Emma Jones on why now is a good time to start a business

The How to Work from Home – The Inside Guide session with Emma Jones was jam-packed with excellent tips and anecdotes about her business career. One of Emma’s points was that despite all the economic bad news about double-dip recessions, a second credit crunch and the collapsing euro, now is actually a good time to start a business. Why? For three main reasons:

1. It’s cheaper than it’s ever been to set up – you used to need a lot of capital to start in business, but now for the price of a laptop and a mobile phone you can connect with potential customers all over the world. There are good deals to be had in stock, equipment and all kinds of professional services, as employees who have been made redundant go freelance or decide self-employment is actually less risky than relying on one employer.

2. Technology is ever-evolving and becoming cheaper, and the growth of social media enables a small business to quickly make themselves known in the marketplace for little investment other than time. You can engage a VA you may never meet to undertake the parts of your business you dislike and aren’t so good at, with none of the risks and costs inherent in employing somebody.

3. There is so much business support available. Business Link may only exist online these days, but there is help and advice to be found at business events, on countless websites such as Enterprise Nation, through Emma’s own organisation StartUp Britain, and numerous networking organisations.

And I can’t leave out my own favourite reason why small business has never had it so good – the growth of coworking spaces and Jelly. Now there’s no reason to get lonely and demotivated at home – you can go and work in a business-like space with fellow freelancers and business owners who’ll happily help you out with tips and may even be the source of future work.

Obviously bear in mind Emma’s four key tips about what not to do when starting a business, but whether you leap or are pushed, there could be no time like the present to put that idea into practice.