I did a free level 2 business enterprise course 5 years ago & got a phonecall informing me I was being awarded level 3 as I'd exceeded expectations.

I thought "hmmm, looks like I'm fucking good at this" & proceeded in finding & developing a business idea.

I did allllll the relevant research on the product, competition, advertising, costs, all that shit. And worked out a marketing plan. I did everything by the book & following what I'd learned, but...

Then I got hooked on mephedrone after it was made illegal (we'd been selling it over the counter beforehand in a head shop) & sold it purely to fund my own habit. The purpose was to make money of course, but it didn't work that way. Each week I'd make £300/400 for the boss, & use £300/400 of meph myself. I just got high as fuck for 5 days a week, sleep a day or 2, have something to eat, receive a delivery, & repeat the process, for about 6 months.

Then I gave up drugs & had this moment of realization that I was meant to be working as a drug counsellor, & the rest is history.

So, I did have a plan to go into business, but my plans took a detour into the wrong kind of business.

Before that I was excited as fuck about my new venture, working out my costs & I saw potential for ridiculously enormous profits, so big I couldn't believe.

However, when I reviewed the work I'd done a year before, during which time I'd completed a diploma in financial management (whilst off my head I should add. Also, mephedrone made me smarter no joke ) I realized I'd been all about business costs, & had neglected to even consider the legalities - tax, national insurance, corporation tax, etc etc. So I'm not sure it would have been successful after all.

What's the "steps" you have taken?

My advice is to take a course in business. There are a lot of free ones floating around. If there's a local enterprise centre or organization they run these programmes, free.

It will give you a basis from which to work from, as well as having ongoing support after you've set up, should you get that far. They can even fund it for you.