For some, setting up a business can seem daunting, for others it’s the natural next step in their career. This article could help you to identify how to organise yourself and plan for success in business.

1. What will your business be? What’s the need?

Instructing, coaching, clothing, artworks, jewellery, climbing wall design, equipment manufacture, events, training, holidays,

There are thousands of outdoor businesses and each one is unique.  There is a tendency to think that instructing and leading groups in the outdoors is the main business, but in fact, this is just one of many.  A large number of instructors have second jobs to provide them with the income they need to survive, so if you’re thinking about setting up as a freelancer, ask yourself – if my main idea doesn’t work out what are the other options?

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What is the customer need or ‘pain point’? What will people pay for? Is there enough customer demand? Focus on the customer demand & need, not on your wants. By doing this you can get a realistic idea of what might be achievable.

2. What will really make it a success?

Often, we trick ourselves into thinking that we need shiny new kit, or an all-singing-all-dancing website, but in reality, we need to test out the idea on a small scale before committing large chunks of money, or we need to get out on the hills to get the experience we need.  This might involve research, testing out through a Facebook group or trialling your ‘service’ on a micro scale, before you commit.

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Making a list of the basics that are needed to test out your idea on a small scale. Put them in order of importance. Be honest with yourself about why you feel each thing is important. Sometimes our ego and fear of failure can hold us back from doing the thing that is really most important.

If you’ve ever felt worried about failing, you might be surprised to know that failing is critical to being successful. Lots of people celebrate success, including Carol Dweck, whose TED talk is worth a watch.

3. What are your skills, experience & qualifications?

If your skills, experience and quals don’t match up with your idea, is there something you need to work on?

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Write a list of what’s needed and rate them in order of importance?

4. Reality Check

Once you’ve generated a business idea, it’s time to check the reality. Running your own business often involves undertaking tasks unrelated to the thing you love to do. These are usually critical to the effective and legal functioning of the business and, depending on your business setup, can include:

• Invoicing & Banking
• Tax, National Insurance, Payroll, HR – tax return, paying staff
• General Administration – including insurance, professional memberships, CPD logs
• Customer Service – including emails
• Marketing & Business Development – including building a client base
• Social Media & Website Updating

Some of these can be outsourced, but the cost of this can become expensive, so many freelancers in the outdoors sector do some of these things themselves to reduce costs.

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Do I have these skills? Can I learn these skills? Can I afford to outsource? Youtube and other online learning platforms can help you to gain enough skills to get started

5. Plan it out: set a goal, work out the path, commit to a timescale

Nothing prepares you for being a freelancer like planning out what you need to do and when.  This might seem dull, but by setting a goal, you know where you are heading and you can identify when you’re off track or distracted. To achieve a goal, we need to undertake consistent, regular steps to make it a reality. Setting the goal is the first step.

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Set a goal. Map out the steps and give each step a timescale. Make each step achievable.

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Startup Support: Outdoor Business

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Got other ideas? Leave us a comment. 

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