Self Employment & Entrepreneurship

There are a number of reasons why you may think of being self employed or starting your own business:

You have a great idea that no-one else has thought of.
You are unable to find work in a particular profession.
You have skills or products that are saleable.
Independence - you are your own boss.
The challenge of setting up and running your own enterprise.
Opportunity of making lots of money.
Personal satisfaction.

In order to be successful you will need the right skills, the right idea and the right location. Once you have these you will also need the financial support to get you up and running. There are a number of agencies set up to help those starting out on their own.

Advice

There is a huge amount of information available on the internet for business start-up and small enterprises. You could do worse than start with the Propects guide to self employment.

The Department of Trade and Industry aims to increase UK competitiveness and scientific excellence in order to generate higher levels of sustainable growth and productivity in a modern economy. Their website aims to reflect the DTI's work programme in a dynamic way and will be used as a key resource in communicating with the UK business, industry and scientific communities.

The Government funded Business Link is a national network of advice agencies for business. They provide training and support with a variety of business issues including start-up, business planning, marketing and finance. They are a useful starting point for advice and information because, in theory, they should have the best local knowledge of support that is available ie premises, training and financial assistance.

In association with Business Link, GradsEast (the vacancy service for the i10 group of universities in the East of England), have an online questionnaire aimed at people interested in becoming self employed.

Support

The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) was formed in 2004 with the aim of raising the profile of entrepreneurship and the option of starting your own business as a career choice amongst students and graduates. By understanding the circumstances in which graduate entrepreneurship can flourish, NCGE's goal is to influence, and inspire, an increase in the number of students and graduates who give serious thought to self-employment or business start-up.
The Federation of Small Businesses is a pressure group/membership organisation that was set up to represent the interests of small companies to government and other policy making bodies. Since its inception in 1974 it has grown to provide benefits to members including insurance, debt collection, personal pensions and healthcare schemes.
Better Business is a monthly publication for the home-working and small business market. It provides, news, advice and features, discounts and technology updates. It also provides up to date information on employment law, government policy and other issues which can affect small businesses.
Business Bricks is a free, twice-weekly email newsletter for small business owners and start-ups. You can also access past newsletters by feeding in your email address.
Business incubators are dedicated units for small businesses that save money by sharing common facilities such as receptionists, photocopiers, meeting rooms and technology. The UK Centre for Business Incubation(UKBI) was established to help the UK improve its formation, survival and growth rates of early stage businesses, especially those with potential for significant growth. The centre helps the setting up of new business incubation projects and supports existing ones.
Starting your own business or becoming self employed can sometimes be isolating, often people work from home thereby missing out on the contact with colleagues and the routine of going to an office. Home Aloners provides an internet based discussion forum and facilitates lunch time meetings of people who work from home.
PCG is a hub for all the knowledge of the freelance community, offering a wide range of resources that freelancers can tap into to make their working lives that much easier and more inspiring.

Aged between 18 and 30?

Shell Livewire provides business advice and support to help devise and implement a business plan. They also run regional and national competitions for the most successful business start ups.
The Princes Youth Business Trust gives financial support and provides experienced mentors for young people who are setting up their own businesses.
Meteor is an organisation that provides training for students and graduates who plan to run their own business. They provide training in entrepreneurship and innovation and work with groups of university or college based people to create new business concepts. The programme lasts for six months and the group meets 18 times during that period. If you would like more information please ring BBIC on 01226715555.
Liverpool John Moore's University has a web page about students as entrepreneurs and how to turn a good idea into cash

Local Support

Young Entrepreneur Society (YES) UEA's own society for new entrepreneurs.
Research and Business Services (RBS) at UEA provide contacts and information. They also run business plan competitions.
Foundation East is a non-profit distributing organisation that lends money to new or existing businesses that can’t get a loan from a bank or need additional funds to match bank loans.
Professionals in Innovation (PIIN) run regular, free business advice sessions specifically for UEA & NRP staff and students.
Norfolk Network is a local entrepreneurial community of which UEA is a key member.
Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services helps start-ups.
JobCentrePlus can help with advice and guidance about starting your own business, they also advertise contract work, commission-only vacancies and opportunities for self employed people.
Business Link Norfolk
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Broadland Business Forum
WEETU provides enterprise and training assistance for women.
Norwich Research Park
Norwich Bio-Incubator

Business Planning

"Planning is about preparing for the inevitable, pre-empting the undesirable and controlling the controllable."
Henry Mintzberg

The best managed businesses see planning as a continuous activity in which they set both long-term and short-term objectives. Having a plan should not be considered a straightjacket, but as a way of ensuring that everyday activities happen in a structured way. Well managed business will see a plan as a framework providing the ability to be flexible and responsive when opportunities arise, without being blown totally off course. Knowing that the bulk of your activities are performing according to plan will give you the freedom to explore those opportunities. There are a number of books available which will take you through the planning process. More business is a US based site which has examples of business plans and templates that you can use. You can also buy business planning software.

Market Research

You will need to conduct market research to determine whether your product or service is viable. You need some idea of the market size in order to work out how much of your product or service you can reasonably expect to sell. You should also be able to identify whether your market is static or changing rapidly, whether what you are offering has a stable demand or is just a craze.

Primary Research

A considerable amount of information can be found in your nearest reference library. This will include government reports and statistics, market research reports, business directories, telephone directories and the electoral register. Sources of primary information include:

Kompass - on line search of world-wide businesses.
Yellow pages - searchable database for businesses in the UK.
Mintel - provider of market intelligence reports on a wide variety of industry sectors.
Dun and Bradstreet provide an on-line database of businesses by sector, number of employees and turnover.

Secondary Research

Published information cannot answer all your questions. Most small and medium sized businesses are unique or specialized in some way, so it is likely that the bulk of useful data will have to be gathered by you. This underpinning data will demonstrate to your funders that you have a clear grasp of the market that you are entering as well as providing you with vital management information. There is a range of books available to help you with your market research and sources of information

Finance

All the high street banks offer support and advice to business start-ups and many offer free business banking for the first year. It pays to shop around as the rates and terms and conditions vary. NatWest Bank has a comprehensive body of online small business infomation.

Venture Capital

There is a range of venture capitalcompanies that specialise in investing in new and growing businesses. If you are unable to get finance from a bank or family then a venture capital firm may be able to help. The Industrial Common Ownership Finance iniative has been providing loans for co-operatives, employee owned businesses and community enterprises for over 25 years. They offer loans for up to 10 years, bridging loans against delayed grants, loans for capital equipment and loans to replace exisitng finance arrangements.

Taxation

HM Revenue & Customs provide leaflets and information in plain English about taxation law for businesses and self employed workers. Also the Citizens Advice Bureau can advise you on your liabilities in terms of tax and national insurance.

Marketing your business

Even if you have not thought of using the internet as a resource for your business it may be worth registering the name of your business with one of the internet providers to prevent anyone else from registering your name. There are a huge number of domain name registration agents all with varying terms and conditions of supply.

Courses

There are short courses available to help you with aspects of your business ie finance, marketing, employment law. These are often available through the local chamber of commerce, training and enterprise council or FE college. There are also post-graduate level qualifications dealing with entrepreneurship and business start up. The Universities of Durham, Warwick, Stirling, Manchester and Cranfield all have excellent postgraduate level courses if you don't feel ready to take the plunge just yet.

UEA

Careers & Employability