Business121 Small Business Newsletter #35

In this week's Business121:

1. Are you one of the 450,000 small businesses missing out on up to £2,500?
2. Guide to recruiting staff and interviewing candidates
3. 10 Tips on choosing a name for your business
4. 3 Ways to Optimise Your Site Navigation
5. World Cup guidance for employers
6. Self-assessment date change to cause chaos and increase costs
7. Entrepreneurs shunning pensions
8. 450,000 small businesses failing to claim up to £2,500 in rate relief

Are you one of the 450,000 small businesses missing out on up to £2,500?
It was revealed last week that an estimated 450,000 small businesses have failed to claim rate relief that they are entitled to. For some small businesses the relief can be worth £2,500.

The staggering failure to communicate to small businesses that they could be entitled to Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and how to make their claim, was uncovered by a survey conducted by the Local Government Association.

The SBRR scheme, which came into effect on 1 April 2005, was announced in the Budget in March but has been very poorly publicised. To date, less than half of the small businesses that are eligible have claimed the relief they're entitled to.

We highlighted the issue in a news article on Bytestart (see Small Business News below) and with £400 million in small business rate relief still sitting unclaimed, it's important that we get the message out to as many small businesses as possible.

WHAT IS SBRR AND WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
The Small Business Rate Relief Scheme gives eligible businesses with rateable values of below £5,000, rate relief of 50%. So it HALVES YOUR BUSINESS RATES. This relief decreases on a sliding scale by an estimated 1% for every £100 of rateable value from £5,000 to £10,000.

The relief is available to ratepayers with either; one property, or one main property and other additional properties, providing the additional properties do not have individual rateable values of more than £2,200, and the combined rateable value of all the properties is under £15,000 (or £21,500 in London).

In addition to this, eligible businesses with rateable values of between £10,000 and £14,999 (or between £10,000 and £21,499 in London) will have their liability calculated using the small business multiplier.

You can find precise details of Small Business Rate Relief on this page of the government's mybusinessrates website;
http://snipurl.com/_SBRR_details

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CLAIM
As with any Government scheme, it's not straightforward. If you think that you may be eligible for small business rate relief you should get in touch with your local council urgently. They will be able to tell you whether you qualify, and will calculate the exact amount of relief you are eligible for.

If you need to find the details of your local council, you can do so here;
http://snipurl.com/_Your_local_council

The last date for applications for this financial year is 30 September so you don't have very long to get your claim in!

Finally, with less than half of small businesses claiming their relief, the chances are, you know businesses that are missing out on up to £2,500. So please do forward this to any small business that might be eligible. You could just save them up to £2,500 so I'm sure they'll be grateful to you.

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Guide to recruiting staff and interviewing candidates
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Recruiting the right people to join your small business can be a tricky proposition. Getting hold of the right people will help to make your business a success but hiring badly can really set you back. Here's a guide to successful recruitment;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=10

10 Tips on choosing a name for your business
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Choosing a name for your business is one of the first major decisions you'll make. Get it wrong, and you'll regret it as long as you're in business. Here are 10 tips to help you choose a good name for your business;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=11

3 Ways to Optimise Your Site Navigation
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Studies show that well-planned web site navigation can help boost your sales by more than 50%. Here are three simple strategies to help potential customers to navigate your site successfully;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=12

World Cup guidance for employers
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With the World Cup kicking off in a matter of hours here are some tips for employers to manage the issue of time off for staff sensibly;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=13

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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Self-assessment date change to cause chaos and increase costs
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If you are one of the 2.5million taxpayers that has to complete a self-assessment tax return, the deadline for filing your form may be brought forward by up to four months;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=14

Entrepreneurs shunning pensions
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New research into the wealth management behaviours of entrepreneurs reveals that the UK's business owners are shunning traditional pension schemes, with fewer than half those surveyed opting to fund one;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=15

450,000 small businesses failing to claim up to £2,500 in rate relief
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Are you one of the 450,000 small businesses that is yet to apply for Small Business Rate Relief? If so, you could be missing out on a rate reduction of up to £2,500;
http://www.bytestart.co.uk/cgi-bin/click.cgi?id=16

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://snipurl.com/Bytestart_News **

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(c) Business121.co.uk 2006