5 reasons why this is the best time to start a business in the UK

When I took the leap of faith and quit my job two-and-a-half years ago, a lot of people thought it was risky.

We were only just coming out of the recession, jobs were hard to find and competition for them was high; not to mention the fact I had only just bought my first home and still had student debt to pay off. Oh and I was 26 years old and only three years out of uni.

From the outside, it looked incredibly risky and naive.

It was the same for my clients when I began to coach women who were starting their own businesses. Their friends and family were concerned that it just wasn’t a good time to start a company in the UK and maybe they’d be better off waiting until they had more savings or the economic climate was a bit more optimistic.

What I shared with them, I will share with you.

The ideal time to start your business is unlikely to present itself, and there’s always going to be an element of risk.

However, there are some very good reasons why this is the best time to start a business here in the UK, and I’m going to share them with you below to:

a)       put your mind at ease

b)       help you stand up for your decision against the naysayers

Let’s dive in…

1. You’ve got the whole world at your fingertips

The internet has made it so easy to create a virtual shopfront (your website), build a community (social networking) and run your business. All you need to access the global marketplace is an idea plus a computer plus a wifi connection. It’s cheap and fast to get started and there’s a multitude of ways to reach your ideal customers these days, through online marketing alone.

2. You don’t have to have huge investment capital

Traditionally, you needed to have a large amount of investment capital to start a business. You needed money to secure a premises, buy stock, hire a team and generate leads. But there’s been a huge shift in business towards selling knowledge.

If you’ve got a skill, know-how or talent that you can teach to others, you can get started without a lot of capital. Even if you want to develop and sell products, you don’t necessarily need a shop or premises. Online marketplaces make it easy to create a virtual shop and find customers from around the world.

3. Funding opportunities are everywhere

Not only is the UK Government invested in providing funding schemes for new businesses, there’s also a wealth of crowd-funding websites where you can source funding from your fans and the general public. If you want to borrow some money to kickstart your business, you don’t just have to turn to the banks. Peer-to-peer lending sites like Lend Local are empowering entrepreneurs to borrow money from local investors.

4. There is an abundance of free knowledge

To be successful in business, you do need to know how to market what you have to offer. This can be daunting for wannabe entrepreneurs, but fortunately there’s a wealth of information available online. Much of it is free and there’s many affordable online courses you can take to fill knowledge gaps. Try course websites like Udemy or Skillshare to get you started.

Even if you need to retrain, you can still set up and run your business alongside your studies, so that when you do qualify, you’re ready to launch and take clients.

5. Now is as good a time as any

There are always going to be economic peaks and troughs and there’s never going to be the ‘perfect’ time to start a business. Even through the recent recession, switched on entrepreneurs were able to cash in and make a success of their business.

There will always be naysayers who warn you off taking such a risk. There will always be optimists who encourage you to go for your dreams. I’d lean towards the optimistic camp if I were you, because people have been trading, making money and building businesses for thousands of years and now is as good a time as any.

Over to you

Leave a comment and tell us:

• What did you think of this article?
• Are you thinking of starting your own business in the next 12 months?
• What is putting you off getting started?

Jen Smith coaches entrepreneurs in social media.