small business

Starting a part-time small business is ideal if you want the security of employment whilst investing in a side business. Starting a business can come with great risks, and one of the main reasons that potential entrepreneurs are held back is for fear of their business failing. However with a combination of business skills and the right product, you can make your business a success. When running a part-time small business you also don’t have the life changing risk of failing hanging over your head, as you still have a steady income through your day job.

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When it comes to the world of SEO, a lot of people are aware of its importance but, frankly, have no idea where to start. This is a peculiar problem that is really not that hard to solve. The field of SEO is quite complex but before you can delve into these subtleties, you need to master all the basics.

Readers question: If I have three separate Limited company businesses, can I pay myself a salary/management fee from each one or only the one?

According to data from Euromonitor International, 2019 was the first year that more than 50% of the world’s population was connected to the Internet. People are likely to stay connected throughout 2020 and beyond as more consumers are using the Internet for the first time because of affordable online access and mobile phones.

Every SMB must make an extra effort when it comes to competing in the online market. The main reason is that the market itself is oversaturated with large companies with large budgets, which makes the competition fiercer than ever. 

If your small business is expanding and you have a small team working for you then you might consider hiring an IT Support professional. As your business and team grow so will the technology involved, so it might be a good idea to either train your staff with basic knowledge of IT support or hire IT support staff. A go-to tech person can help with the day to day issues which may disrupt the workflow and be detrimental to the productivity of the workplace.

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As communities begin to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are looking to take the right steps in preparing for that reopening. Experts are discussing the importance of careful planning during this stage of the pandemic. Business owners will need to be informed about how to properly reopen.

Readers question:  I am one of two company directors in an ltd company. My partner in business has been told by her midwife that she is entitled to 90% of her salary while on maternity leave. For us to pay her, we would need to employ another person to do her job, this would put the business in financial difficulty. Is this the case?

Do you remember the time when our main worry was the dreaded B word?  Deal or no deal? Then everything changed as Covid-19 challenged us in a dramatic way. Over the last few weeks, many small businesses have been taking on the challenge: making provision for team members working from home; analysing the various forms of government help and evaluating how best it can be applied in our individual organisations; projecting the immediate and the longer-term financial impacts. Simultaneously, we’ve had new plates to spin at home as we home school or do online shopping for elderly relatives etc.

Pension auto-enrolment obligates companies to automatically enrol employees in a pension scheme unless workers decide to ‘opt-out’. As a result, all company owners should make themselves aware of pension auto-enrolment and how it will affect them when hiring employees.

There are a number of ways in which you can set up and run your business in the UK. In this guide created by OrangeGenie, we look at the differences between sole trader, partnership, Ltd and PLC. We will focus on explaining what the type of company is, the tax implications, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
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If the current situation has taught us one thing, it’s that businesses can no longer afford not to think online-first. While many large organisations are struggling to weather the storm, small businesses are facing the same problems with the additional challenge of limited resources – both in terms of finances and people.

Readers question: How do I pay myself as an employee of my limited company?

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Many of us have been compelled to change the way we work and move our meetings, presentations, sales pitches etc. to an online setting. This takes some getting used to as I have found.  In the process of moving online, I have learned some valuable lessons as I have conducted meetings and coaching online. Here, Simon Day from Toastmaster International will share how small businesses can communicate with impact online.

When starting his first business, a friend told me how he decided to use his personal bank account for all of his business transactions. This included the income he generated from his clients, along with all business expenses.

To succeed in today’s market, a business needs a strong online presence in order to develop and grow. Gone are the days where yellow pages were everything and paying to get yourself listed on the front page meant you’re already ahead of your competition. Nowadays, you can get overtaken by a business that invested half of what you did in marketing, simply because they’ve got better SEO practices.

Moving people to remote working can be stressful at the best of times. COVID-19 adds an extra dimension. For this reason, it is very important that business owners consider the impact on the mental wellbeing of their team as they adjust to the necessary changes.

You may be just getting started with your business and need the right skills to help it grow. Or, maybe you have seed funding and need to scale your team quickly? 

It is, unfortunately, the case that IR35, Public and Private Sector off-payroll rules are something of a minefield.  It’s a complex area of tax law so it is not surprising that contractors and freelancers get confused and struggle to understand all the implications.