MJWARD UK LTD

1. Love what you do and do what you love – This is very important because unless you believe in re-incarnation we only live once! Don’t spend a lifetime doing things because they are easy! If you can find a career or setup a business that involves you doing what you love then it will no longer be a 9 to 5! Loosing that 9 to 5 mentality opens so many doors, and getting paid for doing what you love is not a job! It is pure awesomeness! What do you enjoy most in life?

2. Choose your friends / business partners well – I like many started my journey into self employment and business with a friend from University… I think so many of us choose this route (a business partnership) because it is less scary. It sort of takes the pressure off!

Having older friends in established businesses who are still today acting as my business mentors, I recall one or two saying, “Are you sure 50/50 is what you want to do?” Buzzing from the fact you are about to become a co-Director of a Limited company you may choose (like me) to ignore this question! But looking back, it is an important one!

I have no regrets about how things turned out, everything happens for a reason, when one door closes another soon opens. Sadly friendships often get tested in the world of business, you may find one person doing more work that the other, maybe one wants the big office and the other is happy to work from home, should we invest X or Y in marketing, should we charge X or Y per hour? In business you will find lots of questions with only one answer!

I know not all business partnerships end up with people flying solo, some partnerships work really well! Just think about it before you commit… If someone wants you as a business partner then ask yourself why they want you… Also ask do you need them? List both your strengths and weaknesses, this list is pretty important!

What ever you decide to do in terms of the structure of your business, having a loyal friend, family member or mentor you can bounce ideas off could really help… Two heads are better than one!

3. Re-invest all you can (money + time) – When I left home at 18, started University, travelled, started a business etc I never had ANY money! Ok, a few pounds for travel, food and accommodation… But that is seriously it! When I first arrived in Portsmouth all I had was a bag of clothes, my first night in rented accommodation was fun… The shops had all closed and I had no duvet or pillows! On that cold September night I emptied my bag of clothes onto a scabby mattress and made myself a nest out of jeans and jumpers!

My point is this; you don’t need thousands of pounds to get shit done! All you need is motivation and to work with what you got! The same goes for business, if you invest what you can then you will see growth. Think of your time as money, your time is free, the more time you spend developing and promoting your business the more chance you have of your business making money! Don’t listen to people who say, “You can’t setup a business because you have no money.”… That’s just an excuse because they are probably lazy or not able to think outside the box! Keep re-investing what you can, if you don’t re-invest in your own business, then who will?

4. DIY marketing + accounts can cost you long term – In today’s economic climate we should not judge people who try to save money by doing there own accounts, websites or marketing etc… We tried it, but after a long meeting with our accountant we soon found out that we could save almost 1K a month in HM Rev bills! So if you think about it, the money you spend on a professional accountant, website or marketing should save you money long term! FACT!

One thing I have noticed in recent months is that everyone is becoming an expert on web design and SEO… It gets annoying when Joe public call up with 20 questions about SEO and marketing! A funny story (no names) was when an employee of a company we work with sat in on a meeting and said “The site is not working!” … I replied with confirmation of a 23% bounce rate and web stats showing traffic over 10K unique per month! The cherry on the cake was a revenue report, this soon shut them up!

The fact is SEO takes time, not only to study and learn but to implement correctly, a continual investment is needed. If you do not market your website then you should not be surprised if it generates minimal business. Likewise with your accounts, if you don’t know them inside out (this simply involves some daily book keeping, money in, money out); expect big headaches and bigger accountancy bills!

My advice is stick to what you do best, if it’s sales then sell, if its carpentry then build… Getting too involved in areas of your business that you are not familiar with may result in you taking your eye off the ball.

5. Be in control of your business – If you setup and run your own business then it is down to YOU to ensure everything is in order! I hate watching the news and seeing unions go on strike because of spending cuts, it seems everyone is playing the “Blame Game” and not seeing the bigger picture!

When Tidy Design first started up I remember personally helping various clients writing content and buying stock images for there websites… This was all part of developing our brand and building up a web design portfolio we could use to generate more business.

Being your own boss you are able to make these kind of decisions, and if later down the line you feel certain elements of your business are counter productive you can change them! Expect to make mistakes along the way and remember to make your business work for you, not you working for your business!

6. Knowing your business – As mentioned in point 4, accurate and up to date accounting gives you a better understanding of you business and the direction it is going. If you don’t know what money you made from X to Y dates within the few clicks of your mouse then something is wrong! I remember someone once said to me “It is ok to make a loss, but you need to know you are making a loss!”

It is also important to study your competitors and the industry you are in! What are your customers looking for, what will they be looking for six months from now, why will they choose you etc etc?

7. Repeat business is essential for growth – One of the best pieces of advice I received in regards to business is “repeat business is essential for growth”… Think about it, repeat business gives your company a regular income, money you can use to pay wages, bills and re-invest in to marketing. Here is an idea, why not sit down and plan what you are going to sell to your existing customers next? What other products or services do you think they might need?

It is important not to focus too much on new business, doing this you could possibly loose the business you already have! Think about how you can reward existing customers, what could you do to keep them loyal to your company?

8. Make your own path – Ok, books by Branson, Bannatyne, Sugar, Jones and other well known entrepreneurs can really help motivate a start-up; I have a shelf full of them! But I would say don’t try to emulate them too much… Putting your own twist or stamp on business will give your company its own unique identity… After all, you want your business to represent you and not some dude on Dragons Den!

Why not pencil out the next five to ten years on a piece of paper, work out what personal goals you have, targets and places you would like to visit. Living each day as it comes is cool however we all need some kind of guideline, especially if you are planning to create, expand and develop your own business in and around your family life.

9. Protect your personal assets – When you go into business for yourself you will have three options, sole trader, a partnership or a limited company. With sole traders and partnerships you are usually liable for any debts that the business may incur. Depending on your personal and financial situation you will need to decide which of these three options is best for you! Creditor can go after your personal assets if you are registered as a sole trader or partnership, so personal assets such as your car and house could be used to pay for company debts!

A limited company on the other hand will offer you much more protection, so if you have any personal assets then this maybe the best route for you. I would suggest you speak with an accountant about this as they will have a better idea of your personal finances… It is also worth getting business insurance to cover any unexpected events!

10. Be a good all rounder – In business I believe it is good to know a little about a lot, rather than a lot about one particular thing! I know I will never win Worlds best coder award for my work at Tidy Design, maybe a design award or two if I’m lucky! What I am saying is being a business owner is different to being an employee of a company. You will need to be able to multi task and juggle many ideas at once, especially when starting out… After a few years in business my job role still includes cleaning the office, designer and coder, developer of new ideas, marketing, customer relations, sales, blogger, postman delivering flyers and more! Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty from time to time, if the world of business was easy then everyone would be doing it!