick chat and a glance through a CV. Substance abuse in the workplace can cause a lot of problems such as theft, a drop in productivity, and the health and safety of your customers.

It’s a delicate subject that should be approached sensitively but also pragmatically. Companies such as matrixdiagnostics.co.uk can carry out pre-employment and random drug testing for you, allowing you to maintain a healthy and happy workforce.

A rainy day

Whether it’s the coronavirus, extreme weather or an economic downturn, some things in life are out of your hands, and you just can’t plan for everything.

As your business grows and develops, it will always be tempting to plough profits back into the company, but to counteract periods where you have no control over things that will adversely affect your turnover, having a slush fund will help to see you through.

Putting a percentage of your profits into a fund each month will give you the peace of mind that if things suddenly grind to a halt, you’ll be well-placed to continue trading.

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— Will Corry (@slievemore) March 25, 2020

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