Ten top tips for a successful start

1. Write a business plan.Preparing and presenting an effective business plan can make all the difference between success and failure. Besides being a great way of capturing the long-term objectives and financial goals for your business, your business plan can be used to demonstrate to prospective lenders, investors and customers that you have thought through your ideas and that they are dealing with a business which has good potential. It also gives you a benchmark to monitor your progress, so if something starts to go off track you can take prompt action to put it right.

2. Learn all you can about your chosen industry.
If you have never worked in your business sector before, get some work experience. Make sure you know the laws you need to comply with and talk to HM Revenue & Customs about tax issues before you start. Contact your trade or professional association to see if they can help. Make sure you understand Intellectual Property Law and guard your copyright from the start.

3. Understand everything you can about your customers.Before you get started, it pays to talk to the people you’ll be looking to sell to. Get some feedback on your product or service before you begin. It can save a lot of development time in the future.

4. Listen to advice.
Talk to people who’ll be honest about your business idea and listen to what they say. Get a mentor from your specialist field if possible.

5. Dip your toe in the water first.It’s possible to run many businesses on a part-time basis from home. An effective way to see if your business idea is viable is to stay in full-time employment, while managing your business in the evenings and at weekends. This will allow you to check if your idea is viable before taking the big step of losing your regular income. Even if you are just ‘trying out' your business, open a business account as soon as possible – it will help in the long run to keep both your personal and business accounts separate.

6. Keep money in reserve and keep costs down at the outset.Keep expenditure down as much as possible when starting up. Don’t plough every penny you have into the business unless you have absolutely no choice. No matter how well you plan, most people find they need a bit more money for something after a few months.

7. Make use of free publicity and networking.
It’s easy to waste money on ineffective marketing, so think hard about anything you spend. And learn to network - talk to as many people as you can about your business. You never know where those conversations might lead.

8. Set up books and records as soon as possible.
It can cost a lot of money to have an accountant sort out messy records further down the line, so get bookkeeping systems set up properly before you start trading. Make sure you keep all business receipts – even from before you start trading if they relate to your business – you might be able to use them to offset tax. Find an accounting software package to get you started

9. Prepare your support network.
Starting a business is hard work. You’re going to need to devote a lot of time to it for at least the first year and probably well beyond that. Make sure those closest to you understand the size of the task and the sacrifices you’ll need to make to ensure your business is a success.

10. Be resilient, adapt and change.There will be times in the first few months when things don’t go your way. Maybe you will lose an important order, or an employee will let you down. Whatever that may be, learn from it and keep going. Be prepared to adapt.