We are about to start a series of three individual podcasts in association with Business Link about starting your business, growing it and selling it.

So for our first one we are looking for five people who have started their business within the last 3 to 4 years to contribute to our next Bristol Media podcast.

We are also looking for lots of email questions from anyone about to start or in the early days of their business venture that we can put to a panel of leading experts to answer.

Subjects we’ll be covering:

Business Ideas – How to come up with them, turn them into reality and how to protect them?

The Business Plan – Do you really need one? If so, how long should it be and wat should it cover and who should you send it to?

Self employed or ltd company? What ‘status’ is right for your new venture and why?

Funding – What’s available to start ups? The pros and cons of Family, Friends and Fools?, Banks, Angel, Private and VC

Bootstrapping – “The life of a entrepreneur” – what’s it really like? The skills required to succeed

Space / incubation

Marketing

Customers How to get your first customers and how to make sure you look after them?

When is it right to expand? – staff, bigger space, more risk?

What wider support is in Bristol for start-ups?

If you’d like to take part or would like to email us a question, a dilemma or a problem you need help some expert help with, email Caroline and we’ll be in touch.