Business

Optimism among business owners was high coming into 2022. But a number of factors are now making things a lot more challenging: Global events are pushing up energy prices to astronomical levels. Ongoing supply-chain issues are making it difficult to source raw materials. A scarcity of talent is causing problems when it comes to staffing and hiring. Covid is still around...

In a challenging business landscape, if you are considering a major change, your head is no doubt filled with questions. I’ve decided to restructure. What’s the best way to do this? Restructuring is never easy but if it’s necessary to keep your business afloat, there’s a process you can follow to keep stress to a minimum.  Write a...

Every business has a finite lifespan. Some may last for decades, and some may only last a couple of years. As the owner of a business, the life of your business is likely to be strongly aligned with your own life goals and personal plans for the future. When the time comes to sell up, it’s important to...

Making sure you get paid on time is crucial to your success. The process of making sales and generating revenue lies at the heart of any business model. But you can't manage your cashflow effectively or raise any profits if customers don't actually pay their invoices. The easier you can make it for customers to pay you, the...

If you want to stabilise your finances and grow the business, working to strict budgets becomes a necessity. Managing the cashflow twists and turns of a project can be hard work. But it’s easier to do when you have an agreed budget and can track your spending and performance. So, what’s the best way to stay in control...

Scaling up your business isn't about steady growth over time. It's about having a clear strategy for quickly expanding the business to achieve full-scale hypergrowth. Most startups grow organically, adding customers here and there and gradually expanding over time. Scaling up aims to accelerate this process, pushing your growth to move beyond that slow, organic pace. To achieve...

Businesses that have clear objectives or goals, robust accountability and a shared sense of purpose should always outperform those that just show up and go through the motions. This is why your business strategy is key! Business Strategy lies at the heart of most successful businesses. To achieve this you need to resource and execute with a clear...

Getting your head around Business Finances and the basics of bookkeeping, accounting and good financial practice may not come naturally to all business owners. But the better you understand the numbers, the more control you'll have over your business and your decision-making. To get you started, here’s a rundown of some of the main financial terms and how...

As an unincorporated business (that’s sole traders, self-employed people and normal partnerships) you have the option of using a ‘cash accounting basis’ when preparing your accounts – rather than the more usual ‘accrual basis’. Preparing your accounts on the cash basis can be simpler and makes your life easier. But, in practice, you will still need to keep...

When first setting up your business, there are multiple decisions to make – and a key consideration will be whether to register the business for Value-Added Tax (VAT), the tax that’s added onto the price of certain goods and services. When does VAT registration become mandatory? When your business’s turnover reaches £85k over any rolling period of 12 months,...