A few people have asked how to start your own company, so I've shared a few of my tips below:
Preparation
To hit the ground running, you can do the following before officially trading:
- Read "Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer" (see Amazon)
- Choose a company name
- Purchase domain names (see Hover)
- Setup email (see G Suite)
- Setup social media accounts (see Buffer)
- Design a logo (see SquareSpace or Wix)
- Design and print business cards (see print.com)
- Build email signature
- Build website (see Hand Coded Studio!)
- Sign contract with Accountant
- Setup 'Limited Company' with Accountant
- Arrange business insurance (see AXA)
- Set up business bank account (see Metro Bank)
- Record your "pre-trading" expenses
Operational costs
I've also provided an indication of costs below.
- Setup company (see gov.uk) = £100
- "0208" phone number (see Yay) = £4 p/m
- G Suite (see G Suite) = £5 p/m
- Mac Mini (see Hoxton Macs) = £600
- 2 screens (see Insight) = £240
- Business insurance (see AXA) = £10 p/m
- Accounting software (see Xero) = £15 p/m
- Accountant = £80 p/m