Our 10 start-up tips for creatives
Looking to start your own business?
If so, we’d like to share our 10 tips for going freelance or starting a limited company based on 20+ years of experience.
- Research your market and test your ideas with real people
- Connect with people∗ who share your passion to share ideas, create conversations and build an inspiring support community
- Try starting your business as a side project to your main source of income, it will give you time to build your confidence
- Tell your network about your new business and ask for introductions and ways to improve your offer: if you don’t ask, you won’t get
- Find your first customer because no amount of testing beats a real customer paying for your product or service
- Don’t worry about perfection at launch, just make sure your basic offer works because you can add bells and whistles later
- Ask for feedback not with leading questions, such as “Did you like the product/service?” but rather with open questions, such as “How can I improve / What didn’t work / What more would you like?”
- Remember, tell HMRC that you are going freelance or setting up a business, keep accurate records and talk to an accountant about expenses, VAT and whether to set up a limited company (also, check your insurance)
- Watch your cashflow, keep outgoings low and remember that not all you earn is yours – you might have to pay tax on some of it
- Get free business advice from your local business support organisations and make the most of every opportunity to learn.
∗ Bonus tip: Build your network online and offline – and keep control of your contact list so you are not dependant on a single platform.
We hope you found our ten start-up tips interesting and useful. Please post your views below.
PS: Do what you love, do it with passion and have fun.
Thank you for reading
Huw Sayer
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