If you’re raising money for your business, don’t ignore the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). These offer new and growing young businesses in the UK attractive vehicles for securing inward investment. They benefit both the investor and recipient – and they are backed by the Government.
Financial markets can be a fickle beast. The success or otherwise of a company, sector, country or region relies a lot on confidence – a factor that is hard to win, tough to maintain and easy to lose. Many factors contribute to a feeling of confidence but one factor that you shouldn’t lose sight of – especially as an international business – is the impact that political events can have on the economy.
When running a small business, saving money and cutting costs where you can should always be a priority. By being smart when dealing with taxes it can actually save you a considerable amount of money. If you are effectively dealing with your taxes, it could be the difference between a steady profitable business to one that’s just barely getting by.
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Here are the main small business tax rates and allowances for the tax year of 2018/19.
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Boosting productivity in the workplace is a major goal for most business owners. Fortunately, there are many handy tools on the market to help you do just that. What’s more, lots of them are free or are available in free versions.
Emotions can play a vital role in business. From emotional intelligence increasingly becoming a requirement for business leaders to emotional TV adverts. To connect with customers and make a lasting impression, small business owners need to consider using emotions in marketing campaigns. A great example of this is the release of John Lewis Christmas adverts, which is now a national event in the UK. This is because they create content that tugs on the heartstrings of the audience.
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Business bankruptcy is the legal position of a business that is unable to pay its debts to creditors. The status is ascribed by the court, usually at the initiative of the debtor, at the point when they realise they cannot meet their financial liabilities. In this article Bankruptcy Canada give an overview of different types of bankruptcies and their effect on business’ income.
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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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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.
Late payment is a fact of life for many businesses but for many SMEs it can prove to be a constant battle to get paid on time. But it doesn’t have to be that way as small businesses now have more options for taking the leg work out of their credit control than ever before.
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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.
With over 1.8m limited companies operating in the UK today, compared to 3.3m sole traders, we look at the advantages afforded to business owners who decide to trade via their own limited companies.
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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.
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