Could revenue share numbers help boost start-ups?

Date: 30/11/2011

Although many people may have dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, now may not appear to be the right time to set up a business and begin trying to earn money.

After all, lending is tight and limited consumer spending could mean enterprises struggle to drum up enough interest to get themselves off the ground and start making a profit.

However, if the British economy is to grow, recover from the previous downturn and avoid falling into another financial slump, it needs new firms to expand and evolve to drive trade.

This may not seem like an easy task for bosses who have just purchased 0800 numbers and are trying to find their feet in an already crowded marketplace. But what can they do to give themselves the best possible chance of success?

Anthony Rushton, co-founder of online video and content provider Telemetry, suggested that instead of selling equity and applying for loans from financial providers, companies could take advantage of government initiatives such as the Regional Growth Fund.

"Don't panic - it's not a bad thing when you're a start-up to not have access to finance," he stated.

Mr Rushton said there are actually advantages to having a lack of finance at the start of an endeavour. If individuals are unable to access finance they will have to draw up a business plan on a budget and "generate your infrastructure on a shoe string".

As a result it will be "scalable" and "predictable" - things that could stand entrepreneurs in good stead given the current economic climate.

"It means that if you can afford to build it yourself and manage it yourself and you start to get profitable - you can grow and expand it out," the expert continued.

If companies are struggling for money, Mr Rushton advised them not to make a rash decision and sell of a chunk of their equity for a lump sum as it "doesn't do anyone a favour".

The expert urged individuals to concentrate on generating as much revenue as possible and wait until they have a clear idea of how their businesses is going to fare until they enter the money markets.

However, generating revenue is unlikely to be easy at present and organisations will no doubt be looking for different methods of driving trade.

One way of doing this could be to purchase revenue share numbers, as these might encourage client enquiries as well as enabling the enterprise to earn money.

These 0844 prefixes allow businesses to earn up to 1.5p per minute for every enquiry they receive. Furthermore, because it costs consumers just 5p a minute to get in touch it is unlikely they will begrudge making the phone call in the first place. If they know they are not being overcharged to make their enquiry they may have no hesitations about picking up the phone again in the future.

Starting an enterprise in current market conditions may seem like a daunting task, but there are plenty of tools out there to help start-ups and revenue share numbers could be one of them.