Business start-up involves both thinking acting like an entrepreneur.
Travelling on the train or bus and paying for petrol using involves throwing away the receipts so that we can be accused of hording rubbish.
These little pieces of paper however, take on a new significance now that we are in business. They now form part of our expenses and each one can potentially reduce the amount of tax we pay.
Receipts from purchases are also needed for our monthly, quarterly or yearly VAT returns and might need to be produced for an inspection, several years after the transaction has occurred.
Plan Your Financial and Trading Year
Depending on the business activity, there may be certain trading periods during the year which are either very busy or extremely quiet.
Assessing and planning for these periods is essential both from a cashflow point of view as well as from an efficiency stance. During periods of reduced activity, it may be an opportunity for the business to introduce new computer systems, attend trade fairs or embark on some other useful work.
Efforts spent during this time might well enhance the business operations through the busier times of trade or could potentially provide alternative income during the slack periods.
Taking an Interest in Other Businesses
We have all seen that once we are interested in buying something, how we suddenly take a new interest in similar items which we seemed to have not noticed before.
When buying a house, we start to take an interest in good and bad residential areas, in the interior of friend’s houses and listen avidly to Bank of England inflation reports and comments on lending rates.
Business Start-up is no different. We might view our parent’s, friends or even the local corner shop business in a new light. How do they make a profit? Where do their customers come from? How did they start?
This behaviour is healthy and might signal that you are changing, gearing up for the all important step in to self employment.
Consider Taking on a Business Partner
Many people are self starters, self reliant and selfish. During your business and self analysis period, it might become clear that, whilst you have some good talents which are capable of establishing you as a business person, you also have some drawbacks.
Working with someone who both compliments your skills but also fills in the gaps where you lack certain attributes, might be a worthwhile consideration.
