What You Need to Start a Business: A Complete Guide

Every day in the UK, over 1,800 new companies are founded . 

Starting a business involves planning, doing market research, making financial decisions and teaching yourself skills in areas you never thought you would learn about before. To help you get started, our experts at Mint Formations have put together this guide with everything you need to launch your business venture. 

What Skills Do You Need to Start a Business?

You will require several skills to start and run a business. It is important to identify early on the skills that you need to develop so that you can succeed in your day-to-day business operations.

Before launching your own business, it is important to have a level of experience in the sector you are looking to work in. This can come from previous work within the industry or through education. Having hands-on experience is more likely to help your business be successful, as you will have an insider understanding of the needs of your potential customers. 

Some businesses might also require you to have a certain level of educational skills or specific qualifications before you can launch. For example, to start a construction business you are going to need an educational qualification in building or engineering. You can gain these skills by enrolling on courses to gain the knowledge you need to be able to get started.

There are also many soft skills that can help advance your business’s success. Most entrepreneurs need to be organised, good communicators, creative thinkers and good at problem-solving so that they can manage the demands of running and growing a new business.

What Do You Need to Start a Business?

There are five fundamental steps you need to take to ensure that your business is viable:

1. Have a Unique Idea — If you’re itching to start a business, you’ll need a great idea. Study what is going on around you and let it help form your business idea. When coming up with your business concept, consider your hobbies, identifying a pain point you could solve or combining niches that you are passionate about.

2. Do Your Research — Once you have your business concept, you need to make sure it can be profitable. This means researching whether there is demand for your product or service and how much competition is in the market. Without this information, you will find it difficult to get your new business off the ground.

“42% of startup businesses fail because there’s no market need for their services or products.”

• A Survey by CB Insights

3. Define Your Target Market — Before launching a business, you will need to know who your potential customers are and how you can communicate with them. This will be essential in the success of your new company — without knowing your customers, you won’t be able to make any revenue.

4. Source Funding — Most startups will need some money to get started. Whether it comes from a start-up loan, angel investment, crowdfunding, equity investment, a bank loan or some other source, it doesn't matter. A government grant is another option that might be worth exploring.

5. Access Resources — Depending on what business you are starting, you will need to ensure that you have access to the resources that you need. For example, if you are starting a clothing business, you need to make sure that you have organised your suppliers so that you have sufficient stock to sell. Or if you are starting a plumbing business, you will need to make sure that you have access to all the necessary equipment to provide your services.

What Are the Legal Requirements for Starting a Business?

• Naming Your Business

It is a legal requirement that you choose a unique name for your business that is not already being used to avoid running into problems. If the name is too similar to another business’s name, you could be in breach of a trademark and be required to change your business name and possibly pay damages. You can use our advanced name searcher to check the availability of your business name. 

• Choosing Your Business’s Legal Structure

Before making revenue for your business, you need to decide upon its legal structure. The legal structure of your company is important because it decides whether your company needs to be registered with the UK’s registrar of companies, Companies House. The legal structure also affects the records and accounts that you have to keep, the amount of tax and National Insurance (NI) you will pay and your financial liability if the business were to go bankrupt.

• Registering Your Business With Companies House

All businesses must be registered with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as soon as you start trading so that you can pay income tax on your profit and NI.

• Paying Tax and National Insurance

To pay tax and National Insurance properly, you will need to keep records of your business sales and expenses. Upon registering your business, HMRC will issue you with a 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and send a letter in two to three weeks giving you an activation code to access the account.

• Getting Business Insurance

While the majority of insurance policies are optional, designed to cover your business against specific risks, some policies are a legal requirement. Equipment, employees, products and services, business ideas, vehicles and even yourself are parts of the business that can be optional.

Ready to Form Your Company?

Once you have everything you need to start your business, it is time to form your company. At Mint Formations , we help you form your limited company or self-employed business and take away all the stress that comes with starting a new business. We offer standard and bespoke packages to meet your needs and can help through every step of the process to get your home business up and running.

Do you have everything you need to start your business? Get in contact with our team for a simple solution to starting your business.

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