Start Your Own Business in Hertfordshire

If you are thinking about starting a business in Hertfordshire or would like to grow your existing business, you have come to the right place!

Start Your Own Business in Hertfordshire contains masses of free resources and the useful information that will help give your venture the best chance of success. It also highlights local organisations who offer friendly business advice and services that you need.

Our most popular LOCAL subjects are: Business Advice & Support, Where to Find Grants, Funding for Your Business, Local Networking Groups.

We have been helping start-ups and existing business owners in Hertfordshire since 2005 and a list of key local contacts can be found below.

Everything that you will find on the site is free and a good place to start is our free start-up pack, a series of factsheets which cover all of the key considerations, relevant templates, links to other useful resources and our free downlodable 'Start Your Own Business' guide.

Hertfordshire Locations Covered

How to Succeed

The sad truth is that far too many new businesses start-ups fail in the early stages and our aim is to try and make sure that you are not one of them!

To help with this, we have broken down the start-up process into simple steps which highlight the things that have worked for other start-ups and the pitfalls that you need to avoid.

FREE Start-Up Pack

Our FREE start-up pack contains everything that you need to get you started.

It is a common trait amongst entrepreneurs to just want to 'get on with it'. However, if you want to maximise your chances of success, it is worth putting in time and effort before you start to ensure that you have set-up correctly.

Start-up checklist
Step-by-step guide
Business plan template
Personal budget planner
Cashflow forecast template
Marketing plan template
Guide to business networking
Start-up map
Web & SEO Checklist
Start-up map

Download Pack

One-time registration required but this unlocks all of the free resources on the site.

FREE Start-Up Pack

Our FREE start-up pack contains everything that you need to get you started.

Start-up checklist
Step-by-step guide
Business plan template
Personal budget planner
Cashflow forecast template
Marketing plan template
Guide to business networking
Start-up map
Web & SEO Checklist
Start-up map

Download Pack

FREE Book

Start Your Own Business in 2020

This free 150 page book is packed with information and contact details designed to help you start or grow your business successfully.

We have been running SYOB for over 10 years now and have accumulated an enormous amount of information which could make the difference between success or failure.

Starting a business is easy but keeping it going and making a profit is a completely different proposition. The good news is that there are tried and tested 'rules' which have consistently proved to work.

As the old addage says 'you don't know what you don't know'!

Download Now

FREE 'Start & Grow Your Business' Book

This 2020 Edition is packed with the information that you need to start or grow a business in Hertfordshire

Overview - easy to follow step by step guide
Advice - where to find help and support
Business planning - are you ready?
Market research - is there a gap in the market?
Business set-up - choosing the right structure
Premises - work from home or premises?
Finance & funding - your funding options
Accountancy & tax - tax and VAT explained
Business networking - tips and local groups
Getting online - online marketing, social media
Employing staff - how to find and recruit
Law & insurance - the key considerations
Common mistakes - and how to avoid them
Business directory - useful contacts

You can download the whole of this 150 page book now free of charge. We are sure that you will find it both interesting and useful. The 2020 edition is packed with useful hints and tips, relevant, easy to read guides to all of the relevant subjects, real-life examples, and lots of contacts to enable you to get off to the best possible start.

Download Free copy

Start-Up Services

We are keen to see you succeed and can recommend the following...

Business Plan Review

If you have already prepared a business plan, but feel it needs a professional 'eye' to look over it before presenting it to a bank or investor, or you’re worried that it simply isn’t up to scratch, then we can help.
Find out more

Mentoring

A professional business mentor is an invaluable resource for businesses of all shapes and sizes, so stick with one and they will help you to grow from a start-up to an established business.
Find out more

Business Opportunity

Discover how you can earn a lifelong income by helping people get an all together better deal on their Gas, Electricity, Landline, Broadband and Mobile services. People like you have changed their lives!
Find out more

Start-Up Loans

We have partnered with Transmit Start-Ups to deliver the Start Up Loans scheme to UK entrepreneurs. This is a government backed scheme, providing repayable loans and mentoring to individuals in the UK with a viable business idea but no access to finance.
Find out more

Hertfordshire Local Contacts

If you can help new business start ups or existing small businesses in the Hertfordshire area, we would love to promote you here free of charge. (Add Your Business)

Wenta

Wenta is a social enterprise that provides a one-stop-shop for business support. We can help you with everything from start-up advice, mentoring and training to workspace, meeting rooms and virtual offices. We’re based in: Hertfordshire and the south east midlands with business centres in Enfield, Potters Bar, Stevenage and Watford

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STANTA Business Centre

Only need a small office? Want short-term space? STANTA Business Centre is the answer…. Office space to rent in the STANTA Business Centre is charged as an all-inclusive monthly fee (that also covers gas, electricity and business rates) with only one month’s fee charged as a deposit. And renting offices from STANTA has a number of additional benefits: - easy in, easy out office space with no long term lease commitment - easy access to the M1, M25 and A1 - free membership of St Albans Chamber of Commerce for the first year - a large Board Room with Wi-Fi to use (as well as a smaller meeting room) and free onsite business advice - toilets with showers on each level & disabled access (via lift) and unallocated free parking for bikes and cars - no maintenance charges & CCTV security and alarms - high-speed broadband access - suites available from 50 sq ft to 900sq ft (suitable for 1 to 14 people) But perhaps the most unique feature of taking office space at STANTA is the business community within STANTA Business Centre: a mixture of long-standing licencees and newcomers, every STANTA business looks out for the other tenants, taking in parcels, borrowing or lending the proverbial cup of sugar (or milk), passing on local news of interest and of course doing business with each other! If you would like to be part of this thriving community, please click here to see the current availability or call us on 01727 837760.

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Ricson Accountancy Services

We are a small family run business who are specialists in dealing with sole traders and small limited companies. We are a forward thinking company with cloud based solutions to give you up to date access to your company information. We want to work with you to free up your time to build your business and spend time with family & friends

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eRecruitSmart

We are disrupting the recruitment space and partnering with UK companies who value their employees and understand the importance of hiring the right people to grow their businesses. eRecruitSmart provides job advertising and recruitment software and are one of the UKs leading online recruiters with access to over 12 million candidates. For maximum exposure, vacancies are published on a huge network of high traffic job boards. We work with all sectors of business and industry and are proud to be the only holder of the ISO 9001:2015 standard in the flat fee recruitment industry. As an ISO 9001:2015 accredited company, our communications with both candidates and clients are documented and audited, so you can be assured of receiving the highest standards in customer care with a commitment to transparency. To have a well-run, profitable business you must get the right people in place. This is done by having the biggest and best reach of applicants to fill your roles. And here at eRecruitSmart we work with you to achieve that objective. We will add value to your business by helping you to recruit the smart way.

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Enterprise Hertfordshire

Need start up advice, help with your business plan, funding, sales or marketing. Overwhelmed with everyday administrative tasks. Reluctant to take on staff for budgetary reasons. Wish you had more time to focus on developing your business. We provide administrative support and consultancy services for charities, SMEs, social enterprises, sole traders and start-ups on an ad hoc basis at affordable prices. Please contact us for a quote. Our services include: Book keeping Data entry Word processing Invoicing and payment collection Website build and updates Startup advice Business plans and projections Help securing funding Business development Market research and surveys On and offline marketing Branding and PR HR solutions Operational reviews Strategic consulting

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Choice Digital

RESULTS-DRIVEN SEO AND WEBSITE CONVERSION SOLUTIONS FOR HIGH END SERVICE PROVIDERS The team at Choice Digital combine over 10 years of expertise in delivering SEO and website marketing solutions with one goal: to help you win more clients online. FREE AUDIT If you think choice digital might be a good fit in helping you win more clients online – and if you qualify – we would first recommend you apply for a custom Website Audit for your business, free of charge. That way, we can then have a valuable conversation about how well your website is currently optimised for the search engines, and you will also receive advice on immediate and actionable steps to effectively gain and convert more high-value enquiries. If we mutually agree that your business can benefit from our SEO and website conversion solutions, we will then put together a personalized proposal complete with price and expectations.

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Viva Networking

Viva Business Networking is not just another networking group. Now in our third year we have established a strong network of companies, created an ethos of support and spirit of generosity. We are a mixed networking company with no professional lock-out. We are a networking service and help you get the business you need.

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Advert2Do

24-7 website has been designing: WWW pages, online stores, creating applications which facilitate the maintenance of websites It has been created by a team with years of experience in various branches of IT industry. The websites we create includes a diverse and wide-range of topics tailored to the needs of customers of all specialties.

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Hertfordshire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership)

It is our guiding principle to grow Hertfordshire smartly as a perfect place to live, work and do business and we bring together key partners from local business, academia, the third and public sectors to achieve this.Our ambition is to secure Hertfordshires place as a world-leading economy - one of the top three in the country outside London - by securing future revenue streams and the successful delivery of projects identified in our Strategic Economic Plan, a long-term blueprint for smart economic growth in the county.

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce provides first-class business support to companies of all shapes and sizes, through a range of membership benefits and networking opportunities. Address: Zenith Court,4 Bishops Square Business Park,Hatfield,Hertfordshire,AL10 9NE

Andrew Ludlam

Offering business advice and support across Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire Business Advice is dedicated to helping local enterprises grow, develop and succeed.

Photo of Hertfordshire courtesy of Start Your Own Business under a Creative Commons Attribution licence

Local Partner

Hertfordshire Pages

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Local Partners