As we have now exited the UK’s worst recession for many, many years, there are some people that have decided to make the most of this new era. They have decided, for one reason or another, that now is the time to start their own business. This may be you and you may have harboured thoughts of starting out on this road for years.
You will, of course, know exactly what type of venture you will start, this is step one. Step number two on this path is to sit down and cost out exactly how much, or how little, you will make in your first few years.
Business planning software is available, free, from most UK banks. This is where you put all of your figures and projections, at the end you press the button and see what your first years profit is likely to be.
But, most of the information you put into this is guess work, it cannot be anything else. You do need to be as precise as possible though. One of the items on your long list will be business insurance.
It is difficult to estimate exactly what your business insurance cost will be in the first year. You can, though, get a very good idea from speaking to an independent business insurance broker. Of course, you need to give them certain information, some of it will be thrown up by the rest of your business plan, such as turnover, wage roll and gross profit.
The brokers job is to take all of this information and to provide you with a written quote. If your business does not yet exist, then any quote is only likely to be an indication. You will though be able to stick the monthly costs into your plan with some confidence that they are going to be within 10 or 15% of the actual, final cost when you start. Good luck!