Recent research by Startups has found that 24% of students surveyed were starting a business while at university. The number of graduate entrepreneurs in the UK has also grown, with 3,920 graduate start-ups in 2019/20, compared to 3,837 2018/19, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. With this increasing interest in starting new businesses, many people are looking for ways to get into being an entrepreneur while studying at university.
Many people in the UK are becoming interested in starting their own businesses. Andrew Dark, Director and Co-Owner of Custom Planet, started his own company at university back in 2008, and has since grown the brand into one of the UK’s leading printwear providers. Here, he offers some essential tips for student entrepreneurs.
Write a business plan
When you have a business idea that you are excited about, it’s easy to want to jump straight in and start your venture, but it’s important to certify your business plan first. No matter how small your business is, having a document that gives you a road map will help. If you aren’t sure where you should start, the Prince’s Trust has business plan templates that you can use to get going.
This plan will also be essential for any meetings you have with potential investors and partners who might be interested in your idea. So, write a comprehensive guide to your goals, finances, and any potential issues you might face in future. You should also include the amounts you’ll need to pay to staff and yourself, and how much investment and profit will be happening in the business.
Structure your business
When writing your business plan, you should also ascertain what kind of legal structure your company is going to have. This will allow you to write a plan that will help you in future, and keep you focused, as well as being important for tax and public liability purposes. There are a few types of venture that you can start in the UK, so take some time to work out which one suits you.
Sole trader
The simplest type of business that you can start in the UK is being a sole trader. This is the easiest way to set up a company, and will suit you if you only need to sell your services as a self-employed person. The definition is essentially a self-employed person who is the owner of their business, and you’ll just need go to the government website and register your business if this is what suits you best.
Limited company
In contrast, having a limited company means that you and your business have separate legal identities and you will therefore be a shareholder of your company. The managers of your company are then the directors. Even if you are both a manager and a shareholder, you will still be a separate legal entity to your business.
General partnership
A partnership can be the ideal choice if you want to set up a business with another person. This set-up will be great for you if you have a small team and want everyone to be on an even footing. This will be a simple legal set-up that is a good way of setting up your first small business with someone else. This means that you share profits and responsibility, but pay taxes separately via the usual self-assessment tax forms for self-employed workers.
Name your business and choose your branding
The name of your business venture will be an important aspect of building your brand in future, so it’s good to think carefully about it. You should research your business area thoroughly and ensure that you are picking a name that both makes you stand out, and also communicates your business idea quickly and effectively.
Once you’ve chosen your name, it’s time to consider how to protect your intellectual property. The ideas themselves cannot be protected, but the results of the ideas can be, and this includes your brand name, products and even the visual branding that you’ll use to market them. You will automatically get some protections under UK intellectual property law, but others you’ll need to register for. As part of your planning, you should do an intellectual property audit of your proposed ideas to ensure that you know what you’ll need to protect. This will also make sure that you are not accidentally infringing on anyone else’s intellectual property.
Work out your start-up costs and finances
When you’ve worked out what your business idea is, how you want to protect your ideas, and what type of business structure you’ll need, you’ll need to organise your finances.
It’s difficult to know how to inject the first round of funding into a business idea, but you might not know that one way is to apply for the UK government’s start-up loan scheme, which can give you a loan of £500 to £25,000 to either start a small business or expand an existing one. To learn more and apply for a loan, go to the government’s webpage. You can also see if any grants and schemes are available to help fund new projects in your local area, as many local councils support businesses too.
You can also crowdfund your start-up costs, and this can generate publicity for a business idea and your future brand, as well as raise money. Platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo both give you an option to ensure a number of guaranteed sales while you raise money. They will therefore work for you if your business is product-based.
Keep records
Another thing that’s easy to forget when you are caught up with being excited about your new business idea, is how to keep records. This is a vital part of starting a new business, and it will serve you well in future to keep everything organised, from your finances to your goals. It will also be invaluable as your business grows, as you will be able to slot in more aspects to your record-keeping as you need them, and have a paper trail for all your work.
These records need to include your profits, payments to staff, and any investments, as well as any documentation for your staff. Later on, you’ll need these records to fill in your self-assessment tax return.
It’s important to remember that you should keep your personal and business finances separate, in order to prevent any mix ups. Having two different bank accounts will ensure that you don’t get confused and can help make it much easier to keep your financial records up-to-date. It is also a requirement for some types of businesses, so double check exactly what you’ll need.
The process of starting your own business can become quite overwhelming, as there is so much to think about. This is especially true when you’re doing it for the first time, so these tips will provide a good grounding for you to organise yourself before you dive into your venture.
