Advice starting a new business?

[Conrod]

We've been struggling to find somebody who can provide polishing to the right standard and price, so perhaps can send some work your way when we have custom and restoration work ongoing (motorcycle and car components).

 

I'd suggest mailshots to all the specialised motorcycle and car restorers/builders you can identify - and don't just look locally, people will ship items nationwide or even internationally to you if they want your work. Also spend some time getting active on web forums for owners' groups of target audiences you'd like to aim for.

 

If you can invest a few hundred quid, get a properly optimised website set up. It doesn't have to cost a fortune (I did mean a few hundred, not thousands), many developers charge by the page and loads of pages aren't necessary, but a website does need to be properly structured to get you onto the front page of Google when people search for your services. Websites made by talented amateurs and low-end ‘professionals’ can look good for peanuts, but they're only worth peanuts if they don't get you up the search engines. We pay a not unreasonable monthly sum for web optimisation which pays itself 50 times over in the monthly revenue it directly generates from enquires, local, UK and international. I do not exaggerate that figure.

 

Do you have a web presence already? I'd say at least 80% or our new business comes from it, either directly or indirectly.

 

Build a photo portfolio of the sort of work you do - either for web publication or use on flyers, very worthwhile, and there are companies that will print A5 flyers in quality gloss for surprisingly little. Go to car and bike shows and spend a few hours leafleting.

 

And, be prepared for at least a year before the effect of referrals and repeat business starts to show, after which, with luck, you'll need staff.

 

If you want to be small/stay small and comfortable, you can do your own book keeping and accounting, but if you want to drive things and aim for success I'd suggest starting from scratch with a good accountancy firm. I tried to penny-pinch by doing my book keeping and using a cheap accountant for the essentials only for the first 2 years, and deeply regret it. Every hour you spend doing your books/vat returns/tax returns/wage runs etc is an hour you're not focused on the profit-generating side of your business. Releasing your time to generate business makes paying an accountant a bit of a no-brainer.