We all have our own genius business ideas; those Del Boy-esque schemes which we know would make us millionaires if only we had the time to see them through. However, it may be time to take your sales pitch beyond the horizons of Saturday night’s pre-drinks and into the real world, as the last few years have seen a boom in UK startups, for good reason.
We live in a time characterised by instant gratification. A plethora of apps relieve boredom at a moment’s notice, a few taps on Just Eat or Deliveroo brings food straight to our door, and a few swipes on Tinder and… you get the picture.
In an age such as this, is it any wonder millennials are flocking en masse to start their own businesses? The promise of easy riches, freedom from the monotony of corporate life; it’s all very appealing. This coupled with it being easier now than ever to launch a startup makes the boom in new businesses hardly surprising. As the internet continues to develop, it is becoming far easier for businesses to connect with suppliers, thanks to sites like Alibaba, and the advent of cloud computing has allowed business owners to outsource much of what once needed to be done locally, from web design to server hosting.
This year, the UK has seen 2000 new businesses open each month, and this follows three years of record levels of newly registered businesses. What this seems to suggest is that the startup boom cannot solely be attributed to the credit crunch, where redundancy and a lack of employment options may have forced people into trying their hand at a startup, but instead it may be due to a cultural shift toward entrepreneurship.
In addition to this, despite recent Brexit-related economic uncertainty, 90% of UK startups are predicting growth in the next year, and almost half are expecting double digit growth. This optimism bodes well for the UK economy, as well as for any budding entrepreneurs as it is a sign that there are many gaps in the market that small businesses can fill. Though these gaps may be hard to identify, Startups.co.uk has a list of some of the best business ideas for 2017, from men’s hair care to nostalgically themed restaurants. So if you have a great recipe for beard oil or want to set up Ed, Edd, n Eddy’s Easy Diner, now might be the time to try your luck.
This is not to say that there isn’t risk involved, in fact many startups fail, but don’t let that dishearten you. This current boom is a far cry from the dotcom bubble of the turn of the century, where billions of pounds of investments were sunk, never to be recovered. In the current year, startups can be started on a shoestring; the internet provides near unlimited free resources to guide you in your business planning, and social media platforms provide a free method of marketing and networking. Julie Dean of The Cambridge Satchel Company started a £50m company with just £600. For just the price of an internet connection you can sow the seeds of what could grow to be an empire.
