New Business: Next Steps

This book is written for owners of new and young businesses who want to grow their business to provide a good living and a good life for
themselves.

Some businesses are started specifcally with growth or ‘scale’ and a quick exit in mind, usually referred to as ‘start-ups’ and run by ‘entrepreneurs’. This book is for those who have started a business in order to make a living by doing something they love. Growth is important for survival but not the main reason for running the business. These are the vast majority of all business owners.

Specifcally, it’s written for the most vulnerable of those businesses, the ones that have got started but haven’t yet got to the critical fve-year anniversary. In the UK, 99 per cent of all businesses are small (0–49 employees). The majority (62.6 per cent) are sole proprietorships. As well as fnancial investment, these businesses all require an emotional investment, an investment of hopes and dreams, and this is why it’s important for more of them to succeed.