You’ve made it through your first couple of years – congratulations!
Getting started in business can feel like a big risk, and you’ve had some initial challenges to overcome – all the start up costs, your first experience of business income, your first experience of business tax.
Now you’re making some money and settling into your role as an owner, what comes next?
It may be taking on your first employee, or finding your first office. You might finally be able to delegate some stuff! Yay!
Whatever your goal, these next steps all come with their own unique challenges. You might find yourself asking yourself questions like:
The stress of covering your bills every month may be behind you, but as your business starts to build, you need to make sure you have control of it.
As your business grows and the amount of payments in and out of your business also grows, really understanding your numbers and keeping track of everything is key to keeping sane.
Having reliable and up to date information will mean you know what’s going on, and will enable you to make timely decisions and where you are in relation to your goals. This is the main reason why good, regular bookkeeping is so important.
Things to do:
If you’ve reached the VAT threshold (currently turnover of £85,000 in a rolling 12 months) you’ve achieved a great milestone, and one to be celebrating, not fearing.
Read the basics of VAT to understand what being VAT registered actually means and involves, and how to adjust your pricing.
If you’ve reached the VAT threshold (currently turnover of £85,000 in a rolling 12 months) you’ve achieved a great milestone, and one to be celebrating, not fearing.
Read the basics of VAT to understand what being VAT registered actually means and involves, and how to adjust your pricing.
Taking on your first employee can feel scary, but it is incredibly rewarding.
Being able to delegate and have the support of another person will reduce the stress involved in running a business, but will also provide opportunities to give your clients and customers a better service.
Things to do:
With all the extra money going out for employees and bills, maybe that nice little office you have your eye on, you’ll need to ensure the cash keeps flowing in as quickly and easily as possible.
Cash flow is key at this point – it doesn’t matter what your turnover or profit is on paper, if you haven’t received the actual cash payment your business will be in serious trouble.
Things to do:
This guide takes you through all the steps you need to ensure your business keeps a positive cashflow and flourishes, in 3 key areas:
Hopefully by following our advice, this next phase will bring you more of everything. More employees, more sales, more profit. This means somethings gotta give. You won’t the same time you had for bookkeeping, VAT and payroll.
Now could be a great time to delegate your bookkeeping and get help with your VAT return so you don’t have to stress (spoiler alert – it’s not as easy as clicking a button like some software companies would have you believe!). That way you can focus on all the other areas of your business.
That’s what we’re here for.
