According to recent research from Censuswide, 47% of UK adults are considering starting a business or side hustle in 2025. This research supports an increasing entrepreneurial desire – particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials – where small business ventures are increasingly becoming mainstream ambitions.
Resources at your fingertips
For years platforms like eBay and Etsy have made it possible for anyone to pitch up their stall in a digital marketplace with little-to-no investment. The necessary infrastructure is already in place: a built-in audience, previously established trust, easy payments, and a variety of delivery options. This allows sellers to focus on their products before choosing to scale.
User-friendly online store builders like Shopify have made scaling more accessible – particularly for pure e-commerce businesses. Now even someone with no web development experience or coding skills can have a fully operational website up and running within a matter of hours – and at a fraction of the cost. Even TikTok Shop, a relatively new but incredibly useful tool, allows people to effortlessly create product pages, take payments, dispatch orders, and manage customer services and returns in one handy place.
No business experience? No problem
Before starting Must Have Ideas I had never run a business. My background was in operations and logistics; I didn’t have a business degree nor did I have any prior marketing expertise. Instead, I found a wealth of resources online to guide me. I learned digital marketing through YouTube tutorials and joined Facebook groups dedicated to the subject. By actively engaging with these communities and trawling through others’ questions, suggestions, and solutions, I picked up valuable tips and practical advice. Once I was equipped with this knowledge, I started with a modest media budget of about £15-£20 per day. To date I have now spent over £50million on the Meta platform alone!
Small business is big business
While it’s never been easier to start a business, that doesn’t mean that it’s easier to succeed or scale. Competition is fierce and customer expectations are higher than ever. Despite 99.8% of UK businesses being made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), government policy has often been criticised for not being sufficiently supportive, with SMEs citing challenges such as limited access to finance and restrictive red tape among others.
To start a business, you’ll still need to offer a unique product or desirable service, identify your audience, and stay focused, committed, and ready to overcome challenges. Yet despite these challenges, with so many resources readily available, there’s never been a better time to start your entrepreneurial journey. The biggest step is simply getting started.
