The vast majority of British businesses are micro-businesses, with ten members of staff or fewer. If you have a great idea and want to start your own business, there are plenty of reasons to do it.
Who knows? Next year you could even be up for the Micro Business Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
Follow your passion
You get to wake up every day and do something you love. Although there are bound to be a few frustrations along the way, your natural passion will make getting out of bed much easier, and you'll be driven to promote yourself too.
Wave goodbye to the commute
Most micro-business entrepreneurs start at their kitchen table. When you're the only member of staff there's no need for office space, so you can roll out of bed and get straight to work.
Learn new skills
When you're the only member of the team you'll need to wear a lot of hats. You'll need to master marketing to promote your business, sales to encourage suppliers to work with you, and accounting to get your tax return filled in properly.
You make the rules
If it's just you making the decisions, your only obligation is to your clients. As long as you deliver on time, the rest is up to you. If you want to spend more time with your kids you can adjust your schedule to fit around them. If a project looks like it's going to be too much work for the reward, you can turn it down.
You can do it on the side (at first)
You can start your business during evenings and weekends without losing the financial security of your day job. Almost a quarter of the entrepreneurs we spoke to built up their client list while they were still working for someone else. Note that some companies do ask staff to disclose second jobs, so check the terms of your contract and speak to your boss first.
Running a business is hard work, but we're here to help you at every step of the way. Visit our Business Guardian Angel site for more business tips and advice.
