Updates

Hiring the right people for your team is both a science and an art. You might have a very clear idea about the qualifications and experience you require for a role, but how do you find the right person among the many candidates with similar credentials? It requires rigorous enquiry, intuition, experimentation and knowledge of the key areas to consider.

Every small business wants success, but achieving this goal can be challenging and demanding. The good news is that there are ways to capture your audience’s attention and assist them on their journey to find your products. There are plenty of eCommerce strategies that can help you impress customers enough so that they come back for more products and services.

2020 has brought on more challenges than small businesses were prepared to deal with. One of them is the rise in cyber attacks taking advantage of the panic caused by the pandemic. To give businesses some breathing room, we’ll be exploring what no-logs VPNs are and how they can stem the tide of hacking activity and mass surveillance.

We’ve had recent good news in relation to vaccines but also a reminder that Covid-19 will be with us for some time yet. This means it is very important for all small businesses to have processes in place so that you can keep going safely and without business owners feeling too much weight on their shoulders.

Having a digital marketing campaign that does not use a stable strategy for SEO is similar to driving on an unfamiliar road without using a roadmap. The chances of success become slim as you are not able to find a way. SEO is a tool that can be used to let the customers find you on the internet. The continuous changes in the Google search algorithms and the cut-throat competition in the market makes it necessary to improve your SEO techniques constantly. You are constantly required to adapt to the movement of these algorithms.

Scope creep is a silent killer for many projects as we don’t typically catch these issues until it’s too late. This phenomenon happens when your project’s scope grows beyond what you originally anticipated. A high scope happens when a client has too many edit rounds, your team spends too long on a project or even when your boss’ standards are way too high.

Readers questions:  I’m in my first year of running my limited company, and I am the Director and only employee. I haven’t paid myself any salary in this tax year yet, because I earnt a salary in this tax year before I set up my business. My Limited Company will reach it’s one year anniversary in mid-May 2020. My question is, is it tax efficient to pay myself £8632 next financial year, and before mid-May when my Limited Company reaches its 1st anniversary, to minimise corporation tax payment?

Influencer marketing is no longer just an optional strategy to help you get a few more followers. Over the past few years, it has proven to be an effective way to significantly improve brand awareness.

According to UK Finance, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) borrowed £28 billion from lenders in 2018, the latest year for which data is available. That took total outstanding loans to SMEs to £100 billion by the end of 2018.

There are several great reasons why every business should strive to operate sustainably. Firstly, it’s mostly a money-saver. Using sustainable resources and processes might take some upfront investment, but it reduces your costs in the long run. Secondly, it’s great for PR. There’s an excellent chance that your target audience will think better of you if you go green.

We live in a digital era. The era in which remote work is no longer a growing trend but a part of our everyday lives. Being able to work from home or any place in the world has allowed people to finally fulfil their dreams of becoming small business owners. If you are one of those people that thinks launching a business isn’t difficult, then think again. Building a business from scratch and running a remote team takes enormous effort.

If your business isn’t doing everything it can to stay as competitive as possible, someone else will come in to fill the gap. Managing a business is about delegating responsibility, but it’s also about paying attention to the details. And following a few sensible strategies can give your business the edge it needs to minimise the bottom line.

The full impact of the pandemic has been felt across all sectors and industries, and it’s well known that SMEs are among the hit hardest by lockdown measures across the world. The need for increased investment has grown, and many businesses are turning to novel technological solutions to offset the worst of the disruption caused by Covid-19 – especially as new lockdowns are increasingly likely to be reintroduced. But while technology can certainly help it requires careful analysis and smart decision making to ensure it adds genuine business value and has a lasting effect.

If you’re a shareholder in a business it’s crucial to consider what would happen to both yourself and the company if you died or left the business through a serious illness.

It’s important to be aware of all the 2021 tax dates and deadlines, especially those that will affect your small business. Some of the tax deadlines such as the self-assessment and VAT tax return take a considerable amount of preparation and time beforehand. So make sure you take note of all the dates that are relevant to you and your small business in order to get prepared.
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Readers’ Question: I’ve just completed a job for my first client and I need to invoice them but I don’t know where to start. How do I write an invoice and what should I include?

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Death in Service Cover, also known as Group Life Insurance, is a company Life Insurance policy covering multiple employees that have owned and paid for by your business.

The mobile apps trend is here to stay. If you haven’t heard of this term, get ready. With the increase in the variety of smartphones, the number of available apps also grows. Also, people are spending more time with their devices and decreasing the use of desktop computers and notebooks.

For many companies, Keyman Insurance offers vital business protection against the death of a key person. You can also add Critical Illness Cover, which provides an extra layer of protection if the key person becomes critically ill. The most common critical illness claims are for cancer, heart attacks and strokes.