10 Steps to Starting a Business in 2026

0:09Welcome back to Brave Bold Brilliant. I'm Jeannette Linfoot and I want to talk about something that I get asked constantly in DMs, events, by people who corner me at dinner parties once they find out what I do. And it's this, Jeanette, if you were starting all over again, what would you actually do step by step? So, great question. Today's episode then, 30 plus years more in business. And I probably want to admit to some that actually some of those years have worked out beautifully and some that have taught me everything the hard way. And I've really tried to boil this down into 10 easy steps.

0:48Now, we're not talking about 10 theories here. We're talking about 10 things that I actually did or I wish I'd done sooner. Now, I'm coming at it from the perspective of having been in the corporate world, running large global businesses, but also as an entrepreneur myself and setting up startup businesses from scratch. So I'm able to blend these two worlds quite nicely, which then gives you the best of big business, but applied to a smaller business. So if you're an entrepreneur and you're thinking about starting, maybe you've already got a business and actually you want to just refine the processes, make it all a little bit more seamless the way you do things.

1:26Or you might actually have a larger business and you just really want to change your processes and fine tune things so that you can really nudge up to that extra level. So I'm going to walk you through them in five chapters. All right. Two steps at a time so that we break it down into manageable chunks. and all of this I'm going to really try and bring to life some real-life stories for you you know the good the embarrassing the expensive lessons so if you're sitting on an idea right now or you're a few steps in and you're wondering if you're doing it right this episode is absolutely perfect for you so let's get into it starting from step one so step one get clear on your why before your what.

2:13Now, the mistake of starting with what should I sell, what job should I do, instead of why am I doing this at all? So I'm going to share with you a little story from my early career, actually. And this was where I started life, my professional life, as a government economist, having done an economics degree. So it was an obvious move, right? It was an obvious role for me to go into. But the reality was I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. I was doing it because I thought the job title sounded good, that it matched what my degree was all about, that it was an expectation perhaps. But I was doing it for all the wrong reasons.

2:52And actually, I was a couple of years into that. And I thought, you know what, this just isn't me. And no offence to anyone that works in the civil service. But for me personally, it just wasn't my vibe. And that was when I made a pivotal choice to jump out from that, you know, good job into the travel industry, which was much more aligned with my cultural, you know, love of different countries, to want to travel the world, to work in an industry where it's actually joyful, not necessarily every day, but most days. And that was a real tipping point for me. But I had to go backwards in order to go forwards.

3:32So I started on a graduate scheme. I'd been working for two years, but I went backwards. And then the rest of my career in the travel industry kind of went from there. So had I not got clear on my why and what was really important to me in terms of a profession, I could have stayed doing the job that was expected of me, but I made that choice to switch. So always think about your why before the what. The second step, if you're building a business, you want to validate before you build. So really here, you want to test your ideas with real people and real money before investing time or putting your savings into it.

4:13Now, if you are bootstrapping your business, and what bootstrapping means, essentially, is that you are financing the startup of your business with your own money. And that could be from savings, it could be from borrowing, maybe from friends and family, you're doing it in a low budget way. But nonetheless, you're having to put that hard earned money into that venture. Well, if you've not validated your idea, you could very easily lose a lot of money in those early days. And validation, you know, it could be around asking lots of different people what they think of your business idea. It could be something like we did when we actually launched our Rise Academy, which is the ultimate leadership development program, which by the way, you absolutely should get on because if you're interested in business leadership and what it takes to build a high-performing team, Rise Academy is absolutely perfect for you.

5:09But let me tell you how we actually knew how to develop Rise Academy in the right way. Well, before we actually started, I had the concept. I had a feeling in my gut that it was the right thing to do and that the format would work. But we actually did a lot of research before we started. We worked with a brand agency called Tribe and they really helped us get clear on the proposition. But we also did a lot of interviews with different organisations asking them what they needed when it came to leadership development and business strategy. So what started as an idea, we validated first before we committed to it, which meant really that when we did make that commitment and we invested a significant amount of money in developing Rise Academy.

5:56so it's the ultimate program for you actually we already had some confidence that it was going to be successful and of course it has been enormously successful but we could have gone down the wrong route so the lesson that really ties these two points together you know is that the two steps combined you know saved a huge amount of time you know so it could have saved you know in my early career it saved me from really having gone down a career path for many years that wouldn't actually have served me and the thing is people can often skip these stages not only because you're ambitious you're impatient to start you're excited but if you get close to your why and you validate your idea and that's going to really help you set the right foundations now you might be listening to this and thinking well I'm not actually a business owner I don't want my own business I just want to have a great career well the same thing still works right if you want to go down a certain career route you know get your why clear like I did and then validate that with people around you that are not just going to say yes to you but they're going to actually give you some context as to whether that sounds like a good move all right so this works whether it's starting a business or from a career point of view in particular in these early early two stages here So let's move on to chapter two now.

7:17So that was chapter one. We've written this like it's in like a chapter, like you're reading a book or listening to an audio book. So chapter two is about getting the business basics right. So before we continue, I want to speak directly to those of you who are listening and thinking, I know I'm capable of more, but I need structure. I need some help. Because here's what I've actually learned after, gosh, more than three decades in business. You know, ambition without clarity creates frustration. And motivation without structure, it really does fade very, very fast. So that's exactly why we created Rise Academy.

8:03And Rise Academy, it's not theory. It isn't fluffy motivation, although you will be motivated. And it certainly isn't another online course that you never finish. It's actually a fully structured growth environment for ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders, and founders who absolutely are ready to do all of these things, sharpen their strategy, elevate their leadership, increase revenue with intention, and build businesses that actually support the life that they want. And inside Rise Academy, we focus on the foundations most people skip, leading yourself, leading your teams, and leading the business.

8:44It's about clarity, standards, decision making, commercial intelligence and execution. Because scaling, it really isn't about doing more. It's actually about doing the right things and doing the things right consistently. So if you're serious about stepping up into your next level of your leadership, your business life, and not just consuming content, but actually implementing it, then Rise Academy was absolutely built for you. So you can find all the details on our website. Go to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. And now let's get back to the show.

9:28Step three. Remember, we've got chapters and we've got two steps of each. So step three, You've got to understand your numbers from day one. And what I tend to find is why a lot of founders avoid their finances early on. It's a simple habit that they've just not got comfortable with numbers straight away. And it is so, so important that you do that right from the beginning. So, you know, certainly when we were, I'll give you a good example, actually, when we were starting our property investment business, we actually built a business plan. You know, I had a lot of spreadsheet. I had a spreadsheet that actually mapped out the number of properties we were going to be buying, how many we were going to be buying a month, what the level of investment was likely to be.

10:13You know, at the time, we were investing in what you call buy-to-let properties, residential properties in Manchester and in London and in Cambridgeshire. you know, and we understood the market and knew what rental income we would be receiving. We knew how much we would have to spend on, you know, developing the properties, etc. So we knew the numbers. And that roadmap, that five-year planning, that very simple spreadsheet, it meant we already knew up front what we were letting ourselves in for. And then we were able to track against it. So you might not have a fancy accounting system. You might just be using an Excel spreadsheet, but understand your numbers from day one.

10:51And it depends what business you're in, right? Because you may have different metrics, you have financial metrics, but for you, you might be in the content creation world, for example. Well, in that case, your metrics are important, maybe more around followers, impressions, engagement, you know, actually, you know, money that you're earning from sponsorship deals, for example. So whatever industry you're in, whatever business you're in, You've got to understand your numbers and be clear on what good looks like and how it changes over time. So that's step number three for you. Step number four, you have to choose the right legal and business structure.

11:30Now, you know, I'm not talking about actually giving you a deep legal lecture here because I am not a lawyer. But you do have to understand the foundational pieces, right or wrong, and the ripple effects later. so you know you might actually make a decision to go into business with someone and to set your business up you know as a limited company for example or you might have a partnership or you might be a sole trader but this structural decision actually it really makes a big difference so you know for for us and for the businesses that that we have today they are limited businesses which means that they're registered at a company's house.

12:13It means we are able to run those businesses in a certain way. We have a full P &L cash flow balance sheet, etc. Now, that might be different to if you're setting up a sole trader business, for example. But importantly here, what's the shareholding structure? Is it you own 100 % or is it that you have someone else in the business with you that actually has equity in that business with you. And then, of course, I don't want to get, as I say, too complicated, but there are different types of shares that you can actually give to people in your organisation. You could have A shares or B shares. Now, different types of shareholding or different types of shares allows you to have different terms around those shares.

12:58For example, voting rights. So I know this sounds a little bit complex. You might be saying to you that my god I'm just trying to start a little business here this sounds a little bit heavy it doesn't have to be but just have a think about what's the right legal structure for you and this is often linked to your tax as well so you really must get yourself a very good accountant and a great tax advisor especially if you have different you know different income streams different things going on you might actually have a job and be starting a side hustle so how you set that up may be slightly different.

13:34You might actually have a family business and you want to bring the kids in to, you know, run the business in the future. So there's lots of different ways, but just consider it. Don't just think there's only one way for this and get a little bit of advice. I mean, we're in a world today where we have lots of free content available, don't we? We can go on to ChatGPT, we can go on to Claude, you can do all these things. So you can actually find out so much information for free that you can't necessarily say it's going to give you perfect legal advice but it will certainly lay out some options for you so do your homework and in your when you're setting up your business you know so the thing that really is important here is being financially savvy and structurally sound early on because when that when you do that it actually gives you the confidence to make bolder decisions later because you know the foundations are in place.

14:29So it's often the boring stuff, let me tell you, but the really important things. So take your time when you're doing this. Don't just go rushing in. So let's get to chapter three. And this is about going to market. So you've done the foundations, you've got your numbers, you've got your business plan, you've set your business up from a legal point of view, you understand your why, you're absolutely clear, you've validated it. So now you've got to bring whatever your product or service is, you've got to bring it to market. So step number five is really about bringing what I would call a minimal viable product to offer, the smallest version of your offer first.

15:08And what's so important here is that it's not perfect, okay? It's a minimum offer, you know, and that is always better to, you know, start now, get perfect later, as my mentor Rob Moore always says to me, because we can actually sometimes get, you know, we can procrastinate, we can be active procrastinators and never actually get going. But at some point, you have to bring it to market. But if you have developed something to the absolute perfection, and then you bring it to market, and you find it actually doesn't sell as you would like, you've spent all that money up front. So what's better is to bring this minimal viable product to the market.

15:50And that then allows you to learn, to refine, etc. You know, and again, I would say when I started mentoring people one to one from a professional point of view, so I've mentored people for 30 odd years, I've been in business. But when I came out of, you know, the corporate world, and I started mentoring people, and it became a pillar within my business, actually, I had to get a feel for what was going to be the best model for people in terms of, you know, one to one mentoring. Was it a six month period? Was it 12 months? Should I include a day in person with me? Should I include psychometric profiling?

16:29Would people value that? So I tested and learned and I started small. But actually what that did, it gave me the confidence to really, you know, fully shape the offering of what today is one to one business mentoring that we do within Brave Bold Brilliant. And of course, if you ever feel that you need help and support, do reach out. You know, the best investment you will ever make is in yourself. 100%. And I have always had mentors, coaches throughout my entire career. And I'm privileged today to be able to play that role for other people, for you with your business and your journey. So that's a great example where I started with something, we refined it, and now we have an amazing service which we offer people one-to-one on the business mentoring side.

17:16Step number six. This is a little bit controversial actually because I would recommend when you're starting, if it's a small business you're starting, find your first customers by hand. you know and and you know that might be a little bit unglamorous you might think it's not very scalable but why it matters in the first place is that you stay very close to the customer early on as you're shaping and forming your offering you know and and i think that actually is a great is a great way to do it and again i'll i'll share with you a very real example when i started this podcast, Brave Bold Brilliant, back in July 2020, you know, remember we are now over 650 episodes.

17:59We do two a week consistently. We have never missed for over six years. Consistent, consistent, consistent. But where I started, where did I find my guests? I found my guests from people that I knew, people that were in my business network, that I knew had a great story to share on the podcast. So I started small with people that I knew firsthand. And now, of course, here we are six years later where we get inundated with requests from people to come on the podcast. You know, I mean, we can get 20 to 30 people a week asking to come on. So we're hugely proud of what we've created. But we started first by people that I knew.

18:41And that has absolutely, you know, really built the strong foundations of Brave Bold Brilliant that we have today. So really, in terms of how this comes together, it's those first real customer insights that allows you to really have a better approach to the planning of the business and shaping the direction of the business. And if you're taking notes right now, and I really hope you are, because that is something that sticks in your brain when you make some notes. But I want to ask you something before we go further. What are the steps that you're actually stuck on? and be honest with yourself for a second because we're here to help.

19:20So drop us a message. I'd love to hear where you are and how we can help. And of course, if you're finding the episode useful, insightful, hit subscribe. We do this every week here on Brave Bold Brilliant and I don't want you to miss what's coming next. So we'd love to hear from you. DM me, drop a comment, tell me which of these steps that you're on right now and which one may you have skipped and you've actually paid the price for. You know, I read every single message that comes my way. And honestly, it helps me know what to cover next, what you're interested in and how I can help. So let's get to the second part of this.

19:56We've got five more steps to get through. So chapter four. Now what we're talking about is systems and sustainability. Now, this might seem not very sexy, but it is very important. So set up simple systems, not perfect ones. You know, don't over-engineer your processes too much so that you waste time. But you've still got to have something in place that's going to actually help you scale in the future. And it might be something as simple. I remember when we were setting up our property business, actually, you know, I needed to be able to access all our information anywhere in the world because we were traveling a lot of time anywhere in the world on my iPhone.

20:41right I didn't always have my laptop with me I didn't always have access to you know a server etc with all that data on so we set up a simple Google Drive right and we still use that today we still use that and we're able to load all our documents on there the team are able to work live on things and it means that we always have a backup now we back it up of course we do it you know in so we don't lose anything but super simple simple google drive works super well not expensive but it allowed you know me to be able to access all the important documents that i needed and from anywhere in the world so it could be something just as simple as that really um so it doesn't have to be over expensive either remember if you're starting your business you probably don't have a lot of cash and then of course let's talk about pricing so pricing is really tricky sometimes You know, we might actually get into the trap of pricing based on fear or maybe what competitors are charging instead of what the business actually needs to survive and grow.

21:45So, you know, when you're actually deciding how much you charge for the services or the product that you have, yes, do your competitive analysis because that's useful benchmarking. But you've got to genuinely ask what is unique and different about what you offer? You know, why would someone pay more for what you bring to the market versus somebody else? Or actually, why might you need to start at a certain price point, test the market and then increase your prices over time? And certainly, you know, that is really the approach that, you know, I've taken with products that have launched in the past.

22:22So if we think about an example from, say, the travel industry, you're going into a new destination. All right. It's the first time that you've been that I've featured Vietnam as an example. OK, so this is going back. The market's not particularly mature. It's a new destination. We're finding our feet. We're having to educate the holiday maker around what Vietnam has to offer. So in those early days, we would price that quite aggressively. And by aggressively, I mean good value for the customer. And then, of course, over time, as the destination develops, the quality of hotels becomes a little bit more of a higher level.

23:01The pricing structure is going to change over time as people become more demand than supply, etc. So it's really important that you can price, but you don't have to stay there for too long. So that's step number eight. and really you know what brings these together is how you get your systems in place and you price right or wrong early on so it doesn't break the business during that period of growth or pressure and it doesn't incur ridiculous costs unnecessarily early on you can always change and grow afterwards step number chapter number five is all about support and staying power this is so important right?

23:44Whenever we work with our clients and we are lucky to work with some incredible big brands, we're also lucky to work with entrepreneurial businesses that are scaling up as well. But we always say there are three parts to any business, leading yourself, leading your teams and leading the business. Now, leading yourself, it's always an inside job, right? It has to start with you. But what's absolutely critical is you need to build a support network before you think you need one. So what do I mean by that? Well, essentially, mentors, peers, advisors, you know, you need to have people in your ecosystem, in your world who are ahead of you.

24:25You know, they can show you the way in terms of actually, you know, helping you. Now, I have always had mentors, coaches, advisors in my business alongside me every single step of the way. one of those advisors and mentors that I mentioned, Rob Moore, right? Rob Moore is an absolute genius when it comes to social media, personal brand, podcasting. I would not have this podcast today if I hadn't been mentored personally by Rob Moore. And trust me, it was a big investment. We also were mentored by Mark Homer when we started our property business. What that man does not know about property investing is not worth knowing.

25:09So both of those examples helped us really catapult forward and grow our businesses far faster than we would have done if we'd done it on our own. So, so is so, so, so important having the right people in your life. Step number 10, you've got to commit to consistency over intensity. You can't be all in one minute and then like back right off the next. We want sustainable, steady effort. And that is much better than just bursts of activity and then burning out. And I've just gave you a great example earlier, didn't I? You know, we started this podcast over six years ago when podcasting was nowhere near what it is today, but we have never missed.

25:51We're committed to two episodes every single week and we've never missed for six years. And when I started the podcast, it was just me with the podcast agency. Now we have a whole team working with us. But it wasn't like that in the early days. But nonetheless, consistency, consistency. And that's why Brave Bold Brilliant is in the top one and a half percent of all podcasts in the world today. Listen to in over 140 countries and we're over 650 episodes. We are on our way to over a thousand episodes. Let me tell you, I love Brave Bold Brilliant. I love our podcast. I love our YouTube channel. But it's the consistency that's made the difference.

26:29And of course, what that has meant is that actually it's become the proud brand of our business as well now. So that would never have happened if we hadn't been consistent. So it's really important that when you're actually in this phase, that you're bringing together the right people around you, combined with steady effort, consistency, doing the hard stuff that you need to do, because that's actually going to pay off in the end. Now, I know I've covered a lot. I said 10 steps, five chapters, 30 years condensed into about half an hour. I'm not quite sure how long I've been going here. But you know, here's the truth underneath all of it.

27:09None of these steps are complicated. Validate before you build. Know your numbers. Start small. Find your people. Show up consistently. None of it is a secret. What's hard is actually doing it in order without skipping the uncomfortable parts because you're impatient to get to the exciting ones. So here's my challenge for you this week. Go back through these 10 steps and be honest about which one you've skipped. Just one, then go do it. And if this episode was useful to you, subscribe if you haven't already. Send it to someone you know who's sitting on a business idea right now, but they're too scared to start.

27:50This might be exactly the nudge that they need. So until next time and always remember it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant so i'll see you soon i really hope you've enjoyed this episode of brave bold brilliant remember check out our new website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com you're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow so take care everyone and remember there are no limits to your growth but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliance.