Seven top tips for starting a new UK business in 2025

Are you dreaming of starting your brand-new business in 2025? Perhaps you are thinking of taking your side hustle to the next level? We get it, starting a new business is both exciting and overwhelming at the same time!

Our team of business accountants work with new UK start-ups every day, and it’s one of the most enjoyable things we do. We know that if a new business owner can start with the right mindset and level of planning, the business can thrive from the moment they start trading.

So, here are our not-so-secret seven top tips for you to help your new business take flight.

1. It all starts with a plan

Planning is essential. We see so many new businesses owners make a key mistake right at the start because they do not have a financial plan. You don’t need to create an in-depth or complex plan, but you do need to think about :

How will I fund my new business?
What are the tax implications of my business, and how might it impact on my home finances?
How long can I last before getting paid?
What happens if it takes a while to get my first customers?
What happens if my customers do not pay me on time?
What is my business ‘model’ ? Does it work?

And the one many owners forget:

How much cash do I currently have to survive on personally?

If you are not sure how to work out the figures, check out our cashflow blog, This includes a downloadable, (very) simple spreadsheet that you can use to help you plan your business finances.

As a side note, there is often the presumption that your business will need to run at a loss for years. This is not the case. While it’s ok to make a loss in business, do not let this myth make you content with running at a loss!

2. Know what you are offering

Make you really know your product or service inside out before you start. You need to clearly understand:

What you are selling
How to price your products or services
The benefits of your offering to the customer/client

The importance of sharing benefits can be overlooked by business owners. It’s about benefits, not features. Imagine one big red button on a webpage rather than six smaller ones. The feature is the button, the benefit is its ease of use.

You need to be able to talk about the following, preferably in under a minute for your next networking meeting, or cocktail party!

What you do, in a short statement (aka your elevator pitch)
Answer the question “How much does it cost, and exactly what will I get?”
Have a strong reason/s as to “Why does the market need my product?”
Explain what is different about you what you offer (aka your USP – Unique Selling Point)

We ask many of our new business owners these exact questions, and we’re always a little taken aback with the lack of clarity in their answers. This lack of clarity will be a major problem when you are trying to find and communicate your value to potential customers/clients, or potential investors. Often businesses fail in the “Dragon’s Den” because they just can’t explain why anyone might want what they offer!

3. Have a plan on how you will get customers

Many business start-ups believe it is really easy to get customers or clients. It isn’t , at least, not without some serious effort. You need to work out you are going to reach out to the customers you need.

So, let’s bust a couple of myths about getting new customers:

The internet is not (usually) an instant magic wand for gaining customers, although it should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
Having a new shiny website does not mean people will miraculously do business with you in the next 30 days. (If only!) Indeed, a new website may take up to six months to attract Google’s attention, gain its respect, and get ranked.
Networking events help you connect with other businesses, which is a very good thing in the long run. However, attending a few events won’t magically generate customers/clients in a short time frame. (But it will help.)

All of the above can and do work, but they take a lot of time and effort. If you don’t have a solid financial plan, time can quickly be a key issue. You can be in danger of running out of cash whilst you wait for customers and new clients to sign up or part with their money.

So, you need to factor in spending time as well as money on your marketing. Having a firm idea of what you will do with your marketing and sales is very important. Achieving that balance of growing your business and actually operating it will be a constant challenge.

However, if you have a fairly decent length of time working in a given sector, and your new business is in this area, the connections you have made during that time can speed up how quickly you gain customers and clients!

4. Decide what you are going to trade ‘as’

There are a few options for your ‘business structures’. For most businesses, it usually comes down to a choice between setting up as:

a limited company

a sole trader

Not sure which is right for you?

Start with our blog on why you should set up a limited company (or not).
Check out our beginner’s guide on how to set up a Limited Company from scratch.

Whatever way you choose, there will be tax paperwork that will need to be completed. For more on the practical details (like making sure you can get paid and how to do it!), check out our useful articles here on our website:

5. Combining consistency and action is key

Whether it’s financial planning or your marketing efforts, the consistency of repeating these key tasks over time is critical to business success. We see these ‘fails’ all too often:

Being amazing at planning finances at the early stage, but then hardly looking at anything other than your bank balance after that.
Being all over social media for a month, not getting much engagement, and then petering away.
Not following up with that prospect you spoke to last week. Big mistake. Huge.
Not concentrating on service and communication – clients need to know that you’re listening and helping.

Many people say they are going to start a new business. However, they never put in the consistent actions required to turn their dream into business reality.

There’s no easy way of saying this.

Show up, do the boring stuff consistently, and you will have more success.

6. Feel free to break up the Lego

Building a business is like building Lego.

Sometimes you might not construct it properly and it needs rebuilding.
Sometimes it just needs a little tidying up as you didn’t love the end result.
Sometimes the foundations are shaky, and you have to demolish most of it.

It’s almost inevitable that things are going to go wrong, and many assumptions you have made will turn out not to be right. Rebuilding, changing direction and constant tweaking are all part of the business journey .Get over the losses quickly and go at it again.

From our experience working with thousands of businesses over the years, we know that launching, learning, and tweaking is better than waiting until your offering is ‘perfect’.

7. Prepare for the strain

Finally, some words on resilience. Being in business is tough and often lonely.

So, take time to find business communities and groups that can support you, that you can bounce ideas off, or freely discuss challenging times and setbacks, These groups can also be your biggest cheerleaders and a great place to celebrate your wins. For your business to thrive and grow, you need to be cope with the journey! Good luck!

Help is at hand

For further help with starting up a business, subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video content. We’ve also built up an extensive article library here at our website – feel free to browse around. If you prefer listening to podcasts, great, we have one of these as well right here.

For in-person help sorting out your business structure and planning your finances, just get in touch with the team. Our paid for 1 hour, 1-2-1 consultation is ideal if you have a shedload of straightforward questions. You don’t have to become a client, so it’s an easy and hassle-free way to get the help you need, when you need it.