This document provides information and advice for starting your own business. It discusses the importance of being self-motivated and organized. Market research is key, including understanding customers, competitors, market size and structure. A business plan should outline your product/service, costs, pricing, target market, marketing strategy, and financial forecasts. Legal matters like business structure, taxes, intellectual property and contracts also require consideration. Overall the document emphasizes the importance of thorough planning, market validation and legal protection when starting your own enterprise.

1. Be your Own Boss
Elishba Zachariah
Careers Consultant
zachare@wmin.ac.uk

2. Objectives
• The key to starting a business
• Market Research
• Business Plan

3. What is the key to starting a business?
You!

4. Attitude and Personality
• Are you a self starter?
• Do you enjoy taking responsibility?
• Are you organised?
• Can you sell, and accept the inevitable
rejection selling involves?
• Does the idea of managing change excite you?
• Can you make decisions quickly?

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5R_z
B9BKTw

6. Reasons to start your own business
• Ditch the rat race and make your own way in the
world
• Work to the hours & deadlines you set for yourself
• Experiment with ideas you’ve always had
• You are the boss
• You earn the money
• Take holidays when you want to
• Decide who you do business with and what values
you represent
Source: WHSmith Becoming your own boss

7. Reality
There is a quantifiable gap in the
market that can sustain your
business!

8. Market Research
• Observation
• Experimentation
• Asking Questions
• Make informed business decisions

9. Market Research
• Customer Profile
• Customer attitudes and requirements
• Competition
• Market size (volume and value)
• Market structure
• Environmental forces
• Specific considerations

10. Customer Profile
• Who are the buyers of your product or
services likely to be?
• How many will actually buy?
• How can you define or describe them?
• Where are they?
• How can they be located?

11. Example
• Offer bespoke computer software to large
businesses
• Provide toys and games for children under 12
years old
• Provide an environmentally friendly range of
packaging materials for use in the food
industry

12. Customer Attitudes and Requirements
• Why will they buy?
• What motivates them to buy?
• What particular benefits are they looking for?
• How do they judge value for money?
• How do they want to able to buy?
• How do they go about making buying decisions
• Who or what plays a part in making buying
decisions or can influence the decisions?

13. Example
• Swiss watches - well made and precision
mechanical time pieces
• Electronics industry in Japan offered time
accuracy at a low price (major benefit to
customer)
• Today Swatch promote watches as fashion
accessories

14. Competition
• What is being offered at the moment and by
whom?
• What actually sells at the moment?
• How are these products being sold?
• Where and from whom do customers buy?
• What do customers think of their existing
suppliers and products and services?
• What would encourage them to switch?

15. Market Size (Volume and Value)
• How many existing and prospective buyers are
there?
• How often are they likely to buy?
• How much of each product is being sold?
• At what prices?
• Are prices very similar or widely different?
• Why?
• What price will buyers be willing to pay?
• How price sensitive is the market?

16. Market Structure
• What is a typical supply chain like – materials
suppliers; manufacturers; distribution
channels; customers; end users?
• Who buys what from whom?
• How many operators are there and who are
the key players – at each stage in the supply
chain?
• At what stage of development is the market –
new, growing, well established, declining?

17. Mobile Phone Industry

18. Environmental Forces
• What factors have a influence on market
development – political activity; economic
trends; social issues; technological
development; balance of supply and demand;
market entry barriers; resources issues?
• How are these factors effecting the market
growth rates, trends, structure
stability, customer
preferences, profitability, etc?

19. University Sector

20. Specific Considerations
• Are there any special regulations or standards
to meet?
• With what legislation must you comply?

21. Information sources
Government reports
Statistics
Market research reports
Trade magazines/web sites
Business directories
Press articles
Local ward profiles
Electoral register
The British Library/Business Link

22. Your Own Market Research
• Published information cannot answer all the
questions.
• Small businesses are specialised
• Collect your own relevant data:
Questionnaires
Interviews
Focus groups
Social media

23. Test Marketing
• Trial runs
• Order a small number of the products to test
sales
• Build a prototype to show clients
• Provide a new service on a small scale

24. SWOT Analysis
How well do you compare to your competitor (internal
structure)?
What is the customer perception of your products/services
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
Market Research
• Opportunities
• Threats
http://www.businessballs.com/swotanalysisfreetemplate.htm

25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEm1X
y5xgMU

26. Business Plan

27. What's your product or service?
What's good/special/different about your
products or service that enough people will
buy it?
Is this something that you have a real passion
for?
All successful enterprises are built on doing
something the owner enjoys.

28. What does it cost to make/buy
in/provide the product or service?
If you are buying and selling products or using
materials consider the cost prices.
If the main resource is your own time then
attach a cost to your labour that reflects your
available time for the work and the wage you
need to draw.
Divide your required annual wage by the
number of work hours available to you, and
this is your notional hourly labour cost.

29. What price will the product/service
sell for?
• Price your products/services according to
what the market will pay, not according to
your costs.
• Take into account your competitors and what
they charge and their relative quality.

30. Who will buy the product/service?
Do you know your customers and market.
Test your assumptions: this is a critical part of
the proposition and generally benefits from
more thought and research to confirm that a
big enough market exists for your idea
Consider your competition - what are people
buying currently and why will they buy from
you instead?

31. How much/many do you need to sell in a year?
And how many customers do you need?
Does the gross profit (the difference between
costs of bought in products/labour and sales
revenues) covers your/their financial needs
including a living wage and other fixed costs of
running the enterprise.
Remember the affect of VAT on your selling
prices if applicable

32. How will people know about the
service/product?
You need to understand what
advertising/marketing/enquiry-generation is
necessary.
There is usually a cost for generating new
customers, especially in the early stages of a
new enterprise.

33. Video Clip
Tim Berry
Expert Business Planner
• http://www.bplans.co.uk/

34. Resources
Business Planning and Research
• http://www.shell-livewire.org/
• http://www.bl.uk/bipc/busplann/index.html
Grants/Loans
• http://www.bl.uk/eresources/business/cd-
busin.html#advice

35. Tax/VAT
• Personal allowance £7,475
• Capital Allowance Scheme (hot desking/licenced office )
http://www.legalcentre.co.uk/property/guide/short-term-lets-of-
commercial-premises-lease-licence-or-tenancy-at-will/
http://www.rentadesk.co.uk/
• Research & Development
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• VAT is paid for revenue over £68,000
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1086692188

36. Intellectual Property
Patents For inventions, protecting new
products and processes
Trade marks For brands, protecting distinctive
reputations vested in names and logos
Designs For appearance of articles, protecting
shape and pattern
Copyright Creative and Artistic works
eg. paintings, books, film music
One product can be protected with many forms of IP

37. Non-disclosure
• Non Disclosure (or Confidentiality) agreements are
useful when disclosing information that you do not
want to be discussed with any other party or your
competitors. This might be if you are pitching for
work or if you are explaining the special methods you
use to create a product.
• They are legally binding documents which can be
tailored to your specification.
• Always ask the organisation you will be disclosing the
information to, to read and sign the document
before the initial meeting takes place.

38. Intellectual Property
• Intellectual Property
www.ipo.gov.uk
• British Copyright Council
britishcopyright.org
• Own It
own-it.org
• ACID – Anti Copyright in Design
acid.uk.com

39. Business Structure
• Self Employed
To be self-employed, an individual is normally highly
skilled in a trade or has a niche product or service to
offer.
• Free Lance
A person who sells services to employers without a
long term commitment.
• Partnership
A partnership is a type of business entity in which
partners (owners) share with each other the profits
or losses of the business.

40. Business Structure
• Collaborations
Collaboration is a practice whereby individuals work together
to a common purpose to achieve a business benefit. This is
common practice within the creative industry.
• Limited Liability Company
Limited companies exist in their own right. This means the
companies finances are separate from the personal finances
of the owner
• Franchises
Buying a franchise is a way of taking advantage of the success
of an established business. A license is bought to use the
name, products, services and management support systems
of the franchiser company.

41. Elishba Zachariah
Careers Consultant
zachare@wmin.ac.uk