Starting the business ‘on the side’
Starting and growing a one man business is exciting and achievable with patience.
Most people who start their own businesses have to ‘spin many plates’, which can be stressful and problematic. Business advisors and coaches advocate delegation of some work when practical. Giving work to others relieves the workload and enables the company’s founder to concentrate on their core business, making growth plans, rather than juggling all the work, leaving no time for planning.
This is great advice; however, what happens if that is simply not workable, and you really are going to need to do everything as a one-man band?
Depending on your tenacity and the business industry from which you are looking to start a one-man business, it is perfectly possible to create a successful and long-term business from just a one-man business.
In this blog, we look at tips we have collected from working with a wide variety of companies at UK Growth Coach for building a one-man business, potential obstacles you may face, and some planning and ideas you should consider to make your path smoother.
How to start a one-man business
Starting the business ‘on the side’
Starting and growing a one-man business is exciting and achievable with patience.
Most people who start their own businesses have to ‘spin many plates’, which can be stressful and problematic. Business advisors and coaches advocate delegation of some work when practical. Giving work to others relieves the workload and enables the company’s founder to concentrate on their core business, making growth plans, rather than juggling all the work, leaving no time for planning.
This is great advice; however, what happens if that is simply not workable, and you really are going to need to do everything as a one-man band?
Depending on your tenacity and the business industry from which you are looking to start a one-man business, it is perfectly possible to create a successful and long-term business from just a one-man business.
In this blog, we look at tips we have collected from working with a wide variety of companies at UK Growth Coach for building a one-man business, potential obstacles you may face, and some planning and ideas you should consider to make your path smoother.
Map out a business structure
Once the one-man business starts to grow, the next step is how the business will be structured.
Usually, a one-man business will be ‘Sole Trader’, which means that you will be responsible for all the profits; however, you will also be exposed to losses, depending on what industry and the risks of financial exposure may be, you may consider becoming a Limited Company, this will, to some degree protect your personal assets.
Taking time to consider what will be best for you long term is important.
It’s simpler to set up as a sole trader, but you’re personally responsible for your business’s debts. You also have some accounting responsibilities. Find out more about being a sole trader and how to register.
If you form a limited company, its finances are separate from your personal finances, but there are more reporting and management responsibilities.
Some people get help from a professional, for example, an accountant, but you can set up a company yourself.
Time management
A critical part of running a one-man business is effective time management. Taking the time to prioritise tasks and making a workable schedule.
As your one-man or one-woman business grows, you could find yourself being pulled in various directions with emails, texts, social media enquiries and phone calls, not to mention the multiple roles you will need to play from sales, marketing, finance, account handling, HR, legal etc.
You must respond to these demands in a timely fashion; however, organisation of this will mean that you do not waste time on tedious tasks, such as pointless emails or sales calls; you need the focus to be on your projects.
As mentioned earlier, if starting the business ‘on the side’ every minute will count and being strict about how you plan and prioritise your time is key. Set goals in which you will plan a set time to answer queries and questions and stick to them.
Other aspects to factor into time management will be setting goals for tasks such as website development, social media activity, marketing etc.
Support network
Trying to find a great support network that can help you from the sidelines is important.
Having the right support will be the difference between being able to be planned, working additional hours or needing outside tasks that will eat up the time you have put aside. This can be helped in the form of partners or like-minded business people who can give you support, help and advice.
Connecting with like-minded business people is also a great strategy for growth; getting hints and tips on how they are operating their own business could even help with long-term planning.
Joining local networking groups is also a fantastic way to meet local business people and grow your business network.
Being alone in starting a business can be demotivating and mentally fatiguing, so ask for help where you can!
What should my growth be?
Although growth should happen in a one-man business, there will be limitations.
Your revenue stream will be fixed due to the sheer amount of work you can manage.
Running a small, well-executed company on your own is perfectly fine. It may be, though, as your business grows, you will need to start being in a team to assist and maintain the great work you have started. Although it brings in financial implications if managed correctly, it will bring in great rewards as your business is free to grow naturally and successfully.
For example, bringing in a virtual personal assistant to take on the finance aspects, frees up your time to focus on sales and delivery – thereby allowing the business to grow. You haven’t the costs and risks of employing a team yet but allows for a gradual upscale as you are able to delegate some of your roles and responsibilities which allows you to focus on the tasks which bring the greatest financial return to the business.
It will be hard work, but the rewards can be life-changing and fulfilling with careful planning and direction. Without question, some days will seem tedious, so to motivate you, let’s look at a few one-man start-up and their net worth now!
Bill Gates – (Microsoft) – $88.8 Billion
Jeff Bezos – (Amazon) – $84.3 Billion
Warren Buffet – (Investor) – $80.5 Billion
Amancio Ortega – (Zara, clothing retailer) – $78.5 Billion
Mark Zuckerberg – (Facebook – Meta) – $71.7 Billion
Larry Ellison – (Software sales, then Oracle) – $59.1 Billion
Wu Yajun – (Property Investor) – $14,5 Billion
Fan Hongwei – (Petrochemical Company) – $12.8 Billion
Melanie Perkins – (Canva) – $5.9 Billion
Without exception, every single person on this list, in interviews concerning making a business work, has one piece of important and salient advice:
“If there’s only one key to success, it’s hard work”.
It is simple advice that must be at the forefront of your mind. Tenacity, a plan, and perseverance are imperative to ensure you are well on your way to building your own billion-pound business! Critically, all of these people knew where and when to ask for support and assistance in order to educate themselves on the aspects of business they didn’t know about when they started out.
How can UK Growth Coach help?
At UK Growth Coach, we are focussed on providing our clients with tailored training and guidance to allow business owners to come away feeling equipped to make better decisions for themselves and their start-up, one-man businesses.
For more information about how we can support you and your business, please call us at +44 (0)1444 440500, or email me at Tim Rylatt at tim@growthcoach.co.uk.
