Start-up mania hits the UK!

If you have picked up this book thinking now could be the time to take that long-held idea and turn it into a business, or you have had enough of earning for someone else and want to start earning for yourself, then now is an ideal time to take action. And you certainly will not be acting alone.

The UK is experiencing start-up mania! In 2013 a record-breaking 524,000 people turned their idea into a business and this record looks set to be smashed again in 2014. The Office for National Statistics is reporting unseen highs in the number of people opting for self-employment with one in every seven people now working for themselves and 90 per cent of the jobs growth since 2008 being due to self-employment. This is no blip in the economy, either. Enterprise fever is set to continue as surveys show 65 per cent of young people wanting to be their own boss after leaving school/college/university or after some grounding of working first for someone else.

Why, you may ask, is this happening? I will give you four reasons:

1. Personal choice – students, mums, employees and the recently retired are choosing to become self-employed to benefit from the freedom and flexibility that comes with it. There is no better way to earn a living than doing what you love and building a business, from home, around the family. Millions of people are doing it and are happier for it. A recent Enterprise Nation survey showed 99 per cent of respondents are more healthy and fulfilled being self-employed than they were as an employee. I want to meet the 1 per cent who are not and ask why!
2. Open markets – you do not want to start a business without knowing there is a market of people to buy and, fortunately for the start-up, markets are becoming very particular about what they want to buy and from whom they buy it. Witness the rise of the niche start-up: the new venture that offers a product or service to a clearly identified audience, for example PA services to the food sector or fashion for the music industry. Niche businesses are the very best kind of business, as you quickly become an expert in your field, reach customers and go global. With over two billion consumers online, often looking for British-made and designed products and services, the world is your trading oyster.
3. Low costs – whilst popular programmes like Dragons’ Den give the impression you need to raise thousands or remortgage the house to start a business, the truth is quite different. The majority of people start a business while holding onto the day job to give themselves time to build confidence and cash flow in the business. They are embracing technology and making the most of every offer and asset being opened up for start-ups, to keep costs low. This book is focused on showing you how to do the same.
4. Support on tap – there has never been so much support available for start-ups. This is coming from government, in the form of programmes like StartUp Loans, from big business which is opening up accelerators, supply chains and its customer base for the benefit of start-ups, and there is support from peers, too. We are operating in what is referred to popularly as the sharing economy where start-ups share experiences and learning with each other, and more experienced entrepreneurs share their time to offer a guiding and mentoring hand.

This book will help you realise the benefits of self-employment by showing how to access support, make the most of the web, develop a niche and attract customers. It shows how to achieve all this while keeping costs as low as they will go.

In reading the tips and techniques that follow, please bear three important words in mind:

Beg, borrow and barter

These are the three most critical words when starting a business on a budget!

Before paying for anything, think instead about how you can partner to get what you need for free, or pitch to someone who would benefit from lending to or bartering with you.

Add to this all the free and powerful technology tools at your disposal and you will see, as the pages go by, just how straightforward it is to become your own boss for less than the cost of a return London to Manchester rail ticket!