Are you fed up with the 9 – 5? Desperate to work more flexibly around your family? Keen to fulfil your lifelong ambition of running your own business? It might be time to take the leap and run your own business. But how?
This is a situation I faced back in 2010. I loved my career as a corporate buyer for retail giants Superdrug and Sainsbury’s. Getting paid to travel to Paris to buy cosmetics is most young women’s dream. Running the first-ever online supplier auction for Sainsbury’s was super exciting, and I loved the fast pace of retail. But when my three daughters arrived, I didn’t want to commute to London and work those hours anymore. I dreamt of running my own business around my girls, being there for school drop-offs and pick-ups, but also doing something fulfilling for me, too.
Running your own business empowers you to work on your terms, when, where, and how you want.
But how do you turn those dreams of entrepreneurship into reality? There are some critical stages to getting it right:
1. Be really clear on your goals.
My mother always told me to ‘Keep your eyes on the prize’, which is a great piece of advice. Taking the time up front to articulate what you want is so important. Try making a vision board, including words and images that capture what you’re trying to achieve. Do you want to be the next Sara Davies or Deborah Meaden? Work flexibly around your family? Directly with clients? Do the work or manage others? These questions will help you define your ideal business and keep you on track if things get tough.
2. Think about your skills
What are you actually good at? Try to think as broadly as possible here, especially if you’re unsure what type of business you want to run. Are you an HR expert or a Marketing guru? Consider not just your technical skills but also your interpersonal skills. Are you good at managing teams? Or at your best when working alone? This should help narrow down the possibilities and give you a clearer way forward.
3. Do your research
This stage is vital to ensure you start a business that is viable for the long term. Think about who your competitors will be and how you can design an offering to compete with them. Look at all aspects, including their branding, products and services, pricing, marketing, etc. Can you carve out a new niche? You’ll need to identify your USP – your unique selling point that makes you a compelling choice for prospective customers.
Research those customers, too. What are their needs and wants? How will you find them and tell them about your new business? Painting a picture of your target customer or ideal customer groups helps you pinpoint your marketing once you launch your business.
Investigate support for new businesses in your area as well. Depending on where you live, you may uncover free training courses for start-ups or even grants or loans to buy equipment. For example, free mentoring or coaching can be beneficial in the early days of running a business, giving you someone to ask questions and bounce ideas off.
4. Think about all the options
It is crucial to get financial and legal advice on the technicalities of whether you go self-employed, set up a Limited Company, etc. But, before you get to that stage, think about the different ways of running a business. Do you want to start from scratch and go it alone? That is one way of running a business, but it isn’t the only way. Buying an established business, including its premises and team, might be a much more significant investment and feel riskier. But you’ll gain the reassurance of a business that has already been through growing pains, and is something you can improve on.
Franchising could be another great solution. Sometimes described as a ‘Business in a Box’, buying a franchise enables you to run your own business with the safety of a team around you, going into business for yourself, but not by yourself. Every franchise is different, and you need to do your homework. But franchising could provide the best of both worlds – the freedom and flexibility to run your own business with the support of a team around you. It does for Emma of Get Ahead East Midlands, who says: “I may be a franchisee, but feel part of the core team, where you are listened to and supported and importantly never feel alone. Best thing I ever did!”
5. Know When To Seek Support And Delegate Tasks
Running your own business is a large responsibility, but it doesn’t mean you won’t have to gather help at some point. Learn to delegate and outsource tasks and seek expert advice – this can save you so much time and prevent burnout. Whether you need an accountant or property management services for your business, the right support means you can focus on growth. Successful entrepreneurs know when to ask for help to keep things ticking over nicely. You’ll then be able to concentrate on what you do best.
6. Be brave and just do it!
Yes, it’s a scary step to start your own business. But it could be the best thing you have ever done. Once you’ve done your research, then just get on with it. Don’t be afraid if things don’t work out quite as you hoped. Keep evolving till you get it right. Over the past 12 years of running my business, there have been several setbacks. But there have been so many highlights too, like winning awards or when a client tells you what a difference your team has made. It might sometimes be a rollercoaster, but the value of working flexibly around my family makes all the hard work to run my own business worthwhile.
As many people re-evaluate how they want to live and work post-COVID, now might be the right time to take that leap and become the business owner you always dreamt of. Use these five steps to guide you through transforming your dreams into a viable business proposition and grasp your exciting new future with both hands.
About Rebecca
After a career in corporate buying for retail giants Superdrug and Sainsburys, Rebecca Newenham founded Get Ahead in 2010. Seven years later, having successfully grown her award-winning virtual agency, she welcomed her first franchisee. Since then, she has added franchisees from Wakefield in the north down to Woking in the south and even down under in Australia. Rebecca published her first business book, ‘Virtually Yours’ in 2020 and won the British Franchise Association Franchise Balance award in 2021.
Find out more about franchising and whether it’s the secret to a successful, flexible career here.
To learn more about a VA Franchise with Get Ahead, click here.
And for more tips about how to run a successful business from home, read our blog post here.
Thinking about how to build a great business network? Get advice in our blog post here.