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The following tips will help you cover your bases and give you some things to think about that you might not have considered when commencing your business start-up.

Make sure you are organized and have a well-structured business plan. This might sound obvious, but key to success in business is taking the time at the beginning of your venture to go through everything you might need to prepare for with a fine tooth comb. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of work you have before you, particularly at the beginning stages of your start-up. Make sure you create a business plan that can withstand the scrutiny of investors, potential clients, and a tight market.

Staying up-to-date with financial and legal regulations is crucial for the long-term health of your company. Ensuring that your business is operating within the law sounds like an obvious and straightforward process. However, far too often, poor organization and bad financial planning can mean that you are caught out by the things that you didn’t know you would need to concern yourself with. Get yourself a financial advisor, or have a look here for tips on how to keep up-to-date with legal regulations. One key thing to be aware of is the PSC register. The PSC register is the register of all persons and entities who have a significant control of a company. This record ensures that the company is transparent and is open with its legal dealings. This is usually quite straightforward but can get a little more complicated depending on certain circumstances. If you do feel unsure or, click here for further advice on the PSC register.  

Try to start out with a healthy credit score as you’re most likely going to have to borrow money to finance your venture. Starting out with a high credit score will enable you to borrow a lot more, and at a better rate than if you started out with a poor credit score. It might take you some time before you can give yourself a salary, so you might have to rely on your finances for a while.

Building up a network of useful contacts as early as possible. Perhaps you might have contacts from previous work or businesses so try and maintain these relationships which can be mutually beneficial, if not now, then at some point down the line. Don’t be afraid to seek the advice of other people who have succeeded or failed in a business venture and learn from the achievements and failures of others. Networking with other entrepreneurs and business owners is an important skill to have and will give you an understanding of the entrepreneurial experience from the mouths of those who have experienced it first hand.

Research your competition and understand where you will fit into the market. Evaluating your place is in the target market is crucial to optimize your chances of successfully making a name for yourself. If you simply offer something that five other companies are already offering, then you are not bringing anything new to the market and will likely fail in your enterprise. Seeing what competing services are offering will enable you to tailor your product or service and ensure that you can provide something unique and individual that hasn’t been saturated by other competitors. Try the competitions products to best understand how to make yours better.

Be able to delegate responsibility. While this project may be your baby and passing over the reins to somebody else is difficult, it is crucial that you take some pressure off your back and delegate some of your workload to other people. Despite what you may think, allowing other people to take on some responsibility will increase the efficiency and success rate of your enterprise as each will be able to focus on a particular element or branch of the business rather than one person attempting to cover all bases. Take a look at this post here for more information on the importance of extra support in a business. In the long term, it is better to spend more money in the initial stages and hire competent individuals to help you out, rather than spreading yourself too thin by doing it all yourself.

..But don’t hire friends. It can be very tempting to hire people you are friends with, as you trust them and get on with them very well. Bringing your friends into your business, however, can lead to some very awkward, uncomfortable situations and may even mean the loss of a friend. Moving from friendship to a business relationship is a difficult transition to make, and may lead to misunderstandings and a reluctance to call out your friend on something that you would have no problem doing with an employee. Making tough business calls is something you will have to deal with at some point, this may mean reprimanding people and perhaps having to let them go. With a friend, you may find yourself compromising at the expense of your business.

Put together a strong marketing campaign. If you want to be seen by as large an audience as possible, the internet is the best way to promote your new business. Keep up-to-date with the various social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. and build a name for yourself across the board.  Hire someone to help with the PR and marketing strategy of your business if you can, as this is an investment that will pay out in the long term.