Has anyone here started a business..

[Mitch3473]

in a sector they knew nothing about. Interested to see how many want or need background experience before they take up the reins against those who just see or find a gap in the market and go for it. More of a wing and a prayer attitude backed up by common sense and hard work.

 

[g]

Genuinely constructively intentioned...

Even a quick read through much of what's posted will likely suggest that many do stuff for which they lack appropriate knowledge/skill/experience... and also minus the common sense and hard work.

Of course, with an appropriate attitude, lack of knowledge/skill/experience needn't be terminal... but too many 'don't know what they don't know' and in not bothering about it hence struggle accordingly.

 

[GTL]

I have. A multi site retail business.

The business was a success, and though I am no longer involved in it, the key for me was taking a huge interest in what the customer wanted, keeping an eye on costs and having a genuine interest in the sector.

All that said, the real success for me was, if I am to be honest here, raising capital. I raised four million for the venture, which having no experience, was a great surprise. It was property based (only ever buying freeholds) which in those days (2006 - 2013) you could quite easily do through money raised via the enterprise investment scheme. Thus, effectively the investors were buying property at a discount.

I say this was the success, trading wise the business is profitable but because the business has yet to be sold (though I got out with a nice turn) and I am not sure whether investors will see an exit for some time.

Learnt loads. If I was to have had my time again, there would be things I would have done differently; possibly even focusing on the discount rather than premium end of the sector in which I operated. But we weren't to know that pre the 2007 crash!

In answer to your question, it can be done successfully however huge amounts of time need to be spent understanding the dynamics of the chosen sector - which include margins, costs, capex costs, trading/buying, consumer trends, marketing and customer expectation.

 

[alex360]

Hi it’s always good to have the knowledge of the industry ie if you want to start a dentist practice I know I going the extreme. If you the right attitude, you ready to learn, listen, work hard and have the hard day go for it

 

[MBE2017]

Yes I have done it, from necessity.

It never hurts to have knowledge and experience of the field you are working in, but a new starter can sometimes survive with a combination of hard work, luck and doing things differently. That said, most go out of business within a few years.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Yes, myself & business partner had an idea and ran with it, neither of us knowing anything about our industry. It's only at present a 1 day a week business but we started 18 months ago with a £400 investment between us and are on course to turn over around £45k in the next 12 months and have never lost money from day one.

That has relied on, I would say;

- Detail, detail and detail in the planning and particularly the costs. Yes I am a spreadsheet nerd! But accounting for every last penny of everything we do and working out different scenarios on sales, profit, break even points etc

- Quality; we set out to offer premium quality and never deviated from that. We could save an estimated £2000 - £2500 per year that would go straight in our back pockets by switching to a cheaper supplier for our main product but no other supplier has come close enough in terms of quality and we know that's what our customers value

- A little bit of luck here and there, no doubt!

- Treating our staff and friends/family that have helped us well, people want to help out and people want to come back and work for us and go above and beyond and we're really proud of that. Getting them early finishes and late starts where possible, the odd freebie, and of course a couple of hundred quid on a night out at Christmas have all paid dividends!

- Hard work, long hours, literally blood sweat & tears at times, and did I mention...hard work!


So it can be done. I suppose though for us, we knew nothing about what we were getting into but were happy to throw £400 and our time into it. If that initial investment was £4000 or £40,000 and I knew nothing about the business.....maybe I'd think a bit more carefully!

 

[alex360]

Yes, myself & business partner had an idea and ran with it, neither of us knowing anything about our industry. It's only at present a 1 day a week business but we started 18 months ago with a £400 investment between us and are on course to turn over around £45k in the next 12 months and have never lost money from day one.

That has relied on, I would say;

- Detail, detail and detail in the planning and particularly the costs. Yes I am a spreadsheet nerd! But accounting for every last penny of everything we do and working out different scenarios on sales, profit, break even points etc

- Quality; we set out to offer premium quality and never deviated from that. We could save an estimated £2000 - £2500 per year that would go straight in our back pockets by switching to a cheaper supplier for our main product but no other supplier has come close enough in terms of quality and we know that's what our customers value

- A little bit of luck here and there, no doubt!

- Treating our staff and friends/family that have helped us well, people want to help out and people want to come back and work for us and go above and beyond and we're really proud of that. Getting them early finishes and late starts where possible, the odd freebie, and of course a couple of hundred quid on a night out at Christmas have all paid dividends!

- Hard work, long hours, literally blood sweat & tears at times, and did I mention...hard work!


So it can be done. I suppose though for us, we knew nothing about what we were getting into but were happy to throw £400 and our time into it. If that initial investment was £4000 or £40,000 and I knew nothing about the business.....maybe I'd think a bit more carefully!

Well done, think turnover is good number to look at but profit is what will make or brake your business. Not knowing about the industry you are going to can make a more difficult and lengthy process.

 

[LiveNetworks Ltd]

Turnover for vanity, profit for sanity!

 

[jdebbage]

I wouldn't say it is something I knew nothing about but I have started with relatively little experience. The difficulties I seem to be having are more generally business related than recruitment related.