US_002-003_Title.indd 2 24/09/2020 10:11 HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS ... AND MAKE IT WORK Consultant editor Cheryl Rickman US_002-003_Title.indd 3 24/09/2020 10:11 S Senior Editors Chauney Dunford, Scarlett O’Hara, Alison Sturgeon Art Editor Mark Cavanagh T Editors John Andrews, Daniel Byrne, Sharon Lucas, Fiona Plowman, Steve Setford, Lucy Sienkowska, Andy Szudek, Rachel Warren Chadd US Editor Jennette ElNaggar Designers Vanessa Hamilton, Clare Joyce, Mark Lloyd, Daksheeta Pattni N Managing Editor Gareth Jones Managing Art Editor Lee Griffiths Senior Production Editor Andy Hillard Senior Production Controller Rachel Ng Jacket Designer Tanya Mehrotra, Surabhi Wadhwa Gandhi Publisher Liz Wheeler E Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf Art Director Karen Self Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT First American Edition, 2021 T Published in the United States by DK Publishing 1450 Broadway, Suite 801, New York, NY 10018 Copyright © 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC 21 22 23 24 25 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 N 001–318460–Feb/2021 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, O or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. C ISBN 978-0-7440-2734-1 Printed and bound in China www.dk.com This book was made with Forest Stewardship Council ™ certified paper – one small step in DK’s commitment to a sustainable future. For more information go to www.dk.com/our-green-pledge US_004-007_Contents.indd 4 24/09/2020 10:56 Introduction 08 FIRST STEPS BEFORE YOU START Choosing a Name 58 Developing Your Brand 60 Telling Your Story 62 A Marketing Mix 64 Making the Big Leap 12 The Selling Process 66 Why You? Why Now? 14 Online Selling 68 Coming Up with Your Idea 16 Providing a Service 70 Offering Products or Services 18 Taking Payments 72 Finding a Gap in the Market 20 Fulfilling Orders 74 Standing Out from the Crowd 22 Identifying Initial Costs 76 Defining Your Goals 24 How Much Do You Need to Spend? 78 Choosing a Structure 26 How Much Do You Need to Earn? 80 Starting a Family Business 28 Funding Your Business 82 Setting Up a Franchise 30 Who Might Invest? 84 Alternative Types of Businesses 32 Pitching for Investment 86 Choosing a Model 34 Balancing the Books 88 Creating a Strategy 36 Understanding Business Taxes 90 Knowing Your Market 38 Setting Up a Business Account 92 Identifying Your Customers 40 Protecting Your Business 94 Assessing Demand for Your Business 42 Protecting Your Intellectual Property 96 Where to Base Your Business 44 Staying Safe in the Workplace 98 Choosing Where to Locate Your Start-Up 46 Thinking Green 100 Sourcing Products and Supplies 48 Operating Ethically 102 Outsourcing Tasks 50 Writing Your Business Plan 104 Striking a Balance 52 Writing an Action Plan 106 Working with Family and Friends 54 Understanding Consumer Rights 108 US_004-007_Contents.indd 5 24/09/2020 10:56 RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS GETTING GOING Encouraging Customer Loyalty 146 Building Customer Relationships 148 Working with Other Businesses 150 Is Your Marketing Leading to Sales? 152 Setting Up Your Workspace 112 Analyzing Business Performance 154 Planning a Website 114 Maintaining Momentum 156 Designing and Building a Website 116 Managing Your Finances 158 Attracting Website Traffic 118 Managing Budgets and Cash Flow 160 Data Protection 120 Establishing a Culture 162 Finding the Right Talent 122 Managing the Business 164 Recruiting Staff 124 Managing a Team 166 Do You Need a Manager? 126 Retaining Talent 168 Diversity and Inclusion 128 Running a Sales Team 170 Using a Customer Data System 130 Establishing a Healthy Workplace 172 Preparing for Launch 132 Managing and Resolving Conflict 174 Spreading the Word 134 Managing Staff Performance 176 Creating a Buzz 136 Streamlining Business Processes 178 Advertising 138 Managing Your Supply Chain 180 Making the Most of Social Media 140 Improving the Business 182 Networking to Build Your Business 142 Preparing for a Business Crisis 184 Harnessing Technology 186 US_004-007_Contents.indd 6 24/09/2020 10:56 CONTRIBUTORS Cheryl Rickman (consultant editor) is a Sunday Times bestselling author and ghostwriter of 19 business and self-help books—and a qualified Positive Psychology Practitioner. Her first book, GROWING YOUR The Small Business Start-Up Workbook was published in 2005. She has since started and sold BUSINESS her own businesses and now specializes in writing practical books to help people flourish. Philippa Anderson has a business degree Growing Your Business 190 and is a writer and communications consultant, Expanding Your Business 192 who has advised multinationals, including 3M, Growth Strategies 194 Anglo American, and Coca-Cola. She has written a Financing Business Growth 196 number of business books and was a contributor to Attracting New Business 198 DK’s The Business Book, How Business Works, and Retaining Your Customers 200 How Management Works. Changing Your Direction 202 Managing Change 204 Alexandra Black graduated with a degree in Licensing 206 business communications before moving to Tokyo Selling Your Business 208 to write for financial newspaper group Nikkei Inc. Moving On 210 and investment bank J.P. Morgan. She has written widely on cultural and economic history and has contributed to many books on money, medicine, Resources 212 management, architecture, and design. Index 216 Pippa Bourne is director of Bourne Performance, which helps organizations and individuals succeed. Acknowledgments 224 She is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University, where she supports the work of the Centre for Business Performance. Pippa has an MBA and is a business coach. She has many years’ experience of managing small businesses within universities and professional bodies. US_004-007_Contents.indd 7 13/10/2020 12:28 US_008-009_Introduction.indd 8 24/09/2020 10:12 HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS 8 9 Introduction INTRODUCTION All businesses start as someone’s dream. This book has been written to help make your dream of starting your own business a reality. With more and more people starting their own businesses each year and with technological advances offering unprecedented access to information, talent, materials, and products, there has never been a better time to start your own business. At the same time, there has also never been more competition. Being your own boss can be as challenging as it is rewarding, so equip yourself with as much knowledge as possible on the issues you may face and the options available before you start. How to Start Your Own Business aims to provide you with a tool kit to help you build a successful enterprise. Chapter 1 covers everything you need to know before you start, from coming up with your business idea and finding a gap in the market to choosing a business structure, model, and strategy. Chapter 2 looks at the steps you need to take to start your business, including how to choose a name and develop your brand and how to sell online, take payments, and fulfill orders. Chapter 3 shows you what you need to do to get going, including planning and building a website, sourcing and recruiting staff, and generating interest in your business. Chapter 4 tells you everything you need to know about how to run your business, including how to encourage customer loyalty and build strategic alliances, how to analyze performance and finance growth, how to manage a supply chain, and how to retain talent and look after your employees in the workplace. Finally, Chapter 5 shows you how to grow your business, how to manage change, how to retain customers and license products, and how to sell your business when it is time to move on. US_008-009_Introduction.indd 9 24/09/2020 10:12 BEFORE YOU START US_010-011_CH1_Opener.indd 10 24/09/2020 10:13