Starting up your Business

As some of you may know from a previous post I was fortunate enough to have a consultation with a creative business advisor when I had decided to become self employed. He gave me a wealth of information, much of which I'm still working my way through. Now that the school term is nearing an end I know I'll have more time to further develop the business side of my work and thought I'd share with you some of the links and tips given to me as I revisit and revise my plans.

• Business Link Starting Up Huge amounts of information and the best place to start for those of you in the UK. Business Link offer twelve months free support to those just setting up in business and they are definitely worth contacting for guidance and opportunities in your area.
  

• Registering as self employed Information directly from HMRC.
  

• PEST analysis provides a framework for considering your environment before starting to plan your marketing activities.
  

• Writing SMART goals for you and your business.

• Ecommerce and the Law what you need to be aware of before selling online.

• Creating an online shop

I'm going to be focusing on stocking my Folksy jewellery shop whilst working on my painting and doing up the studio - we've just collected litres of white paint from a kind fellow freecycler so it should look refreshed soon, although R has talked about painting downstairs as well, so we might be in for a summer of decorating!

When school finishes work on my website begins in earnest, I'll keep you posted!