January sees the first shoots of spring, says Nwes business consultant

As maybe you contemplate taking down the last of Christmas decorations, it might seem a little premature to be mentioning spring.

But according to the latest Aldermores Future Attitudes survey, 88 per cent of business owners that launched their businesses in the spring described themselves as successful. That might make it the best time to start.

So if you want to follow suit you need to be thinking about things now. With a some darker evenings ahead, plenty of leftover Christmas chocolate plus a brand New Year to look forward there’s no better time to start on the planning.

In practise a great many business failures can be traced back to poor preparation. Running out of cash is all too common, often brought about by running out of customers.

Making sure you have a product or service that people want to buy at the price you need to sell it at sounds basic but it’s the good advice I once heard from successful entrepreneur Paul Lindley who set up Ella’s Kitchen.

Or put another way, avoid inventing a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

To help you on your new journey our two-day business start-up course runs at KLIC every month with our next on January 15 and 16. We’ll show you how to tackle that all important market research and make the best of these winter evenings so you can hit the ground running in the spring.

Plus you’ll have eaten all the chocolates well before then – a real win-win.

If you’re looking for some more motivation, the same survey showed that 92 per cent of those asked said they were glad they set up on their own. Fifty per cent said it was harder than they thought, so why not take advantage of some help that’s fully funded for most and sign up now on line at www.nwes.org.uk/events.

See you on the course.