Lads who started their own businesses, could you give me a walk-through of some the things you did to make it? From the idea, to the settled daily grind and money making part?
If you're under 30 and unemployed or working part time, get in touch with the Prince's Trust. They run courses for young people who want to start a business. You can get a low-interest loan to cover your startup costs and the support of a business mentor for up to two years.
If you're not eligible for the Prince's Trust, contact your local Chamber of Commerce. They often offer free or low-cost training for entrepreneurs and can put you in touch with useful organisations in your area.
Started work when I was twenty one. Spent close to a decade slaving away like an indentured servant; sixteen hour days and constant business travel. Slowly gained more trust and experience until I was selected to open and run a new satellite office where it was either sink or swim. There I learned the day to day grind of running a business, being solely responsible for every step of a contract from initial scoping and proposal through to producing the deliverable and sending the invoice and chasing up the unpaid ones at that.
After a few years of that, around about the same time that I was starting to get to cotton on to the fact that I'd never get to hire more underlings, a friend offered me the chance of a 50% stake in a new business he was starting. 4.5 years later here we are, still growing in a global recession, and still struggling to hire underlings although now for different reasons.
I'd love to start my own business but I don't have any ideas. Where does one begin? If you're not the wacky inventor type, how exactly would you go about researching your local economy and looking for gaps in the market?
Contact your nearest Business and Intellectual Property Centre. There are eleven of them around the country, providing an enormous amount of free information and support for new and growing businesses. They run talks and workshops, you can speak to a specialist advisor and get free access to market research data that would normally cost you thousands of pounds. They can help you with anything from discovering a market niche to registering a patent to securing start-up funding.
I'm starting up a business now, some bit of tech that could be useful in the North Sea oil platforms. Already pulled the trigger but still not sure if I did the right thing this way instead of getting a nice job.
Waiting for my visa to be processed now, on the account of being a foreignlad. We'll see how it goes.
>>6871 Currently trying to partner with an oil & gas company through accelerator programmes so I wouldn't have to worry about that among couple other things. Every bloody thing is regulated in this industry.
>>6872 If its going to be in open air or in a hazardous area on the rig then it will probably fall under the DSEAR regs and a significant source of ballache later down the line.
Completely off topic, but I can offer some pointers if you'd like.
Personal recommendation. If you don't know any local businesspeople, get in touch with your local Chamber of Commerce. They will run free or cheap business networking and training events.
