equity, united-kingdom, financing, grants, debtWhat are the available options?
I’m an Italian citizen, 25 years old and I’m living and working in the UK.
Are there any benefits, convenient financing options for a young entrepreneur who wants to open a new business?
I’d like to open a web agency run only by me at the beginning… so it’s about web design and web development. I have a little capital. At the beginning I guess I’d need just a computer, an Internet connection and my brain. I’d do investments and expand my business eventually later as I earn more.
I’d be using the money for marketing, for eventually buying new computer hardware. Anyway I don’t have a real need of financing right now. Mine is more of a general question for the future. Knowing the possibilities can orient my choices.
For a professional services company like a web agency, consider getting customers. Either lots of them, or one or two “cash-cow” accounts that fund not only your own salary, but perhaps even allow you to hire a couple of additional staff.
If you have a strong skill-set and reputation, immediately begin working your network… ask around to find out who needs a big project done.
Cold-call into the marketing or e-commerce teams at large corporations and try to find projects that are in the planning phases. This is a great time to get engaged as you can help shape the project, demonstrate your expertise and build trust.
Also consider taking a look at the company you are currently working for. Do they have any contract roles in web development? Do they have any projects that fall outside the scope of what they would work on internally? If so, consider pitching yourself for those projects, whereby you would transition from an internal employee to an external consultant. You’d have a steady gig to start off with.
In terms of raising investment capital for this sort of business… it is difficult at least in the US to get bank financing for a brand new professional services business. If all you need is some equipment and to cover some overhead, perhaps your current clients/bosses/peers believe in you so much that they would be willing to fund you.
Good luck.
There is a very attractive, low interest startup loan scheme offered to young adults in the UK. It’s managed by different agencies according to your location, but search and you’ll find options, which will usually include practical support. This is a far better option than maxing out your credit cards!
If you have a business idea, there are several incubators and accelerators to approach. The better ones are globally competitive, and the rump are often not what you might expect, especially in the quality of mentors, so be cautious.
The Prince’s Trust runs one of the longest-established schemes, again targeting young adults. The breadth of their network is awesome, although it’s true that their heartland is traditional businesses.
Finally I’ll mention one of the most useful schemes out there. InnovateUK offers innovation vouchers, which work like a grant, which will reimburse up to £5k of third party costs. The scheme runs every few months, and is essentially a lottery, targeting particular themes.
Good luck! There are some great options out there, and never forget that the best option of all is for your customers to find your business!
If you need financing, your main option atm is to find a banker who agrees to extend a loan to you. VCs and angel investors are looking for scalable business ideas. Your project as presented here amounts to selling your brain’s bandwidth, of which you can only supply so much without burning out – this won’t scale.
For other incentives and sources of financing, check with the local chamber of commerce and ask around in e.g. local entrepreneurial-related meetup groups. (This kind of stuff tends to vary from a year to the next, so there isn’t a really valid answer beyond suggesting you where to look for the the up to date version.)
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