3. Have a general business plan

“I’m not a massive advocate of having extremely lengthy business plans,” Miller-Cole says. “But I think it is important to use a business plan or business canvas model to map out what the business is. So what is that product or service? Who is it for? Where would they find you? What is the price point? Who does that price point give you access to? So really just mapping out what that business is.

“But the most important part of that business plan for me is the marketing and sales plan, so you can focus on how you are going to make people aware of this new product or service, especially if it’s something that requires people to be re-educated. So if it’s something really innovative, you’re going to have to spend a lot of money re-educating people. If it’s something that’s been done before, then it’s a little bit easier, because you’re just creating a new version of something – maybe it’s a more innovative or better version. So you can kind of understand the marketing that needs to be done there.”

4. Focus on your personal brand

“It’s really important that you focus on building your brand and your brand story, because people buy from people,” Miller-Cole explains. “People want to know what makes you different. So give people the background – what it is that made you start this? What’s the problem you found? How does it reflect other people? Why are you passionate about it? Because people want to hear that story, they don’t just want another brand. They want a brand with a person in front of it.

How to start your own business: 7 things you need to know, according to Apprentice star Bianca Miller-Cole