- Original Poster
- #1
Background
I decided I want to set up a business around 7 - 8 years ago, I had a few different ideas but did not pursue them as I did not have the capital and have always been set on starting a company that requires low start up costs.
After a year or so, I decided I’m going to start a UX consultancy, focusing on helping businesses who are struggling with website conversions. Unfortunately, there a large number of business spending thousands every month on marketing by driving traffic to their website, but do not see the returns expected. The problem a lot of the time is that they are driving traffic to a website that is not user friendly.
So I spent the next 5 - 6 years studying UX and researching how other consultants complete their audits, also learning other important elements of business such as branding, marketing etc. During this time I found this to be a low competition niche with high profit margins and also found there is a common rigid auditing process that provides clients with a UX report with a list of disconnected flaws. I restructured our audit process to be more systematic and strategic. Our new methodology is based on in-house frameworks that we apply based on a website's specific condition.
Problem
Due to my lack of understanding in the early stages of my journey I set up 2 companies opened a business account, took a loan etc. At this stage I had a lot more work to do before these steps were required.
This resulted in one of the companies being struck off and the other company “in the red” with outstanding confirmation statements, no annual accounts submitted. I did not know about the “Dormant” status and had no access to funds to pay the incoming fines.
Why am I here
I’m at a point where I am ready to launch. I have an extremely low cost marketing plan that will allow us to simply “press a button” for more clients and have spent a long time systemising the process so audits can be completed efficiently without losing quality, allowing us to scale extremely quickly.
Based on my understanding of the competition and the huge need for this service, I am extremely confident the business will be successful, but my issue is where to start.
This is where I am currently
Any advice is welcome and if anyone has any platforms or channels to help, feel free to share
I decided I want to set up a business around 7 - 8 years ago, I had a few different ideas but did not pursue them as I did not have the capital and have always been set on starting a company that requires low start up costs.
After a year or so, I decided I’m going to start a UX consultancy, focusing on helping businesses who are struggling with website conversions. Unfortunately, there a large number of business spending thousands every month on marketing by driving traffic to their website, but do not see the returns expected. The problem a lot of the time is that they are driving traffic to a website that is not user friendly.
So I spent the next 5 - 6 years studying UX and researching how other consultants complete their audits, also learning other important elements of business such as branding, marketing etc. During this time I found this to be a low competition niche with high profit margins and also found there is a common rigid auditing process that provides clients with a UX report with a list of disconnected flaws. I restructured our audit process to be more systematic and strategic. Our new methodology is based on in-house frameworks that we apply based on a website's specific condition.
Problem
Due to my lack of understanding in the early stages of my journey I set up 2 companies opened a business account, took a loan etc. At this stage I had a lot more work to do before these steps were required.
This resulted in one of the companies being struck off and the other company “in the red” with outstanding confirmation statements, no annual accounts submitted. I did not know about the “Dormant” status and had no access to funds to pay the incoming fines.
Why am I here
I’m at a point where I am ready to launch. I have an extremely low cost marketing plan that will allow us to simply “press a button” for more clients and have spent a long time systemising the process so audits can be completed efficiently without losing quality, allowing us to scale extremely quickly.
Based on my understanding of the competition and the huge need for this service, I am extremely confident the business will be successful, but my issue is where to start.
This is where I am currently
- The business accounts look bad. If a potential client were to look up the company this is likely to put them off, as this can be seen as a major red flag.
- I have considered looking for an investor, but struggle to find, as I only need a very small amount of capital, maybe around 2k. I can access it from friends and family but they lack an understanding of the business concept, I gave up trying. Investor platforms are too robotic for me, I prefer a simpler way of connecting with an investor.
- A grant. Have not found a platform yet that is simple and straight forward that works for my situation. Also my company accounts and loan have provided friction during sign up.
- Get started with whatever I have to hand. If I could I would. But this is a high ticket service and if I were to do this I believe this would somewhat damage the company's credibility. Some may not care about this as it’s just the beginning, but I do.
- Get 1 client. If I could get one client the profit would cover what I need. But to get the client would require one of the above.
Any advice is welcome and if anyone has any platforms or channels to help, feel free to share
