More than 500,000 people start their own business every year in the UK and this number is set to increase as more and more people face uncertainty over their futures. 95% of the 4.8 million small businesses in the UK employ less than 5 people and collectively they account for 59% of the UK private sector workforce and 50% of UK turnover – wow!

There are numerous reasons why people strike out on their own, some identify opportunities in the sector in which they already work, whilst others consider their own enterprise because of redundancy or unemployment. Taking control of personal destiny and working flexibility because of family commitments are also common reasons.

Opportunities rarely come along at the ideal time. In my own case my wife had just given birth to our first child and I was recovering from a knee op back in 1995 when I set up my first company Spire Telecom….at least being laid up and unable to change nappies or help around the house gave me time to write the business plan!

Spire was born out of a desire for a better lifestyle, perhaps fuelled by the arrival of our son, and the business became successful because we spotted and plugged a gap in the telecoms market. The UK was in recession and customers were nervous about entrusting such a vital part of their business to a start-up, but we managed to grow the business and get beyond the critical first year – 30% of all small businesses fail in year one.

If 30% fail in the first year, then 70% survive and most go on to prosper because 90% of all new ventures survive if they make it to 3 years – believe me when I tell you that those first 3 years fly by when you’re working for yourself!

So even though we’re emerging from the worst economic crisis in our history and the risk averse banks are stubbornly refusing to lend to businesses, the odds still rest in favour of the new business venture – well at least most of the time.

By the way, reluctant banks are nothing new. When I was starting out, mine refused me what I thought I needed, so I focussed on managing the cash by taking deposits and prompt payment on completion of the job. More about this in the coming weeks, but every time I see that (now retired) banker he’s quick to take credit for the success of Spire!

I talk to lots of people who are thinking of going it alone and my advice used to be ‘go for it, what’s the worst that can happen, you can always get a job if it doesn’t work out’. I have actually said this to a number of people who now run prominent businesses, but as I’ve matured (a bit) and the world has changed (a lot) I now realise that this philosophy is occasionally flawed – especially if you have put everything on the line!

In the coming weeks we’ll talk about developing a proposition, differentiation, business plans (and survival plans!), financing your venture and anything else that you think is important in running your own business – so please leave a comment if you would like to make a point or ask a question.