How to set up a small business

In 2022, there were around 5.5 million SME registered businesses in the UK and 16.4 million people employed in SME companies. Are you serious about taking the plunge to set up your own small business? Firstly, you will need to educate yourself and learn all about the practicalities behind things like taxes, how you will pay staff, the benefits of becoming a small business owner, and plenty more. After all, becoming a small business owner is a responsible life decision, and the business world is competitively fierce these days.

Here, we at Magenta Self Storage are experienced in providing small business storage solutions and meeting their needs across our six self storage sites in England across the southeast and the Midlands. So, we have come up with some key pointers on how to set up a small business.

Ensure your idea is strong and original

First things first, your business will not succeed if the idea behind it is not robust, innovative, and able to connect with customers. Uber and Facebook were both small businesses at one point during their early stages before all the investment flooded in. However, they managed to turn into profit-making large companies because the idea and purpose behind them struck a chord with customers.

Looking to set up a small business? Try not to be a copycat and make sure your business idea is original, that way business success ought to be achievable.

How do I conduct market research?

Performing market research is vital to setting up a small business, but how do you go about conducting it? Having a business plan, clearly defined goals, identifying your main target demographic and understanding how they behave, and coming up with well-composed research questions are all essential parts of your market research journey. Online surveys may be one route you may want to go down to get feedback from your target market.

Also, you must remember to research competitor companies and analyse the successes and failures they have had. How can you go one better than them and take their customer base?

Register as a business

Small companies in the UK must be registered to be legally recognised as businesses. Registering as a business when setting up a small company is also required so that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can check that you are paying the right amount of taxes and meeting the deadlines.

When starting out, many small businesses register as self-employed ‘sole traders’. Another option is to register a business partnership where you share the responsibilities of running the business with others. Business ‘partners’ can be either individuals or limited companies that you choose to enter into business with.

Alternatively, you can decide to create a limited company for your new small business. Limited companies are distinctly separate legal entities from the individuals who own and run them, meaning your personal finances aren’t directly tied to the business.

Look out for investors

Have you got grand plans for a future expansion of your small business? Well, as soon as you hit the ground running, you need to be on the lookout for keen investors who can inject money and provide their expertise to help your business outcompete its competitors.

What are your overheads?

Having a small business that accrues a sizeable returning customer base isn’t something that happens by accident, you need to be financially savvy from the outset. Have a good think about your overheads. Can you cut any of them back without upsetting your employees or business partners? Giving your small business a competitive edge may require you to make tough decisions down the lines about which financial outlays are necessary or not.

However, remember not to be an overly penny-pinching small business, you have to spend money to make money. Creating a good company culture in small businesses is all about showing employees that you care. Have you got employees who are smashing their targets and consistently going above and beyond over a long period of time? If so, why not reward them by putting them in for promotion and factoring in a pay rise into your overheads? Otherwise, your top staff will end up going to work elsewhere.

Remote or office work?

Another big decision when it comes to evaluating your overheads is whether you want your small business to operate on a remote or office working basis. Have you set up a celebration cards e-commerce business, for example? In that case, remote working may be just fine.

On the other hand, you may prefer the idea of employees going into the office and the impact that having that in-person connection can have on your company culture. You do end up working closely with your colleagues in a small business environment.

You may have decided to go for the office option and bought a load of equipment including things like printers, chairs, computers, desks, tables, etc. Hiring office space is expensive these days, and office equipment can take up a fair amount of space. We have got your back covered at Magenta with our office storage solutions.

Affordable office space

Searching for affordable private offices and co-working spaces for your small business? At Magenta, we offer cheaply priced private offices and flexible co-working spaces in Nottingham, Oxford, Banbury, and West London. Hiring our co-working space is ideal, and provides you with flexibility, whether you are after a long lease or only want to use the space for a few hours as a one-off.

Perks of using our shared office space include

• Superfast WiFi
• Free parking
• Onsite reception
• Flexible terms
• Onsite storage
• Deliveries accepted

Hire a business storage unit

Do you regularly deliver products across the UK and overseas and need a central distribution hub? Take a look at our business storage units here at Magenta, it could be the perfect option for you. We have business storage units over 200 sq ft in size, so we are able to meet your small business’s fulfilment and storage needs and the rest!

Packaging and boxing

If you are interested in using our units to store your business stock, you will be glad to hear that at Magenta we also offer packaging materials and boxes to help protect your goods and keep them intact.

If you want affordable business storage for your small company, we have your backs at Magenta Self Storage. Get a self storage quote from us today to learn more about our cheap prices. You may be interested to hear that we also have personal storage units.