“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell

Here at 1st Formations, it’s our job to help your business succeed. We offer a wide range of company formation packages and business support services, and we’re always on standby to lend you a helping hand – but at the end of the day, the success of your business rests largely upon your shoulders.

As the owner of your business, you’ve got to put in the hard work, make some tough calls and mold your company in order to see it blossom and prosper. If you’ve never run a business before, that sounds like a lot of pressure. It also makes the prospect of going it alone fairly daunting. But the truth is, launching a successful business isn’t scary – and even if you’re forming a new company all by yourself, you don’t have to do it alone.

That’s why we developed this guide to starting your own business. We know a lot about how companies work, and we know what it takes to lead a company and find success. So, in order to help you get started along your own business journey, we’ve broken the typical business journey down into four parts:

If you’re starting a business from scratch, you can use this guide by starting at Part One and working your way through our guide – but we haven’t just created the Ultimate Guide for newcomers to the business world. Even if you’re a veteran company owner, you’ll find all sorts of ideas you can trial on your own business.

Part One explores how to you can cultivate a business idea and develop that concept into an organised business plan. This series of posts will provide you with brainstorming strategies to help you come up with a great idea for your new business, explain how you can protect the legal status of your ideas by forming a limited company and instructs you on all the basics of how to organise and write your business and marketing plans.

Next, Part Two will guide you through some of the bare essentials you’ll need to set in place for your business to ensure its success. You’ll find information on potential funding strategies for your new company, a pros and cons list to help you decide whether you’ll need to take on staff and advice on what you should and should not include on your wish list when researching company premises.

Part Three outlines some of the crucial processes you’ll need to set in place before your new company starts trading. We’ll walk you through how you can set up a company website, how you can develop your ideas into a recognisable brand and how you should go about advertising and marketing your company.

Finally, Part Four offers some advice and support for those who have already started trading. We explain the basics of ecommerce and selling your products online, the skills you’ll need to hone and develop as a business leader and some friendly advice on how you can cope with the ups and downs of managing a small business.

This guide is by no means exhaustive. No two businesses are alike, and so you can expect your company to face its own unique set of hurdles. But in order to get your ideas up and running, these are the basics you’ll need to master. And if you can’t find the answers you’re looking for, get in touch. We’re always happy to help.