Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit?

Top tips from our gaffa Claire Morley-Jones, for those entrepreneurs out there that are thinking of taking the leap of faith to start your own business.

Think carefully about how it will work
Are you setting up with a Partner? What responsibility will you each take? Where are you going to work from? Are you sure this is what you want to do? Running a business isn’t easy and certainly is not 9-5! Entrepreneurs are normally ideas people so you’ll need to find someone who can think through the details of how the plan will all come together!

Instil a sense of purpose
You can’t do this for either yourself or your team if you don’t know what you want to achieve! Focus on your goals and the things you want to achieve this in turn will enable you to focus the team, instilling a sense of purpose and pride in what you are striving to do.

Recruit the very best you can afford
I had to be different from the competition in order to survive! One of the many ways I was able to do this was with my staff, all of whom are very experienced and highly qualified HR and Marketing professionals. I’ve offered working from home, part time hours, job sharing and a real involvement in the business to compensate for a slightly lower salary or benefits.

Get the business in the door
Do at least 3 marketing/sales activities a day, whether that’s research ten new clients, or write an article or go to a networking event. It’s important that even when you are REALLY busy delivering the now, you are still creating a pipeline of work for the future.

Get your processes right
Make sure the processes and systems you are using reduce administration time, raise productivity, keep costs down and are continually assessed for suitability. We’ve recently offered our clients as part of our Outsourced HR package the use of our HR Management system, giving them access from day one to a super duper web based platform making it easy to manage on-boarding, employee data and personnel files whilst effortlessly recording absence and holidays!

Never borrow money unless it’s absolutely necessary
Never, ever, ever! Think about the viability and sustainability of your business before seeking any kind of investment. This is clearly more difficult for businesses that need stock or equipment etc., however, think of borrowing as the last resort rather than the first one if you can.

Think differently
Evolve, innovate and think differently. It’s quite unusual for there to be anything truly new in this day and age but being creative can help you to retain your edge particularly in a competitive market.