Getting started
Quick links to sub topics
If you’ve read this far and think being self-employed could be for you then the next thing to tackle is how to get started.
Do you know what you want to do?
Some people have a flash of inspiration, some spend years developing ideas while others come at it from a different angle, knowing they want to be self-employed and then going out and finding something that they can do.
If you’ve already got an idea, then you can move ahead and start planning. If you haven’t, don’t worry.What you need to do is spend some time thinking about the experience you have and the sort of skills you’ve picked up – not just from jobs you may have done but also through hobbies and just getting on with your life. For example, a lot of people are self-employed doing things like ironing or cleaning while others have turned their passion for gardening into a career or their love of driving into an earner.
Where to go for advice
Once you’ve come up with an idea, don’t just turn to your family or mates to find out if they think you’re on to a winner. They often think you’re fantastic whatever you do so it’s much better to get advice from an outsider, particularly one with experience. Organisations such as The Prince’s Trust, Business Link, LiveWIRE and WiRE all have advice for people wanting to work for themselves. You’ll find their details in our Further resources section.
Help for ex-offenders
- The Prince’s Trust works with people between the ages of 14 and 30 and has support specifically for ex-offenders.
- Start-up is an organisation offering ex-offenders over the age of 30 the opportunity to become self-employed. See our Further resources section for more details.
- You can get help and support with becoming self-employed via New Deal if you can show that you really want to go down that route and have already started making plans and finding out information. You’ll be referred to an employment advisor who will support you as you plan your work and start up in business. You’ll also receive a New Deal allowance and benefits. For more information on New Deal and Jobcentre Plus, which can give you access to New Deal, see our Further resources section.
Researching, developing and planning
Most successful self-employed people put a lot of effort into developing their ideas and planning every last detail before launching into work. Doing this is time consuming and, if you’re raring to get going, can be a bit dull but it is vital if you want to make a go of what you’re doing.
You need to:
- Think about who is going to buy the product or service you are selling. This is what is known as your target market.
- Look around and see who else is doing what you want to do. These are your competitors and you can learn a lot from Getting started them, both in terms of what to do and what not to do. Also, you might realise that there are already a lot of people doing what you want to do and it would be better to come up with a new idea or adapt your existing one.
- Find out if there are any laws or regulations that may have an impact on your work. For example, there are regulations governing working with children and cooking and selling food.
- Establish if there is any training you need to do, perhaps to get a certificate or qualification that’s needed or just to help you improve your skills.
- Work out how much you’re going to charge for what you’re doing or selling – you can find out more about this in our section on Handling money.
- Don’t be afraid to start small – regular market stalls are excellent testing grounds for certain products.
There are also many other things to think about such as where you’re going to work, how you’re going to let people know about what you’re doing and so on.
The most common way to work through everything mentioned above is to put together what’s called a business plan. As well as helping you get to grips with your idea, business plans are essential if you want to try to apply for grants or borrow money or if you just want people to take you seriously. It’s a very good idea to get an experienced person to help you put together your business plan if you’re new to self employment. The organisations we mention in the section below can help you.
Help is at hand
If the information in this section has left you feeling exhausted, it’s good to know that help is at hand. There is a lot of support and good advice about, even from the government, which likes the idea of people becoming self-employed. A very good place to start is with Business Link, which is the government’s support service for people running small and medium-sized businesses. Business Link has local branches with advisors to support you, an advice telephone line and a very detailed website with lots of information to guide you through setting up your business. You’ll find its details in our Further resources section.
The Prince’s Trust is also very helpful. It is aimed at people between the ages of 14 and 30 but even if you fall outside this age range, its website has lots of very detailed information about working for yourself that will still be relevant to you. Again, you’ll find its details in our Further resources section.
