Entrepreneurship is an exciting journey, however, it isn’t a smooth ride. There are challenging speed bumps along the way and you don’t have the luxury of getting a fixed amount of money every month. With all your focus on setting up a successful and profitable business, you might forget about securing your financial future.
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Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) is a relatively new way of funding small business growth and is rising in popularity. It’s a great alternative to traditional funding such as banks, which are becoming increasingly hard to get funding from. ‘Alternative’ methods of funding have become the only viable options for SME’s as banks are making it increasingly difficult with the rigorous credit scoring system.
Sometimes small businesses start out using e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay to start their business. It seems that Amazon is currently the biggest player in the international market. A study carried out by Website Builder Expert, looked at the power that Amazon has and how it compares to the international competitors such as eBay and Alibaba. Worldwide online expenditure is expected to exceed £3.5 trillion by 2020, making the online market very competitive.
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According to a recent survey, 49% of all nurseries in England do not make profits. This may come as a surprise to many parents who believe childcare costs are too high. Not only this, but a recent article by the National Day Nursery Association (NDNA) also stated that nurseries are now closing ahead of 30 hours due to low funding and wider business pressures.
Nobody starts a business today without having a proper digital marketing strategy in place. This is because digital marketing now needs to be at the centre of any marketing strategy for all businesses, whatever the size. If you are in the initial stages of starting a business you probably have a tight budget and a small group of employees. You therefore need a proper plan in order for your startup to grow as fast as it should.
When you set up a new limited company for your business, you will also need to set up a business bank account. Here we look at the practicalities of opening a new account.
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Running your own business can be challenging and quite daunting at times, especially in today’s climate. But when you get that proverbial ball rolling, it can be incredibly rewarding. To aid a successful business, you not only need the right ideas and the right team but the best lab and office space in which can help you and your business to thrive and grow.
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Whether you are a start-up or an established business, efficient money management should be a core value. That means planning, organising, controlling and monitoring all financial resources, all of the time. The business world changes hour by hour, what was working well last week isn’t necessarily doing so this week. Effective management of company money means you are making the best use of your resources, it will make and keep your company competitive, ensure that your stakeholders get optimum rewards and lay a solid foundation for future stability.
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Every small business needs to do some marketing to succeed, and at the foundation of effective marketing is great content. Hence, “content marketing” has become a thing — a really big thing. There are huge benefits of content marketing which still go unnoticed by small businesses.
You might think that your office printer is working well and fulfilling its purpose but it’s likely that you could be getting more value out of it. To make sure you’re getting the most out of your machine Printerland have put together a list of five printing tips and printer tricks that can help to improve its performance.
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You may think that the benefits of having, creating and running a blog for your business may not be worth all the effort. However, in the world of Google and online rankings, a blog could really transform your website and business. A blog can allow you to build an image of your business and giving any potential clients a view into what your business is all about. The most important benefit of having a blog is that it increases the traffic to your website which could transform into paying clients.
Small businesses are less likely than larger businesses to offer zero hour contracts when hiring. In research carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), it was found that employers within the small business sector tend to steer clear of non-guaranteed hour contracts. It was also found that small businesses were already paying the new National Living Wage (NLW) of £7.43 before it rose in April. This makes small business a good choice of employer.
We’ve all heard the stories of companies that started in a garden shed to eventually be sold to Google for billions. So many founders and aspiring entrepreneurs share this dream. But building your start-up for a trade sale takes a lot of forward-planning. Where do you even start?
If you have a passion for making music, starting a recording studio business may seem like a dream enterprise, especially if you already have experience of recording in your own home studio. Helping unknown artists on the path to success is an exciting prospect. However, starting up a professional recording studio is not easy. You need to be aware of what is involved and make sure that you are fully invested.
It should be every businesses priority to get exposure and be easily found online. When you are trying to be easily found online, SEO is key. However, SEO can take a long time, continuous hard work and sometimes can even cost money. Therefore, you will need to also invest time in other methods to make your business easily searchable that will work a little quicker. A great way to make your business have a prominent place on Google is by setting up a ‘Google My Business’ page.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has carried out research looking at small businesses reaction to new credit. The study carried out had just under a thousand small business participants. One in three of those businesses say that the new credit is unaffordable. It’s making them hesitant to borrow funds, which are vital for growth. These findings come just ahead of Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates in the UK.
Whether you are a one-man band or the proud owner of a restaurant empire, you can leverage technology in your business. retail POS systems level the playing field between David and Goliath by making technology more accessible — it was previously only an option for larger companies.
Training your staff is incredibly important, whether it’s a new employee or a manager that has been with your business for years. Members of staff need to feel like they are growing their skillset and are taking steps to progress in their career. By encouraging and implementing training in your small business environment, you will be able to retain good quality employees. Training your staff can also help you prepare for any skills gap that may become a problem due to Brexit.
First and foremost, dismissing an employee should always be the last resort. An employee is or should be, an asset of a small business. There may be reasons why an employee is not performing or has caused an issue, however, you should try to get to the bottom of this before making any decision to dismiss them.
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Gender pay gap in the workplace is an issue that has been high profile and has had extensive media coverage. It’s a problem that has been plagued and needs to be addressed. Although many big companies have been forced to make changes to their unequal and unfair pay policies, small businesses also need to take notice.
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