Starting a business is a three-stage affair.
- The first step is deciding that you are going to start a business
- The second stage is deciding what you'll be doing
- The third stage is actually launching the business.
Making the choice to forge your own path, create your own source of income and become your own boss is exciting and scary in equal parts. It's for this reason that people tend to get stuck on the first stage. They've decided that they're going to start a business and they have at least a general idea of what it is they'll be doing or offering their customers, but they keep pushing the actual ‘start date' further and further back.
‘Next week' becomes ‘next month' becomes ‘next quarter'. Eventually they settle on ‘January, in the new year.' It's easy to see why, what with it being the turning of a new leaf – But you're doing yourself a disservice.
1. There's no better time than ‘now'
2. January might rank as one of the worst possible times to go ahead with your business plan.
Here's why.
Competition is at an all-time high.
Once upon a time you needed thousands in business capital, some kind of headquarters and perhaps even investors before you could even think about starting a business. These days you can potentially start with a £200 laptop and an internet connection.
It's never been easier to start a business – But this goes for everybody, not just you.
No matter what service or product you'll be offering, be it carpet cleaning in your local city, freelance writing or hospitality recruitment, there are bound to be people with the exact same business model in your local area aiming to start in the new year.
You and all your competitors are currently poised and ready to go at the start line – Why not start running now, while they're still waiting for the starting gun in January?
You already have momentum
Remember how starting a business is a three-stage process?
If you're already at stage one then you have some momentum, especially if you've only recently decided to go ahead. Not only are ideas still relatively fresh in your mind, but you've not yet found ways to talk yourself out of it.
Give it enough time and that voice in your head will start finding clever ways to sabotage you.
- ‘This business model is too saturated.'
- ‘I don't know enough to start.'
- ‘It's too risky.'
Starting now means striking while the iron is hot – Starting in January means striking while the iron is nearly cold, and the possibility of being your own boss has gone from exciting to frightening.
You're giving yourself breathing room
Starting a business is simple, but not easy.
There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, so it's possible that something might slip under your radar and rear its head further down the line.
Nothing is worse than getting excited about something and then being told ‘no'. It's the kind of rare disappointment you only find in flights being cancelled the week before a holiday, a friend rearranging plans at the last possible second – and learning that have to put your business on pause after you've been hyping yourself up for the last X months.
Launching your website at this crucial early stage also helps - It can take Google 2 weeks (Possibly even longer) to fully index a website so it's visible in searches. The sooner you establish your online presence, the better prepared you are for launch day and the further ahead of the curve you are.
Starting your business sooner rather than later means you have extra breathing room to sort out hiccups, bureaucracy and possible oversights – Before competition is at an all-time high in January.
You leave yourself more open to opportunities
There's a strong chance you were directly (or indirectly) inspired to go ahead with a particular business model or service by somebody in your life, be they a friend, a family member or somebody you met online.
…People who might be open to mentoring you, partnering up or forwarding you opportunities they're too busy to take.
Deciding to start a business in January is having your eyes fixed on the horizon, instead of what's under your own two feet. There could be opportunities right under your nose!
Have you been waiting on a sign? Here it is.
Are you set on starting your business in January?
DotGO are here to help you do it now.
Even if you've not yet launched a business, having your website set up and ready to means you've ticked a vital box early on and potentially have a backlog of clients on day one.
Whether you're still considering your options or already have the final details sorted out, the DotGO team can help you establish your online presence, showcase your services, convince your target customers to get in touch and get you found on Google – All in a single hassle-free package.
Learn more about how you can catapult your business online
We believe there is a place for good-old-fashioned customer service on the Internet. It's in our DNA. Our different approach has made a big impression on our customers and a huge difference to their businesses.
Swipe to see reviews
Highly recommend DotGo Design because their quality of work and attention to detail is second to no one. I am delighted with my new Website and already welcoming new clients ever since it went live. While working with them, you will find that they are very helpful and prompt in responding to all of your needs Thank you once again.
Cannot recommend them enough. Really patient and friendly. Their expertise really shows.
I called DotGO after calling other Website builders, and I have to say DotGO were by far the best from the moment I called and spoke to Josh, he explained the finances and the process, very polite and was happy to listen to me as I was clueless to the process, he talked me through the financial side so I was clear about the commitment I was making. He then forwarded me to the Website builder Faith who was brilliant, always supportive and listened to what I wanted, I then had a call with the content writer which was very informative, thank you Martin, and I now have a great website. All calls were on time, talked me though the process and felt supported all the way and still do for the future. I am not very great with IT and feel that they actually care about me getting things right and taking my time, the support staff are available to answer questions and offer ongoing support when ever required and I am sure they will be just as good, I am sure I will be calling them. The Website is great and looks very professional, Thank you all at DotGO.
I had the great pleasure of working with DotGo to build my author's website. I am so glad I came across them on Google while searching for website designers. These guys are incredible. The professionalism they exhibit is second to none. During the build process of my website, I had the pleasure of working alongside Faith. What a lovely young lady she is. She was very professional throughout the build; nothing was too much trouble. I cannot fault her work. And trust me when I say this: I am a very hard person to please. Many thanks, faith, and many thanks to the rest of the team at DotGo who still continue to support me.
We can not recommend DotGO enough! Luke and the team have made our website creating journey a well informed fun experience from start to finish. Customer service is so attentive, intelligent and polite. We are thrilled with the finished product. We are already recommending to our friends who will be using DotGo in the future for their projects.
We received excellent service throughout our website build and extremely pleased with the outcome. Would definitely recommend.
There when you need them no problem ??
The team at dotgo were absolutely fantastic. They all took time from Josh at sales, right the way through to the director to understand my situation, and the website that I required. Faith was truly amazing, inserting and removing sections even though they were not discussed about at the beginning she is a fantastic individual to have work for the company. Martin took time to understand my profession, and created content that explained it better than myself. This fantastic team could only be like this as a result of really wanting to do well for their customers and not simply being in the business to make money. I look forward to working with them in the future, and wanted to say a huge thank you to all the team at dotgo.
