Natcho's ten top tips for starting a business
Raise your glass, this month Natcho Creative celebrates a milestone – our three-year birthday! When you take into account that 20% of new businesses will fail in their first year and around 60% will be broke by year three (Business Startup Statistics UK 2022) it is an incredible achievement. So why do some businesses make it while others don’t? There is no blueprint when it comes to setting up a business. But with three years of success under Natcho’s belts (not to mention accomplishing this during a pandemic), and lots of learning curves along the way, we’ve listed our top ten dos and don’ts to starting your own business… and absolutely smashing it.
1. Experience
Knowing what you want to achieve is great, but knowing what you don’t want is even better. Why? Because it will help refine your focus and business goals, and the best way to discover this is through a range of experience. Ever had a micro-managing boss who reads your every email? Remember how unproductive it made you by feeling constantly watched? Well, great because now you know what you don’t want to do in your business. Getting a well-rounded experience with existing business models that reflect what you want to do is a big must. The more varied the better but even with a few weeks of experience at several companies will gain you vital insights into the business’ working model. And while you’re there, jot down everything you want to implement in your own business – and also what you want to avoid – so you can go on to build something to be proud of.
2. Branding
Sure, everyone has heard the term but what exactly does it mean? Essentially branding is creating your unique style that becomes recognisable amongst consumers. So, the way you communicate this is hugely important. What comes to mind when you think of McDonalds? It’s usually golden arches and a brick-red background. What about Nike? Guaranteed it’s their big swishing tick. Being known for something is a sign of good branding and the key to brand awareness is consistency. This applies to everything – your logo, the images you post on socials, what fonts you use, your colour scheme, the copy you use – it all adds up to telling the story of you and your brand. A big mistake when setting up a business is thinking a quick £50 logo is the only branding you need. Instead, invest in a designer who can help you create a brand guideline document. This way, your brand image is ready to share with anyone involved in a project and helps your brand stays consistent. We delve into this more in the next blog post – stay tuned.
3. Working backwards
Set yourself a target of where you want to be in five years. Write it down and then work out what it is going to take to get you there. By noting your goals and establishing a realistic plan of action, you’re creating direction for your business. Where do you need to be by year four to achieve your goal? What needs to happen in year three? By working backwards, it allows for an achievable five-year plan that you can work towards every day. Start small and dream big.
4. Building confidence
Ever heard of imposter syndrome and self-doubt? Well, if you haven’t yet, you’re likely to meet them on your journey of starting a business. At multiple points during the start-up process, a lack of confidence will often be one of the biggest hurdles you’ll encounter, especially when you’re putting in the hours seven days a week and not seeing the results you want. Perhaps you have nagging feelings of not belonging, not being good enough or as though you’ve not rightly earnt your accomplishments – this is also known as imposter syndrome. These fears can chip away at you causing you to doubt your abilities. What to do about it? Jameela Jamil, when asked about this, perfectly explains on her Instagram (@jameelajamil) “Just do it anyway. My answer whenever I’m asked about imposter syndrome is to admit that I am an imposter, and treat it like a crash wedding, you’re in now, have as much fun as possible and grab all the cake you can before someone throws you out. Lean in and make it a party”. Apply that to right now – you’re here, so stay, see what happens, and enjoy the ride. We all know change doesn’t happen overnight, so keep pushing. Building a business is a long game – you don’t want to lose before you’ve reached ‘go’ because of your inner critic. As soon as you start to see the results, in come the feelings of elevation and pride, and you’ll be so thankful you kept going.
5. Research
As a business owner you’ll never stop learning, so make sure you’re not settling just because what you are doing right now is working. Developing your own skills and discovering new ideas will help progress your business and as such, keeping in the loop of new trends and upcoming innovations related to your industry is crucial to staying ahead. Sign up to newsletters, watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts and read what you can to keep inspired. At Natcho, we schedule time each month to take a step back and analyse what we could do to improve. Are there any areas of your business that need development? Perhaps that’s managing finances more effectively, taking a masterclass in the latest software update or developing a creative skill. Once identified, spend the next month watching a video every day on the topic – every element you can bring to the table helps to create a stronger, more-rounded business. Give it a go and see.
6. Money
Each start-up will have a different entry point when it comes to capital. If you’re like us and are starting without a bank loan or investor, we suggest finding part-time flexible work to keep the bread-and-butter money coming in. While setting up Natcho, we worked at bars, golf clubs and were even nannies. We found jobs that would be happy for us to swap shifts if a shoot came in, so we could be flexible for our clients, which in turn, has been one of our leading attributes. Make sure you’re investing money back into the business too.
Seeing funds start to come in and putting it back into your business instead of spending it on dinners out with friends is a tough transaction but by investing in your business, you’re investing in yourself and will bring you greater freedom in the long run.
7. Work/social balance
With the above point being said, you don’t (and shouldn’t) have to become a hermit. The work-life balance was a hot topic during Covid, with each of us re-evaluating what is most important, and when you look after your mental health you are better able to look after your business. Yes, deciding to set up your own business will be an adjustment. It is difficult and demanding on your time, which may mean having to miss out on a few social plans but spending that time building your dream will be rewarding– stick at it, you’re doing great. To help keep the balance, try to allow yourself at least one big social plan a month. Not only is being social essential to your well-being but breaks allow you to come back to your desk with fresh eyes and energy.
8. Know your worth
Avoiding being underpaid comes back to knowing your worth. Researching a standard rate for similar services to what you offer will help you confidently establish your rates. Here, tools like Upwork and Freelancer UK can help. Make sure you’ve included a percentage of any insurance covers you may need, equipment costs and taxes within your rates. Keep in mind, when starting out you will need to build up your reputation and one of the easiest ways to do this is to offer a slightly lower rate as this can introduce you to a client list. Once your business is in more a demand, a good indicator of this is when you start getting fully booked, up your rates. Some clients may not wish to pay for the increase but you’ll find the majority will and they will cover the cost of the clients who leave.
9. Wearing all the hats
Heard the story about the one-man band? When first starting out, you’ll find yourself taking on different roles (being your own cheerleader is included in this package). This may seem daunting to begin with, but down the line it will be an excellent skill to have retained. A helpful tool to help balance them is to create a chart of everything that needs doing, and then work different roles into different days of the week. By blocking out set times for different duties, you’re allowing time to fully engage in the task at hand and not feel overwhelmed. Also, you’ll discover how you want each one to be performed, so when the time comes to hiring someone for the role, you’ll already have a requirement list firmly formed. Finally, it’s a great indicator of your strengths and weaknesses within the business, so will quickly highlight the areas most needed for investment so that you can free up your time and focus it where you’re best at.
10. Admin
Okay, the boring bit – admin! No matter your business, you’ll be responsible for the taxes. Keep on top of this early by opening a separate bank account – this way you can keep your personal and businesses separate. Each month, make a list of all your expenses with a description of each purchase (it’s crazy how quickly you can forget what something was for) along with any money that’s come in. Creating good habits and keeping tabs on your expenses and income will ensure your tax return is stress-free. You’ll need to keep a digital trail and accountancy apps are a great way to keep on top of this – try Xero, Pleo or QuickBooks. While software such as Stripe can help you manage invoices and payments from clients. You’ll also need a website with an easily recognisable domain name so potential customers can find you. We recommend using GoDaddy to buy an email and web domain and Squarespace to design your website. Remember consistency is key, so pick your business name and ensure all digital and social names match. For example, we are ‘Natcho Creative’ our web domain is www.natchocreative.com, our email domain is info@natchocreative.com and you’ll find us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn under the same name.
So, there we have it. Three years on from establishing Natcho, and with a string of portfolio highlights we are proud of, we hope there’s a take-home for any budding entrepreneurs out there. And for one final piece of advice? Take a risk. You will never learn unless you try. Good luck!