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. 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...

Cruse Burke

Cruse Burke is one of the leading accountant practices in the Croydon area and combines a breadth of expertise and experience that adds value to our clients. We have first-hand business experience, gained from working in commercial organizations, so we truly understand your situation and business drivers.

Small goes Big

Small goes Big provides digital marketing solutions for smaller tech-led businesses with big ambitions. I’m Kat Hounsell, digital marketing consultant and the face behind Small goes Big. I’m a firm believer in ‘people buy from people’. Yes, even in the wonderful world of B2B. If you have amazing products and services but need some help getting others to be as passionate about them as you are, I’m here to help. I inject the human element into your marketing strategy and engage your customers in conversations that build valuable relationships. And, get you those all-important sales.

Olney Chamber of Trade

Established in 1995, and managed and run by a committee of local business men and women, the Olney Chamber of Trade is the voice of business owners and retail trade members in Olney and the surrounding villages.

Chiltern Chamber

Chiltern Chamber serves the interests of businesses across Chiltern region. Through our four strategic priorities, we seek to facilitate success for our members and our region: support SMEs, particularly through information and networking; support skills and training initiatives; and work to ensure a positive economic and business environment.

handy croissant

Business support and networking at its best. More than just a networking group, we help your business grow Handy Croissant is an independent business networking group that combines a friendly, good-humoured approach with a sharp focus on genuine referrals, and an ethos of providing mutual support and collaboration. As a result, Handy Croissant is more than just a standard “networking group”.

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.