If I Were Starting a Business Again, Here’s What I’d Do Differently (From Someone Who’s Been Through It)

Starting a business isn’t glamorous.  

It’s messy, chaotic, and occasionally feels like pushing treacle up a hill. But if you do it right, it can change your life.  

I’m Jo from Spaghetti Agency, and here’s what I’ve learned, not from textbooks, but from mistakes, facepalms, coaches, and the occasional flash of my own genius.  

(Yeah OK, mainly from coaches.) 

If I Were Starting a Business Again, Here’s What I’d Do Differently (From Someone Who’s Been Through It)

Treat your business like you’ll sell it – even if you won’t 

Most people build businesses like a lemonade stand – as a lifestyle business. And that’s absolutely fine.  

But I’m here to tell you to build it like you’ll sell it, even if you never plan to. Because it forces you to think clearly. You’ll set up proper systems. You’ll get your ducks in a row. 🐤 🐤 🐤  

You’ll make smarter decisions. And if you change your mind and do decide to sell it, you’re not fumbling around looking for that one contract you shoved in a drawer three years ago – you’re organised and tidy.

Lesson learned: We had to backtrack and rebuild our frameworks years in because it wasn’t done properly at the start. That cost us time, money, and a few grey hairs. 

Processes are boring… until you need them 

Imagine someone leaving your team tomorrow. Would anyone else know what the hell they were doing? That’s where processes come in. If it happens more than once, it deserves a process. Write it down. Video it. Use Bomb Bomb or just your iPhone to record how it works. Whatever. Just don’t keep it in your head. Your brain is not a business system. 

At Spaghetti Agency we’ve even got a process for writing a process. 🤣 It sounds bonkers, but it keeps everyone on the same page and stops us from reinventing the wheel every time. 

Systems that talk to each other make me happy 

Your tools need to talk. We live and breathe integrations. 

We’ve got Slack telling us when a proposal’s signed. Xero links with our CRM. Our proposal assistant (powered by our own Spag GPT) auto-generates proposal introductions based on Zoho CRM notes – which often come from our Otter ai recording tool. 

Back in the day, we used to faff around converting Word docs to PDFs, sending them back and forth with “Can you just tweak this bit?” It was like digital whack-a-mole. Now? Ten minutes. Done. 

Onboarding isn’t admin. It’s first impressions 

Get this right and people forgive a few future blunders. Get it wrong and they remember it forever. 

Our onboarding now includes a welcome video, a what to expect PDF, an intro call, synced CRM/Xero systems, a cookie gift (yes, actual cookies), and even birthday cards. It’s personal. It’s seamless. (Most of the time.) It’s scalable.

We only nailed this in the last couple of years. Before that, it was a bit… let’s say freestyle. Clients were still with us, but it didn’t scream “we’ve got our shit together.”  

Chase debts like a bounty hunter

It’s awkward. It’s annoying. But it’s necessary. 

Set up automated reminders. Have a script. Know when to escalate and who’s responsible for monitoring and chasing debts. Don’t be the nice guy or gal who’s owed thousands and scared to ask. People will take the piss if they can. Be the business that gets paid, not the one that gets ghosted. 

If you don’t take your money seriously, no one else will. 

Create a vault of everything

Keep every important document, latest version only, in one master file. We call it the vault or the data room. Contracts, insurance, profit and loss, team policies, all in one digital home. No duplicate files. No out-of-date chaos.

Dan Bradbury’s advice: “If someone wanted to buy your business tomorrow, could they find what they need quickly?” That’s your benchmark. 

Get legal and HR stuff sorted early 

We didn’t have a proper shareholders’ agreement at first. Oops. You should. Same with client contracts, supplier agreements, team policies. Don’t wait for drama; set your boundaries before you need them. 

That includes being ready for team exits. We got burned by someone who job-hunted on company time and then bailed without warning. Now? We’ve got a moving on policy. When a teamie wants to leave, they let us know and we help them find a new role (I used to do a lot of CVs and applications) while we recruit their replacement. Open, honest, and drama-free. 

Your values should guide everything 

Speaking of honesty… Our values aren’t just painted on a wall – although they are on the walls of all three of our offices. They’re in every meeting, every hire, every decision:

• Honesty is Everything 
• Grow with Gratitude 
• Be Communicative Cow-folk 
• Shoot from the Hip 
• All Work, No Play? No Way  

They’re how we hire. How we decide who’s a good fit to work with. They’re how we write policies. They’re our compass. 

Budget like a grown-up (even if you don’t feel like one) 

Back in the day, if we had money in the bank, we thought we could spend it. Spoiler: not a sound financial strategy. Who knew?  

Now we have fixed monthly budgets for networking, marketing, team welfare, you name it. You run out? Tough. Next month’s problem. That discipline saved our arses more than once, as much as I hate it. I’m more of a fan of Girl Math. 

So those are some of my guiding principles for your growing business. 

But what about the details? What should you remember to do as part of your plan? 

Here’s a list which started off with a few simple recommendations and then grew into this beast.  

Much like our business did.  

Your Badass Business Checklist    

STARTING UP? SORT YOUR BUSINESS FOUNDATIONS

Start with the essentials. Get your house in order.

☐ Register with Companies House 

☐ Get a business bank account 

☐ Register for Corporation Tax 

☐ Register for VAT if needed 

☐ Get your UTR from HMRC 

☐ Choose a business structure (Ltd, sole trader, partnership) 

☐ Set up PAYE if you plan to hire 

☐ Open a business savings and tax pot account  

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

No one wants HMRC knocking with pitchforks.

☐ Hire a shit hot accountant (monthly management, returns, tax advice) 

☐ Make sure you get a minimum of Balance Sheet AND P&L monthly 

☐ Set up enough separate bank accounts for different outgoings – taxes, operation expenses and profit 

☐ Set up accounting software (Xero is ours) 

☐ Build a cash flow forecast 

☐ Create a detailed monthly budget 

☐ Plan for tax, pension, and depreciation costs 

☐ Set up invoice templates and automated reminders 

☐ Write your debt-chasing process (emails, scripts, escalation) 

☐ Create profit and loss tracking 

☐ Set up payroll or get your accountant to do it 

☐ Sort director salary and dividend planning 

☐ Practise financial scenario planning regularly (more advanced) 

☐ Get your financial reports and metrics represented visually with charts and graphs. (more advanced) 

☐ Work towards a fully self-managing Finance Dept. (more advanced.)

LEGAL & INSURANCE

Cover your arse. And your business.

☐ Shareholders’ agreement and Articles of Associate or partnership contract 

☐ All tax returns (CT, VAT, PAYE) filed with HMRC and organised online 

☐ Get any required licences or permits 

☐ Standard client contract and scope of work template 

☐ Employee, supplier, and freelancer contracts 

☐ Terms & Conditions 

☐ Privacy Policy for your website 

☐ Cookie notice and GDPR compliance 

☐ NDA template 

☐ Get business insurance. Find out what you need and how much coverage you need from an expert broker.
It may include: 

• Professional indemnity insurance 
• Public liability insurance 
• Employers’ liability insurance 
• Personal accident insurance 
• Directors’ and Officers’ insurance 
• Product liability insurance 
• Business equipment and office contents insurance
• Tool insurance, or portable equipment insurance. This is also known as property away and in transit insurance.
• Equipment breakdown insurance
• Self-employed and sole trader insurance
• Commercial building insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Crime insurance
• Cyber and data insurance
• Medical malpractice insurance. 

☐ Find a solicitor or legal support you can call when needed (more advanced) 

☐ Make sure all your updated documents are stored logically and backed up 

☐ Get an understanding of relevant legal compliance eg IP, employment law, data protection and privacy, etc. 

☐ Work towards a fully self-managing legal department (more advanced) 

 
HR & PEOPLE STUFF

You’re not HR, but you’ll need HR.

☐ Know your vision, mission, and company values  

☐ Create an employee handbook 

☐ Draft employment contracts and freelancer agreements 

☐ Set up sick leave, maternity, paternity, and holiday policies 

☐ Build a grievance and disciplinary procedure 

☐ Plan recruitment and onboarding processes 

☐ Plan an offboarding and exit strategy 

☐ Create job descriptions for everyone (even if it’s just you now) 

☐ Book regular 121 meetings for team members and their line managers to discuss their performance and alignment with company values. 

☐ Ensure all team members rank at least 7/10 and you’re assessing regularly 

☐ Create an org chart for now, 5 years and 10 years including job roles, compensation, key outcomes, and key activities.  

☐ Ensure all team members know their 3 most important metrics.  

☐ Set up time tracking and review systems 

☐ Hire an HR consultant or advisor 

☐ Work towards a fully self-managed HR department (more advanced). 

SYSTEMS & TOOLS 

Because chaos isn’t a strategy.

☐ CRM (Zoho, HubSpot, Salesforce) 

☐ Project management (Zoho, Notion, Monday) 

☐ Time tracking (Toggl) 

☐ Proposal software (Better Proposals, PandaDoc) 

☐ Password manager (Keeper, 1Password, LastPass) 

☐ Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 

☐ Slack/Teams or internal comms tool 

☐ Video calling (Zoom, Teams) 

☐ Scheduling tool (Calendly, etc) 

☐ Newsletter or email tool (MailerLite, Mailchimp) 

☐ Automation (Zapier, Make) 

☐ Analytics tools (Google Analytics, Hotjar) 

We use the Zoho suite for most of this. You can read our case study here. 

STRATEGY & STRUCTURE

Direction beats speed. Know where you’re heading.

☐ Be clear on your vision, mission, and values 

☐ Define your business model 

☐ Create an action-focused business plan 

☐ Set goals and KPIs 

☐ Map out your service offering and pricing strategy 

☐ Document delivery processes and customer journey 

☐ Build a contingency or emergency plan 

☐ Plan your scaling roadmap and long-term structure 

☐ Define your exit strategy even if it’s 10 years away. If you build your business as if you’re selling it, you’ll love it so much you may want to keep it and let someone else manage it.

MARKETING & BRANDING 

Make noise. Look the part. Don’t be boring.

☐ Create client personas/avatars – even if they’ll change with time 

☐ Have a designer sort your logo, colours, fonts, and brand guidelines 

☐ Tone of voice guide 

☐ Build a website that actually converts 

☐ SEO basics (keywords, meta tags, analytics) 

☐ Google Business Profile 

☐ Claim your social media handles on appropriate channels 

☐ Draft your brand story and elevator pitch – what’s your USP? 

☐ Build a content strategy 

☐ Schedule your launch 

☐ Create a lead magnet and funnel  

☐ Launch your email marketing 

☐ Start a blog or vlog 

☐ Systematically outreach for testimonials and reviews 

☐ Set up review collection (Google, Trustpilot, etc) 

☐ Plan regular marketing reviews and updates 

☐ Track metrics including Cost Per Lead, Conversion Rate, Customer Aquisition Cost, Average time to first sale.  

☐ Review marketing reports visually to make decisions on future strategies (more advanced) 

☐ Make sure you have at least three lead sources, three lead magnets, and three marketing funnels (more advanced.) 

☐ Work towards a fully self-managing Marketing department. 

SALES & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Don’t wing it. Turn interest into income.

☐ Map your sales funnel 

☐ Document your defined process for new sales 

☐ Document your sales pipeline with stages that follow the process  

☐ Define your packages and pricing 

☐ Create sales loose scripts/playbook and FAQs 

☐ Build proposal templates 

☐ Implement a lead tracking process 

☐ Automate sales process – you NEED a set system 

☐ Onboard clients with welcome packs or videos 

☐ Schedule regular check-ins or account reviews 

☐ Create a clean offboarding process 

☐ Track these metrics regularly: Current leads in each stage, conversion rates for each stage, Customer Aquisition Cost, Average time to first sale, Average order value, Average lifetime value, Average no of transactions, Repeat purchase rate.  

☐ Ensure no single client represents 10% or more of your annual revenue (more advanced) 

☐ Review sales reports visually to optimise and predict future sales. (more advanced) 

☐ Work towards a fully self-managed Sales department (more advanced). 

PR, AWARDS & EVENTS 

Get seen. Get known. Get respected.

☐ Build a press kit (bio, photos, logo, boilerplate) 

☐ Create a media list 

☐ Write a press release template 

☐ Plan PR outreach 

☐ Enter industry awards 

☐ Attend networking events 

☐ Book speaking gigs or panels 

☐ Sponsor or collaborate with aligned brands 

☐ Host your own launch or community event 

REPUTATION & COMMUNITY 

People buy from people they trust.

☐ Request testimonials after each project and store sensibly – include video  

☐ Write and publish case studies 

☐ Set up automated review requests 

☐ Share social proof everywhere 

☐ Get involved in industry communities 

☐ Partner with other businesses or freelancers 

☐ Engage with your network consistently 

CULTURE & TEAM VIBES

It’s not just what you build. It’s how you build it.

☐ Define your internal culture and expectations 

☐ Plan team rituals like daily check-ins and weekly stand-ups 

☐ Build recognition processes like shoutouts or bonuses 

☐ Create a learning and development budget 

☐ Add wellness or mental health support 

☐ Choose your team tools and set etiquette for each 

☐ Make it a place people want to work – and always be recruiting. 

Yeah, it’s quite a lot now I look back at that list! 

Just to be clear, we’re not fully there with every item on this list, but we’re aware of them all and working towards the ones we haven’t yet completed. Will we ever have our own legal department? Probably not, but it’s important to have a handle on legal issues and know who to ask if you need help. 

As the saying goes, if you want a better business you need to be a better business owner. 

And if you want to be a better business owner you kinda need to get to grips with this shit or find someone who can! 

Each one of these items could be a blog in itself, so if there’s anything specific you’d like to know more about, do shout.  

Like what you see? Intimidated by the huge number of things on the marketing list? We may be able to help. Get in touch. 

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