One of the most consistent themes in conversations I have with people of my generation is the desire to unlock their entrepreneurial spirit, get away from being employed, and start their own business.<\/p>\n
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The reasons for this are numerous and often intertwine: from simply wanting the freedom of being constrained by the grind of office hours, to wanting to drive social change, it seems that founding your own successful business is now the pinnacle for many, whereas in the past it might have been \u2018finding a good job\u2019.<\/p>\n
I am sure many readers of this blog will be in the position of wanting to break away from employment and do their own thing. Some will have made the move, others will be dreaming about it, and many will be at varying points in between. Leaving a steady job and career path for the unknown and isolated world of starting your own business can be scary: I thought it would be useful to talk about a few pointers here and encourage conversation.<\/p>\n
1. The idea isn\u2019t everything<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n People often have this misconception that starting your own successful business is about having some million-dollar idea that nobody else has thought of. But ask yourself: can you name ten recent companies that were founded within the last ten years that have a truly novel idea? There have been many novel ideas in this time of entrepreneurial spark \u2013 companies like Uber and the like \u2013 but very few are profitable entities. Of course there are exceptions in the form of truly revolutionary companies that are profitable, but these are in the minority.<\/p>\n In fact, the businesses that tend to do well are either modern re-workings of concepts that already exist (think about how something like Just-Eat is a sort of modern version of the old Yellow Pages, but specifically for food), businesses that address new problems, or simply not novel ideas at all. The key is in the execution of the company and delivering the very best.<\/p>\n So do not worry about not having some bright idea: it\u2019s probably not what you need. Focus on making lives easier, solving problems, or making people happy \u2013 if your business does that, you probably have the right ingredients.<\/p>\n 2. Don\u2019t quit the day job just yet<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen two types of extremes: on one end of the spectrum, you have people who forever dream about starting up their own business and never do anything about it (they often fall into trap 1 above and say \u2018if only I had an idea\u2026\u2019); on the other end of the spectrum, you have over-optimistic people who quit their day job to pursue their business idea (no matter how good or bad that idea is).<\/p>\n The truth is that it\u2019s a very rare type of business that needs your full-time input from day one. Sure, it might get to the point where, in order to grow the company beyond a certain ceiling, you simply have to quit your day job and dedicate all your time to your own business. But before that point, there is no reason why you cannot work early mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays to get your business off the ground. If it doesn\u2019t work, it\u2019s not going to work if you quit your day job either and you\u2019ve probably saved yourself a load of grief.<\/p>\n It won\u2019t be possible for all types of businesses, but the way to do it is to start slowly and prove that the idea works first of all. There\u2019s a lot to be said for growing slowly and organically, with minimal expense (look up the concept of the minimum viable product if you are unfamiliar with it!).<\/p>\n 3. Get the legal things right<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Depending on the type of business, please check you have all your legal and regulatory requirements squared off. It\u2019s an area many people skimp on, especially when starting out, but something going wrong could cripple you personally from a financial perspective. For instance, if something went wrong and you were sued, what is your protection? Equally, do you know whether or not you need regulatory approval from a particular body for the sale of your product?<\/p>\n There are many questions in this domain \u2013 make sure you ask them of yourself, or speak to people and find out what the questions you should be asking are! It\u2019s not an area that you can afford to get wrong.<\/p>\n 4. Funding<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Access to capital is another reason why people hold back from trying to start their own business. However, if you are able to demonstrate proof of concept, there is no reason why you should not be able to obtain funding from somewhere \u2013 it is simply a case of finding the right people!<\/p>\n Of course, debt finance from your typical high street bank is haram. Sharia-compliant, halal funding options for your startup are not exactly readily available on the high street. However, if you tap into the right networks, lack of access to capital should not hold you back.<\/p>\n 5. Network<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n When starting a business, a really important element is to have people who you can turn to for help, advice, and mentoring. You can use them to bounce ideas around or ask for more pointed advice if they have been successful at whatever you are trying to do.<\/p>\n If you want to discuss your ideas or want general tips, feel free to get in touch through the comments or via that contact us page! We would be more than happy to discuss things (we\u2019ve historically helped people in points (1)-(3) above) \u2013 we always encourage entrepreneurial spark!<\/p>\n