New Business Start-up

[Masbroughlad]

Can anybody help by suggesting/signposting help for setting up a new business?

College? Job Centre? Chambers of Commerce?

I know a fair bit about working for SME and large business, but have never been in one form start-up.

I need to know about registering a business, tax, insurance, accounting, where to get marketing help, set-up a website etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ainsworth74]

You could try your local Council. Ours has a team who specialize in supporting people to go self-employed.

Gov.uk has all sorts of bits and pieces on it including this section on setting up. You could also try speaking to the Government's Business Support Helpline.

 

[ac6000cw]

You might also want to find a local accountancy firm i.e. one that is friendly and not too expensive, sooner rather than later. They might be willing to have an initial chat with you for free about what sort of things you need to think about, depending on what sort of business you are thinking of setting up e.g. should it be a limited company, is it worth registering for VAT (until it's big enough that it *has* to be), etc.

(I've been involved in several very small businesses over the years, so I have some idea of the basic 'ropes').

 

[ninja-lewis]

You might also want to find a local accountancy firm i.e. one that is friendly and not too expensive, sooner rather than later. They might be willing to have an initial chat with you for free about what sort of things you need to think about, depending on what sort of business you are thinking of setting up e.g. should it be a limited company, is it worth registering for VAT (until it's big enough that it *has* to be), etc.

(I've been involved in several very small businesses over the years, so I have some idea of the basic 'ropes').

Very sound advice.

If it's a fashionable start-up, you could also look for local start-up incubators/accelerators and mentoring schemes, e.g. Entrepreneurial Spark.

http://www.entrepreneurial-spark.com/

 

[DaveNewcastle]

There are a number of agencies which provide start-ups with support, advice, mentoring and a degree of protection from risk. e.g. see Transmit Startups.

In the creative and digital sectors, there are more specialised agencies: Manchester's Business Growth Hub, Digital Union in the north east, and others across much of all four nations of the UK.

I see you are based in the midlands, where Birmingham City University provides business support services and Birmingham Innovation Campus provides a series of targetted events and workshops and provides access an impressive range of marketing data and analysis as well as shared office spaces. See Birmingham Innovation Campus

And your region's LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership), the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP, may be able to signpost more targetted local support for you or you may want to sign up to its 'Digital Business Academy' which offers free on-line courses for start-ups.