Entrepreneurship: start up a new business/enterprise/company in the UK

	Study, work or travel in the UK. British culture and life.
Homepage	Search	A-Z index	Message Board	Contact us
Britain	Course	Life	Work	Links
English	Prepare	Personal	Travel	Ideas





< Up	Work / Entrepreneur
Start your own business in the UK


Sections	Introduction
	Finding your idea & learning about business
	Market research
	Protecting your idea
	Laws and regulations
	Starting your business
	Further information
	Links

INTRODUCTION

This page provides some information to help people in the UK who would like to become an entrepreneur (someone who comes up with an idea and turns this into a successful business).

Back to top

FINDING YOUR IDEA & LEARNING ABOUT BUSINESS

If you don't already have an idea, try to think about a problem, need or desire that you have noticed and come up with a product or service which would help. Think about what kind of customers you might attract. Do some research about the market and decide how you can provide something that is different from your competitors. Consider how you would start and grow your business and start to develop your business plan. You may find inspiration by reading books written by successful entrepreneurs.

	Anyone Can Do It: The Autobiography [paperback] Author: Duncan Bannatyne Publisher: Orion Date: May 2007	The Google Story Author: David A. Vise Publisher: Pan Date: September 2006
	Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography Author: Sir Richard Branson Publisher: Virgin Books Date: June 2005	How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal All Author: Rachel Bridge Publisher: Kogan Page Ltd Date: November 2004
	Start your Business Click above to subscribe to this magazine One issue every 2 months	Your Idea Can Make You Rich (Dragon's Den) Publisher: Vermilion Date: October 2005
Click here for books in the category: small business & entrepreneurship

If you are a university or college student in the UK, these are some ways in which you might start to develop your business and entrepreneurial skills:
- Join the university's Entrepreneurship Society (if there isn't one, you could consider setting one up yourself). You can usually find out details about clubs from the students' union or its website.
- Some universities have an enterprise centre (it may also be called an entrepreneurship centre). This may serve a group of universities. The staff provide information and advice about setting up a business or social enterprise. Sometimes these organise a competition to come up with a business idea.
- Your careers advisory service will be able to give you some information and may organise talks or short courses about how to start your own business.
- Your academic course may include relevant modules such as product design, marketing, accounting, business studies etc.

The following programmes on UK radio or TV may help to inspire your entrepreneurial thoughts and appreciation of business:
Dragon's Den (on BBC2): people seek investment capital for their businesses from top entrepreneurs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden
The Apprentice (on BBC2): contestants compete at business tasks to get a job working for Sir Alan Sugar: http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice
The Money Programme (on BBC2): news stories and investigations in the business world: http://www.bbc.co.uk/moneyprogramme
In Business (on Radio 4): discussions about new business ideas and developments: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/inbusiness.shtml

In each part of the UK there is a government-funded organisation which provides practical support, advice and information for people who want to start a new business.
England: Business Link: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
Wales: Business Eye: http://www.businesseye.org.uk
Northern Ireland: Invest NI: http://www.investni.com
Scotland: Business Gateway: http://www.bgateway.com and Highlands and Islands Enterprise: http://www.hiebusiness.co.uk

These organisations may give you the chance to talk with a local business person. You may also find out information about issues such as:
- Trade bodies and other business contacts
- Local events or training courses to help you learn or network
- Preparing your business plan
- Finding business premises
- Regulations which affect your business
- Protecting your ideas
- Sources of funding
- How to grow your business, eg sales/marketing, new product development
- Taxation issues: income tax, corporation tax, VAT, national insurance etc
- How to choose an adviser or business service provider, eg: an accountant, solicitor (lawyer) or IT supplier

Shell Livewire provides information and support to people in the UK aged 16-30 who are thinking about starting a small business. It also organises a national competition for new businesses: Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. See: http://www.shell-livewire.org

The Bright Ideas Trust is a charity which helps young unemployed people who have a good business idea which they want to take forward. You must be based in London, aged 16-30, and not in full-time education, employment or training. See: http://www.brightideastrust.com

The Prince's Trust is a charity, founded by Prince Charles, which aims to encourage young people, especially those who are unemployed and not in full-time education, to gain confidence and to achieve their potential.
The Prince's Trust Business Programme provides money and support to help people to start up in business. It is for people aged 18-30 who are living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland . See: http://www.princes-trust.org.uk
The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust provides money and support to help people to start up a business. It is for people aged 18-25 who are living in Scotland. See: http://www.psybt.org.uk

Back to top

MARKET RESEARCH

To find out more about the market and possible competitors, initial research can be done using search engines on the internet.

You may also find it useful to visit your nearest business library, where you can refer to published market research reports and business journals.
Two of the leading companies which publish market research reports are Mintel (http://reports.mintel.com) and Key Note (http://www.keynote.co.uk).
You can look through back copies of relevant business magazines and start subscribing to them so that you can keep up-to-date:

Click here to subscribe to a UK trade journal

The British Library in London has an extensive collection of market information and also organises a series of events and workshops for entrepreneurs at its Business and IP Centre (IP is an abbreviation for "intellectual property"): http://www.bl.uk/bipc

Most industries have professional organisations or trade associations. You should be able to find a directory of British associations in a library. Sometimes these have specialist libraries which you can arrange to visit (you may need to pay a charge).

Back to top

PROTECTING YOUR IDEA

Once you have an idea you may need to protect it so that competitors cannot copy it. For information about protecting intellectual property, including copyright, registered designs, patents and trade marks, contact the UK Patent Office: http://www.patent.gov.uk

Back to top

LAWS & REGULATIONS

Before you start your business you need to find out if you need any licences or permits.
You may need to take out certain forms of insurance and to consider health and safety or environmental issues.
If you will be employing staff you need to become aware of employment laws (for example: minimum wages for employees).

Data protection laws

If you store personal data (for example: customer names, e-mails or addresses) you will need to contact the Information Commissioner's Office and to pay a small annual charge. You need to be aware of the data protection laws. For details, see: http://www.ico.gov.uk.

Working permission

If you are not an EU national and want to start a new business in the UK, you need to make sure that you have the necessary working permission.
The main schemes which allow non-EU entrepreneurs to work in the UK (part of tier 1 of the points-based system) are:
- Entrepreneur: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier1/entrepreneur
- Graduate entrepreneur: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/tier1/graduate-entrepreneur

Back to top

STARTING YOUR BUSINESS

You should prepare a business plan. As well as considering in detail estimated income and costs during the first 12 months, you should try to make projections over the next 5 years. These future estimates may not be accurate, but the process of creating them should help you to plan. If you need a loan or grant to start your business you will need to present your plan to a bank or grant-making body. You need to be realistic about your chance of success: many new businesses fail, and for some types of business it may take a few years to make a profit.

As soon as you have started your business you will need to register it with the tax authorities and you must start to keep detailed financial records.
You need to decide if you want to be self-employed, a partnership or a limited company.

The UK banks provide information on starting a business in the "business banking" sections of their websites:
NatWest: http://www.natwest.com (see: here)
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS): http://www.rbs.co.uk (see: here)
Barclays: http://www.barclays.co.uk (see: here)
HSBC: http://www.hsbc.co.uk (see: here)
Lloyds TSB: http://www.lloydstsb.com (see: here)

HM Revenues & Customs is the government body responsible for tax collection in the UK: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk
This link provides information about tax and National Insurance issues for someone who is starting up a business: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup
If you will be self-employed, see: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed
If you operate your business as a company you will need to register with Companies House and will need to provide regular financial reports. For details, see: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Note that if your total sales are more than a certain amount (in 2012: £77,000) you may need to register for VAT ("value added tax").

	The Essential Business Guide (guide to starting a new business) Editor: Anna McGrail Publisher: The Essential Business Guide Ltd Date: June 2005	Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide Author: Sara Williams Publisher: Vitesse Media Group Date: September 2003
	Starting a Business on eBay.co.uk For Dummies UK Edition Authors: Dan Matthews, Marsha Collier Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd Date: April 2006	Sage Start-Up 1 (software for a start-up business) Platform: Windows 2000 / XP Date: May 2006
Click here for books in the category: small business & entrepreneurship

FURTHER INFORMATION

Various links (in addition to those above) which may be useful:

Entrepreneur Meetups: http://entrepreneur.meetup.com
Enterprise Week (a week in November when there are a series of events across the UK): http://www.enterpriseweek.org
Student entrepreneur blog: http://www.studententrepreneur.co.uk
Startups: http://www.startups.co.uk
Smarta (online business support network): http://www.smarta.com

Click on the image below to watch a video about the Smarta online business support network (you will need Flash to be able to play it):

LINKS

Doing an MBA: Course/MBA
Searching for a job: Work/Search

Home page: Home

Back to top

© UK Student Life 2002-2012

* Search this website (www.ukstudentlife.com) or the web: