In the last 12 months, many people have had the chance to reassess their lives. Some have had to due to necessity as they watched the business or industry they worked in disappear in the face of unprecedented circumstances. Others have had the fragility of their careers working for others thrown into sharp focus and have not liked what they have seen – and as a result, have decided to take matters into their own hands and start up on their own.

This would be seen by many as brave and as foolish by many others. However, if you are to give yourself the best chance possible of still being in business in 12 months, there are a few boxes you need to tick.

#1 Weigh up the competition

Whatever your business, the chances are you are not the only one doing it. So, the first thing you need to do is find out what your competition does and how much they charge. This will give you an idea of what you need to do to beat them and what your prospective margin is likely to be.

You’ll see what you can do on quality and service and what parts to steer clear of because the competition is better than you. For instance, you want to do mobile phone repairs, and you know you’ll be able to give better service on Android repairs, but you can’t compete on iPhone work, so you just concentrate on taking all of the Android business.

#2 Get funding if you need it

Of course, you can start in your spare room, but if this is now your sole source of income, you’ll have bills to pay. You might need to source some start-up capital to get the ball rolling. In the current circumstances, you might find conventional lenders to be reluctant to part with funds, so you may need to seek out a specialist lender who understands your business model and the potential it has.

To do this, you’ll need to put together a business plan detailing all of your setup costs, your potential earnings, and the point in the future where you project your business to be profitable. This is where the data you put together weighing up the competition will be very useful indeed.

#3 Find the right IT solution

Regardless of what business you are going into, you will need to look at your IT infrastructure. It might seem daunting, but every business right now is data-driven. Whether it is the files you need to perform a service for your customers or the data about your customers and how to contact them – your business would be in a sorry state if it all went away.

You could back up your files on a thumb drive each week, but it would be better to let somebody take care of your data for you. An IT solution from a reputable company like VTech Support, Inc will ensure all of the data is kept safe. Outsourcing this type of vital function to experts can save you a lot of headaches, and the service will expand as your business does, which can save you money in the long run.