Step #5 of my Top 20 Tips for Small Business Start Ups is where your business idea starts to feel like a real project, which will need some timelines. While your business plan gives you what you’re doing, you need a timeline which tells you when, as otherwise it can feel like an overwhelming to-do list and you want to start everything today, and you end up like a headless chicken (or maybe that’s just me).
This matters even more if, like most people I work with, you're building your business around a job, a family and a life. It’s what I recommend, but it does need some realistic timeline planning to manage your wellbeing too.
Start with the finish line
Pick an approximate launch date – just maybe the month you plan to start the business. Then work backwards from there.
It can help to think of two dates:
• Your soft launch. The date you start taking your first customers, probably friends, family and your network. It can flex and is allowed to be a bit rough around the edges.
• Your proper (or hard) launch. The date you start shouting about your business to the wider world.
Having a soft launch takes the pressure off. You'll learn far more from your first five customers than from another month of polishing.
The 20 steps in four phases
Twenty steps can feel overwhelming, so I like to split them into four phases. Here's a rough guide for someone working part-time on their business. Your timings will differ, depending on what you time you have to dedicate to this, and how complex your business is. Some phases will overlap too, and that’s OK, but it gives you a starting point:
Phase 1. Explore
What you're doing: Shaping and testing the idea, planning properly
My Steps: 1 to 5
Rough timeframe: 4 weeks
Phase 2. Foundations
What you’re doing; Name, brand, kit, skills, bank account, structure
My Steps: 6 to 11
Rough timeframe: 2-4 weeks
Phase 3. Making it legit
What you’re doing: Cash flow, funding, premises, licences, data protection
My Steps: 12 to 16
Rough timeframe: 4 weeks
Phase 4. Go to market
What you’re doing: Marketing, website, insurance, tax and your first customers
My Steps: 17 to 20
Rough timeframe: 4 weeks
Add that up and a part-time launch may land anywhere between 2 and 6 months, though it depends hugely on your industry and how many hours you can give it. Don't let that put you off. Plenty of steps are really quick wins, and some will take more time, hence the need to overlap the phases.
Know what depends on what
While the steps are created in a rough chronological order, there are some steps you might want to take a look at first, depending on your situation with your current job and your current finances. Some points that you might want pull out and take a look at sooner rather than later are:
1. Check your employment contract first (Step #3), before you do anything publicly visible.
2. Decide your structure (Step #11) before you register your business or open a bank account (Steps #6 and #10).
3. Settle on your name (Step #6) before you invest in branding, a logo or a website (Steps #7 and #18).
4. Finish your plan and cash flow forecast (Steps #4 and #12) before you apply for any funding (Step #13).
5. Sort licences and insurance (Steps #15 and #19) before you take a single paying customer (Step 20).
Spotting these dependencies early saves a lot of redoing. Some steps may not apply to you at all.
How to build your timeline
1. List every task under each of the 20 steps. Be specific: "research three bank accounts" is better than "sort out bank".
2. Estimate how long each takes. Be realistic and add a buffer of time. As we know life happens and almost everything takes longer than you think, so I'd pad each estimate by around a third.
3. Look at your real calendar. Mark holidays, school breaks, busy periods at work and anything else that will eat your time. This is what stops a timeline from being fantasy.
4. Set three or four milestones, such as "business registered", "website live" and "first paying customer", and put a date on each.
5. Choose a tool you'll actually use. It could be Google Calendar, a free planner like ClickUp, or even a paper wall planner. The best system is the one you actually open and doesn’t give you a headache to use.
Deadlines that aren't flexible
Most of your timeline is yours to move around, but a few things aren't:
• Self Assessment. If you're a sole trader earning above the trading allowance, you need to tell HMRC. GOV.UK explains that you must register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you started trading, or you could face a penalty.
• VAT. You must register if your taxable turnover goes over the threshold (currently £90,000), and the rules include a 30-day window. Details are on GOV.UK. It's unlikely to affect you at the very start, but know it's there.
Protect your time
This ties in with Step #3. If you're working a job, block out your "business hours" in your diary like appointments. Be realistic about family commitments, and build in rest. A timeline that burns you out by month two isn't a good timeline.
Review it every week
Make your timeline something you look at regularly. Set aside 15 minutes once or twice a week to:
• tick off what you've done (always satisfying!)
• move what slipped, without beating yourself up
• choose the three most important tasks for the coming week
If you're consistently behind, don't just push everything back. Ask whether the plan is too ambitious, or whether you need help with something. I might be able to help you out with some of your steps.
Beware of perfectionism
I've seen plenty of people (including myself) spend weeks tweaking a logo or a website before they dare go live. Launch when it's good enough, not when it's flawless. You can improve it with real feedback, and that's much better than guessing.
Your homework this week
Remember this is all about timelines, so you don't have to do everything today!
• ☐ Choose a soft launch date and a proper launch date
• ☐ List the main tasks under each phase
• ☐ Add your holidays and busy periods to the calendar
• ☐ Set three or four milestones with dates
• ☐ Book a twice-weekly 15-minute review into your diary
Need help building your launch plan?
If you'd like a hand turning the 20 steps into a timeline that fits your life, book a call with me.
Next up in the series: Step 6, Name and Register Your Business. Time to make it official.
