When you’ve been working for someone else’s business, it’s easy to find yourself thinking about how you would do it better. How you would approach projects differently, or how you would maximise your cash flow and cut out unnecessary costs.
While it’s great to have those daydreams, are you prepared to put your money where your mouth is and cut out the middleman? Are you ready to go it alone?
In this blog, we take a look at how you can turn your skills into a thriving business in A simple guide to starting a trade business.
1 Talk to Your Contacts
If you’ve dealt with repeat customers in your previous job then start by giving them a call and letting them know that you’re going it alone. You may find that they are willing to come with you and offer you some work. At the very least, follow that conversation up with an email or mail with details of your new business.
2 Start With a Bang
What better way to let your new customers know you’re open for business than with a grand opening. Invest some time, money and effort in some publicity. Target your local press and pay for some advertising.
If you want to hit the ground running, you’ll also want to introduce an opening special offer to attract even more attention and clients. Just make sure you have the capacity to take on the work.
3 Outsource What You Can
While you may want to keep tabs on every aspect of your business, in fact you need to be able to concentrate on what you do best. If you haven’t yet recruited staff, then think about outsourcing aspects such as your accounting to an outside firm to take care of.
The same is true for your marketing plans and anything else that threatens to eat up too much of your time away from the job. Over time you may find you are able to recruit into those roles and start filling out those jobs in-house.
4 Get Your Funding in Place Before You Start
Hoping that your business will instantly turn over a profit is unlikely, unless you already have capital behind you and jobs ready to go. If that isn’t the case then you’ll need to attract funding from one or several other sources.
In any case, to attract funding you’ll need a sound business plan in place so make that happen and if you don’t have the skills, then get a business startup specialist in to help you draw one up.
When you know you need to go it alone and set up your own trade business, the excitement can take momentum. Remember to put the ground work in first and get your business plan in shape and viable. Then secure your funding and plan for an opening day that’s going to blow the competition away and make your name everyone turns to when they need your expertise.
