Starting a business is exciting. It’s also where good ideas go to drown in admin, because nobody tells you which jobs actually win you customers and which just feel productive. This is the practical checklist MarketingDone4U shares with new founders. Work through it in order, and don’t skip the boring bits at the top. They’re boring because they’re settled, which is exactly why you do them first.
1. Get the legal and admin foundations right
Before you design a logo or argue about fonts, sort the structure. It protects you personally and makes everything after it simpler.
- Choose your structure: sole trader, limited company or partnership. A limited company gives you protection between your business and your personal finances, at the cost of a bit more paperwork.
- Register with HMRC as a sole trader, or with Companies House if you’re forming a limited company.
- Open a separate business bank account. Never mix personal and business money. Untangling it later is miserable.
- Set up bookkeeping from day one. Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent will save you hours every quarter.
- Check whether you need to register for VAT. It’s mandatory once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months.
- Get insured. Public liability at minimum, professional indemnity if you give advice.
- Cover the GDPR basics if you’ll hold any customer data, which you will.
None of this brings in a single customer. All of it stops a bad week turning into a bad year.
2. Work out your positioning before you build anything
Most new businesses skip this step and pay for it later in wasted ad spend. Give it a day. A proper day, with a notepad.
Answer four questions, one sentence each:
- Who exactly is your customer? Be specific. “Small independent cafés in Cheshire” beats “hospitality businesses”.
- What problem do you solve, in their words, not yours?
- Why you and not the competition? One clear reason is enough.
- What’s your price, and how does it sit against the market?
If you can’t answer these in a sentence each, your website copy won’t land and your ads will burn money finding that out for you.
3. Sort your brand basics
You don’t need a £10,000 brand book on day one. You need consistency, which is free.
- A clean, simple logo. It can evolve later.
- Two or three colours and one or two fonts, used everywhere.
- A short line that tells people what you do. Clarity beats clever.
- A professional email address on your own domain. Sending quotes from a Gmail address quietly undermines every one of them.
4. Get your website live
Your website is your shopfront, and for most new businesses it’s the first thing a potential customer checks after hearing your name. It needs to do three things: say what you do, build trust, and make the next step obvious.
- Buy your domain. Take the .co.uk and the .com if both are free.
- Get a site live that loads fast, works properly on a phone, and has one clear call to action.
- Cover the essentials: home, about, services, contact, privacy policy, terms.
- Add Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console from day one. You’ll want that data within months.
- Set up a Google Business Profile if you serve local customers. It’s free and it works.
Wondering whether you can get away without a site at all? We’ve answered that honestly in do you actually need a website?. And before you reach for a free builder, read what free business websites really cost you, because “free” has a way of getting expensive.
If you’d rather not build it yourself, our guide to small business website design at every price point shows what your money buys. MarketingDone4U builds managed websites from £99 a month with hosting and professional email included, live in 7 working days once we have your completed form, content and access details. It’s a 12-month managed service and we own the site unless you buy it out, which you can. You can start yours here.
5. Pick the marketing channels that fit you
You don’t need to be everywhere. A new business run well on two channels beats one spread thinly across six.
- Search: if customers search for what you offer, you need to show up. Start with on-page basics and your Google Business Profile.
- Social media: pick the platform your customers actually use. Post consistently, not constantly.
- Paid ads: the fastest way to test demand. Even a small daily budget on Google or Meta will teach you a lot in a fortnight. Ad spend is separate from any management fee, always.
- Email: start collecting addresses from day one, even if you don’t send anything yet.
For the bigger picture on turning all of this into enquiries, read how to get more customers.
6. Track everything from day one
You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and memory is a terrible analytics tool.
- Define what counts as a lead or a sale for your business. Write it down.
- Set up conversion tracking on your website.
- Pick three numbers to review weekly. Visitors, enquiries and sales is a solid start.
- Ignore vanity metrics. Followers don’t pay invoices.
7. Plan the first 90 days
Most new businesses fail because they run out of cash or attention, not because the idea was bad.
| When | Focus | The one job that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 2 | Legal, bank, bookkeeping | Structure registered, account open |
| Weeks 3 to 4 | Positioning and brand | Four positioning answers written down |
| Weeks 5 to 6 | Website and tracking | Site live with analytics installed |
| Weeks 7 to 12 | Marketing and review | Two channels running, numbers reviewed weekly |
Set realistic monthly targets for the first three months. Budget for marketing too. The old rule of thumb is 5 to 15% of target revenue, and we’ve unpacked it properly in how much should your business spend on marketing? Then block time in your week for it. If marketing isn’t in the diary, it doesn’t happen.
Frequently asked questions
What do I legally need to do to start a business in the UK?
Register with HMRC as a sole trader or with Companies House as a limited company, open a business bank account, and take out the insurance your work requires, public liability at minimum. You must also register for VAT once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period.
Should I be a sole trader or a limited company?
Sole trader is simpler: less paperwork, quicker to set up, but you’re personally liable for business debts. A limited company separates your personal finances from the business and can look more established to clients, at the cost of Companies House filings. Many founders start as sole traders and incorporate once income becomes steady.
Do I need a website before I launch?
For most businesses, yes. Customers who hear about you will look you up, and finding nothing (or only a social page) costs you trust before you’ve spoken. A simple five-page site covering what you do, who you are and how to get in touch is enough to launch with confidently.
How much should a new business spend on marketing?
A common rule of thumb is 5 to 15% of your target revenue, with newer businesses sitting at the higher end because they’re building visibility from zero. What matters more than the exact figure is consistency. A modest budget spent every month beats a large one spent once and abandoned.
How long does it take to set up a business?
The registrations are quick. HMRC self-assessment takes minutes and a limited company can be incorporated within days. The slower work is positioning, brand and website. Give yourself four to six focused weeks to launch properly, rather than rushing out half-finished and rebuilding everything within the year.
Want this done for you? See our done-for-you services, or compare every service and price in one place.
