Business startup costs calculator

There is a certain amount of legal and formal administration that is required when you are setting up a business. It is important that this is done properly and you may need to pay a professional to carry out some of these duties. For example, registering a trademark can be a complex process and is best navigated by a trained legal professional. Partnership agreements and contracts may also need to be reviewed by lawyers. You’ll also likely need the help of an accountant to support you with your financial reporting and tax returns. 

When you are starting a new business, it is essential that you have the appropriate insurance policies set up in case something goes wrong. This will ensure that you can cover costs and are not personally liable should the worst happen. Each business has its own specific insurance costs but some aspects that you should think about include:

• Employer’s liability insurance – if you employ anybody, you must have employer’s liability insurance which is in place to protect companies against employee claims for physical damage or injuries. Without employer’s liability insurance, a business runs the risk of being fined up to £2,500 per day.
• Professional indemnity insurance – this insurance is in place to cover the business if a claim is made by a customer about a mistake that has been made at work – such as a copyright infringement or the breaching of a confidentiality agreement.
• Product and public liability insurance – this covers your business should something happen to one of your customers that is your fault. Product liability insurance refers to any damage or accident that is caused by one of your products, and public liability insurance refers to any accidents that occur to customers on your business’s premises.
• Building and contents insurance – regardless of whether you rent or own your business premises, you must have building and contents insurance to protect your premises and their contents.

The cost of your business’s premises is more than just the rent or mortgage that you are paying regularly. You should also include service charges and management fees, utility bills (gas, electric, water), and the connection of utilities, for example.

In this category, you should also add in the cost of fitting out the premises so that it is suitable for your business in the first place if required.

The issue of who is going to carry out your work is an important thing to think about as the costs of employing staff can be prohibitive. Some small businesses start off without employing anybody else and employ as they grow, whereas others begin with a small group of staff. Depending on the business, you should think about how many people you want to employ (if any) and in what nature. Some of your options include employing full-time staff, employing part-time staff, or contracting a freelancer when you need them.

If you are looking to recruit, you should also think about the costs that are involved in recruitment – costs such as recruitment agency fees, job advertising fees, and the time that it will take to interview someone and recruit yourself.

Before you start to work, there will likely be an amount of office equipment that you need to get started. This equipment will need to be sourced and comprises of items such as:

• Accounting system
• Computers/laptops
• Computer chairs and ergonomic desks/tables
• Data storage and back-up
• First aid kit
• Internet connection
• Power cables or extension cords
• Signage
• Stationary
• Telephone

It is essential that when you start a new business, you make your potential customers aware that you exist. Depending on the kind of business that you have, there are several different sales and marketing strategies that you can think about.

For many businesses that are starting out, a very effective marketing strategy is the use of cheap digital marketing channels. Digital marketing gives you a lot more flexibility over budget than more traditional, offline marketing.

It is essential that you design, create, and maintain a good website as this is the face of your business, and it is recommended that you maintain a good social media presence. You might wish to hire a website designer to help you to do this. You might also wish to hire a social media professional who can help you to maximise your social media presence and engagement with the public.

You should also work on making yourself easily found online. This is known as SEO (search engine optimisation) and involves ensuring that your business is easily found on search engines. SEO specialists can help you with this.

All businesses need an amount of money to start. You might have applied for a business loan or credit, so it is important to factor in these repayments for when your business begins to make money.

All businesses need an amount of money to start and it’s unlikely you’ll be able to access a business startup grant. You might have applied for a business loan or credit, so it is important to factor in these repayments for when your business begins to make money.

There is a certain amount of administration that needs to be done when you are running any kind of business. This is best done using software – for ease, consistency, and time-saving. Some of the software that you should consider getting includes:

• Small business accounting software
• Website hosting
• Email accounts
• Payment gateways
• IT support
• Data storage
• Mobile phone contracts
• Third-party integrations or services that you may need

Some of these might be free of charge, whereas others you will need to pay for.

Business forecasts are based on how your business can develop in the future. It is, therefore, important that you know where you are starting from. This might be ‘0’ if you have not started yet, but it is still an important element to consider. In this section you could look at:

• Your current industry standing
• Your business’s current economic status
• Your business’s current financial standing

Building on the data that you have collected in the first step, you can then go on to make future projections. These should be long-term goals and are usually based around either or both business expansion and revenue increase.

You should make projections including:

• The projections of your industry
• Your economic projections
• Your financial projections
• Long-term revenue projections

As your business grows, you should then use the data that you have collected about both your business and the industry as a whole to measure your progress towards your goals and projections, as well as review how they are going and amend your long-term forecasts accordingly.