One of the biggest impacts that technology has had is the reduction in costs for starting your own business. The average cost of setting up a new business has reduced by almost 90% in the past 20 years as costs across the board have been shrinking. That's huge for entrepreneurs, and it's huge for people trying to expand their businesses. Thanks to cloud based technology, better (and more affordable) software and an overall streamlining of what starting a business means, the barriers have been removed everywhere.
The good news is, this means that people who have exciting ideas can get started right away, and without quite the same levels of complication.
The bad news is, many people have forgotten to focus on the parts of business that are still essential and must be taken seriously. When you can kick off a small business in an afternoon with a laptop and a Facebook page, it's easy to forget that laying the groundwork for your finances, systems, processes, tax and legal requirements is still absolutely essential. A business can start getting customers through the door pretty fast these days, offering products and services quite quickly, but there's no short cut when it comes to doing the work that will make your idea into an actual business.
If you start your business the right way, you'll save a lot more time in the long run than if you have to go back to the beginning down the track. You'll also be able to lay the groundwork to grow your business in the future when you're ready to expand. You can always find the expertise down the track when it's apparent that you need it more urgently than before, but you could end up chasing your own tail - or trying to build the right road while you're driving on it!
One of the worst moments possible to realise you don't have your business set up correctly is when tax time comes around and you're in a last minute panic. You'd be surprised how many areas of your business are going to have an impact on that!
The easiest way to ensure you have that sorted out is through partnering with advisers and experts who know this kind of information back to front and are able to provide you with information and guidance with the more complex aspects of business management. That kind of expertise can't always be found through Google - sometimes, it takes actually sitting down and going through every aspect of your business in detail, to make the right plans and decisions.
This kind of expertise doesn't need to be a major expense or a hugely time consuming activity, but it is important. We've seen many clients at Charltons who have come to us after something has gone wrong, knowing they should have seen us first. It makes our job a little harder, but more importantly it works as a distraction for them that can sometimes derail their companies. Nobody wants that, so taking early steps is a must!
