Self-made millionaire Dave Fishwick shares his advice for budding entrepreneurs
A bit like planting a tree, the best time to start a business is 10 years ago.
If you planted a tree 10 years ago, you could be sat in the shade. If you started a business ten years ago, you could be benefiting from it.
The second best time to plant a tree is right now, and the same with a business.
When people say, why now? I say – why not now?
Decide what you love doing. It could be fashion, hairdressing, knitting, writing. You want to be doing something you’d do if you didn’t need the money.
Once you’ve decided what you want to do, this is my advice for making it a success.
Do your research
Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. If you want to open a little pub, cafe or shop, for example, you need to look at the best one in your area.
Get a part time job in the place that has the longest line outside. Once you’re inside, see what sells best, what time of day they sell the most and what decor they have.
What entertainment do they have? What nights are the busiest and what works? Some people spend a fortune learning this.
Check out the competition, make sure you know what they’re doing and borrow their ideas.
If you’re thinking about a mobile hairdressers, for example, ring a few up and see who can fit you in.
The one that can’t fit you in for a while is probably the busiest and doing something different. Have a look and see how they’re running their business.
Get free help where you live
There will be an economic development officer in every local area, and there are 38 growth hubs in the UK. Take advantage of them.
Local growth hubs are public and private sector partnerships which give free help to aspiring business owners.
They can help you start a business, register, come up with a business plan and give you advice on grants.
In my local hub in Pendle, we’ve got a grant of over £100,000 for people looking to start a manufacturing business. These sort of things are available all over the country.
Growth hubs should be the very first phone call you make, because they’ll help you get going.
If you receive universal credit, you might be able to get a 12 month ‘start up period’ if you’re self-employed, and there are specific grants available to those registered disabled.
Think big when it comes to marketing
Think big and then think bigger when it comes to marketing. I helped a local cafe, close to Pendle Hill near Burnley, called Sandwiches get started.
I looked at what was interesting in the surrounding area, and we devised a connection to the Witches on Pendle Hill.
We came up with something called the Malkin Pie and it has become so popular it is now stocked in local supermarkets.
Giant sausage roll? Dave advocates being creative when it comes to your marketing
If you made sausage rolls, you could put 10 together and suddenly you’ve got the largest sausage roll in the country. The local paper and TV will be interested because you’ve created a story around it.
Use traditional and social media, but make sure you go fishing where the fish are. If you’re going to do catering or hiring hats, think about where people are going to go.
Go to a wedding fair and put yourself in front of people who actually want them.
Someone who borrowed from the Bank of Dave makes big wooden jigsaws, but thought the days of people wanting them had passed. I told him to go to specific craft fairs, and now he goes there and sells out every time.
It’s important to have a website, but don’t forget the traditional way of doing things.
Have a cash buffer
It’s very difficult to start with nothing.
Before you kick the sticks away, make sure you have an amount of money saved just in case something goes wrong.
Think about putting away a little buffer that will keep you going for six to eight weeks.
I had part time jobs when I started out. I worked in night clubs as a DJ, I worked 3-5am on the markets and through the day I was selling cars. Jobs like that pay for you to be able to eat. It’s tough when you start working for yourself.
Create a relationship with your suppliers
Whoever is supplying you will probably want to give you a pro-forma invoice, which means they will want you to pay upfront.
If you have a really good relationship they will let you have maybe 30 to 60 days credit, which could be a lifesaver.
Always ask for free delivery, too.
Hone your communication skills
The most important of all of these is communication, wherever you are in your business journey.
If you can improve your communication skills you will improve your net worth by a minimum of 50 per cent.
Practise makes perfect: Dave says gaining confidence with public speaking is a good idea
It’s important to learn how to haggle and do deals. I’d advise taking a Dale Carnegie business training course as a start, and make sure you practise public speaking.
I speak in front of thousands now, and often go on TV, but I didn’t do it straight away. I did it slowly and surely.
So get in front of your friends and family and speak for 10 minutes on something you’re passionate about.
By the end of it, I promise you will start to feel less nervous.
Don’t bet the castle
I’ve never had a company go bust, but I have met people who’ve had problems. What I say to people is never bet the castle.
Throw the kitchen sink at it, but if you get to the point where it’s going to cost you your home or something you can’t afford to lose, stop at that point.
Don’t see it as a failure, see it as something you’ve learned from and next time you won’t make the same mistake.
Lots of people don’t get it right the first time.
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