Three things you need to know before starting your business!!

2022 is a GREAT year to start your business.

 There really is no time like the present to get started and push ahead with your new project. But, the world is changing so very quickly.

Here are three things you need to know before you dive in.

1)     Who does it serve?

Every successful business has a core driver. 

The client.

Rather than designing your product from the inside, and then pushing it out into the world, I would encourage you to first seek your client, and design from their perspective.

The last three years have been a rollercoaster ride for all of us. The whole economic market place has shifted and many areas of business and trade practically unrecognisable.  What was once a fantastic business model, has suddenly become obsolete and vice versa. Think of the rise of hand sanitisers and face masks in the last 24 months alone!

If you are developing a new concept, think carefully about the challenges facing everyday people around you. How are they feeling? What obstacles are they attempting to overcome? What might you be able to offer them?

Who are you seeking to serve?

2)     What are the Global Shifts in Supply & Demand?

When identifying your client and assessing their challenges, expand your scope out to the wider economic situation. Both locally, and globally, there are seismic shifts occuring around you which could open doors for your start-up or render it dead in the water from the moment you launch.  Take, for example, the effects of both Brexit and Coronavirus on the global supply chain.

The cost of living is continuing to climb, with prices in the UK rising at their fastest rate for 30 years.  Factors including supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, recruitment challenges and increased wages have come together to create a perfect storm of rising costs.

Here are five things which have been particularly affected:
  • Petrol and Diesel
  • Energy Bills
  • Furniture
  • Oils and Fats
  • Milk and cheese
Bearing this in mind, is your product likely to be unaffordable to those you seek to serve or will it be useful to them?  A great business, in the midst of an economic crisis is one which could provide an alternative to the above items:
  • Biofuels or alternative fuel options
  • Low-Energy household technologies
  • Lower cost furniture - second hand or upcycled homewares
  • Oil alternatives
  • Non-dairy/replacement dairy products
The list is endless. When you see an economic-problem present itself, simply reverse it and consider the solution.

For example. The industry I work in (Modular Buildings) is heavily reliant upon running a busy and fully functional joinery factory with energy guzzling machinery for the processing of sheet materials, insulation, steel and timber.  All of the overheads and material costs have all shot up in price, rendering the original business model ineffective, and, at worst, unprofitable. The model was profitable five years ago but, the global material supply chain is so damaged that to continue on in the old "business as usual" fasion would be business suicide. Those in industry who import goods are hit hardest, since the shipping prices have skyrocketed and importing is more of a liability than the cost-saving exercise it was once deemed.

So, transitioning to a more sustainable, locally sourced cost-effective material (earth, straw, hemp and lime), combined with moving away from an energy-intensive factory to more traditional hand-built work on site is the most obvious solution. 

Even established businesses need to check-in on the state of the global economic situation at a regular basis and be prepared to pivot when time dictates this is necessary.

3)     Who else is doing it?

You may believe that you have stumbled across a unicorn idea! But, check carefully before you embark upon a "never been done before" idea. The liklehood is that someone has attempted your idea before and have failed.  What are the barriers to entry? Why might it not have worked in the past? Why isn't it already available? Could you really be the first?


The great indicators of an emerging business opportunity is that there are a few pioneers who have embarked upon this concept and have already made progress with early adopters.  The rise over the past four to five years has shown that there is a market for these products. Take, for example, the meat-free food industry.  The market is making headway. Another 12 months and the market may be too heavily saturated to be able to make entry. Striking it at the right time is key. When the market is being opened up by others, they are making room for you to step in and jump of the back of their entry point. You can ride on the waves of their breakthrough.



Good luck... and.... GO ROGUE!! You've got this.

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