What are somethings you wish you knew before starting a business ?

10 comments

1. Start being businesslike with your paperwork and stick with it. Don’t put it off.

   Keep any work related receipts in a folder marked with the financial year. Preferably use an app or keep a spreadsheet to record them as you go because it makes accounting so much easier.

   Do the same with invoices.

   Read all about what you can claim for your kind of business.

   Edit. Also I found opening a separate business account very helpful. I know how much I’ve got in my own account that I’ve paid tax on which I can spend.

2. Just how much customers don’t appreciate how little we actually make from our takings after expenses.

   I’m a self employed (same day) courier, and I have one customer who always books me in for work but then complains that Evri can do it for cheaper. Despite the fact her staff complain Evri are always losing their parcels.

   I have to explain to her that Evri operate on a transport network and can do it cheaper. I say to her if she wants to send one parcel from say Leeds to London, Evri will be her cheaper and best option. Whereas if she has a van full of goods to send to London, Evri would work out more expensive than me.

   But the problem I have is she was my first customer and I didn’t really know how much to charge her, so I invoice her pretty low anyway, and do a lot of manual handling that she gets from me for free.

   But she doesn’t appreciate how little takings I actually take. Her money has to pay towards diesel, my van finance, insurance, wear and tear of the vehicle, vehicle depreciation the more miles I rack up etc etc. And that’s before even paying myself a wage. But as a customer, she’ll just see herself losing money and not appreciate how much it funds my business

3. 1) You’re probably going to fail. Terribly sorry about this but you’re probably going to be better off keeping your day job, going by the stats.

   Makes sense to be honest. Most people who start a business have no training or experience in business management. I’d be a shit plumber if I tried to do that without any training or experience.

   2) You will work more hours than you want, and will need to prioritise it over most other things in your life.

   3) Numbers will make or break it. “I’m not good with numbers” will not do

4. Have a price list and stick to it. Let them choose what service/ product they want and let them choose what option/quantity they want. Don’t negotiate just refer them back to the list. If you tell someone a price verbally they assume it’s up for negotiation. People argue less if it’s written down on an official price structure. Your customers don’t know about all your expenses and think whatever they are paying you goes in your back pocket(I wish). Oh, and get a good accountant.

5. I don’t take a piss without a contract – lots of timewasters who want to do stuff on handshakes and “trust me” – nope, sign here.

6. You never get a day off….ever. There is always something you can be doing or something to worry about.

7. To do it with someone else. Doing your own thing is noble but I really wish that I had someone that I could bounce ideas off, and we could “energise” each other. It felt awfully isolating for a long time.

8. Book-keeping, I struggled to wrap my head around some of it.

9. Do proper contracts. Everyone’s friends at the beginning but when there’s big money involved shit can get real later

10. Keep more money in the business account than you think you need to. A few late payments (this will happen more often than you think) coinciding with a large expense – and oh no, it’s nearly VAT payment time! – should not leave you with short term cashflow problems.