If you know your antioxidants from your additives, or your macros from your micros, you might be thinking about starting a nutrition business.

Whether you’re an expert health coach or a meal prep pro, starting a business could be the perfect way to turn your nutrition knowledge into income.

But before you get started there’s a lot to consider. We’ll take you through everything you need to know to start a thriving business in this detailed guide – from legalities and logistics to branding and budgeting.

Should you start a nutrition business now?

The health and wellness industry is booming, with the specialised nutrition market expected to grow by at least 6.3% between 2025 and 2030. It’s a great time to get in on the action.

Whether it’s personalised meal plans, plant-based nutrition, or gut health supplements, there’s a huge demand for expert guidance – and consumers are willing to put their money where their mouth is to pay for their health.

There are also new wellness trends, such as fermented foods, sea moss and a focus on brain-boosting ingredients, popping up on a regular basis, meaning you’re bound to find one that aligns with your own skills and passion.

But, like with any industry, getting into the health and wellness space doesn’t come without its hurdles. Regulations around nutrition can be complex, it’s a heavily regulated industry, and you’ll need to make sure you meet the necessary requirements around the Food Safety Act and UK nutrition laws.

Competition is also fierce, you won’t be the only nutrition business out there, but with the right branding and business plan (more on that later), you can stand out from the crowd and make your nutrition business a success.

How to start a nutrition business in 5 steps

If you’re ready to start a nutrition business then this step-by-step will help you get your idea off the ground.

1. Create a business plan

To get started with any business you need to create a business plan.

This is a strategic document that outlines every aspect of your business, including your niche, target audience, budgets, projections, and funding sources. This will be your guide as you build your startup. As well, it’s a great resource to showcase your business in detail to potential investors.

One of the most important decisions you’ll make within your business plan is your niche. You’ll need to use your own skills and knowledge to inform what type of nutrition business you want to run.

Some ideas of nutrition business niches are:

• Personalised nutrition plans for specific groups, such as athletes, runners, or pregnant women
• Healthy eating workshops for businesses
• Family meal planning/cooking classes
• Vegan meal delivery service 
• Supplements for specific groups, such as post-natal women or marathon runners

Your business plan should also detail how you intend to finance your nutrition business, which can come from personal savings, loans, small business grants, or crowdfunding.

2. Handle the legal stuff

When starting a nutrition business, you’ll need to comply with various legal regulations.

It’s a good idea to get ahead and handle the legal stuff at the start so you know you’re fully compliant, and won’t get any nasty surprises – such as fines or even an order to shut down your business – further down the line.

To make sure your nutrition business is legally compliant, you’ll need to:

• Register your business and decide whether to operate as a sole trader or a limited company
• Make sure you have the correct certifications and qualifications. If you plan to offer meal plans, you should have a nutrition degree and be registered with the UKVRN (UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists)
• Take out public liability insurance (public liability insurance covers you if a member of the public is injured as a result of your business operations)
• Understand food labelling laws – and if you plan to prepare and/or sell food, you’ll need a food standards and hygiene certificate
• Ensure you are GDPR compliant with any customer data you collect

3. Find your suppliers

The next step is to source or create the products or services you wish to sell through your nutrition business.

How you go about this will depend on the business model that you choose. For example, if you’re offering a digital product or service, such as meal plans or online consultations, you’ll need to choose a software use and the branding style of your business.

For those who want to sell physical products, this step will likely take a little longer. You’ll need to build a strong supplier network in order to source your products (or the ingredients and tools you need to create them yourself).

When choosing a supplier make sure to answer these questions:

• Do they meet all of the relevant health and safety standards? Familiarise yourself with the UK Food Standards Agency regulations to be sure.
• Can they handle large bulk orders – and is there potential to scale as your business grows?
• Are they cost-effective without sacrificing quality?
• Do they offer a sustainable solution to sourcing and creating the relevant items?
• Can they provide third-party testing and results?

4. Build an online presence

In today’s digital world, one of the best ways to grow a business is to build an online presence.

Leveraging digital platforms is a great way to attract clients, build credibility and trust, and ultimately grow and scale your business.

Some of the key ways you can build an online presence for your nutrition business are:

• Build a professional website – it should be mobile-optimised and include all of the information a customer needs about your business. Add ecommerce functionality to sell your products online, and remember to add detailed product descriptions and ingredients lists. Clearly display your qualifications and certifications on your website too to build trust
• Leverage social media marketing – platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube will attract a wider audience to your brand. Create engaging and informative content that positions you as an expert they can trust
• Build an email list for lead generation – get customers to sign up to your email marketing and deliver content straight to their inbox. Focus on informative and quality content that is unique to your subscribers

5. Scale and grow

Once your nutrition business is up and running, the next step is to think about scaling it.

In order to achieve long-term success and growth you’ll need to take a strategic approach and keep a close eye on what works and what doesn’t.

Some of our top tips for scaling your nutrition business are:

• Diversify your services – Expand your offering to attract more customers and drive revenue. Ideas include offering a subscription model for supplements or meal prep and offering online consultations for those who are not in your local area.
• Make the most of technology – Technology can be your best friend when trying to scale, setting up an automated booking system to reduce your admin hours and using CRM software to track client progress and feedback are just two ideas.
• Analyse and optimise – You need to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Keep a close eye on performance and track key metrics, like sales or return customers, over set periods of time.

What do you need to set up a nutrition business?

Now that you know how to set up your nutrition business, here’s what you need to actually do it:

• The right qualifications – Make sure you have obtained all of the relevant qualifications and licences such as registering with the Food Standards Agency.
• Products or services – Source your products or build your services to be the best on the market. You may need to partner with wholesalers to provide what you need where you may find the cost of ingredients to be cheaper.
• An online presence – You’ll need to build a website and create social media accounts for your business.
• Payment systems – Make sure you set up a reliable payment system, such as Stripe or PayPal, to take customer payments.

How much can you expect to pay?

The cost of starting a nutrition business can range from £1,000 – £20,000 depending on the business model you opt for and the products/services that you offer. However, below we’ve listed a rough breakdown based on some of the most popular nutrition business models:

Online consulting

If you plan to offer online nutrition services, such as coaching and meal plans then you should budget between £1,000-£5,000. This will cover the cost of any certifications and qualifications, a website, and your marketing.

Supplements

For a supplement business you should budget between £5,000 – £20,000. This is a big range but that’s because it all depends on the ingredients and suppliers you wish to use. You’ll also need to pay for your ecommerce site, marketing, branding, packaging, and fulfillment.

Meal prep services

Meal delivery services will likely need aound £10,000 to get started. This will cover the licenses you need, equipment, ingredients, marketing, and delivery.

Conclusion

Starting a nutrition business can – and should be – an exciting and rewarding venture that allows you to help others improve their health while building a successful career for yourself.

By obtaining the right qualifications, creating a solid business plan and investing in the right marketing strategies, you can build a credible and thriving business that customers trust.

Whether you’re focusing on one-to-one coaching, selling meal plans or creating snazzy new supplements, the key to success is to stay informed, adapt to industry trends and build a strong relationship with your customers.

Lucy Nixon - content writer

With 10 years experience in the digital marketing industry, Lucy is a content writer specialising in ecommerce, website building and all things small business. Her passion is breaking down tricky topics into digestible and engaging content for readers. She's also committed to uncovering the best platforms, tools, and strategies, researching meticulously to providing hand-on tips and advice.

Before starting a business, there are some rather important areas to think about when becoming a handyman are:

• 01 | Skills required
• 02 | Business plan
• 03 | Regulations
• 04 | Marketing
• 05 | Costs
• 06 | Useful contacts

What is a handyman business and who is it suited to?

The handyman is a fairly new concept industry-wise. Years ago, property maintenance companies confined themselves to specific services, such as plumbing, electrical, and painting. However, recently there has been an eruption of handyman businesses, carving themselves out as distinct service providers. With the ever-depressing job market, people are seeking news ways to make a living, and an increasing number of people are following their passion and setting up their own companies.

Perhaps the success of the handyman business is due to the increasingly busy and hectic lives that people lead. Finding enough time to juggle work with family and other commitments can be troublesome, and consequently more and more people are looking for help with odd-jobs around their home, whether it’s changing light fittings, putting up shelves or repairing dripping taps.

In essence, anyone can set up a handyman business. City-workers who have grown weary of their office jobs are among those who have taken the plunge, as well as individuals with a background in property maintenance. This is also not an industry reserved for men, since there are numerous handywomen on the scene. Kerrie Hanafin started A Woman’s Touch in 2003, a company that boasts a team of highly qualified tradeswomen. She explains: “Being a woman can be a fabulous advantage, I think people find it easy to trust you and feel happy leaving you in their home, or with their young children”. Kerrie spotted a niche in the market, and with a current turnover of £3.5m, her handywoman business is flourishing.

An interest and basic knowledge of the different trades are important factors when thinking of starting your business. While there are no specific qualifications required, it is helpful if you are familiar with all aspects of the trade, from painting and plastering to plumbing and carpentry. Central to the handyman concept is that no job is too small, and so a willingness to offer all services is beneficial. Customers will not come back if you refuse the small jobs like changing their light bulb, therefore if you are prepared to do any job, however big or small, you will stand yourself in good stead to be called upon again. Will Davies set up Aspect Maintenance in 2005, a thriving business that today enjoys a turnover of £10.5m and employs 110 fully-qualified maintenance workers.  He believes that the key to success is to offer as wide a range of services as possible. “Many handyman businesses can only deal with problems up until a certain level, often they are not suitably registered for the more complex jobs and so while they may be fine for basic problems, they might not be able to resolve the more difficult ones.” This, he explains, can be a hindrance to the growth of your business, because people won’t use you again.

Perhaps most crucial is your attitude and behaviour towards customers; being friendly and approachable is fundamental to build and maintain trust between you and your clients. People want to be able to rely on you, and so honesty and dependability are invaluable qualities when dealing with customers. Chris Gilbey established his own handyman company Bitsbobsandoddjobs in 2006, and affirms the importance of building solid relationships with clients.  He says: “The most important thing is customer relations and being responsive to clients. I think we are unique in the way we deal with people, and most of our business comes through word-of-mouth, so it is essential to gain peoples’ trust.”

Researching the market and creating your business plan

You need to decide the scope of your business early on. That is not to say that you can’t add further services to your list at a later date, but its important to set out boundaries of the types of jobs you will do. The handyman industry is incredibly broad, and services can range from the simplest of tasks such as changing a light bulb, to fitting a new bathroom or even completely renovating a house. Some of the more complex jobs require specific training and qualifications, as well as industry authorisation, which can limit the scale of services you offer. Nevertheless, it is beneficial to lay out clearly what you are offering so that customers can make an informed decision on whether to hire you.

Starting up any business requires a good degree of planning and preparation. While it may seem fairly straightforward, setting up a handyman company is no different. Kerrie Hanafin suggests talking to people in the area to find out what they would look for in a handyman business. Researching your locality and main competition can really help to establish your place in the market. Sorting out your pricing is also essential at the early stages, so find out your competitors’ prices to get an idea of what you could charge.  “No matter how small your company, you should lay out your plans for the next 12-24 months”, explains Will Davies. “If your goals are clearly laid out in front of you, you will find it far easier to achieve them.”

A unique and memorable name for you company is fundamental. Chris Gilbey, from Bitsbobsandoddjobs, stresses that coming up with a good name can really help with branding your business, so it’s worth dedicating time to this.

Experience is probably the most valuable tool. There is nothing better than going out and gaining practical skills and know-how. Chris Gilbey from Bitsbobsandoddjobs spent time as an apprentice for a building company, which has helped enormously with setting up on his own. He says: “There’s nothing better than experience, having a background in the building industry is a huge advantage and it is invaluable to get some practical experience.”

Rules and regulations

There are no specific certificates or training required for starting up as a handyman. However, if you want to be able to offer a full range of services, it is worth getting certified with certain regulatory bodies.

The NICEIC is the organisation that authorises the electrical industry, and if you intend on carrying out any new electrical wiring, this is vital.

For work relating to gas engineering, it is important to register yourself on the Gas Safe index.  Initial registration costs £428, which must be renewed every year for a further £205 via telephone, or £180 online. The Gas Safety Register is the UK’s official body for gas safety, having replaced CORGI in 2009, which requires anyone working on gas maintenance to carry the card, proving they are part of the network and are therefore approved.

There are a variety of credible courses that can help you acquire the more complex skills. Kerrie Hanafin from A Woman’s Touch recommends taking a few short courses in each trade. You can find courses for one or two weeks which will give you enough confidence and knowledge to be able to offer your services in that trade.

You will need to think about registering for VAT. As of 2010, you must register for VAT if your turnover for the previous 12 months is more than the current registration threshold of £70 000, or if you expect it to go over that figure in the next 30 days. If your turnover hasn’t crossed the registration threshold, you can still voluntarily register for VAT, because it may be beneficial to you, however, it is not required.

If you are planning on sub-contracting some of your work to other servicemen, you need to register with the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).  As a contractor, you will need to check your workers are registered with HM Revenue and Customs.

Reputation and marketing

Reputation, reputation, reputation. Shakespeare’s famous quotation from Othello rings true throughout all trade industries, and is fundamental for securing a solid customer base. As service providers, keeping your customers satisfied should always be your number one priority, because one unhappy customer could be catastrophic for your business.

Basic rules apply, so a respect for other people’s homes is paramount, as is a friendly and approachable manner. Word-of-mouth accounts for a huge proportion of new business, and recommendations are gold dust in this industry, therefore being helpful and going that extra mile can really help you build a reputable and trustworthy enterprise.

Advertising and marketing are good ways to promote your business and to generate commerce. James Irwin left his career in finance to set up The Handy Squad in 2005. He stresses the advantages of creating a website for your business, to develop and retain a strong online presence.  “We invested a lot in our website initially because we believed it would really help us market our business.  It is also good to have a reliable IT system – it’s a worthy investment”, he says.

Cost of starting and running a handyman business

The cost of setting up a handyman business can be fairly low, especially if you are a one-man-band. Initially you will need to purchase a set of tools, many of which you may already own, and you also need to think about a vehicle – a van, car, or even scooter will do. However, if you don’t have enough funds to buy a vehicle straight out, it may be worth looking into vehicle leasing. Will Davies from Aspect Maintenance recommends going to your local bank to ask about vehicle leasing, as many of the main leasing companies are associated with major banks.

Other costs you may want to consider are that of getting a dedicated business mobile phone plan (which may be able to be claimed as a business expense) and branding and marketing costs (from invoice design to local advertising).

In terms of what you can earn, this can vary according to the size of your business. Most handyman services charge customers at an hourly, or sometimes half-hourly rate, although some also charge a separate call-out fee. Occasionally companies charge according to the job, however this can be complicated, says Will Davies, because it is often difficult to judge the size of the job from speaking with the customer over the phone.

A fairly standard charge may be £20 or £30 per half hour plus VAT. Individual handymen can make up to £300 in a day if business is good, but this may require working long days. Chris Gilbey’s working day often starts at 6am and may not finish until after 10 at night. He says it’s a very “hands-on industry”, however he insists that the excitement and satisfaction of running your own business far outweighs the arduous working hours.

Kerrie Hanafin has learnt two important lessons from starting her business.  She highlights the significance of keeping a close eye on the figures and to work out costs ahead of schedule, to make sure you stay on top of things. She also emphasises the importance of paying yourself first.  “When cashflow is tight, you often find that you end up working for nothing because other people need to be paid.  However, you must always ensure you pay yourself first, to avoid letting yourself down.” James Irwin, from The Handy Squad, reaffirms this point, having witnessed his own salary take a back seat in the early days of his business. He also highlights the importance of being fair in business.  He says: “Always treat customers fairly and price fairly, because that way customers will return with more business and will recommend you. Probably half of our business is through word-of-mouth and repeat customers, and I’m sure it’s because we are fair.”

Useful contacts

There are a number of helpful websites that offer information and advice on how to start up a business. Business Link is a credible government site that can provide personal advisors to individual businesses, free of charge. There is also an extensive range of easily accessible leaflets on all areas of business that can be an invaluable source of information. Visit www.businesslink.gov.uk

NICEIC Head Office 0870 013 0382 www.niceic.com

Gas Safe Register 0800 408 5500 www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) 0845 366 7899 www.hmrc.gov.uk/cis/

VAT Registration 0845 010 9000 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat

Before starting a business in crafting, here are the key steps for learning how to start a craft business are:

What is a craft business?

Austerity chic: thanks to the current economic dip, crafting really is ‘in’. Think crochet, soap, cross-stitch, jewellery-making, and wooden toys. Or pottery, glassblowing and tapestry. For hobby suppliers, it’s big business, and growing exponentially. According to figures released by speciality craft and hobby store HobbyCraft in December ’09, cake baking alone was up 85% year-on-year while knitting sales were up close to 28%.

And this trend shows no signs of waning. In July 2011, HobbyCraft reported an 18% jump in pre-tax profits, year-on-year, driven by the growing popularity of crafts. Sewing and knitting groups such as Stitch London are popping up all over the country. Homebaked is fast becoming the only way to go: so why not go for a piece of the cake?

If you are one of the recession’s newly converted crafters, or even if your mother or grandmother taught you to crochet, knit, sew, bake and rag rug long ago, you could well have found yourself thinking: there’s more to my craft skills than those throw cushions I zipped up for the lounge. And you’re right. The skills you take for granted could well become a promising venture.

Many crafters take time to come round to this way of thinking. Crafting ambitions can be unfairly dismissed, as Amanda Ryan of craft gifts shop Maisielu.com explains: “I never thought of using these skills as my source of income because throughout my academic years ‘helpful’ careers advisers told me I needed a proper job in an office with computers and business profiles!”

But when you think of it, this home-based, low investment business has much to recommend it: self sustaining organic growth is not to be sniffed at. Meanwhile, the growing number of online marketplaces, such as Notonthehighstreet.com and Folksy, are offering crafters more cost-effective routes to market than ever before.

So whether you’re a dab hand at felting, a knitting fanatic, or a screenprint superstar, keep on reading to see if it’s for you.

Who is starting a craft business suited to?

Crafts businesses and mums… the cliché holds true to a certain extent. Start-ups in this area are often powered by mothers who want to stay at home to be a full-time parent to their children. Joanne Dewberry, of party bags and toys craft company Charliemoos.co.uk, explains: “A lot of craft business owners are mums who suddenly have more time on their hands and start crafting for a hobby. Then they end up with loads of finished products and the best thing to do with them is sell them!”

Of course, you don’t need to be a mother to go in to the area. Don’t worry if you’ve not gone to art school, and don’t be overly concerned if you have no professional training in your craft either. You don’t necessarily need this to start up a business. Many successful businesses are powered by the enthusiasm of talented amateurs. “One of the factors that held me back from starting my own craft business was the belief that I didn’t have the correct background,” Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com admits. “Most of the craft orientated businesses that I liked and researched had been started by people who had completed degrees and had suitable contacts in this market…”

But if you research the various structures a business can take, you will find a ‘new wave’ of craft businesses taking off. There has been a surge in numbers using on-line market places specialising in the hand crafted area; such as Etsy (take a look at our dedicated guide on how to start an Etsy shop), Misi and Folksy. “Looking at the array of people from amazingly different backgrounds on these sites helped me understand that to set up a craft business all you have to know is your craft,” Amanda explains. “Everything thing else can be researched, and gained through experience and the helpful knowledge of others.”

Joanne agrees: “I have totally self taught to sew. My first sewing machine was a child’s tiny £10 sewing machine which my hubby bought me for Christmas! I know what I like and I just find out how to do it.” Even though she had no ‘craft’ background, Joanne had the wherewithal to make things work. Before she had her children and set up her own business, she worked as a nursery manager. She believes this, and a number of relevant courses, has afforded her all the background business knowledge required, and now mentors through the Prince’s Trust.

Fiona Morris of Samigail’s Handmade Personalised Gifts had a similar experience. Not only did she lack a craft background, but she was unsure how she could make a viable business out of any craft in her repertoire. “Even when I was a solicitor, I always enjoyed lots of different types of arts and crafts,” she says. “But at the time I couldn’t think of any class that I did that really would be commercially viable.” Then she found pyrography. “I just taught myself that, and then a friend of mine said they would work as a gift for her children’s teacher at Christmas. In that way I realised I had a commercially viable product!”

So as long as you enjoy the hobby, and you have the requisite equipment, then that’s all you need to set up a craft business. Don’t let any perceived cliquishness turn you off.

Getting your business started

When you are setting up your craft business, the most important choice is, of course, the craft you choose. There are many popular craft areas, and it’s a competitive field. So it’s extremely important to differentiate your offering.

“In terms of crafts, there’s a lot of people who make handmade cards,” Fiona Morris of Samigail’s Handmade Personalised Gifts notes. “I know when I go to a craft fair or a school fair, there are a lot of stalls with handmade cards, and a lot of stalls for jewellery. If you want to go into business in craft, you would be wise to think about an area that isn’t already saturated in the craft market.” Find a unique selling point, like Fiona has. She says she always knew she wanted to personalise items for people, and make something very special and particular to them.

It’s imperative to research your product well, too. When determining which craft to go into, Fiona searched on Google for the products she had in mind, looking for what was already out there and how hers might be different. It’s a good idea to look for the products that actually sell. “Ebay is very good for checking up on products that sell well,” Fiona advises. She suggests you might check for prices too, “obviously bearing in mind that your product might be different, so it might have a slightly different price. But for a general guideline for what sells at what price, it works!”

You need to know your market, also. If you’re producing wedding jewellery costing hundreds, for instance, you should not aim to sell at a school fair, or a Sunday hall market! There are other reasons to do careful product research, though. “It can prevent copying others’ designs,” according to Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com: “You may not do it on purpose but with certain jewellery suppliers selling to lots of makers you can end up with very similar products.”

It’s not a good idea to rule out all copying, however. Once you have decided on your craft, you’d be well advised to seek the advice of fellow crafters online. It’s easy to source very specific advice, according to Fiona. “A lot of people use online forums, in particular, mum’s forums. Some of them have a separate section for business. And the crafting forums give great advice.”

Crafting forums will be full of people who have gone through similar experiences to you in setting up their own businesses, and can give you avenues to finding out things like public liability and insurance specific to crafters. “You can Google a lot of things,” says Fiona, “but finding craft insurance was one of the things I struggled with. Searching the specific craft forum really just solved that very quickly.”

Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com agrees: “The greatest thing for someone setting up a craft business is website forums: the sales sites all have them for sellers to discuss business together.” Importantly, forums are also often frequented by customers who are hoping to seek out artisans for commissions. “The sites I used most was Crafteroo, a forum for crafts people most of whom run their own businesses,” Amanda advises, “and UKHandmade, an online magazine for craftspeople.”

If you’re starting your craft business from home, check out the insurance you might need as a home-based business owner.

What does it cost to launch a craft business?

If you need to invest substantially in anything for your start-up, it will likely be in equipment for your chosen craft, and perhaps a website to sell your produce. If you’re a beginner it’s not advisable to go for new top of the range equipment. Not just in case your things don’t take off, but because it’s possible to find good equipment second hand. “You can try looking in your local charity shops,” Joanne Dewberry of Charliemoos.co.uk suggests. “You’ll find lots of people buy all the equipment, give up or never use it. It’s a great way to get started.”

Crafting does not usually require a great deal of investment to start off with. Often, you’ll already have most of the initial stock and equipment from practising your hobby. This was the case for Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com: “I was lucky that my business was a hobby first so I already had a lot of supplies and equipment,” she says.” I think a lot of craft businesses evolve this way giving the owner a good start up stock.”

Business grew in an organic manner, and very intentionally so, for Fiona Morris of Samigail’s Handmade Personalised Gifts, too: “I was very aware that I was going to start the business on a very tight budget. Except for the initial expenditure in a basic pyrography iron and some wood blanks, at every stage of growth the business has paid for itself.”

Organic growth is certainly something to aim for, but at the very early stages, investment needs will vary according to your craft, your equipment and the kind of stock you need to order in. Like any business, it is advisable to have a buffer in place.

Selling your craft products

In terms of bringing your crafted items to market, there are many ways and means. Fiona recommends starting off at school fairs, and church fetes as well. It’s a good way of spreading word-of-mouth. Someone may buy something from you directly, and perhaps go on to seek out your site.

Of course the site of sale will depend on what your product is. It may need a street presence, or sell better in an established local shop. It may be more suited to craft fairs at seasonal times. If you’ve done the correct research you’ll know. But mistakes can be costly, so be fastidious.

“I chose to sell through Misi and Folksy first,” says Amanda Ryan of Maisielu.com. Both of these are British run craft selling websites. There are others like Notonthehigstreet and Etsy too. “These fitted my needs,” Amanda explains. “With minimal set up costs, you can set up a store within their site, list your products and off you go! You get support from their forums, an online presence, get to test your products on a target audience and all for a very cheap fee and commission rate.”

These kinds of sites are excellent. But do not take it for granted that they are for you as they’re not suited to every craft business. With Maisielu.com, the products are small, so it was not cost effective for Amanda to open a high street store with huge overheads. Your business, should it be a pottery or a wicker workshop, for instance, could benefit from a studio shop, or artisan workspace.

Many crafters set up their own website. It is possible to build your own site at home for free, as Amanda ultimately did. “I felt the major breakthrough for my craft working as a business was when I launched my own website. Selling through my own space rather than sales sites, I don’t have to pay fees to others.” Even if you are quite technophobic, the process is not extraordinarily difficult. “I used create.net,” Amanda says, “a website template company. They were on hand if I ever had questions and made it a joyful project.”

Fiona also built her first site, but she was not entirely happy with the result. “You can do things very cheaply,” she explains. “I started with a free website and really that is something I regret. I wish I had gone for website hosting that I have now, straight away. I wish I had not bothered with the free website!” It’s worth considering all of the services you’ll need a website to offer your customers: it may be worth investing in a site to ensure usability etc.

If it is going to form a central facet of your business, and you want to encourage repeat custom, it is important to have a good quality site. Have a mailing list and a newsletter too. Look into Twitter feeds and set up a Facebook account – this can link to your online store. Make sure your site boasts a range of features including customer and or/community forums, news updates and images, as well as your basic online ‘shop’.

And if you are getting a site built, or hosted, do watch how much you pay. “My hosting costs about £60 a year,” says Fiona. “But there are a lot more expensive ones out there.” If you are on a budget, watch details such as this.

Depending on how you choose to sell, there can be sellers’ fees, commission taken, insurance, and fete table costs. There can be studio rents, utilities, and so on. You also have to consider Paypal fees, accountant fees and tax, too. Like any business, once you look into it, there is a great deal to arrange. “But none of these should put you off your business idea,” Amanda advises. “These things just need to be researched and managed.”

Similarly, there is much to consider in terms of pricing your product. With a craft business, you must take into the equation not only the cost of materials but also how much time you have put into a product. And weigh up your target market. High end clients will expect to pay a premium for handmade products.  “Don’t pitch yourself too low,” Joanne Dewberry of Charliemoos.co.uk warns. “When the work starts flying in and you’re up making at all hours and the cash tin is empty you’ll struggle to raise them up higher.” So make sure you get your pricing right.

Research is key to this. You have to decide where you want your products to be stocked and what price ranges are the norm for your business. Galleries can take up to 50% in commission and table costs can be high at the best craft fairs. “So think outside the box,” Amanda advises. “Do open house events where your living room is your studio and invite friends and family round for the afternoon. Or hire a small venue for the evening for your own gallery evening, and send pieces to local magazines with covering letters for fashion shoots.”

The possibilities are endless. In your business set up as well as your craft, it pays to be creative.

Tips and useful contacts

Top tips

Value your customers

“Try to value your customers,” advises Fiona Morris. “Word of mouth has gone a long, long way for me. Value the quality of product, but also value your customers. And that way you’ll get more customers coming back.”

Seek out positive advice

“Surround yourself with people that have positive attitudes and will give you constructive advice,” Amanda Ryan suggests. “I find the worst aspect of a craft business is the negative comments people can make. Some people don’t understand how much time and resources can go into a hand crafted product. They think it should be the same price as a mass marketed item!”

Join online craft forums

“There’s a huge amount of support that’s on there from genuinely very kind people,” Fiona advises. “They are in the same boat as you.”

Price carefully

“Don’t forget to cost for your time,” warns Joanne Dewberry. “Or you’ll find you’ve worked all hours and have made no money. Buy in bulk and steer clear of shops such as HobbyCraft where you will pay high street prices and thus have no room for profit!”   Phone your local tax office “I know a lot of people are scared of the tax office. But it’s really a wonderful resource,” Fiona says. “They genuinely want to help you. They send you out quite a lot of things just so you don’t get lost with you tax and your National Insurance….”

Thinking of starting a business in mobile applications? Funnily enough, like anything else you care to name, there’s an app for that.

Search the App Store, Android Market et al, and you’ll find plenty of examples: there are applications that offer app development code tutorials; apps that enable you to test your idea through market research; and even more applications that allow you to submit your mobile app idea to developers. Then, there are applications that help you keep track of sales once you’ve launched your mobile app…

With more than 225,000 apps to choose from on Apple’s App Store, tens of thousands on Android Market, and other platforms such as Blackberry, Nokia and Windows Mobile doing their darnedest to catch up, mobile apps is a growing area if ever there was one.  It’s a crowded and competitive marketplace too, however, and not an easy one to break. While it’s true anyone can develop an app, and many get brought to market, very few mobile app businesses actually make any money.

What is it and am I suited?

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and the resultant boom in smart phones, mobile apps have become the hot spot for new businesses. As Tristan Celder of Zolmo (the developers behind Jamie Oliver’s iPhone app which won top prize at the Apple Design Awards winner) puts it, the mobile app industry is “a lot like the music business. It’s all about the Top 40.” It’s dog eat dog, and things move very quickly.

To top the charts, you need a good idea, for sure. But you don’t need to be an expert developer yourself. It’s a business like any other: you have to work hard to create a decent app and you need to know your market.

In the UK, the most popular apps change all the time. Everything from throwaway gaming to retail, social networking and education gets a look in. Stand out successes range from gimmicks such as iPint from Carling and World Cup favourite Vuvuzela, to giants such as GoogleMaps and Facebook.  There’s a world between them all: so what do the chart toppers have in common?

Our case studies, Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals, Tweetdeck, Touchnote and The App Factory, have seen varying degrees of success in the mobile app market. They are very different businesses, each with their own approach to development; to monetising their product; and to growing their venture. But what marks each out as a special case is the solid business thinking behind them:

• Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals: a made-to-measure paid for app with celebrity credentials
• Tweetdeck: a free social networking app with big business funding
• Touchnote: a free-to-download app linked with a mobile provider
• TheAppFactory.co.uk: a self funded early stage app development agency and publisher

Investing in your app

Before you launch into the app world, be prepared: developing a mobile app is not cheap, whether you put the hours in yourself, or commission a pro to develop your product. Figures will vary according to the complexity of your app, but regardless, development costs can be fairly high, especially if you plan on developing quite a few.

If a developer is creating your app for you, their charge may vary according to platform. For a really simple app on Android, for instance, £500 is probably the minimum. For a simple app on iPhone, it can go from around about £800 plus. At the higher end, for a more complex app, you could be going for £4,000.  Things can get a great deal more expensive than that however. Anecdotally, we have heard of an American development company flying over to a UK client via private jet. Apparently, they wanted to charge £25,000 for the project in question, and a percentage of the revenue too. (We suppose they needed to pay for the jet somehow.)

There are development companies out there who will go for really high prices, and there are companies who will pay it. Raam Thakrar of Touchnote warns: “I know people that have built apps for not much more than a thousand dollars. But I also know of many companies that have spent in excess of £100,000 on an app. Just be really careful of what you put in, because a start-up going into mobile… most of them don’t make money on it.”

If you need a good bit of start-up money to develop your app and to get it off the ground, how you go about securing this investment is another question. You can save, self fund, and start small, like David Carter of The App Factory; or you can try to secure the backing of investors, like Iain Dodsworth of Tweetdeck. His company has the backing of ProFounders Capital, the fund set up by Bebo founder Michael Birch and Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman.

“A year ago,” Iain explains, “Tweetdeck was a one man operation. Now there’s 15 people. In order to grow that quickly in terms of resources, in order to build quickly, you need to have an amount of money, but you also need to talk to the right people.” With an investment base you get a lot more than money; through them you are better connected, and are likely to find developing relationships with platforms and providers comes a great deal more easily. “We could have done it as a one man band,” says Iain, “but it would have taken a lot longer to get to the stage we’re at.”

You could also decide to tie your app to a particular mobile service provider, as Raam Thakrar of Touchnote has done with Sony Ericsson; or share revenue with your developers, as Zolmo and Jamie Oliver have done. There are many ways to skin a cat, and as many paths to funding your app.

Even if you don’t have financial backing, you shouldn’t let high development costs put you off, according to Tristan Celder of Zolmo: “If you haven’t got the capital to risk and your idea is strong enough, there are ways and means of getting your application produced.” Apparently Zolmo is always looking for strong content partners, and so in this case, the cost of producing an app would be zero as Zolmo would act as publisher.

The development stage

You do not need to be an expert developer in order to take a mobile app to market, although it could certainly keep costs down. But whether you build and test the app yourself or work with a developer, you need to invest a great deal of time in the development stage. You could mock something workable up in a week or two, but if you are serious about things, two months is really the minimum. Many apps take six months and more to work up to a finished product.

If you are developing the app yourself, you need technology appropriate to the platform on which you’ll be launching too. If you want to launch on iPhone, for instance, this means an Intel-based Apple computer, and devices for beta testing: an iPhone, an iPod Touch, and perhaps an iPad. You’ll need to register as a member of the iPhone Developer Program, which costs; and get your hands on the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), which is free, and assists in the development of native applications for iOS, using Cocoa, Xcode etc.

You may need to buy a platform specific developer license for certain other platforms too. For Android Market, the system for app development is less proprietary: Android is a Linux-based platform from the Open Handset Alliance whose members include Google, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm, and T-Mobile. Unlike iPhone, Android apps can be developed and obtained by users from anywhere, even a third party developer’s own website, and sales are not limited to Android Market. All this opens things up for developers. Of course, as the platforms are generally mutually incompatible, the techie detailing and coding changes with each.

If you’re not a technology expert, the thought of coding and intensive testing can sound too much. But you can leave that side to the developers, as David Carter of The App Factory explains: “If you’ve never built an app, you’re better getting a company or an independent developer. The coding itself is very easy for someone who’s in the know. But if you’re new to it, you could take hours trying to work it out!” We can safely say, ‘hours’ is probably an underestimate.

In any case, don’t let coding and such hold you back. Making an app requires the coming together of many disciplines: in the broad sense, developing an app takes so much more than technical knowledge. “Of course you need software engineers,” Tristan of Zolmo explains, “but you also need great product designers, graphic designers, sound designers, content producers, and in the case of 20 Minute Meals, a photographer and entire video production team.” In addition, you need great marketing and PR people. You could say one of the most important skills required for building an app is the ability to build a great team.

What platforms to use for your app business

Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, iPhone… There are many platforms vying for developers’ attention. The App Store for Apple is the primary market right now, and Android Market, and its various carrier partners, is fast becoming a fierce contender. Blackberry, Windows and others should not be discounted out of hand though: many carriers are looking around for interesting propositions, and working hard to grow their market share. As Iain Dodsworth of Tweetdeck says: “All the app stores are searching for really good applications to put out for their user base – so they can market their store as the place to go to get cool apps.”

Developers should consider their options carefully. Choosing to go Apple or Android is a big commitment: “The App Store is certainly the place to be at the moment but Android is showing signs of promise,” Tristan Celder of Zolmo advises. “At the moment, you have to build different apps for different platforms and this takes resources, so choose your platform or platforms wisely.”

Many companies choose to launch their app across multiple platforms. Like anything, there are pros and cons to this. “There are platforms such as Flash,” Tristan explains, “which promise to operate on multiple platforms. But as Apple has rightly pointed out these come at the cost of features and performance.” Often companies publish on a number of platforms because this approach offers more earning power, however. So it could balance out. Touchnote, for instance, is now live on four different platforms. “We’ll be on six or seven in the coming few months,” says Raam Thakrar, CEO. “For us, it’s been a significant development and a big cost.”

Each system is so different that each platform requires a native build. “The thing is,” Raam explains, “a lot of the stuff used for one platform won’t be useful for other platforms.” So for instance, what you develop for the iPhone: technically, it’s no help to what you might do for Android. It may be useful in terms of features, but not in terms of the real developers spending time working on it.

In terms of revenue, and pricing, the platform generally takes a percentage: Apple and Android take thirty percent of sales revenue and publishers take the rest. “In many cases the publisher and developer of an app are one and the same, such is the case with 20 Minute Meals and Zolmo,” Tristan tells us. “The reward can be good for publishers, but it comes with its risks – so make sure you do your market research.”

Whichever platform you go for, you want to make sure that the first app you do is spot on. “Don’t submit it with any errors in it,” says David Carter of The App Factory, “That’s the sort of thing the platforms pick up on. They go into amazing detail and will find it if there’s anything wrong with the app.”

Pricing strategy for your app

Deciding on how much you charge for your app can be tough: as Raam Thakrar says, there’s a lot of interesting thinking around that!  Many companies struggle to make the numbers tally even if they charge; many others choose not to charge for their app in order to get higher numbers of downloads. Touchnote, for example, offers a service whereby they give the application away for free, and then charge each time it is used.

“We very much wanted to encourage multiple and repeat usage,” Raam explains. “So that was a very easy decision. You can think of many other apps that do charge on the first download. But for an app developer, the central question is, ‘What is my return on investment, in terms of the amount of money I will likely make versus the amount of hours I will put in?'”

Often you can adjust the price and monitor the reaction, and make the decision through trial and error, and learning what sells and what doesn’t. “We’ve tried a number of pricing strategies,” says David. “So if some apps were doing well, we put them up a bit. But then they wouldn’t sell, and so then we would cut them and see if we would get more downloads…”

Some of the apps The App Factory develops and publishes are free downloads, and money is made back on adverts. If you go down this route, when you put your app through to the store, the platform decides on the advert that will display on your banner.

The Tweetdeck app is entirely free, without advertising; founder Iain Dodsworth suggests developers decide whether they want to make money directly from the product they’re building or if they want a lot of users. “We’re not selling these apps,” Iain says, “They’re all free. We are developing a broad user base.”

In terms of monetising the venture, if you make your app free, it is not plain sailing. If you want to trial this approach, it is best to have funding behind you.  Again, there are not many people who make money out of it.  As Raam says: “There are too many people putting hours and weeks and months into it, who are getting £2,000. When it comes to a return on two months of work, that is not even enough to live on, let alone increase the business on!”

All the platforms need developers to continue developing applications as they are doing now. So perhaps things will ultimately change so that developers/publishers get a better return on investment. Until then, choose your pricing strategy with care.

 Growing your app venture

Depending on whether you decide to develop one app and stick with that, like Zolmo, Tweetdeck and Touchnote; or turn your app talents into an agency, like The App Factory, you’ll want to grow your business into a bigger venture. So how do you go about establishing your app as a market leader, and get yourself known in the app world?

The best start is building/publishing a great app. “There is an old cliché that says the best marketing is word of mouth marketing,” says Tristan. “This is true for so many reasons, but the key to getting this kind of marketing is by building a great product – followed up with great PR.”

And think long term from the development stage. If you think your application has a shelf life, then you should develop accordingly. So if you’ve got a game that you think is going to be popular for only three or six months, for instance, then you should plan to evolve it.  On the other hand, if you have something you think will be around for the next three or four years, then you need to keep on improving it and iterating so that you can keep your customers engaged.

Some, such as David Carter of The App Factory don’t believe marketing is strictly necessary. “If we do an app on iPhone or for Google or Blackberry,” he says, “they take care of promotion themselves. Once it’s in the store, that’s it.” But if you are planning to promote your app, earlier is best, if you take Tweetdeck’s advice. “If you develop a kind of fanfair, some kind of PR, then you’ll be able to give it a better shot. From what I’ve seen,” says Iain, “it really is all about that initial spike of interest and downloads and obviously revenue from selling your app. So if you can maximise that spike, you should.”

There are many paid-for apps which work on this basis. They exploit the initial spike of interest by adding on new levels to games. The developers produce version two of the app, version three… and it keeps interest going. In this way, they keep downloads high. The trick is to drum up numbers when you first launch the app – and then keep interest by iteration and new developments.

Keep in mind, for your app to be profitable, and to get enough return on your investment, you need to be getting 50,000 downloads, or even 100,000 or 200,000. There are far too many apps that haven’t made that, according to Touchnote’s Raam Thakrar. “You need to think about it,” he says, “You need to build and develop a marketing campaign, or somehow you need to have built a sufficiently addictive or viral enough proposition that people start telling each other.”

 Tips and advice for a mobile app business

Get close to service providers and platforms

Tip from Tweetdeck: “If you want to put something up on iPhone, you’ve just got to get in there with Apple. If they really like what you’re doing, you find yourself walking past an Apple store and you see your logo in the window. It’s obviously worth spending a lot of time speaking to the people who run the platforms.

“When you’re thinking about Android, obviously it’s going out to different carriers and their own app stores. And all the app stores are searching for really good applications to put out for their user base. So they can market their carrier store as the place to go to get cool apps.

“Spend a lot of time trying somehow to get in with those people, the platform itself and then the carriers.”

Find a mentor Tip from Touchnote: “Go and find yourself a mentor. Someone who can help you along the way, who’s possibly a few years more experienced than you are and who’s been through similar issues. They will not necessarily solve technical issues, but they will be around making sure your proposition is strong, making sure your thinking is correct, challenging some of your assumptions and so on.

“Go and find one of those people. They are worth their weight in gold, they really are.”

Listen to your users Tip from The App Factory: “You can get user comments on comment boards in app stores, which can help with development and iteration. Some users will send emails through to your company as well, which are really helpful actually. You get great ideas from what people say.

“Often if you get an idea this way, you’ll think, wow that’s great. Most of these people like the app you’ve put out, and just want to see an update of it. And as you’ve got the IP, you can build it easily.”

Useful business contact

Got an idea for an app but not sure who to get in touch with? Here’s a list of useful contacts and organisations to get in touch with:

Android developer site: http://developer.android.com/index.html

Android SDK http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

Nokia Ovistore: http://store.ovi.com/

02: http://www.o2.co.uk/