small business

For your business to do well you need motivated, engaged employees. Research by Gallup shows that businesses with engaged employees outperform others by 202%. In addition, the study showed that businesses in the highest quartile of employee engagement ratings outperform those in the bottom quartile in customer ratings, productivity, and profitability.

Over the past decade, we’ve heard a lot about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Take Starbucks for example. Their initiative to donate unsold food to those in need aims to combat hunger and food waste. Toms one-for-one campaign is another example of social responsibility in action — for every pair of shoes you buy, a pair is donated to a child in a developing country.

Which matters more: recruitment or retention? Many employers struggle to answer this easy question. Every organisation is powered by its people, and hiring the right people starts with strong recruitment. Typically, employers believe that finding talented, motivated, experienced, and high-potential applicants to fill open positions is the best way to ensure a prosperous future of growth and innovation. But how much is that talent worth if it walks out the door after a year or two? Retaining existing employees means building institutional knowledge in your workforce and generating more stability.

Readers questions: Can I be a limited company if I am a not a UK tax resident? I left the UK 7 years ago and live in Spain. I have been asked by an agency who I will be working overseas for, to supply invoices for work done. Can I issue an invoice to this agency without being registered as a limited company?

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You’ll be aware that HMRC is bringing in new, stricter rules around using contractors and consultants, known as IR35 effective April 2020.  These new rules are intended to stop contractors, freelancers and consultants being used as “disguised employees” to avoid paying tax and benefits.

If you are a small business owner who supplies goods direct to consumers, you undoubtedly pride yourself in the quality of the products you provide. However, it’s inevitable that some people will want to return the items they have bought (or been given). But what rights do they have?

Flowers are timeless and have been used for centuries to express emotions. They play a role in all occasions, from expressing sympathy, to celebrating the birth of a new baby or showing love on Valentine’s Day. Flowers being closely related to emotions and occasions is perhaps the reason why the florist industry has been thriving for decades and why the need remains strong. The fresh cut flowers and plant industry is currently worth £2.2 billion in the UK, and to give some perspective that is £0.2 billion more than the music industry in the UK. The florist business industry is huge and comes with the vast opportunity to start a successful company.

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An international study conducted by Unilever has revealed that a third of consumers now favour brands which they feel are doing social or environmental good. Investing in companies who demonstrate an unwavering effort to ‘go green’ has become a key priority for possible clients, making this a crucial consideration for every business.

If your company is ready to grow, or you just want to improve your marketing strategy, there are several innovative ways to utilise advertising that you probably already have in place, as well as additional options you might also want to consider.

A study has shown that many talented professionals are using search engines such as Google to look for work. This means that you can use SEO to attract the best talent available. As a result, you may be able to reduce the time, effort and costs involved in acquiring the top talent.

There are 5.9 million small businesses in the UK and around 60% of people working in the private sector are working for small businesses. However, mental health and wellbeing advice and support is only really given to larger businesses. The FSB (Federation of Small Business) has started a campaign to focus on wellbeing for those in small business sector.
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When the economy is doing well, it’s easy to become too relaxed and spend too much money. Overhead costs like rent, salaries, and travel costs can become bloated as managers ride the wave of prosperity.

Online use and shopping are getting increasingly popular, with consumers flocking to the internet rather than the high street. As the popularity of online shopping grows, businesses need to get online. You can either create an e-commerce website to be an addition to your existing business, helping to increase revenue, or you can start an online business from scratch. We have created this guide for those looking to start an online business in the UK. 

Good communication skills are essential in pretty much every aspect of life, none more so than in the workplace. Today’s workplace can be a tricky area for employees to navigate, as so many generations are now mixed together and each age group has specific ways they prefer to communicate. 

Over the past decade office desks have changed massively, no longer do we see the dominance of calculators, notepads, writing equipment and instruments we used to update company accounts – our desks are now clutter-free and the computer has taken over. All of our trusted aids and devices can now be accessed through our PC, tablet or even our mobile phones. Most businesses have welcomed these changes, as with them they have brought dramatic increases in efficiencies and improvements in the way we work. Yet, one out-of-date accounting tool that many companies still hang on to is the “trusted” spreadsheet.

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In a recent study carried out by the Close Brother Asset Finance, it was found that small and medium-size businesses find diversity is good for business. However, they still struggled to achieve a diverse workforce. There are a number of benefits of having diversity in the workplace and SMEs may be missing out on these benefits.

Are you hoping to launch your start-up business overseas? If so, you may want to contemplate locating your business in one of these super start-up friendly nations. To learn more about the best start-up destinations in the world, check out the below infographic guide which comes courtesy of the team at Hansen and Company. 

According to the Office for National Statistics, a “high street” is “a cluster of 15 or more retail addresses within 150 metres”. In other words, the presence of retail outlets is literally what makes a high street and the media often uses the phrase “high street” as a synonym for the retail sector.

Are we surprised that there are still more male entrepreneurs than female entrepreneurs? Maybe not. However, some parts of the world see this inequality much greater than other parts. The majority of females in business say that the further up the ladder they get, there is a lack of female role models that they can aspire to be. In a male-dominated industry, women are not always treated the same as male entrepreneurs.