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Getting going
Be inspired - things you could do
- Read Inspiring stories - how some successful entrepreneurs got started.
- Keep up with the local news and new local business development to help you identify a gap.
- Read appropriate topics from Business Link's start-up guide.
- Look at Start up Britain for inspiration and business ideas.
- Consider looking at existing businesses for sale. It may not be a low-cost method of going it alone but the advantages are that the business will already be trading and there will be a record of how it's performing so you can assess whether you could improve things. Get tips on negotiating when buying a businessand advice from startups about buying a business.
- Have confidence in yourself but, if you're worried about yours maths, IT or writing skills and you need to development good time management - go to our Personal Planning Pack and download all the info sheets you need in one go.
Does your idea have potential?
Work on your business idea using Business Link's advice about starting a business when economic conditions are toughThere's advice there about what you can do including identifying potential customers/clients, looking at competition, canvassing the opinion of friends and keeping your eye on potential competitors' activities.
Do a 
SWOT analysis - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - to evaluate your idea.
Mentoring and training
For local mentoring advice go to the new National Web Portal - www.mentorsme.co.uk - which helps people starting and growing a business, or thinking about doing so.
Interested in setting up a Social Enterprise? The West Sussex Social Enterprise Network website has useful information sheets and details of local training events.
Forming your organisation
Use the start-up checklist to make sure you cover the basics from market research to deciding what sort of business structure you want, opening a bank account and dealing with the practicalities of setting up an office.
The high street bank offer guidance if you look around their websites. For example there's the Lloyds start-up guide.
Need to brush up your maths, IT or English?
- Brush up your writing skills
- a must for communicating with customers, the bank etc. - Develop your maths and numeracy skills - you'll need to keep track of finance.
- Development your time management skills - essential when you're juggling deadlines.
- Develop your ICT skills - have an online presence and access to things like spreadsheets, email and document templates.
