As business leaders, it’s easy to get consumed in the pressures of running your business. It’s stressful, but there is a consequence to that stress, and it can be damaging for business, as well as your own health. (more…)
Whilst most employers will be well versed in dealing with under-performing staff, the situation can be trickier when faced with those who appear to be coasting at work.
Given the increasing demands placed on business owners it can be easy to overlook staff who are doing just enough to get by, however failing to recognise and address this can come at a significant cost to a business. (more…)
Environmentally conscious businesses are rapidly gaining much larger audiences by providing a different kind of value, as consumers are now more likely to pay more for products with an ethical incentive.
A forward-thinking mentality can set you apart from the crowd, especially in a time where sustainability and social responsibility have become top purchasing drivers. (more…)
Having a data network has become a requirement for all modern businesses, regardless of size.
An IT network gives your workforce access to the internet and other services like VoIP, allowing employees to communicate and share files with clients, customers and each other. (more…)
If you are looking to make sales online, tackling the specialist subject of ecommerce SEO is vital to your long-term success.
With SEO for ecommerce websites requiring such specific expertise, we asked Joe Cox of Superb Digital to share his knowledge on how to grow sales through ecommerce SEO. (more…)
We’ve all been there. The team meeting where nothing is achieved. The group discussion where it feels like you can cut the air with a knife. The team that is actually a team in name only, where it’s everyone for themselves and only the most vocal, political or best-connected survives.
So how can you get a broken team back on track, and make sure everyone pulls together? (more…)
The statutory right to request flexible working is available to all employees who complete 26 weeks of continuous employment.
Whilst flexible working is certainly becoming a more common feature in the workplace, it could stand to become even more significant in 2019 as discussions continue around whether employers will be required to state whether positions can be worked flexibly in job advertisements.
In the meantime, here’s what every small business owner needs to know about flexible working rights, and how to handle flexible working requests from staff so that you don’t end up in front of an Employment Tribunal; (more…)
If your business involves selling goods to customers you will, inevitably, need to deal with a percentage of customers that want to exchange items, or are seeking a refund.
As a small business, it’s really important to know what your legal rights and duties are when it comes to customers that have bought your goods. (more…)
With each passing year, we are barraged with more and more stories of corporate scandals and wrongdoing. Recent examples include a global carmaker rigging their vehicles to cheat on emissions tests, a major bank illegally foisting accounts and credit cards on millions of customers without their knowledge or consent, and innumerable stories about sexual misconduct by powerful, entitled executives.
And these are just a few high-profile cases – the tip of the iceberg for anyone who reads the business news. (more…)
If you are thinking of starting out as a freelancer or a contractor, you will very quickly need to get a basic understanding of the IR35 rules. (more…)
One of the key attributes of projects is that they are not structured in the same way as ordinary business departments. A number of people, possibly including contractors or consultants, are brought together to deliver a project.
This lack of a corporate structure leads to a need for clearly defined roles in the project structure. (more…)
Predicting the future is, naturally, a difficult task. If it wasn’t, life (and business) would be a lot less interesting.
However, being able to spot the winds of change when it comes to business technology is vital for companies of any size to make the right long-term strategic decisions. (more…)
It is common for individuals to exaggerate or embellish certain aspects of their CV when applying for a role, however employers can be faced with a serious problem if it turns out the person they hired does not have the experience or qualifications needed to carry out the job at hand.
So what can you do if after you’ve hired an employee, you subsequently find out they lied on their CV? (more…)
No matter how successful your business has been with just you working in it, if you want to grow you’ll need to employ people.
There are innumerable benefits of having employees. The right people will ease the workload on you and allow you take holidays. Good staff keep your business running day to day, so you can focus on the most important part of your role as the leader: growing the business. (more…)
Human resources as a role within organisations has grown significantly in the last 20 years, and today, employers need to find ways to motivate their staff and keep them satisfied at work.
Not only are happier staff likely to be more productive, but they are a less likely to leave and companies will save money on recruiting and retraining staff. With this in mind, we offer a number of ways that companies can motivate staff in 2019. (more…)
Every year there is a new mobile operating system update, so businesses can be forgiven for not being aware of the vast array of new features that are made available.
In fact, it is usually the case that most users are not engaged enough to uncover the secrets that a new OS has to offer. So to help you benefit from the best new features on iOS 12 and Android Pie, we asked Anthony Main of The Distance to highlight the new features that businesses can take advantage of. (more…)
When you start your own business, one of the first things you need to do is to start promoting it and finding customers?
Depending on the type of business you are in, one age-old and sure-fire way to build relationships is through networking. However, if you are to enjoy the full rewards of networking you need to know what you are doing. (more…)
If you run a business it’s inevitable that disputes will arise. Whether it’s problems with suppliers failing to meet their obligations, employee issues or non-payment by customers, when a dispute arises it can be difficult knowing how best to resolve the problem with the minimum of disruption, time and expense.
Taking the matter to court to resolve is costly and takes a long time, so we asked Tim Bennett of Fairlead Mediation to explain how businesses can use mediation to resolve disputes more effectively. (more…)
Starting a new business is a mixture of fun, fear and challenge. For many new business owners, the technology side of things can be particularly fearful. With so many things to think about, how do you know what you do and don’t need to be able to make a success of your new business, and stay on the right side the law?
So to help you tackle the tech, we asked Mike Ianiri to outline the technology essentials for startups, and how to maintain IT security from day one. (more…)
The role of cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important in 2019, with studies showing that the average data breach in the UK can cost companies around £2.7 million and up to 163 days to correct.
Whether it is phishing or external hacks, the exposure of key data can be hugely costly to an organisation and some may never recover. With this in mind, there are a few simple things you can do in order to protect your website, big or small, from hacking and the associated costs. (more…)
It may seem like yesterday, but Amazon first began disrupting the retail status quo nearly 25 years ago. As one of the world’s largest online retailers, it has set ecommerce standards. But it now has its sights set on stores.
With Amazon’s move into offline retail set to be a game-changer, we asked Retail Technology publisher, Miya Knights to look at the technology driving no click retailing. (more…)
Company reviews left on websites such as Glassdoor and Indeed can be a great way for your organisation to build a positive reputation and help in efforts to recruit new talent.
However, there is always the risk that staff may leave negative reviews on these websites, which can have a very different impact altogether. (more…)
Many small businesses up and down the country have a corner or storeroom where dead or unused electronic kit sits, unused and gathering dust. Many of us keep it there because, hey you never know, it might come in handy for spares one day. But it never does and ends up sitting there for years.
In this guide, we look at everything small businesses need to know, including legal obligations, when it comes to disposing of their e-waste (however long it’s been sat in a cupboard). (more…)
Christmas is just around the corner; the high streets are flooding with people, the markets are springing up in town and city centres across the country, and the festivities are in full swing.
While it is a time of great celebration and merriment, Christmas can also be incredibly stressful with a stack of work to complete before the calendar makes its way to the 25th of December. So to help you negotiate the festive season, here are six great apps that will make things a little easier at the most wonderful time of the year. (more…)
Some businesses will work on Christmas Eve but then close down until Wednesday, 2nd January. It may feel as if everyone is off work and every office is closed (especially with many schools closed until 7th January as well) – but that’s not entirely accurate.
Many people are still working during the festivities. As a small business owner how can you ensure you don’t lose out on business over the Christmas period and still get a break? Here are a few tips: (more…)
Today’s events offer the best of both worlds when the right technology is applied to the immediacy of the face-to-face experience.
Delegates can enjoy the impact of personal, immediate interactions, networking opportunities and cutting-edge talks – with the added benefits of VR experiences, social sharing, personalised follow-up experiences and automated check-ins. In this way, the beauty of the face-to-face event is only enhanced through smart tech deployment. (more…)
There are a whole range of ways that you can build backlinks to your business’s website, from guest posting to tactical link audits and on-site asset creation. However, the amount of time and effort it takes to get each link can become a barrier, particularly when you have limited resources. (more…)
In a small business or start-up culture there is often limited time available for formal employee appraisals or structured feedback planning. However, developing a business culture where structured feedback is routinely given, received and acknowledged is essential for long-term growth. (more…)
Following a successful recruitment and selection process, employers will be able to identify which candidates they wish to employ.
Making a job offer to the successful candidate appears to be a straightforward area of law, however, there are several factors that employers should consider to put themselves on the best path. (more…)
Visuals help people retain information up to 55% more effectively. Therefore, if you want your business’s products to be top-of-mind for consumers, you must have a visual merchandising strategy in place.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, employees are entitled to take a minimum of 5.6 times their normal working week as paid annual leave each year.
As employees typically place great significance on their holiday entitlement, the act of declining an annual leave request can often be met with annoyance. (more…)
The business landscape is constantly changing, and new technology is accelerating the pace of developments. These changing dynamics have redefined the ‘ability to learn’ as an essential skill, whatever your role in the organisation.
‘Learn something new today’ should not be just a lesson for when you are in school or university – it should be a life lesson; personally, and professionally, in or out of the workplace. (more…)
Whether its public, private or hybrid, cloud is redefining how SMEs use IT. Businesses of any size can now acquire high-quality, IT software and technologies when they need it.
According to the latest research, total cloud adoption in the UK now stands at 88 percent and no longer are SMEs trailing behind larger corporates, with adoption rates reaching 82 percent in 2017. (more…)
We’re all faced with obstacles at work and sometimes just coming back after a holiday can feel challenging. However, when an employee is returning to work after mental ill health, the experience can be even more daunting.
We asked Liz Walker, HR Director at Unum, to share advice on how employers can support returning staff and help ease them back into the work that can be so beneficial to their recovery. (more…)
Imagine your smartphone or tablet scaled up and delivering information in the high street, restaurant or hospital. That’s what a digital signage system looks like and it’s an engaging way to transmit information to your audience, whatever the focus of your small business.
To help you take advantage of the opportunity it offers, here’s our small business guide to digital signage. (more…)
A recent study found that 48% of millenial graduates believe a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) to be the ideal sized business to work for as opposed to a larger organisation.
Even with this encouraging statistic, graduate recruitment can be difficult for small businesses. If you are to succeed you need to take a multi-faceted approach to gain interest from students and graduates alike. Here are 4 things you can do to ensure your graduate hiring process delivers. (more…)