The Financial Times Guide to

‘British entrepreneurs are optimistic despite the current downturn, new research reveals. A nationwide survey commissioned by Nectar Business shows that 38% of under 34s and 23% of all adults have ambitions to set up on their own.’ http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Startups.co.uk 3rd March 2009 http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Starting your own business can be a daunting task especially during a recession. However, media coverage suggests that the credit crunch could also provide the ideal opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to start their own business. Indeed, when the last recession struck in the early 1990s, several thousand people who had been made redundant decided to go it alone. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

If you’re looking to start your own business, then make sure you have a copy of ‘The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up’ on your shelf. It is the only small business guide to be updated annually, making it the most up-to-date resource and reference for anybody serious about making their business a successful one. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

The FT Guide to Business Start Up, is the essential start up guide. It covers everything you need to know, taking you quickly and simply through finance, tax and law and guiding you through the minefields of recruiting, premises, marketing, sales, pricing, people management and everything else an entrepreneur has to tackle to succeed. You can rely on it to be bang up-to-date, taking into account all the latest Budget changes and covering all bases thoroughly. http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

About the Author

Sara Williams is the Chief Executive of Aim-quoted Vitesse Media PLC, a growing online and print information publisher, specializing in business, investment and tax. Sara is a former investment analyst and lecturer in finance and had a very successful career in financial and business journalism before founding Vitesse Media in 1997. She contributed to many major newspapers, including the Financial Times and the Sunday Times and was a weekly columnist for the Daily Express. Sara also wrote for Which? magazine and appeared regularly on radio and TV. She is the author of the FT Guide to Business Start Up and FT Guide to Personal Tax http://www.dropshippers.co.za/

Table of Contents

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Update for The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up
• You and your ideas
• Who will buy?
• A spot of coaching
• Your business identity
• Are you sure?
• The business plan
• Timing the jump
• Less than 100 per cent
• Off the peg
• Franchises
• Beating the pirates
• The right name
• Getting the message across
• Getting new customers
• Building customer relationships
• How to set a price
• Choosing your workplace
• Information technology - and other equipment
• Professional back-up
• Getting the right staff
• Your rights and duties as an employer
• Insurance
• Forecasting
• Raising the money
• Staying afloat
• Moving ahead
• Not waving but drowning
• Keeping the record straight
• Tax
• VAT
• Pensions and retirement
• References
• Index
http://www.dropshippers.co.za/