How to set up and run a small business
One of the main benefits of becoming self employed is the ease with which you can start and run a business. Here are five things you need to do when you decide to go self employed.
The area of tax for small businesses is not straightforward but, if you take a little time, it’s usually possible to save some tax. Here are ten ways you could cut your tax bill.
The juggernaut that is GDPR comes into force in just a few days.
We’ve known about this radical new change in privacy and data protection law for over two years and finally the day is almost upon us when the new regulation becomes law on 25th May.
The past two years have allowed plenty of time for numerous myths to bubble up about the impact of the new rules on all UK organisations. But which are the GDPR myths and which are GDPR facts? Continue…
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The goal of any equity crowdfunding campaign is to catch the attention of investors and convince them that your business is worth backing.
But how does the mind of an investor work?
With more equity crowdfunding campaigns run each year, it’s crucial to know what motivates potential investors and how they make their crowdfunding investment decisions.
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There’s never been a more exciting time to be an entrepreneur, the amount of new options and opportunities can also feel overwhelming.
Moreover, your customer has become ever more fickle and mistrustful of how companies operate and what they promise.
So how do you futureproof your business in the face of so many choices and a changing landscape? Continue…
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To generate new leads in today’s online world, your business needs to be optimised for search engines – in particular Google.
Most small businesses know this and invest good time and money in their online strategy.
The challenge lies in achieving sustained search success and business map listings are a key part of this. Here’s how to achieve this with Google My Business. Continue…
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This year, Mental Health Awareness Week (14 – 20 May) is shining a spotlight on stress.
With one in six adults experiencing depression, anxiety or issues relating to stress at any one time, it’s important for smaller employers to recognise the signs that their team may be under too much stress.
Here, Jaan Madan of Mental Health First Aid England, highlights five ways small businesses can address workplace stress.
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1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health issue at some point in our lives and the UK Government is taking this statistic seriously, recommending all companies with more than 500 employees should provide tailored mental health support for their staff.
But what about smaller businesses? With millions of small businesses in the UK, making sure these businesses are equipped to support the mental and physical wellbeing of their staff is essential for keeping the majority of the working population healthy. Continue…
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The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is designed to help smaller, risky businesses raise funding to fuel growth.
Early-stage businesses can find it difficult to secure investment, so the EIS was set up to encourage more investors to back fledgling businesses by offering generous tax-breaks.
To help you see whether the EIS could help you raise funding for your business, we asked award-winning chartered tax adviser, Jonathan Amponsah CTA FCCA to explain how it works. Continue…
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One of the main benefits of becoming self employed is the ease with which you can start up and run your new business.
You can even become a sole trader (another term for self-employed) whilst working as an employee for someone else, so you can test the water and see whether working for yourself suits you.
To help you understand some of the most important issues, you’ll need to tackle, here are 5 things you need to do when you decide to go self employed: Continue…
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For many companies, staff retention is a key issue. Giving employees a slice of the business can foster a sense of ownership and can be a key element in retaining and rewarding them.
One of the most widely used methods of achieving this is the use of Enterprise Management Incentive (“EMI”) Share Option Schemes. EMI Share Options are significantly more generous than ordinary share options from a tax perspective so can help you attract and incentivise key staff, in a very tax-effective manner. We asked John Leyden FCA, to explain how.
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Inbound marketing is an essential tool for any online business. By creating and distributing useful content, the aim is to attract potential customers to your products and services.
Ultimately the purpose of inbound marketing is to create sales. So, here we examine ways that you can hone your inbound marketing tactics to engage with more prospects and move them along the path to purchase.
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Small business accounting software has changed massively in recent years. Thankfully, the advent of cloud computing has consigned the days of buying book-keeping software in a box and installing it on your own computer to history.
Nowadays, start-ups and small business can choose from a whole host of online accounts software packages. The technology helps to ease the pain of book-keeping and accounts for small business owners and provides a range of other benefits too.
But with so many different web-based accounting solutions out there, how do you choose the right system for you and your business?
That’s where this guide comes in. If you follow the advice, and ask these questions, you should be able to quickly narrow down the field, and ultimately choose the best online accounting software for your needs.
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Recent research has suggested that 39% of SMEs haven’t spent any time planning or preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) over the last year.
With the clock ticking down rapidly to May 25 when the rules come into force, if you’re one of the small businesses that haven’t planned for GDPR, you need to prepare for its consequences right now.
The GDPR marks the start of a radical new data protection landscape, with significant penalties if your business doesn’t comply, so here are 9 key points small employers need to watch out for. Continue…
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Technology has enabled us to communicate faster than ever. In the digital age, email tops the list of many people’s favoured way of communication, mainly because it’s faster than letters – or even phone calls.
So, in a world where communication is dominated by instant messaging, email and social media, is there still a place in the marketing mix for direct mail?
As David Manton explains, direct mail may be slower, but it still has a lot to offer businesses. Continue…
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For small businesses broadband is an essential requirement and yet for many people it’s hard to get the level of service they want from their supplier.
Why is this and what steps can you take to get the quality of broadband you need to run your business successfully?
We asked telecoms expert, Dave Millett to explain what alternative options you have if your business can’t get the broadband service you want from one of the main suppliers.
Continue…
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Once upon a time, not too long ago (up until 6 April 2011 to be exact), employers could force workers to retire at 65.
However, since the abolition of the Default Retirement Age, you can continue to work well after 65 if you choose to.
Many business owners enjoy working, and do continue working after retirement age, but what if you do not want to work after the age of 65?
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Wrestling with your accounts is certainly not the highlight of working for yourself, but getting your finances right is an important part of being self-employed.
Claiming business expenses can help you to cut your tax bill but, knowing what, and how much you can claim for isn’t straightforward. Fortunately, HMRC allow the self employed to use ‘simplified expenses’ to claim certain allowable business expenses without having to make complicated calculations.
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When it comes to start-up investment, the UK has some of the best tax relief schemes anywhere in the world.
The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), along with its earlier-stage sibling the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), offer protection of investments in UK start-ups. If the business fails, investors can claim up to 80% of the investment as tax relief against their income tax bill. Continue…
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There are a variety of reasons why businesses or consultants may choose to operate via a limited company.
For some, the protection limited liability offers if things go wrong is an attraction, for others, the potential tax benefits are the main reason why they choose to be a limited company over a sole trader.
To explain more about the tax advantages of a limited company, we asked Manchester based accountants Alexander & Co to outline the tax-effective ways you can pay yourself if you own a limited company. Continue…
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The beginning of April has likely been a hectic time for many employers, with usual accounting and financial deadlines sandwiched in between important updates to employment law rates and payments.
Here, we outline the increases in the National Minimum Wage, National Living Wage and other statutory payments, all business owners need to abide by from April 2018. Continue…
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If you are thinking of starting up a taxi business, the most important and initial steps to take are to research the UK taxi industry as a whole, find a unique selling point, choose a brand name and obtain the relevant equipment, employees and licenses.
Nowadays, with emergence of taxi apps like Uber and Get Taxi, starting a taxi company in 2018 is certainly a different ball game than it would have been a decade ago. Continue…
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