Words: Emily Woods

Ever dreamt of running your own company? Of working for yourself and being your own boss, doing a job that you love? Well, having done this myself with Emily Louise Accessories, I would like to share with you my four key principles to starting up and running your very own business. 

1. Getting a good idea

First things first: if you want to be a budding young entrepreneur, you need to have a good business idea. It doesn't have to be a completely ingenious concept — just something that will actually work as a business and make money. To do this, you need to firstly examine your own skills and see how you can use them to create something that will generate income. Secondly, you need to assess those companies that run on a similar concept, and find a gap in the market — something that will make you stand out from the rest of your competitors. All you need really is some common sense and a perceptive eye. 

{mosgoogle left} 2. Starting up
Once you've decided on the idea for your business, it's time get started. But before you do anything, you need to research, research, research! Look at similar companies and study how they do things. Read up on applicable business laws and what you'll need to do about taxes. Work out how much money and time you'll need to invest in order to start up. When you've got those basic things down, you can then proceed into actually practically starting up your business — getting funds, buying necessary materials, generating a company name and design, and so on. 

3. Working at it
One of the best aspects of running a business is being your own boss and working on your own flexible schedule. Unfortunately though, this does mean that you will have to put in countless hours of your very own unpaid time and effort. You'll need to keep yourself motivated and disciplined when you're not earning a single penny for it. But remember — if your business works out, it will be so worth it. 

4. Managing your business
If everything goes to plan and you end up raking in profit, then you are definitely on the path to success. But good businesses don't just run themselves; you are going to have to continue to work and work at it. After all, if you don't work, you don't get paid. So get your company out there — advertise, use word of mouth, arrange offers, and so on. Also, be disciplined and organised — manage your orders and finances well, plan working schedules, and use your time wisely. Make sure you are living off the profit you make, as opposed to just the income you get, or you will end up in trouble. And most importantly, enjoy it! Get excited about it — even on those days when you don't feel so motivated. So if you fancy trying your hand at being an entrepreneur, why not have a go? It could be the start of an incredible new career!

Follow this link to read the new issue of STREETBRAND magazine. You can also check out Emily Wood's business by following this link.

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written by Jordan, December 06, 2007

This is really useful to know. I checked out your site Emily - nice one.

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