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  3. How to Start a Business As the worst global downturn since the second world war forces UK companies to cut down the staff at

How to Start a Business As the worst global downturn since the second world war forces UK companies to cut down the staff at

admin2013-04-08  135
问题                     How to Start a Business
    As the worst global downturn since the second world war forces UK companies to cut down the staff at a record pace, more and more Britons are thinking about starting their own business.
    Striking out on your own in such times might seem risky but if you’ve been sitting on a great business idea, being made redundant (被解雇的) could provide you with the starting point you need. In a downturn, competition declines and office space, stock and advertising become cheaper. It will encourage you to barter and teach you how to run a business on a budget. Downturns often encourage creativity as well—Apple, Microsoft and Facebook were all recession startups.
    Ray Gaines, entrepreneur and author of Start Your Own Business, says that if someone sets up a business now, it would take about six months to get it up and running, by which time Britain is expected to have climbed out of recession and consumers should have a new-found confidence.
    Setting up on your own will by no means be easy, but the tips below should help get you thinking about the steps and potential problems you may face.
1. Making a business plan
    If you decide to take the plunge to go it alone, the first thing you must do is to draw up a realistic business plan—this is a working document that describes the business, its objectives, its strategies, the market it is in and its financial forecasts. A bank would not consider lending money to help start a business unless you could show it a detailed business plan.
    A template (模板) for a business plan can be found on the government’s Business Link website. It also contains information about local workshops which offer guidance on writing business plans.
    A good business plan should be at least half a dozen pages long and must be well presented in a binder. "Good presentation goes a long way and says a lot about you." says Gaines.
2. Getting access to finance
    Once you have a detailed business plan and enough evidence to believe that your idea is viable (可行的)， it is time to go and see the bank manager. Unless you have sufficient funds or family or friends who are willing and able to financially support your business, you will most likely need to obtain a business loan from a bank.
    It is important to shop around to find which bank offers the best deal and who you feel most comfortable with. "The important thing is that they give you the support you need and that you get on with them. Make sure what you’re getting is right for you and your business," says Sear.
    You must also expect that, in these straitened (贫困的) times, some bank managers will turn you down or offer you less money, but Gaines urges you to not be deterred. "I was turned down by what was then Midland Bank for my printing business and was told by the manager that it was unlikely to get off the ground. The business has just celebrated its 14th successful year of trading," he says.
    As well as a loan, banks can offer a facility. This is an amount of money reserved for you that you can draw from when you need it. It is effectively a form of a loan but you do not necessarily use it in one go. If you use a facility, you only pay interest on the money you have actually used.
    A number of organizations such as the Prince’s Trust, and government-backed schemes including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, offer grants and loans to people who want to start a business.
3. Developing a survival strategy
    You must make sure you are running your business correctly and abiding by the law. Phil McCabe, a spokesman for the Forum of Private Business (FPB), says： "One of the biggest stumbling blocks to people starting a business can be understanding all the legislation. That can be tax, employment, trade, health and safety or environment—related to name but a few, and it can be quite confusing if you’ve never run your own business."
    Your bank manager, accountant and HM Revenue & Customs can help you in regards to your finances and taxes while organizations such as the FPB, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Business Link can give you advice on all aspects of running a business.
    It is important to keep things simple and not to get carried away with your plans before you know they are going to work. During the startup phase, it can be easy to make over-optimistic forecasts, but there can be serious consequences for your business if your projections are not realistic.
4. Getting yourself noticed
    In order to make your business a success, you must ensure that consumers know it exists.
    Choosing how to advertise your company depends on what type of business it is. For example, if you are running a local plumbing company then delivering leaflets in your area would be the best option.
    Gaines recommends using a company that delivers between 5 000 and 10 000 leaflets in one go. "A man who runs a carpet business delivered 10 000 leaflets a year ago and is still receiving calls from that drop. Leaflets sit on shelves for a long time."
    Newspaper advertising is also a good option for local businesses. It may be worth considering running a series of adverts as opposed to a one-off, because people will notice it more.
    Larger businesses such as manufacturing companies would benefit more from using brochures as opposed to leaflets. The shelf life of a brochure is generally reckoned to be about two years.
    If you are advertising your business through a website you must make sure it appears on a search engine, which can be achieved through the use of Google Ad Words. This places relevant ads on the right-hand side of the search results pages.
5. Sizing up the competition
    To ensure you attract customers, you must offer something different to your competitors. Visit similar businesses in your town, gather as much knowledge as you can about them and try to price competitively. Traveling farther a field to look at similar businesses could also be a smart move—they won’t view you as a direct competitor and will therefore be likelier to share information with you. Copy the things they do well—but try to be alert to their errors, too.
If you want to run a local plumbing company, a good way to advertise for your company is to
选项
答案deliver leaflets in your area
解析 细节辨认题。由定位句可知，如果你在当地开了一个管道公司，散发传单是最好的广告方式。空格前为不定式符号to，所以空格处填入deliver leaflets in yourarea。
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