The Financial Times guide to business start up 2007

450 Pages·2006·16.714 MB·English

by  Sara Williams

About the author The Financial Times Guide to B T The Financial Times Guide to
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Sara Williams is the Chief Executive of Aim-quoted BUSINESS U e BUSINESS
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range of events, including the Growth Company Awards, you the broadest range of content available, from fi nding
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Quoted Company Awards, Investor AllStars Awards, Sara Williams premises and setting prices for products and services to
Growth Cycle Seminars and Growth Company Investor. Business Guide – over 1 million copies sold! S im SSSTTTAAARRRTTT UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPP the lowdown on franchises and smart ways to fi nd new
customers. It provides you with the ideas, solutions and
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Sara is a former investment analyst and lecturer in s key references on a wide spectrum of topics, including:
fi nance, and had a very successful career in fi nancial S
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and business journalism before founding Vitesse Media “As comprehensive an introduction to setting up a business as anyone could need.” • Developing a business idea
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in 1997. She contributed to many major newspapers The Daily Telegraph T i • Writing a winning business plan
including the Financial Times and Sunday Times, and A d The new name for the Lloyds TSB Small • Raising the fi nances for start up and growth
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was a weekly columnist for the Daily Express. She also
“The Wisden of the small business world… threaded through with common sense • Finding premises
wrote for Which? magazine and appeared regularly on R t Business Guide – over 1 million copies sold!
TV and radio. practical advice.” o • How to sell and market your business successfully
Daily Mail T • How to increase profi tability and achieve growth
Sara is also the co-author of the The Financial Times
• Dealing with the latest regulations, VAT, income tax
Guide to Personal Tax. “A must for any small business owner.” and other charges
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Federation of Small Businesses
Additionally it gives a vital summary of everything you
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need to know as an employer, from fi nding and keeping
staff to saying goodbye if things don’t work out.
THE ONLY ANNUALLY UPDATED GUIDE TO STARTING AND
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RUNNING A BUSINESS 0 Register for your free email update on legal and tax
0 changes in the next Budget – see inside for details.
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Whether you’re considering starting a business, or if you’ve already taken the plunge, this
annually updated classic handbook is crammed with practical advice to ensure that you and
your business get the best possible start on your route to success.
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All fi nancial and legal information has been fully updated since the 2006 Budget, making sure
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you have accurate facts at your fi ngertips, from employer obligations to tax and pensions. r
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The book covers all elements of the start-up phase, with essential guidance and fully
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up-to-date fi nancial information, covering every aspect of running and growing a business.
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If you’re serious about starting a business, you need to have this book ll
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within easy reach.
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BUSINESS
Visit our website at
www.pearson-books.com ISBN 0-273-71082-6 Visit our website at
www.pearson-books.com
Front cover image:
9 780273 710820
An imprint of Pearson Education © Getty Images Sara Williams
0273710826_COVER.indd 1 10/10/06 11:01:02
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page i
The Financial
Times Guide
to Business
Start Up
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page ii
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FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page iii
The Financial
Times Guide
to Business
Start Up

Sara Williams
20th edition
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page iv
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow CM20 2JE
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk
TheFinancial Times Guide to Business Start Upwas previously published as the Lloyds TSB Small
Business Guide
First published by Penguin Books 1987
Second edition 1988
Third edition 1989
Fourth edition 1990
Fifth edition 1991
Sixth edition 1992
Seventh edition 1993
Eighth edition 1994
Ninth edition 1995
Tenth edition 1996
Eleventh edition 1997
Twelfth edition 1998
Thirteenth edition 1999
Fourteenth edition 2000
Fifteenth edition published by Vitesse Media plc 2001
Sixteenth edition 2002
Seventeenth edition 2003
Eighteenth edition 2004
Nineteenth edition 2006
Twentieth edition published by Pearson Education in Great Britain 2007
© Sara Williams 1987, 2002
© Vitesse Media plc 2003, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0-273-71082-0
ISBN-10: 0-273-71082-6
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pub lication Data
Williams, Sara.
The finacial times guide to business start up / Sara Williams – 20th ed.
p.cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISNBN-1: 978-0-273-71082-0 (alk.paper)
ISBN-10: (invalid) 0-273-71082-0 (alk. paper)
1. New business enterprises–Great Britain–Planning. I. Title.
HD62.5.W492 2006
658.1’1–dc22
2006050773ß
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a
licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. This book may
not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding
or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers.
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Typeset in 9pt Stone Serif by 70
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell &Bain Ltd, Glasgow
The Publisher’s policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page v
Contents
Acknowledgements/ ix
Update for the Financial TimesGuide to Business Start Up/ xi
1 You and your ideas / 1
2 Who will buy? / 13
3 A spot of coaching / 27
4 Your business identity / 38
5 Are you sure? / 53

6 The business plan / 64
7 Timing the jump / 71
8 Less than 100 per cent / 76
9 Off the peg / 82
10 Franchises / 104
11 Beating the pirates / 122
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page vi
vi Contents
12 The right name / 130
13 Getting the message across / 139
14 Getting new customers / 152
15 Building customer relationships / 166
16 How to set a price / 174
17 Choosing your workplace / 186
18 Information technology – and other equipment / 198
19 Professional back-up / 206
20 Getting the right staff / 215
21 Your rights and duties as an employer / 233
22 Insurance / 267

23 Forecasting / 274
24 Raising the money / 294
25 Staying afloat / 309
26 Moving ahead / 327
27 Not waving but drowning / 340
28 Keeping the record straight / 346
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Contents vii
29 Tax / 357
30 VAT / 388
31 Pensions and retirement / 402
*References/ 411
Index/ 423
*An asterisk after the name of an organization or source in the text indicates that
contact details are given in the Reference section.
FTBS_A01.QXD 15/10/06 6:58 pm Page ix
Acknowledgements
The number of people who have helped me produce this comprehensive
guide continues to grow. My debt to those who commented and supplied
information for the original edition remains enormous; they helped me to
improve the quality and content of the advice it contains to help you to get
new enterprises up and running, and keep them that way. For the current
edition, the second published by Pearson as The Financial TimesGuide to
Business Start Upbut the twentieth since it was first published as the Lloyds
TSB Small Business Guide, the checking and updating was carried out with
remarkable efficiency by Jonquil Lowe. I’d also like to thank all the team at
Pearson Education for the work they have done in publishing the guide so
successfully under its new title.
If you have any comments on the guide, please e-mail sbg@growthcompany.
co.uk
Note

I have taken every care and effort to check the information and advice in
this guide. Nevertheless, with a book as comprehensive as this one the odd
slip may occur. Unfortunately, I regret that I cannot be responsible for any
loss that you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy.
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