Start Your Own Business In The UK

If you are starting a business in the UK, this site is full of FREE resources, useful information and local contacts to help you start and grow successfully.

Start Your Own Business (now over 15 years old) contains information and advice but, unlike other startup sites, it also contains details of LOCAL organisations who can help you.

Search for your local area to find free business advice, networking groups, funding and local grants.

England

N Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Start typing location in search box or select from list below.

Start-Up Steps

The sad truth is that far too many new businesses start-ups fail in the early stages and our aim is to try and make sure that you are not one of them.

To help with this, we have broken down the start-up process into simple steps which highlight the things that have worked for other start-ups and the pitfalls that you need to avoid.

You can see the full list of 'steps' at: How to Start a Business Step-by-Step

How to Start a Business in The UK

If you are thinking about starting a business, you are not alone! As you will see from the statistics below, small businesses make up a major part of the economy.

A suprisingly large number of all businesses are what are described as SMEs (small to medium sized businesses) or individuals trading by themselves.

Starting a business is easy!

Keeping it going profitably it an entirely different matter.

The real challenges come when you have to find customers who want to buy your product or service at a price that makes it worth your while, keep them buying or finding more, and at the same time keeping on top of the administration whilst complying with the various laws and regulations.

We have designed this site to make sure that you know what to expect.

Image of phone showing message of advice

Business Status

Before you start trading you need to choose the right legal status for your business. You do have a number of choices and they will depend on your circumstances and the service that you plan to offer. It is important to tackle this as soon as possible as it could affect your legal staus, the tax that you have to pay and your exposure to personal liability.

Taxes

When you start a business it is too easy to concentrate on all the various immediate tasks and delay thinking about tax sometime later. This is a common trap and will make the task so much harder when you do finally get around to it. Planning in advance so you know that you are aware of how much you will have to pay and when, will ensure that you have enough money put aside and the correct records in place to show how you arrived at the final figure.

Business Support

“You don’t know what you don’t know”. There are so many different aspects to running a business, you are unlikely to be an expert in all of them nor can a few hours of Internet research possibly give you all the answers. We strongly advise you to seek the advice and guidance of someone who can differentiate between what is important and what is not. This could be a business support organisation, business advisor, or mentor. In each case, they will have the benefit of having worked with many other people who have trodden this path before. This means that they can show you what has proven to work in the past and the pitfalls that you need to avoid.

Add Your Business (Free!)

If you offer a product or service which can help local startups and small business owners, we would be delighted to promote the fact (free of charge) - Add Your Business.

Latest Listings...

BBX

Interest Free Credit: Looking for business finance? If you’re anything like most SME owners, you’ve probably lost sleep over at least one of these scenarios: Cashflow problems, not having enough cash in your business to function smoothly. Not knowing how to grow your business or how to fund the expansion. Needing funds to invest on updating your equipment and technology. Pulling your hair out due to late payments or bad debt from customers. Your slow season is getting longer and busy season shorter leaving a massive cash gap. These are valid worries. Cash can disappear and be agonizingly slow to come in, and sometimes a loan feels like the best option to help you through those times….. is it though? BBX doesn’t replace your cash business but gives you additional revenue by selling your spare capacity within the BBX community.

The Digital Greenhouse

Workspaces for freelancers, companies and conferences. The Digital Greenhouse is a hub for innovation and offers a range of memberships to suit your needs. Hot Desk Get full access to our coworking area, breakout spaces and kitchen facilities, with the freedom to drop in whenever works for you. Ideal for freelancers and entrepreneurs. Allocated Desk Choose a dedicated desk in our open-plan workspace, plus access to meeting rooms, breakout areas and kitchen facilities. Ideal for startups and entrepreneurs. Corporate Get access to programmes, promotion and more. Plus enable elected members of your team to work from our coworking area. Student (Free) Head into our coworking area during core business hours. Ideal for students in full time education who wish to use the Digital Greenhouse to work or study. Contact us: info@digitalgreenhouse.gg The Digital Greenhouse project is an initiative funded by the States of Guernsey

Switch My Server Limited

IT consultancy, IT service and repair, IT projects big and small, website design and hosting and IT management.

Inspired Act Ltd

Inspired Act is an established creative consultant and performance company providing experienced professional actors and trained specialist roleplayers. Our clients base extends throughout the UK to both business and Government organisations, large and small, in supporting 'real to life' immersive roleplay training simulations and assessment events. Including consulting on interactive teaching and learning solutions; drama-based communication, public speaking, and online media support. As pioneers of roleplay and dramatic communication skills training, we are at the forefront of our field, with a far-reaching network of creatives at our disposal, from writers, directors, 3D technology specialists, and production teams all looking to bring training to life.

Tax Care Certified Accountants

Tax Care Accountant is an award-winning accounting firm specialised in SME accounting and contractor accounting. We started from very small but we are growing very fast due to our core activities of excellent customer service, professional accountancy and dedicated business support. We connect small businesses with big technology and we try to stay one step ahead of a typical accountant with our skills, knowledge, and technology. Our clients trust us, that’s why we get new clients though recommendations from our existing clients. Our efficient tax management tools will make sure your tax return is prepared and submitted on time. We also send your reminders prior to any deadlines to avoid any surprising penalties from HMRC or pension regulators.

We are a small friendly team and always welcome enquiries from anyone who is planning to start a business or from anyone who can offer help and support. Contact us.