I’m Amy McCulloch – a 24yr old entrepreneur living and working in the centre of the universe: SW. 18 months ago, my friend and I were having a drink in The Calf (Clapham Old Town) after finishing work at the publishing company we both worked at (not in Clapham, so not important). Usual post-work chat soon turned into a conversation about the future. Several bottles of deliciousness later we were coming up with company names – pretty standard booze related ramblings then.

18 months go by…

Amy McCulloch

My drinking friend (now business partner) and I are sitting in our own office working full time for our first company The SEO Marketing Workshop. Our company specialises in web design and internet marketing for SMEs and online start-ups.

Getting started in SW

If you’ve got an idea and you are serious about going it alone then here are my top tips for making the initial leap:

1. If your conversation began with a mate in an SW drinking spot then continue the conversation the next day to keep the momentum going(perhaps over coffee at the little French patisserie on The Pavement – macaroons there are an absolute treat).
2. Set a day a week to meet and discuss plans of action – alternate between venues to keep it fresh and get inspiration.
3. Get a clear idea about where you want to be 5 years down the line – write it down (you may want to frame it and put it in your yacht in years to come).
4. In fact, write everything down … you’ll be coming up with 100′s ideas each time you meet up… idea’s which are easily forgotten. Some you will want to forget (our name for these ideas are ‘genius ideas’, you may also wish to come up with an appropriate name for the rejects)
5. Register your business name and URL to make it official – this will give you an incentive to keep things moving:
   
   Companies House – find out if the name is available
   Companies Made Simple – get your company registered – there are loads of companies like this but we shopped around and these guys were the best! You can do it yourself but it is utterly boring and for £25 it’s no-brainer
   FastHosts – register your domain name and create your business email accounts (there are lots of sites like this one, so shop around because the deals change all the time)

Want more?

Next instalment: Finding your first client (and more fabulous Clapham hangouts)