How to start your own business

Starting up your own business is an exciting but daunting prospect. Will you need a massive cash injection to launch? How do you know if it will take off? What’s the break-even point? 

In 2010, Adam Ewart started up Send My Bag, an online booking service that forwards unaccompanied luggage. From small beginnings in the UK, the company now delivers to more than 100 countries, sending anything from suitcases to bikes and ski equipment. He’s learned a great deal on his journey, which he’s honed to eight key points that he’s happy to share.

1. Spend money like you don’t have any. No one should ever be able to come into your business and find wasteful expenditure. I set up the Send My Bag website for under £100, and built a simple booking system onto the site. It laid the foundations for the business to grow and I’ve always been money-conscious. Too many companies haemorrhage money on frivolities like table tennis in the office or excessive site add-ons. I suggest business leaders scrutinise every penny spent closely, rather than splurging unnecessarily.
2. Aim to be profitable in the first year and build your balance sheet from there. It’s currently popular for business leaders to say profit is not that important and that it’s more about the good the business may be doing, but cash is always king! If there isn't a clear route to sustainable profit, then your business is worthless. Build a profitable business, while acting responsibly, and then integrate a positive business purpose later if you want to.
3. Don’t raise money unless you really need to. When I first started my business, the idea of raising money didn’t even cross my mind. At the outset, my job was simply to prove the concept could work on a shoestring and that it could make money, instead of asking for an investor’s money to spend.
4. Don’t give up. It may seem like a cliché, but it’s always important to bear this in mind. Your first business may not work, and there’s every chance your second won’t either, but all experiences are character building – regardless of whether they are good or bad. They’re valuable for developing your knowledge and increasing your ability to execute when the time and concept is eventually right.
5. Don’t ever give yourself fully to any particular idea or product. While you should never give up on your overall vision for a business, it is important to be smart and objective. Listen to the market and its response to your business concept, seek external feedback on your ideas and implement the advice given. If the market rejects your business, take time to gather your thoughts, regroup and come back with something better. There will always be stories of entrepreneurs who persevere with an outlandish business concept that ultimately does return a profit, but there are
6. Go to events. Networking is an important asset when you’re starting out. You never know who you’ll meet and when you might need their support. Get to know people who can help you, but be mindful of balancing the time spent talking about your business with actually working on your business.
7. Forget about being embarrassed or nervous. The business world is tough, it’s a competition and you need to do whatever is necessary to win. Whether you’re doorstepping a buyer or hopping on a plane to a factory on the other side of the world, you have to do what you have to do, and if you don’t, then someone else will.
8. Don’t restrict yourself to your home market. When the time is right don’t hold back, look to the world and what other opportunities await out there and seize them. We started in the UK domestic markets to test the business and learn from it. Once Send My Bag was an established brand in its sector, we weren’t content with our lot and looked abroad for more opportunities to grow further. Since launching in 2010, the company now ships more than 250,000 bags each year and operates in 150-plus countries across more than 10,000 routes worldwide. 

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to leading business, finance and management journals, as well as a selection of key business eBooks. Further reading on starting a business is available through the resources below.