Turn your business dreams into a reality
Serial entrepreneur Karen Darby tells you how
Did you know that around 10 million Brits dream of starting a business? Their motivations are as varied as the businesses they want to set up. Some think they could do a better job than their boss; some want the freedom of working for themselves or have an idea that they think would help society. A few find that redundancy or early retirement forces them to re-think what they do with their lives. However a third of people don't know how to go about starting a business.
One of the UK's most successful serial entrepreneurs is Karen Darby, who sold SimplySwitch for £22m four years after setting it up from scratch. Karen was once a budding entrepreneur herself so has got together with Business Link to inspire and motivate you to turn your dreams into reality as well as giving you some practical, impartial and authoritative advice on how to go about it.
Below Karen answers some common questions and concerns.
What advice would you give someone who was thinking of starting up their own business?
Do it! Do it! and get good advice. I have been around the block a bit, SimplySwitch was my third business but I knew there were other people out there who knew more than I did and I'm not afraid to ask. There is no such thing as a dumb question as far as I'm concerned. You don't need to know all the answers you just need to know the right questions to ask.
Where can I go for advice about starting a business?
Everything you want to know about setting up a business is there on the internet. There is an absolute wealth of information; in fact there is probably too much information so you have to hone it down a bit. I would say a good first port of call would be to go to Business Link. This is a completely independent and impartial support and advice service that is government backed. I found them to be really, really helpful. They have a website www.businesslink.gov.uk or you can contact them on 0845 600 9 006. That is a very good starting point. They have some great tools online that you can use that will help you to address all the key aspects of setting up your first business or how to grow a young business.
How can I tell if my idea is a good one?
It's obviously important to have a good idea, but I believe that people put too much emphasis on the idea, the idea isn't everything, and they say that there is nothing new under the sun. What you need is a unique slant on what you are doing, your USP, as that is what will make you special. What then counts is being able to put your idea into action because you can have a million good ideas but unless you actually do something that?s all they remain - ideas.
How can I overcome the fear of failure when starting up a business?
I think a lot of people fear failure. They're afraid that if they set up a business it is going to go wrong. Do what I did, look at the risks and think what would be the worst that could happen? In my case it would mean I would need to get a job. Make sure you get help and support in setting up a business (particularly from sources you can trust like the Business Link service) and then recognise that there is a bigger consequence of inaction. If you don't set up a business you risk not achieving your full potential in life, and that to me is a bigger crime.
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