If you’re growing bored of the standard nine to five, don’t want to spend hours commuting anymore and are tired of seeing someone else profit from your hard work, you may want to begin considering alternatives. One of the best things you can do for yourself could be to start your own business.

Many people think this will be a lot more difficult than it actually is. Sure, you will have to put a whole lot of hard work into this venture. But really, all you need is a new product or service to offer and the determination to make it stand out in the consumer marketplace. If you’re ready and good to go, here are a few simple steps you can follow to set up your own small business.

Forming Your Business

One of the first steps you’re going to need to take is officially forming your business. There are a few ways that you can do this and the one you follow depends on your preferences and circumstances. If you want your business to be a separate legal entity to you, you need to take a moment to look into forming a limited company. This is a process that is also commonly referred to as company formation or company registration. You may even hear it called “company incorporation”. This process essentially ensures that all money, property, assets responsibilities and agreements purchased by, owned by, or agreed by your company are completely separate from your own finances and your own belongings. Then, if your business experiences trouble or difficulty down the line, you don’t have to worry about selling your personal assets or go into personal bankruptcy to pay off debts.

Brick and Mortar vs Ecommerce

Once you’re legally set up, it’s time to get things in motion. Find out how to write a business plan and start making important decisions about the direction your company is going to take! One important decision is whether to pursue a route of Ecommerce or whether to set up a traditional brick and mortar store. A general word of advice is to start out with Ecommerce. This requires less financial investment and comes hand in hand with a whole host of other benefits. You can sell products around the clock, you don’t need to take on employees to serve customers or keep an eye on the shop floor, and you can also reach out to a global audience with the simple addition of international shipping.

Hire a Marketing Agency

You need a marketing agency when starting a new business for many reasons. Marketing agencies have the experience and resources to help you reach your target market, create awareness for your brand, and generate leads and sales.

A good marketing agency will also be able to provide you with market research, competitive analysis, and campaign management services like online lead generation, more inbound calls, and much more. They can also help you develop an effective online marketing strategy to reach more prospective customers.

If you are unsure how to market your new business, a marketing agency can be a great resource. They can help you identify your target market, create a unique selling proposition, and develop an effective marketing plan. But, most importantly, they can help you implement your marketing plan and track your results to improve in the future.

Being Wary of Copyright and Trademarking

Something you need to be particularly wary of when starting out a company is copyright and trademarking. Not only do you need to copyright and trademark your own ideas to ensure nobody can copy you and profit off your hard work, but you also need to make sure you’re not breaching anyone else’s copyright either.

These are just a few different areas you might want to focus on when setting up a small business! Hopefully, the advice gets you started off in the right direction!