small business

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.

If you are facing business challenges, they can conspire to make us feel down and sap our energy and enthusiasm, which is not good for business. Consider what it would be like if you could have a positive mindset permanently! If these things didn’t affect you negatively but could be faced without fear or stress?

When your company turnover reaches the ‘VAT threshold’ (currently £85,000) in a twelve-month period, you must register for limited company VAT. Even if you don’t, there may be professional reasons why you would want to register anyway. So, how does the VAT registration for limited companies work?

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.

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?

If you set up a limited company, you are not legally required to appoint an accountant, although there are multiple benefits of doing so. In this article, we discuss if appointing a limited company accountant to look after your affairs a statutory requirement, or if can you take care of your accounting duties yourself?
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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.

Cash is not always one of the key strengths of a startup business. Startups key strength is usually the idea, motivation, energy and determination to make it happen. One of the golden rules of a successful business is “increase the cash inflows and decrease the cash outflows”.

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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The alternative to setting up a limited company is to become a sole trader or a member of a partnership, for example, if you decide to trade a sole trader you will essentially be classed as ‘self-employed’. In this guide on how to register as a sole trader, you will be made aware of all the relevant taxes, optional taxes you can register for and how to actuallly set up as a sole trader/ sel-employed.
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If you decide to become self-employed, either on your own (as a sole trader), or with other people (as a partnership), you will be responsible for working out and paying your tax liabilities to HMRC.

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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.