In the current climate, you may well be keen to take action and get started as soon as possible to get first mover advantage, or to fill a gap before anyone else does. That is all well and good and you should certainly act as soon as you can if you feel that you will otherwise miss an opportunity – but don’t let that get in the way of doing your research and doing it properly.
Think about:
Who will your customers be?
How will you reach them and market to them?
Where will you get your supplies from?
What should your price point be in order to strike the balance between acquiring customers and making the necessary amount of profit?
Will you be selling your product online, in person or both?
How will you accept payments?
How will you adhere to current Covid rules including safe working and social distancing?
What insurance or permits may you require?
There are potentially dozens more questions that you will need to ask yourself and comprehensively research the answers (see this article for some more examples). If possible, seek out someone who has previously started or run a business in a similar niche and lean on them for advice and support. This may be in-person but could equally be someone you can connect with online.
3. Get your finances in order
You need to be certain you are financially able to do this. If you are leaving employment to pursue this new venture, then you should probably have money saved up to tide you over in the first few months as you start to get customers and build your revenue streams.
Likewise, you should probably try and clear any debts before you get started, as you may run into big problems with your credit score, if your reduced income means you start missing credit payments.
Equally, you need to be able to meet any cash flow demands of the business. For instance, you may need to spend £1,000 on supplies in order to manufacture or deliver your product. Once delivered, that product may well make you £3,000 and things will be looking rosy– but you need have that money to invest in the first instance.
Business loans or other emergency short term loans are available which may help you get past this hurdle, but you may find that without regular income from employment and little to no business history, getting accepted for one of these may be a challenge.
