Starting a Small Business in the UK as an Ethnic Minority

Understanding the UK Business Landscape

Every country’s business landscape is different, and it is impossible to provide global advice to businesses. Success is built on understanding the market, the competition, and the regulations specific to that region.

The UK offers a range of different options for your investment. These range from investing in an already established company that needs capital to expand, investing in a franchise of a well-known company brand, to setting up your own company – and perhaps you don’t even want to do that alone. There are plenty of opportunities to co-invest. Using a directory of UK import and export businesses to identify your prospective business is a good start.

Starting your first business can be tough with lots of psychological tests along the way. The good news is that lots of people want you to succeed. The British government has set a goal of increasing spending with small- and medium-sized enterprises to just over one-third of the government budget by 2020. In addition, a further £1 in every £3 is spent by the public sector with SMEs by 2022. This means businesses like yours must produce a high-quality service and product. However, the government is currently improving the procurement process to make it fair and accessible. This includes making payment practices quicker and clearer, reducing incredibly lengthy documents to fill in before you bid for a contract, and ensuring that SMEs are paid on time and in full.

Identifying Your Business Idea

It might be that you've always wanted to set up your own business in order to become your own boss. It might also be that certain circumstances have come together, and a business opportunity has arisen that you might not want to miss out on. Whereas family and community support are crucial in new business start-up activities, serious trading must be the driving motive behind your decision to open up shop or to start taking in business. The risks are many and varied, and the effort is difficult if your mind is only partly on the job. Also, being in business is not easy: the number of hours worked is much longer than you expect, and the gains are always going to be long-term. In the beginning, they cannot be measured by the prosperity they bring.

After deciding to go into business, formulate some business objectives. Be as specific as possible. For example, you might want to have at least seventy-five percent of the black hair care business in your local area. Then think about how to accomplish your business objectives. You must ask yourself whether there is a need for your hairdressing services in your usual area, whether your proposed prices are reasonable, and where you will locate the business. You should seek the answer to these and other questions before throwing good money into a project that might just be a bad idea. Familiarizing yourself with these questions can also help you a great deal in creating a workable business plan. Developing the first draft of accounting data.

Market Research

Conduct as much research as you can about the market you are thinking about entering, your product or service, and your potential customers. Think about who would want to buy your product. Age, gender, income level, education, and lifestyle are all relevant. Think about your business, too. The number of staff, your working hours, the kind of shop or office you need, the size of the market, and business trends are all factors you will need to consider.

Remember that the amount of money you make will depend on what the customer wants or needs, not what you want to sell. Be as objective as you can; you may have to change your plans in light of your findings. There are many ways to research the market. Ask your local library for help and advice. Small Business Associations, Chambers of Commerce, and trade associations can put you in touch with others in related fields who will share information with you. Many businesses will be willing to talk about their own experiences, both good and bad, which will help you avoid the worst pitfalls and start in the best way. A wealth of information is also available.

Assessing Personal Skills and Interests

When you have begun to specify the products and services that seem to offer potential, it is time to analyse your own strengths. This does not mean that whatever product you'd like to make would be perfect for you. A company discovered this during the period when there were major layoffs in manufacturing industries, and many women sought work. The company tried making lingerie; it found that the work did not suit the workers, and the product was not up to standard. Similarly, a company that has an interest in making camping equipment should not do this because the company is controlled by people too old and too sick to camp; and a company making disposable diapers should not employ anyone who feels squeamish about handling them.

Of course, your abilities and interests do not have to correspond perfectly with those of your employees, financial backers, contractors, and suppliers involved. The company discovered that people do not have to go camping or wear lingerie to work in the industry. But the entrepreneurs must have the ability and the determination to do what the staff and the customers could not do; and the people must have the necessary contacts and knowledge of the market for their products.

Creating a Business Plan

Once you come up with a business idea, you should probably have an outline of what you plan to do. This is especially necessary if you are seeking investment from banks or any other financial institution. It will also serve as your guide to starting and managing your business on a daily basis. The process of putting together a business plan is challenging, though it is a necessary step in laying the groundwork for your business. Your business plan should include details of how much it will cost to start your business. If you require a loan, you need to be specific about the amount. Lenders will want to see how much of your own money you can put into the business, how much you want from the bank, and how you plan to repay what you owe. If you have already started operations that generate revenue, be sure to include that in your loan request. State the amount you seek and when you need it. Be clear about the purpose of the funds. Banks will ask you to back anything you buy with the loan, such as equipment or buildings, with hard assets that can be sold if you can't pay back the loan. Make sure to list specifics about what you need to purchase and how much each will cost. If you are purchasing an existing business, be sure to provide the lender with details of the purchase price and other costs associated with the acquisition.

Executive Summary

Britain has a large number of ethnic minority owners and managers of small businesses. This significant group of ethnic minority entrepreneurs are known to experience both direct and indirect discrimination in their capacity as small business owners. The levels of legitimation may be positively affected by these ethnic minority business owners' being more able to identify with and feel more satisfied with UK society; negatively affected by limits grounded in the need for continuing community identification in the face of continuing racism and disadvantage.

This report is part of a wider project on ethnic minority small business owner-managers and the way they deal with ethnic categories and language in their everyday business activities. The central concept of this project is the role of so-called supernatural business categories. There are a number of studies which focus either on different aspects of ethnic minority informal sector occupations or on businesses and categories without making a connection to ethnic difference. What is initially interesting here is that these small business owners are not seen as purely victim groups can therefore contribute to a re-conceptualisation of the field.

Market Analysis

As an ethnic minority, you represent a specific subset of the overall consumer market that is often underserved. Starting a business in an area that you are familiar with is an obvious first step, although this can have serious disadvantages. In order to identify areas where there might be demand from the ethnic majority, it is necessary to think from their point of view about how one might get them to be interested in the existing product or service. This means that you have to understand the ethnic majority's mindset. People who can do this well can sometimes penetrate the barrier to ethnic minority markets enjoyed by ethnic businesses.

Start with products for which the ethnic markets are just large enough to make a business viable, but not so large that they can attract major players. There are two categories of such products: first, those which are attractive to the mainstream but can be subtly tailored to the ethnic markets, usually through products, packaging, and promotion; second, ethnic minority communities and particularly ethnically dependent restaurants and retailers themselves. The combination of these factors could be a powerful one. You do not have to restrict your market to your own ethnic community. Indeed, you may find that the ethnic cognate markets, which mirror on a small scale the marketing strategies of large multinational companies to develop national ethnic markets, are often a very attractive target. These markets are large enough and living in a similar geographical location to support a small business and give it access to marketing strategies to suit the market.

Marketing Strategy

Marketing is the most crucial aspect of a small business, and ethnic minority small business owners need to implement a good marketing strategy in order to achieve their objectives. The marketing strategy of a small business is informed by the marketing mix, which includes its product, price, place, and promotion. The product is anything that the business sells. Price is the monetary value a customer places on the product or service. Promotion encompasses a range of activities such as sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and, most significantly, advertising. The place looks at the location of the business. However, increasing attention has been given to the service marketing mix because today's economic activity is increasingly characterized by the provision of services to meet customer needs.

When considering the product, ethnic minority small business owners need to engage with their customers to understand their requirements and develop the products frequently. Ethnic minority small business owners already have the capacity and resources to identify the right product or service idea but would need improvements to deliver it. When considering the price, ethnic minority small business owners would usually set an affordable price that reflects the quality and distinctiveness of the product. When considering the place, many start-ups tend to operate their businesses from their homes or from other family members' homes. When considering promotion, it is usually a good idea to undertake a great deal of advertising for the small business. However, promotion should not be seen as a separate entity but as every activity of a business to establish and communicate its products, services, and benefits to its target audience. It is about informing customers about the existence of products or services. The elements of a small business marketing mix should be carefully designed to appeal to the specific needs and wants of the target market.

Financial Projections

The next stage for a business plan is the financial data. You have already done a cash flow forecast for the first year in the micro-business plan, so you may decide to build it up from there. In a business plan, it is a good idea to be as detailed as possible in your financial forecasts. You could even do a forecast for the first month or first six months; however, the norm is for 12 months, and the detail usually differs. What I mean is that you may decide to multiply it by 52 weeks to get a clearer picture of how sales could look week by week in a retail environment. This, in turn, will remind you of when you may need to buy stock and the amount of credit that you will require from suppliers. Not only is it essential for getting the loan or grant that you need, but it also helps when you start your business. You will know exactly what you have to do in terms of sales, costs, and when you need the finance by.

The financial data is usually the easiest and the most enjoyable part of writing a business plan, especially if you love working with numbers. For a lot of people, it is the most difficult because it is a completely new area to them. Don’t worry, finance is not reserved for those who work in banks, the stock exchange, or who run multinational corporations. Everyone has to start somewhere, so if you are new to business and have little or no experience of accounting or working with financial information, you have come to the right place to start. Clear instructions will be given about different areas of accounting, bookkeeping, VAT, PAYE, and NICs, the type of additional finance you can apply for, petty cash, and stock, debtor, and creditor records. The first thing that you need to do is calculate how much it is going to cost you to start this business and then to keep it going. There are a lot of things that you will need to consider, like the rent, council tax, business rates, NICs for you and any employees, the telephone, and the gas, electricity, and water for the business. For most of us, the easiest way to do this is to predict sales that will cover these costs. As a rough guide, you should divide fixed costs by the margin that you make on each item to calculate the number of items that you need to sell.

Legal Requirements for Starting a Business

When starting a business in the UK, you will need to comply with legal requirements concerning the setting up and management of a business. Types of business organizations vary across countries, so it is important to take into account the specific features of your own country when setting up a business. The main requirements for starting a new business in the UK are: 1. Deciding on a legal structure 2. Registering the business 3. Acquiring the necessary licenses and permits, which depend on the type of business 4. Becoming familiar with and complying with business regulations in the UK.

There are eight different legal structures that you can use when setting up an enterprise in the UK. These are: Sole trader, Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, Traditional Limited Partnership, Private Limited Company, Public Limited Company, Non-profit distributing company, Community Interest Company. Each legal structure has its own specific characteristics, so take time to work out which is the most appropriate one for your enterprise. Restrictions and obligations set by company laws or tax laws may affect your decision. Each legal structure has notable differences in areas such as risk, taxation, and registration. Remember that you can change your business structure in most cases, although doing so often requires considerable effort, time, and expense. Start with the simplest option for the type of business you want to establish and progress only if and when it becomes necessary.

Choosing a Business Structure

In the UK, you have four main options when it comes to choosing a business structure: sole trader, partnership, limited company, or a limited liability partnership. There are others and hybrids in the mix, but there's no need to make the exceptional the mainstay of your deliberation. This isn't a balancing act out for perfection in seeking the perfect configuration. In reality, the balance is fairly simple, and you need to properly contemplate only two main issues concerning your business going forward: liability and tax.

Liability is a big one and probably the biggest issue that will drive your decision. Tax should not really be seen as a straightforward line of low to high; that's too simplistic a view. It is most certainly an influential factor, but it should be considered more complementary to liability as a driver in determining which business structure is best for you. The tax implications of the different business structures are not inherently part of this chapter, but I will touch upon it. I will still just generalize; your business circumstances could well buck the trend, so professional assistance could be something worth thinking about here in choosing the final business structure for your business.

You will need to take note that such a decision as to which business structure is the right one for you can be reviewed and changed when it ceases to suit your business needs, but it is sometimes an arduous and costly exercise that can trip you up when it comes to tax and duties. With the right choice, the administrative and paperwork hassle is normally minimal.

Registering Your Business

You cannot run a business in the UK without telling the UK government that you are trading. This doesn't mean that you have to go and visit your nearest government office and speak to authorities to arrange your business. The whole process can be done online. When you decide to start, one of the first things you have to do is to register with HM Revenue and Customs. HMRC is the UK government business tax office.

In order to register, go to the official government website and type "register for self-assessment" in the search box. When you type "self-assessment" in the search box, you should hopefully find step-by-step guidance. When you are done, you will be given a Unique Taxpayer Reference, abbreviated to UTR, and a National Insurance Number. Please ensure that you save your UTR and NI. These are very important pieces of information if you are to carry on your trading activities legally and pay your taxes. The UTR and NI are unique to the individual. HMRC will recognize who you are and which tax liabilities are yours as soon as you quote the UTR. The UTR is also needed if an accountant or another agent is acting on behalf of a business owner. The NI has to be quoted when dealing with issues such as tax credits or benefit claims.

Understanding Taxes and Compliance

Before you start a business, ensure you understand the relevant taxes and business laws as they will impact practically every aspect of your business. Get it right from the start—you could face a financial penalty or be prosecuted if you ignore your responsibilities. You must register for VAT if your annual sales are above the current registration threshold. You may also make a voluntary registration if your turnover is below this threshold. Voluntary registration may be advantageous if you want to reclaim VAT, for example, if you would be charged VAT on most of your purchases. The main rate of corporation tax is a specified percentage. You must pay your corporation tax nine months and one day after your accounting period ends.

You must register for self-assessment with the relevant tax authority if you have earnings from self-employment of more than a specified amount a year. The tax year is from a specified date to a specified date the following year. You may also need to register for self-assessment if you have other types of income, such as profits from renting out property or investments. The type of business structure you have will affect how you'll pay tax and National Insurance on your profits. How you run your business as a self-employed person also affects the amount of National Insurance contributions. Your responsibilities as an employer cover areas such as pensions auto-enrolment, PAYE, National Insurance, holiday, sickness, and maternity rights.

Funding Your Business

6.1 Introduction Before securing finance to run your business, it is important that you have a good business plan which outlines all potentials of your business to potential investors. You need to prove that you have a product that satisfies customer needs and that you can deliver that product to your customers at a profit. In this way, business planning can be used both to guide your business and to attract investors. It provides direction for your business and, if adopted correctly, can help you avoid common pitfalls. 6.1.1 Lender's Risk From a lender's perspective, to ensure your ability to meet your obligations, funding for the business can come from loans, from your personal assets, or from investors interested in the business you manage or plan to set up. Whenever suppliers extend payment terms to you, they are providing you with a short-term loan. In this case, the suppliers bear the financial risk should you not be able to make the payment. From a lender's perspective, providing funding of any type to a business poses a degree of risk because the failure or default of a borrower erodes capital and earnings by non-performance of either the loan or the interest due on that loan. A loan that is not repaid is considered an uncollectible or bad debt. Banks incur this bad debt expense while maintaining reserves to cover future losses from loans that are not repaid, thus providing a buffer for the capital erosion due to loan default.

Personal Savings

If you are confident in your abilities and have been planning for some time to go into business, you will probably have been saving money to cover any set-up costs. The fact that you have saved capital also indicates to potential investors and banks that you have faith in the viability of your business idea. Some people may have been making regular contributions into a building society account or other types of savings accounts, while others may have substantial savings in the form of premium bonds or national savings certificates. There are no concrete rules about how much money you should have already saved, although a minimum of about £1,000 is probably necessary to cover unexpected personal expenses until the business starts.

Parents or relatives are often only too happy to help their offspring start their own businesses and can be a useful source of additional funding. If you are lucky enough to have an understanding or supportive family, then aim to get at least half of your capital requirements from your friends and relatives. This route is also cheaper and less risky than asking a bank or a finance house for a loan. Some parents may be able to obtain loans more easily and cheaply than their children, due to good standing at a bank with an existing relationship. If you wish, you can then add to your funds by taking out a long-term loan or by selling some of your investments. In this way, banks and other lenders assume that you are committed to your idea and have shown that you are confident of making a return on this investment.

Bank Loans

It is generally thought that businesses require access to bank loans to finance their start-up costs. This is problematic in ethnic minority communities, where a person faced with a potentially profitable business has access to neither a start-up loan nor savings to use as the collateral necessary for security. The main issue facing this client group is security and training. Due to a lack of access to financial institutions, many cannot afford to purchase a home or car. Thus, bank lending to ethnic minorities is highly problematic. To increase bank lending, commercial banks and public entities face several challenges.

When making a loan, a bank is concerned about security, which ensures repayment. Security against default may be gained by insisting the borrower furnish sufficient collateral, such as a car, stocks and shares, savings, future income, or a home. When considering a business proposition, banks need to identify the experience and the ability of the applicant to operate the business successfully. There are also training and mentoring needs that need to be addressed. Due to language problems, ethnic minorities need unique kinds of training provided in their own language. In addition, marketing programs for the bank aimed at ethnic minorities also have high public relations costs. It is also important that an appropriate level of security exists, and this is difficult when the security that the applicant offers is also the security for a housing loan.

Grants and Funding for Ethnic Minorities

Grants and other support or incentives may be available in your local area or for people in your victim group. Some of the most common key objectives include: increasing mixed businesses – meaning family-owned businesses selling a range of ethnic goods and services; jobs for long-term unemployed local people – for on- and off-the-job training and opportunities to buy underused property; balancing popular import/export initiatives by opening import substitution projects; striving to cater to strong flourishing markets – competing with focus and diversity; and advancing local regeneration with parades, planting, cleaning, façade renovation, commercial tenancy improvement, traffic calming, and high-quality products.

There are many options available for ethnic minorities, some of which were mentioned previously, some which are government-backed and/or run by other organizations, and some which are independent or cater to specific sectors. Some provide one-off loans or grants, some offer backup funding that they convert to loans, and some offer low-interest rates or other types of assistance. If you're struggling to find finance, or you don't think that a conventional loan or grant is right for you, why not consider asking for philanthropic help, launching a new community-focused venture with your supporters as volunteers, offering training through a business enterprise, or trying the co-housing option?

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a popular option for businesses at any stage of their development to raise smaller amounts from many people, typically over the Internet. Debt, equity, and rewards models exist. Most businesses choose the rewards model in which backers are offered rewards with a value commensurate with the amount pledged. The rewards may be products or services developed or manufactured by the business. A single campaign may offer multiple investment products. Crowdfunding enables firms to tap into an established super network of customers and generate visible endorsements. No collateral is required as the money is not a loan, and owners retain autonomy and rights to profits and cash flows. The disadvantages are that it can be very time-consuming to set up the campaign and then maintain it if there are a lot of contributors. The crowd supports the project idea, not the owner or team. If the campaign succeeds, then it could take a lot of the business equity. The rewards promised by many businesses, generally technologies, make sense. But should a 100% funding campaign fail, owners may be embarrassed if they promise too much and then find it too hard to deliver. There are a number of different providers, rules, target market characteristics, and procedures. Fees and customer service policies vary. Small businesses should pick the provider that best fits their business objectives and future requirements before setting up their campaigns. Additionally, the questions asked by potential contributors can form a useful focus group to identify business failures without incurring high costs before 'I go to market'.

Building Your Brand

A brand is a feature that goes way beyond your physical presence in any profession, but in particular the service sector. Your brand reflects everything your customer comes into contact with: your service, your website, and the way in which you respond to queries, to name but a few. Be mindful that good communication is an essential part of your brand, and a good communicator always starts by listening! Many ethnic minorities are already positioned to capitalize on a unique selling proposition due to the complexities associated with business support from friends and family, government departments, and others, access to relevant funds, and building businesses in a foreign or unknown land. So if you are thinking of setting up a business in the UK, remember that what you see as a disadvantage can be turned into an opportunity and the ace in your hand. Your knowledge, as a particular mix of skills, knowledge of a particular market, or insight into certain cultures, cannot be brought but only served by you. We can provide guidance and make things a little easier by giving you information and contacts, but first and foremost, the ace in running a business is you. Don't be afraid to bet on yourselves.

Creating a Brand Identity

When starting a business, it is important to differentiate as much as possible from the competitors. Creating a strong brand identity and presenting yourself as a strong, well-established business right from the very beginning will help in achieving your business goals. Careful thought and management should go into creating a brand identity; it is a long-term process with great benefits. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies every day. It's amazing how many entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses overlook brand implementation or even disregard the existence of a brand. When companies do not pay attention to their brand, and more importantly, do not manage it, the outcome could be catastrophic as customers only associate with themselves, or at worst, ignore the product. 'Brand' can be defined as the collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer. The challenge of developing a strong brand is to clearly convey a unique look, sound, message, taste, and feel to a prospective customer. It is critical to present the 'personality' of the business. Branding is not just a logo but about creating an identity that is recognized worldwide. A business brand creates its unique image or personality using logos, colours, graphics, names, key messages, and customer service. It tells who the business is, what it does, and how it does it. Businesses need to cover the basics in creating a brand identity but should be willing to explore new and different directions as well. A completely new identity can be an invigorating and positive factor in the selling of the business. Entire companies have been turned around with new branding. A well-thought-out brand identity is a different, potentially powerful factor in differentiation, and a competitor is unlikely to match. The idea is not only overtly in the marketplace of today.

Developing a Website

For a small business in the UK, a website is a prerequisite. Most consumers will expect to be able to find out about your enterprise through a website. Moreover, the vast majority of websites are now designed to be flexible and to adjust automatically to the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. It is possible to avoid the need for, or costs of, a website by using platforms to sell goods online, as these services offer a website for the small business within the cost of selling on the platform. That is a great solution, but the seller will have to follow the rules of the marketplace being used by the seller. provides space on their website with payment and delivery services for a monthly subscription.

require substantial compliance with the marketing rules imposed on sellers. The goods have to be returned free of charge to the customer if they are faulty when they arrive; the contract is formed before the goods arrive; the possibility of non-delivery has to be specifically covered in the ecommerce rules for the customer, and the customer’s privacy has to be respected. For all this, they charge a commission of around 12 percent of extra added sale value. For selling through a website, the small business has to pay a monthly membership according to the size of the business or market volume. In addition, the seller must arrange payment and delivery services.

Utilising Social Media

Whereas previously the selling of goods was possible via physical retail units, the Internet has changed this, reducing the importance of geographical location. Now many ethnic minority businesses opt to take full advantage of social media to reach a much wider audience for the sale of business-to-consumer goods as well as business-to-business services. Even for promotional purposes, social media platforms allow companies to target customers in different places. While social media platforms allow for goods or services to be reached by a much wider audience, the success of businesses can be determined by the volume of sales as well as profit. There are many small UK ethnic minority businesses that have thus utilized various social media sites as selling platforms or for PR purposes. As well as the Internet, there are also events such as pop-ups and market stalls which are useful for selling. Responses to online trading fluctuate and may decline as observed with several businesses. The selling of goods via social media will principally only apply to a few business types with relatively low production or reselling costs such as street food, clothing, cosmetics, and jewellery. These are typical of black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs, the type for which information is not yet collected, but has been identified through service provision. Additionally, social media as a tool for reaching and promoting business-to-business services can substitute sale transactions and interactions.

Networking and Support

As a UK Black or minority ethnic start-up, you are not alone. There are business support organizations and networking bodies that can help steer you through. These have experience of the UK's many and diverse Black or minority ethnic populations and will know which barriers to consider: Is it language, a culture that does not promote entrepreneurship, stereotypes, discrimination, or limited exposure to business practices? The key to successful networking is in being assertive. Be open to how others do things and learn from their experiences. Take advantage of business networking opportunities, such as those extended by organizations that promote enterprise and mutual cooperation between countries.

The UK has many support organisations for Black and minority ethnic start-ups and existing businesses. These organizations are usually staffed by people with an excellent knowledge of your culture and customs, people who are willing to help you face the difficulties of starting a business in the UK. Take advantage of their one-to-one advice or participate in programs and events they offer. If you are in business, it would be advantageous for you to individually become a member of the chamber of commerce; you will benefit from good advice on networking and on how you can make the most of their activities and programs, boosting your own enterprise at the same time. There are specific issues you should consider if you wish to invest in the UK, such as taxation and conformity to UK-specific business regulations, as well as health and safety regulations.

Joining Ethnic Minority Business Networks

In the UK, the Department for Trade and Industry established the Small Business Service over the past years, and its latest individual business start-up campaign was targeted at ethnic minorities. This shows that the government is recognizing the importance of diversity in helping entrepreneurs translate a cultural niche market into reality. An example of this was the launch of Business Link for London Ethnic Minorities, which was formed in response to the needs of the capital's ethnic minority business community. With over 30,000 ethnic minority-owned businesses in London that contribute a very significant amount to London's economy, the program recognizes the positive role the ethnic minority business community plays in London's economy and wants to reach London's diverse ethnic minority business audience.

There is provision to set up such networks in this area of business, which offers help and advice to ethnic minority businesses. There is also Access for Finance, which provided a high-profile, best-practice innovative finance program that helps address bank and investor perceptions and access to finance issues that are high on the list of priorities identified by many ethnic minority businesses. However, in order to really focus on the problem, a new approach is required to provide immediate impact on minority-owned businesses. The approach should educate and improve the understanding of investors, adjust and increase the businesses' readiness and attractiveness for new investment, and provide consultation and synergy to match supply and demand. The benefits to the economy appear as improved business performance and newly generated wealth.

Mentorship Opportunities

One of the experts in our network has observed that there are mentorship programs in the UK, but "as an ethnic minority business, we cannot access them." This may be due to language, where English is understood, but more complex sentences or vocabulary can be a problem. Cost is also an issue. This makes a level playing field unachievable. What ethnic minority firms need is "mentorship for the lowest level, attractions that are affordable, clear, digestible, and a more hands-on approach."

We suggest that one way to get ethnic minority entrepreneurs "on the radar" is to publicize what is being done for the ethnic minority entrepreneurship community by mainstream mentors. It may be that some mentors are "hesitant" and need some encouragement to mentor ethnic minority entrepreneurs, while support in the form of a simple "mentor's guide" and information from those who are experienced in engagement might get things moving. The implications of this research will help to shape new support for ethnic minority entrepreneurs that should be important for the whole society. The diversity of products and services is helped by this research, just as the diversity of the ethnic minority entrepreneur is promoted.

Local Business Communities

Local business communities in which people live or to which they are closely related can instill in people a feeling that they have nothing to lose but their liberty by venturing into self-employment. The incentive, support, and advice that this kind of community can offer may be at least as important as the availability of professional business services. The rapid growth in the number of small firms owned and managed by ethnic minorities is a testimony to the strength and cohesion of these communities and the extent to which such an ethnic subculture has managed to create a relatively non-discriminatory environment in which its members can run their own business. Too much reliance on professional business services may cut ties between small firms and the local community; however, local business communities are not immune to negative external factors. Whether access to adequate business services should be seen as a right is a separate issue from assessing to what extent the community spirit of ethnic minorities could be utilized for more intensive support. Small business communities in which people live or to which they are closely related can make an important contribution to the healthy local economy that needs to preserve negative characteristics such as crime rates, decay, and unemployment.

Marketing Your Business

There are numerous ways in which the name and concept of your business can be marketed. Bearing in mind your particular budget and the service or product that you are offering, some of the more popular marketing options are as follows. It is always advantageous to utilize a distinctive commodity, service, or style as your means of promotion. Networking is of utmost importance since it is through this medium that you can get others to talk about your history, tell others of your product, and generally make you a known quantity.

He is a very good gentleman who secures a good relationship with his bank because, without money, few businesses can expand. The use of well-designed commercials on an ethnic-oriented radio station can be money well spent. The same applies to ethnic newspapers. Leaflet drops over a selective area can also give your customer base a good boost. In all cultures, there are a number of clubs, societies, and religious organizations that can become involved with events or in helping with any event you may have as an adjunct to your business. If you wish to target a specific ethnic group, that is your prerogative, but it is probably preferable to be more general and say that you offer a quality service that suggests that all, regardless of ethnicity, will receive equal attention. After all, everybody wants to feel that they are receiving the best value for their expenditure. Your clients taken along on your advertising or PR jaunts is an excellent business decision. People are more likely to show trust in a commercial enterprise where they see the operator enjoying a meeting with all sections of the clientele. Advertising in magazines that are directed toward a restricted niche can be a shrewd move since there is a lot of good money to be earned. In saying this, it should not imply that only the ethnic groups seeking entrepreneurs with money are worth cultivating.

Traditional Marketing Strategies

Print: pamphlets, brochures, leaflets, posters, and banners are widely used in most traditional marketing. The more visually appealing and original the design, the more likely people are to remember your company and look it up at a later stage. While direct selling to the end-user consumer might be suitable if you offer a product or service that can be easily promoted, remember it might also negatively affect the impression people have of your company. Radio and newspaper advertising might be suitable if you can afford to run a long-term advertising campaign, as people might need to hear or see your advert often before deciding to use your service or buy your product. Or consider a tie-in with a large well-known ethnic festival, cultural, or community event that attracts your target market to be your strategy. Don’t underestimate the power of press and radio interviews and coverage. Word of mouth might be slow to create awareness, but nothing quite builds trust as does your friends’ high opinion. In the days when tradesmen rarely had business cards or ads, word of mouth is what brought new clients. Pass on any positive feedback or customer comments that you receive to prospective clients. It's always good to hear real stories of satisfaction. Doing business with friends and relatives might be an option worth considering. But you need to be comfortable with the possibility of your relationship changing and the potential effects after financial discussions, difficult client negotiations, or late payments. Be sure to discuss your business strategy and operating procedures; it is always harder to reach agreements or understand each other's motives post-commencement of business. Social networking is building trust rapidly. While it is still in its early days, the future can only promise increased sales, online discussions, referrals, feedback, and much more. Many have already generated enough free business leads and secured deals, achieving a positive impact on their bottom line.

Digital Marketing Techniques

Objective: To provide smart strategies for effective digital marketing. The term 'digital marketing' might sound straightforward, but in business, there are a variety of digital marketing techniques that businesses of all sizes can use, as long as a business offers good online content. This content started as blogs on a business’s website and expanded into the wider realms of influencers, videos, and podcasts. Even small businesses can get distributors to engage with their brands. All marketing is about connecting with distributors, and digital platforms provide a medium that means that, with organic engagement, even a brand on TikTok can achieve reach and a quick return on investment in this concept of organic social media platforms. Building a small business on a digital footprint: Giving a business a digital presence is the smartest way to take advantage of the demands of today's marketplace. A social media account is enough for many firms that don't actually want to have a busy website, and most secure businesses have released order-generating apps. While online, it has been said that a business with a name and an account that has been neglected can appear more costly than not giving money and having no online presence at all. Some business owners create a social media account with no contacts and feel that such a business online is a waste of resources. Creating online content can be used not only by social media managers to save time but also for a whole host of small business owners who would prefer to be doing something else instead. A business owner can generate online content in one segment, chop it up, and offer smaller pieces that are quickly posted. Social media managers, as well as accountants, might use a digital vacation approach to paying someone to save time to get back to work. In addition, videos and social media accounts get an SEO boost from Google. Business owners of any size should link social accounts to their website so that increased traffic would help by expanding the customer base.

Leveraging Community Engagement

There are big benefits to encouraging the local community to become as passionate about the area's sustenance as you are. Consider creating community initiatives, using volunteer days to physically work with local people to contribute time to beneficial causes. This can work as a great method of marketing your brand while showing the local community how much you care about the area. It's good for your company's and leaders' ego to contribute in this way to the local community. Many corporations go through life stumbling into deeper social involvement. Others, hungry to make a mark, operate a comprehensive philanthropy strategy at start-up. Then, there are those who combine a successful capitalist venture with a concern for society so total that it's hard to say where the corporation ends and society begins.

Studies have indicated that a good public image can significantly help companies and lead to potential consequences like increased sales and profits. Consumers of corporations with strong community engagement and corporate citizenship perceive these firms as better corporate governance actors and as having better financial performance. Strong support for local communities could even reduce money-saving attempts like reducing community service. Giving to local community work can build on the brand, focusing partnerships with positive and meaningful consequences in comparative economic terms (increased sales and profits). Since companies are doing what they should do in a manner that benefits those who they should benefit.

Managing Your Finances

Sure, managing your finances is a huge part of running any small business. It's especially important though when you are launching a start-up as an ethnic minority. Mainly, you will not find that access to funds is easy and generally need to work a lot harder at finding ways to finance your start-up. It is important not only to know who will lend you money, but also what kinds of loans, grants, or equity options are available. Women have traditionally had less access to available business funding than men. As an ethnic minority woman in the UK, this challenge is only made worse.

You can get business mentoring and grants to help you start your own business. There are schemes across the UK to help you develop your business, including help with tax and national insurance. You can apply for a government-backed Start Up Loan of £500 to £25,000 from a limited number of partners, but more money can be available. There are also business start-up grants, a cash grant to help start your business, and helplines and advice on starting a direct selling business. Setting Up Accounting Systems

First and foremost, every business must keep its books of accounts in good order. You need to know how the business is doing in order to increase your money-making activities and to minimize costs. No matter what business accounting system you decide to set up, the choice of how to organize the books of account for money received and for money paid out is yours to make. Bookkeeping, in the beginning stages and later in your business, is not hard to understand once you have a general knowledge of it. It is only time-consuming, requiring considerable patience and attention to small details.

When should I start keeping books of accounts? Most ethnic minority business persons make the mistake of waiting until the business has reached a size small to medium before starting to keep records. From the very first customer, you must start keeping accounts. If you don't, every customer who buys on credit gives you money that will never be accounted for and is thus lost. These records, when looked at in another light, ensure that payments made to customers are easily documented. When you start your accounting system from the beginning, irregularities, discrepancies, and omissions, among others, are easily corrected because not much has happened in the accounts. Unfortunately, many small businesses start keeping records too late and lose money because the transition to organized accounting becomes complicated by the principle of timely recording of transactions.

Budgeting for Growth

Most would-be entrepreneurs think about their start-up costs, money needed for the first few months to a year of business and personal expenses. Few would-be retailers think about the investment needed to grow that business to its full potential. In fact, most retailers invest a large portion of their first three to five years' profits into their business to grow it to its full potential. You may think of your future growth needs as the seemingly endless stream of expenses involved in upgrading your store fixtures and decor, but consider too, other investments you will need to be making to support that growth. As successful retailing usually means offering your customers what they want, when they want it, you should put a little bit of that growth expense money into a two to six-month stock reserve. Few things frustrate customers more than coming into a store, seeing something of value, and being told it has been out of stock for weeks. The wise entrepreneur isn't in retailing just to hit a break-even point and then start drawing personal wages out of the business. They're in business to make the wages they could earn working for someone else, plus the profit of owning their own business, plus receive a bonus for taking the risks involved in being in business for oneself. All in all, your start-up budget will have been reasonable if it has or can produce 25% or more return on the investment this year, and 50% or more return on the investment in two to three years. If your budget hasn't met these guidelines, chances are you'll find operations that aren't essential to your concept, or investment in items on which you won't be receiving enough profit or return on investment. These people operate from a sincere desire to help you get started and stay knowledgeable. Find them at your local bank, trade show, or in the following categories of retail support products and services.

Understanding Cash Flow

We often hear the comparison of business to taking care of a baby, and this analogy comes in useful as we look at the finances of running a business. One of the most important jobs involves obtaining the money to keep the business running. The job of taking care of the cash flow is a very serious matter indeed, which cannot be neglected. You have to keep a record of all income and expenses – make a record in a daily diary from sales invoices. If customers promise to pay later, you should make a note when payment is collected. In a separate expense diary, you record all the expenses made by check and cash. Other expenses related to the business are telecommunication bills, utilities, and rent, all of which must be paid on a regular basis. Then there are the unexpected items of expenditure that occur daily: travel and postage, office supplies, even the tea you drink. Again, there is no need to detail everything in an account book, but keep them in a box or pouch and summarize at the end of the month so that you know how much to pay, and you can pay on time.

Overcoming Challenges as an Ethnic Minority Entrepreneur

Ethnic minority entrepreneurs face many challenges beyond the general set that all entrepreneurs face. General challenges relate to individual attitudes, business and management education, and skills shortages; hence, solutions need to be targeted towards the ethnicity of the entrepreneur. Such challenges arising from ethnicity are associated with the present institutional set of laws and regulations in society. In some instances, the obstacles result from organized practices and interactions with business support firms and governments. However, there are other significant obstacles that are less amenable to resolution because they arise from societal and economic norms. These, in turn, give rise to debates about whether government intervention is necessary or desirable. The issues considered are: access to capital and finance, employment and skills, the low business survival rates, entrepreneurship and education, entrepreneurial attitudes, sources of business transactions, strategies for success, self-employment versus business creation, leadership issues, and political integration.

It is often claimed that ethnic minority entrepreneurs face both general and ethnic-specific issues, and that policy should therefore have general measures and ethnicity-specific support. On the case against an ethnic focus of business support measures, evidence claimed to show a crucial role of individual-specific education, in general, and business education, in particular, in determining the business performance of entrepreneurs has also been presented. The conclusion that public intervention, as such, might be neither necessary nor desirable concerning entrepreneurship within the ethnic minorities can also be reached under less narrow circumstances. Specifically, entrepreneurship does not fail to attract UK ethnic minority entrepreneurs, nor does the sector lack the entrepreneurs' commitment or competence. Separate rules for ethnic minority entrepreneurs do not allow the former to outperform, which, in any case, would be an unsatisfactory state to be achieved. Indeed, all possible external support for new and existing businesses should encourage some standardisation of the challenges and requirements earmarked for the very long haul associated with business creation, ownership, and management, rather than promote inefficiency.

Addressing Discrimination

After experiencing racism and discrimination, Black and minority ethnic people seek to maximize their control over the property they have available. Small businesses appear to offer the chance to make choices on ownership, choice of work activities, and to provide strong, positive possibilities of achieving a better quality of life. However, socially there are considerable conflicts between social identities, business identities, the personal level of commitment needed to make a business work, and choices on personal and family priorities. This text has given a detailed account of the evidence on the enterprise and economic background of people who own businesses, the types of businesses operated by this group, and the consequences for business ownership.

Black and minority ethnic groups who start and run their own businesses are motivated by the need to achieve better employment and financial conditions than they experience from working for someone else. However, this motivation comes at a cost, with high levels of personal commitment needed to operate their own businesses. The risks are high, but people believe that they can achieve better returns from working for themselves to reduce their exposure to direct discrimination and institutional racism in the wage labour market. Even though people experience wage differentials and limited promotion prospects, working for someone else is seen as advantageous in other respects, such as job security, promotion opportunities, employment benefits including holiday leave, pensions, and private health insurance, and the lighter personal commitment requirements that come with employment.

Building Resilience

While a trove of data is available on ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the UK, the conditions for ethnic minority people are less well discussed. Discourse refers to the many ways, informal and formal, that this happens: the social norms, initial conditions, and pathways that provide food, social certainty, social support, and social recognition for appropriately designed effort. Ethnic minorities are built on having little of this, when there was no one else to turn to, needing to make their own chances. Recognizing how rare this ownership was among the hosting society, discourse can then become an asset by providing the social support, social recognition, and—crucially—the social network access that boosts resilience and speed of access to that network, particularly in the form of initial job offers and commercial relationships, yet prevents ownership by minority groups.

Given that certain types of businesses fail at a predictably higher rate owing to the conditions specific to their enterprise environments, ethnic minority entrepreneurs are highly resilient, continuing to attempt to create economic opportunities against these economic odds. Agreement with, and public knowledge of, the existential goals of minority enterprises, and an active effort to build the environments that support the creation of the enterprises that must persist if these goals are to be met, are but two of the necessary attributes of such a developed context. Since resilience is part of the pattern of goal-seeking behaviour, we are motivated to inhibit social exclusion while still supporting the goals of minority enterprises. Encouragingly for public policy for the enterprise sector, the health of the social structure can be improved without significant expenditure.

Scaling Your Business

After lots of hard work and determination, you have finally managed to set up your business after moving to the UK from abroad. With little time to catch your breath, you are soon making real progress, and your next dilemma hits you even quicker than you expected – scaling your business for the future. This is a welcome problem to have because, as the saying goes, ‘you know it’s just as easy to land a big fish as a small one.’ However, you may find you are making little progress in gaining market share or increasing sales revenue; it may seem you are spending all your time, effort, and money on just keeping things ticking along. 1. Start by creating a business account and building relationships with the other users. 2. Leverage Groups, which are a powerful way to connect with other business owners. 3. Follow featured content and influencers. 4. Grow your connections. 5. Post regularly. 6. Share news and updates about your business with your connections. 7. Keep at it! You will be able to make significant inroads into your sector by regularly monitoring your activity.

Identifying Growth Opportunities

Every business has the potential to grow, but the opportunities and challenges that different businesses face will be uniquely determined by the industry they are in, how they are managed, their finances, and the business environment in which they are operating. For some businesses, just keeping up with the latest technology is a major challenge, while others are struggling to meet the rise in energy and raw material prices. For them, growth may only come through the size of the market. Your business's chances of growth will depend on your capability and resources: the skills you bring to business, the tricks of the trade you learn, the way you shape your business's mission statements, goals, and strategies, your ability to structure your business properly and obtain the necessary resources and finance required, and your successful management and networking of business relationships that can help your business grow. The potential and ability to grow your business can be vast. You have an almost endless range of growth opportunities to develop and grow your business profitably. By analyzing the options, setting a clear vision of where you want your business to be in the future, and understanding what resources you will need to achieve your business goals, you can determine the strategy and action plan your business will need to follow and promptly respond to the best opportunities for growth. In exploring the possibilities, you may even find it helpful to draw up some scenarios showing the different possible growth paths.

Expanding Your Product Line

How and when should you start to expand your product line? You should add products when your customers want them and when the time and finances are right. Adding a new product line can mean your company gets more exposure and can open up another revenue stream. Expansion usually means having to put more time and effort into increasing promotional activities, such as more marketing, increased advertising expenditures, and perhaps more money for a more aggressive sales program. Expansion may also require that you spend more to add the new products, and thus reduce the capital that might be used to buy more inventory of items associated with your other products. Expansion can mean that you need to research new vendors and new processes. Regardless of the specific nature of your expansion program, you will need to spend both time and money to implement it for successful growth. Some business models revolve around the constant introduction of fresh and exciting merchandise. When you find yourself in 'fad marketing' mode, it is important to keep several factors in mind. Continuously launching new campaigns is an expensive approach. You should study historical data reflecting trends for your product line so that you can anticipate sales levels and stock inventory accordingly. Conduct a study to learn what customers are looking for in your product and ask your vendors how they will respond to your short notice requests for these products. Stay ahead of current trends. Misreading fashion trends is an expensive mistake. Take time to review proposed product changes with a merchandiser, where you will no doubt find there are underlying principles that can help form your product strategy.

Entering New Markets

Know what an ethnic market is and research whether there is a potential for your product with it - do not assume markets exist without checking on them first. Try to find out what types of products are currently available and see how your product differs from the competition. Would you be offering something that is simply cheaper or better, or are you offering a product that is not currently available? How many ethnic minority people live within reasonable reach of your shop? For example, if you plan to sell halal food, where are the nearest mosques? There are plenty of other businesses that will serve your niche markets – newsagents sell Indian brands of chocolate and African hair products, Indian sweet shops with lovely pink and green sundaes, the Asian corner shop that opens odd hours and charges a lot from English people in pubs that are desperate for a carton of milk and a packet of cigarettes. But there are also some ethnic shop businesses that are really thriving, that provides quality ingredients and curries for people too lazy to make their own. Also, remember that ethnic minority people do not just want to buy goods – there is a demand for most other services too, so consider what you might be able to provide. For example, think about setting up a hairdresser that specializes in weaving techniques.

If your business is well away from any ethnic minority communities and you are worried that 'nobody will come', consider selling from a market stall where people come to shop rather than a shop where people just happen to walk by. The rent is cheaper and you would at least have some idea of the number of potential customers. Or if they won't come to you, at least you could go to them! Think carefully about the legal and practical implications of the markets you are entering and differentiate between those that you have experience of and those that you don't. You should know your own limits.

Conclusion

Whether a person starts a business or not will depend on the cost of setting up, including obtaining information about setting up, as well as individual characteristics. It may be that some people, such as non-white women, face higher costs than do other groups. Future work should investigate the relative significance of both institutional barriers and individual ones in deterring the start of business. This study has shown that although non-white women generally experience lower costs than do other non-white minorities, they are deterred from starting a business. Future work should investigate why non-white women are different. Work is also needed to investigate how workers act, not whether they become self-employed. This paper shows that recent immigrants are less likely than longer-established minorities to set up a business, even when controlling for a host of personal and contextual variables and issues of self-selection. White couples, parents, older, more educated and better-paid workers are more likely, whereas non-white women are less likely to start a business in the UK. Important group differences are observed. For event history research on business start-ups, individuals should be followed over time, and wealthy, skilled workers known to have had access to capital markets ought to be included. When attempting to understand business formation, research should focus on identifying which people set up businesses, and work is needed to further examine these potential explanations.