Name: Naimish Gohil
Age: 24
Business: MusiqTrader Ltd (http://www.musiqtrader.co.uk)
Type of business: Online Advertising Service for Musicians and Music Businesses
Start date: Feb 2006

When did you first decide you wanted to start up your own business?
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to run my own business. Once I left university I worked for a telecommunications company, regularly working 14 hour days on a project.

During this time it really made me think what I could achieve if I put this much time and effort into my own business. Soon after, I decided that starting up my own business was what I definitely wanted to do.

Tell us about your business
MusiqTrader.co.uk is an online market place for budding musicians to buy and sell musical instruments from other like-minded musicians and local music shops.

It’s a niche market and we’ve developed an online advertising service that’s catered especially for musicians and one that will help independent music shops and businesses reach new out to new customers, who otherwise would be out of their scope, in terms of location.

Was it your first business idea and where did it come from?
I’ve explored a few business ideas in the past but have never really followed them through. MusiqTrader has been the first venture I’ve really researched and worked on, on a full time basis with a 110% focus.

The idea of MusiqTrader came about when I was going through a phase where I wanted to play the guitar. I spent ages looking around for a second hand guitar. Through this digging around I spotted a gap for an online service for musicians to meet, buy and sell musical instruments via just one port of a call.

Was your decision to start a business inspired by any other companies or individuals?
People like Simon Woodruff and the trio from Innocent Drinks, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, founders of Skype are great inspirations.

What inspires me is the growth and success that can be achieved through business within such a short space of time. You just can’t compare or reach this kind of progression working for someone else and that’s what really excites me about business and MusiqTrader.

What makes you think there’s a market for your business?
According to the Music Industry Association, in the UK there are 28 million people that want to play a musical instrument. The government, the Arts Council and the music industry are investing and funding new initiatives and projects from all across the UK to promote playing music.

Likewise the amount spent on online advertising is increasing each year and the internet is becoming more and more specific, organised and sophisticated. People are searching for exactly what they need and looking for services that provide exactly that.

Our aim is to make MusiqTrader the central place online for musicians and music shops to buy and sell instruments.

Once you’d decided to start a business, what did you do first?
I made Google my best friend and spent hours upon hours researching the market I was planning to enter. Before I decided to invest any kind of money I wanted to make sure there was a clear need for MusiqTrader within the marketplace.

What research did you do?
I visited music schools and music shops across London to talk to people with a vested interest in music about MusiqTrader and the service I was proposing to offer.

I carried out a lot of primary research which included questionnaires and focus groups with musicians which allowed me to really establish what musicians needed through MusiqTrader and of what benefit it could potentially be.

What advice did you seek?
I must have contacted every business support centre within the London area. To be honest, I found with most of these, the processes were just too bureaucratic. I’m a very enthusiastic person but when I was seeking advice from some of these support centres my energy levels were being drained.

The exception to this was the support I received from the Prince’s Trust. I have met people there that have taken a wholehearted interest in my business and are continuing to take a vivid interest even now. It really feels as if the people at the Trust genuinely want me to succeed.

What other help did you get?
My family and the close circle of friends that I have were crucial in helping me get where I am so far. Without their support, I don’t know whether I would have had the confidence to have started up MusiqTrader. Having people you can trust and who offer their time for free is just priceless.

Does the government need to provide more help to people trying to start a business?
I’m not a 100% sure on that one. I think in London people are blessed with opportunities through so many different organisations.

Where I feel the government and these schemes could offer more, is by providing services where starts ups actually had access to professionals that can actually get involved more on a practical basis and do more of the support work.

Business is very much about the ‘doing’ aspect. I just feel right now that there are too many services that offer just advice, whereas all the ‘action’ is left to the individual.

Talk us through the process of writing your business plan.
With my business plan, I knew that I wanted to keep it as concise and straight to the point as possible. I didn’t want a 200-page dossier that I was never going to look at. I wanted something that I could easily refer to.

My Prince’s Trust support manager was crucial with helping me with my business plan and ensuring that I developed a plan that was as sound as possible and one that was as easy to read as it was relevant to the matter in hand.

How useful has your business plan been and do you think you’ll stick to it as your business begins to grow?
My business plan helps me to see some very important aspects of my business in simple terms. Things such as: What MusiqTrader is all about? Who are our customers? What are our unique selling points? What key benefits do we offer? Why do musicians and music shops need us? Where do we want to be in 12 months time?

Since going online, the business plan and the business has evolved, although the fundamental goal is still the same. We want MusiqTrader to be a household name for musicians, just as Autotrader is for cars.

How much did it cost to start the business?
I’ve invested around £8,000 so far. This could have been a lot more but being from a technology background myself I have been able to utilise my technology skills and knowledge to their maximum.

How did you fund this?
MusiqTrader has been funded through two main avenues, with those being personal savings and the loan provided by the Prince’s Trust. In order to get the loan, I had to present a business plan and pitch my idea to a panel at the Prince’s Trust, in a way, almost like it is done on the BBC’s Dragons Den.

Similarly, how are you funding your running costs until the business takes off?
The business is currently turning over enough to cover running costs.

Have you made any provisions for the business not being as prosperous as expected?
We have an excellent range of technology skills within the team and due to demand for our unique web skills we have been able to offer bespoke web development and organic search engine optimisation services to generate additional revenue.

Therefore if MusiqTrader didn’t work out, we could channel our skills for the benefits of others, in essence.