Companies are increasingly recognising the benefits of team building – the beginning of 2016 actually saw record spending on team building activities in the UK. In fact, on average companies now spend £305 on activities per employee to boost morale and keep their staff happy. Traditional team building activities such as assault courses are being replaced with more creative days out, with the most popular being cooking and baking. Adventure Connections highlight the many benefits of team building in the workplace that small businesses need to take advantage of.
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Updates
Global business has never been simpler, but customer expectations have never been higher. SMEs need to do more to compete on the international stage. Advances in business tech has led to a huge surge in SMEs and start-ups over the last four years. Whether you are a tech startup, a new crowdfunded project or just set up your first Etsy store, selling to the world has never been easier.
Staff sickness is something that cannot be avoided, whether you run a big firm or a small business. However, for small businesses that have small teams it can cause costly problems. Managing staff sickness effectively by implementing policies is essential. It will make sure that the disruption of the day-to-day activities within the business are minimised.
According to the latest report by the FSB (Federation of Small Business), confidence among small businesses is bouncing back after the dismal results of the last quarter. These positive results from the quarterly index could be due to the progress in Brexit talks, lower inflation and the positive spring statement.
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Do you remember the paperless office we were all going to have? Proclaimed as the future and the inevitable result of greater computerisation and automation of processes as far back as 1975, it never really took hold, did it? But while eliminating daily paper clutter from the office may not prove to be that straightforward, when it comes to document storage, getting rid of hard copies is thankfully a whole lot easier. There are multiple benefits of document scanning that small businesses can really take advantage of.
One of the least favourite things for every business is moving. You have to get your furniture, documents, and everything else into an entirely new location. This can be a hassle. However, what most businesses won’t consider, but should, is a storage unit. A storage unit can really make the whole process a lot easier to deal with.
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When you are running a business you will need to be organised, or at least attempt to be, in order to run it successfully. There are so many parts of the business that you will need to simultaneously take care of so you will need a system to ensure that you are managing all areas effectively. Whether you are focusing on tax or the your employees’ holidays, you need to have your small business in order.
Dr. Mona Alyedreessy has set up a small business called Azara Beautique. Based on her experience of setting up this business she has given Company Bug her tips for other women setting up a business, in order to help and inspire women who too have great business ideas.
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Every business would benefit from having more leads coming in and making more sales, and of course the best way to do this by improving your marketing. Too many businesses focus on one or two different marketing channels without ever thinking about what they could find elsewhere. So if you are interested in finding new outlets for sales, here Select Base give you four marketing methods that you should embrace in 2018.
Do you know that there are thousands of uninsured business vehicles driven on the UK roads? In the majority of cases this is simply because many people are still unsure of what counts as business use. As a new business owner, it can be tricky to choose which type of policy is best for your particular needs, especially if it’s your first time taking out a specific kind of policy.
As a small business owner it can feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished that you need to. Time management is key in being able to carry out all the required daily tasks. One of the biggest time killers is emails as you have to constantly deal with a stream of incoming communication. As email is the most preferred form of communication when it comes to businesses, it’s essential to make it as quick and efficient to deal with as possible.
Criticism is a part of life and you can’t impress and please everyone, especially when it comes to business. You may think your business is perfect but there will always be people who will think the food at your restaurant is too expensive, or your flower shop doesn’t sell enough exotic flowers. It’s human nature to complain, however when it’s about your business then bad reviews, complaints and negative feedback can have a serious effect.
It’s no secret that half of the start-ups started in the UK fail within the first five years of operating. Small businesses should consider surpassing the five year mark as a real accomplishment, as that is the point they are out of the danger zone. So, what are the reasons behind the failure of these start-ups?
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Whether you work for yourself or run a small business, the most difficult thing to manage is cash flow. So, what can you do if you are owed money and the person is ignoring all your phone calls and letters? Firstly, don’t panic! Late payments has become part of the small business culture, but there may be some who try to evade making payments. This is when you will need to look at the debt collection, and really take what is yours.
It may be an obvious statement but businesses need to regularly keep tabs on their expenditure. If you feel you are spending too much in certain areas then this article may help you cut business costs. QCR give you tips on how you can improve by cutting costs and lowering your expenditure.
As a business owner you should have an exit strategy in place for your small business. It can vary from selling, to retiring, to moving onto another business idea, to even passing your business down to your children. You can keep your options open when it comes to deciding what you want to do with your business in the long term, however it is highly advisable to have an exit strategy in place. This can help you prepare for the future of your business ensuring that you choose the most beneficial and profitable option for you.
Here are the main tax rates and allowances for 2017/18, that are most relevant to small businesses.
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In the past five years, crowdfunding has skyrocketed in popularity as a way to bring innovations to life and has become a great contender to more traditional methods of funding. It has given entrepreneurs access to capital through the people who are most excited about their idea, and want to help it become a reality. This real-time interaction with ‘the crowd’ provides invaluable insights into the market for a given product, and allows entrepreneurs to tweak their products to better fit their customers’ needs. There’s no denying that there are are some major crowdfunding mistakes which can be made, however they can be easily avoided.
It’s no secret that the survival of small business can be challenging for entrepreneurs in the UK — only four in ten businesses survive past the five year mark of running the business. Businesses fail from making continuous mistakes which lead to the collapse of their business, so knowing the causes of business failure is key to eluding those factors and focusing on success. A plan to survive should therefore be accompanied by short and long term goals and objectives to keep you on track.
In the latest report by the FSB (Federation of Small Business) it was found that a large number of small businesses are still unprepared for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Over half of the respondents either had not yet started preparing for the legislation to go into effect or were only at the early stages of compliance. To combat the lack of compliance, the FSB has launched a campaign to get small businesses compliant before the deadline. The countdown has begun, and the GDPR deadline is well under a 100 days away.
