Whiting & Partners share expert advice on starting your own business

You’ve identified your niche, your product or the service you want to offer and decided now is the time to officially make the jump and start up your own business. Chris Ridgeon, Partner at Whiting & Partners shares his experience advice on how to start your own business.

He states “We have many start-up businesses looking to us for help and advice. They range from spare room endeavours to full blown units which have evolved over time.

We’re often asked about the choice of a business name and our advice is to look for a title that is short, sharp and relevant. It’s the first thing that people notice, and it should flag up your offering from the outset to both existing customers and newcomers alike.

If you are looking to operate as a limited company, be sure to check that your preferred name is not already in use. This can easily be done by a quick search on the Companies House website. If you want a website address that reflects your name, then also check domain availability.”

How can Whiting & Partners help?

Whiting & Partners are among the most established firm of accountants and business advisers in East Anglia and have a ‘hand-holding’ philosophy that applies not just on the first day, week, month or year but on involvement along your business journey from launch to growth.

The first conversation with us will take you through the following four principle questions:

• What is your business plan?
• What is the best structure, sole trader or limited company?
• How do these options differ from full-time employment?
• What are the tax implications?

Starting in business can be overwhelming in itself but when you throw in the needs of your target sector and any specific tax rules, you can easily get lost! We are able to help from day one to make sure everything is set up smoothly to allow you to concentrate on generating an income.

Record keeping is an important element of running your own business. As a ‘wage slave’ it might all have been done for you but now you’re on your own and if you have time to glance in a mirror, you’ll see your ‘back office’ looking back at you!

For more information on Whiting & Partners please click here