Newsletter #138 - Home working guide for business owners and employees, Redundancy - Ten Tips for Employers, Guide to Copyright Law, 7 ways to ensure you get paid on time - every time

In this week's Business121:

1. No regrets for home-based businesses
2. Home working guide for business owners and employees
3. Redundancy - Ten Tips for Employers
4. Encouraging prompt payment could help SME's through economic gloom
5. Guide to Copyright Law - What is protected?
6. 7 ways to ensure you get paid on time, every time
7. Invoice Finance and Factoring for small businesses

Small Business News

8. National Franchise Exhibition - Free entry for readers
9. Home-based workers positive about "crunch" survival
10. New HMRC Penalty Proposals - time running out for consultation
11. Accountants seek clarity on tax advice

No regrets for home-based businesses

A survey of home-based businesses (see NEWS below) has found that they are still positive about the prospects for their business, despite the current downturn.

One third of respondents thought that they would definitely be able to grow or maintain their level of business, while only 8% felt that their operation would contract.

Those questioned were also extremely positive about their decision to go it alone business. Three quarters, said that they would start their business again, with only 3% saying that after their experience they would never launch a new business again.

The survey highlights the resilience and positive attitude of small business owners - two attributes that will stand us all in good stead in the current malaise.

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Home working guide for business owners and employees
Working from home is becoming increasingly popular, and it’s not just the big corporates who are offering their staff the chance to work from home.
Changes in the law mean that employers are now legally obliged to consider seriously flexible working, and it can actually be a very positive thing to offer employees.

Giving staff the opportunity to work from home can by cut out the daily commute, which helps to make more efficient use of time and reduce stress levels. Many employees will consider working from home to be a valuable perk which may compare favourably to a pay rise. Here's a guide to successful home working.

Redundancy - Ten Tips for Employers
As an employer you are in danger of walking into a minefield of costly and time consuming problems if you mismanage the redundancy process. Each redundancy exercise, requires careful preparation and a good understanding of the legal implications. Here are 10 tips you should follow if you are faced with a redundancy situation in your business.

Guide to Copyright Law
Copyright law is one of the key areas of intellectual property protection. In the United Kingdom, protection applies automatically once the work is created, so there is nothing further that needs to be done by an owner in order to obtain all the benefits of protection. In this article we step through each different types of work that are protected, and explain the extent of the monopoly granted.

Encouraging prompt payment could help SME's through economic gloom
As new figures show that most SME's have already been affected by the slowdown in some way, Bacs have provided some tips to encourage prompt payment from clients.

If late payment is affecting your cashflow, these guides will also help you;

7 ways to ensure you get paid on time, every time
One of the main things you can do to help your cash flow planning is to get paid on time, but that can be tough, with a culture of late payment among many UK businesses. Here's the Bytestart guide on how to get paid on time and make your cash flow planning a doddle.

Invoice Finance and Factoring Guide
Cashflow can often be a problem for small and growing businesses. Here we examine some possible solutions to improving your cashflow, Invoice Finance and Factoring.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

National Franchise Exhibition - Free entry for readers
The National Franchise Exhibition, the largest event of its kind in the UK, is taking place at Birmingham's NEC on 3 & 4 October 2008. We have secured free entry for readers.

Home-based workers positive about "crunch" survival
New research shows that home workers are positive about the future despite the economic downturn and that the top three benefits of setting up a business from home were being your own boss, having the flexibility to decide where you work and not having to commute, which saves time, money and stress.

New HMRC Penalty Proposals - time running out for consultation
UK taxpayers haven't much time left to submit their responses to HMRC's proposals for harsher penalties for late filing of tax returns and late payment of taxes. UHY Hacker Young say that HMRC's proposals would, if adopted, "fundamentally undermine legal protection for taxpayers"

Accountants seek clarity on tax advice
The Telegraph reports that the definition of a "professional adviser" has sparked a row between a firm of accountants and HMRC. Accountants are complaining that taxpayers could be fined for innocent mistakes on their tax returns despite promises from HMRC that they would not be penalised if they took "reasonable care" when completing their returns.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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