Wishing Everyone A Very Merry Xmas
[This blog is closing down for the rest of the year and will re-surface in 2011!]
Free Resources
The Smarta fat VAT checklist!
The VAT increase is all set for January 4. From the first minute of the day, small businesses are expected to ensue the correct levy is applied to sales.
Are you prepared for the VAT change?
Nothing ruins Christmas like a huge heap of boring research, so we have teamed up with our partners Intuit to do the hard work for you. Our big, fat VAT checklist ebook explains everything you need to know about the VAT rise, with handy hints on how to prepare in advance and what HMRC expects from you.
It gives advice on:
- How to make your life as easy as possible when preparing for the VAT rise
- How to use the VAT rise to your advantage
- The VAT Flat Rate Scheme
- What to do about work and invoices that span January 4, 2011
- Potential confusions to look out for
- A checklist for what you need to do now
- Handy VAT resources
Download your free copy here: http://www.smarta.com/advice/ebooks/the-smarta-fat-vat-checklist
Free Resources
Firms plan to increase recruitment in 2011
More than a quarter of small and medium-sized enterprises plan to hire more staff in 2011 than they did in 2010, according to new research.
The survey found that 76% of businesses are optimistic about the coming year, with more than three quarters predicting either a more prosperous year, or the same level of success as 2010.
According to the poll of over 2,100 firms conducted by Orange, 74% of small companies are considering introducing flexible working options in 2011, citing staff efficiency as the main driver.
Read more: http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/firms-plan-to-increase-recruitment-in-2011.html
Free Resources
CBI: Businesses need clarity on retirement rules
British firms will face considerable uncertainty and greater risk of tribunal claims if the government fails to tackle the unintended consequences of scrapping the Default Retirement Age (DRA), a leading business group has cautioned.
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the government needs to urgently clarify its position on retirement rules and how it will respond to businesses concerns, before it scraps the DRA next year.
Despite announcing that the DRA will be phased out from April, the government has not yet produced any guidance or draft regulations to clarify for employers or staff what the new legislative framework will look like. The removal of the DRA will be one of the most significant changes to employment law in 2011.
Read more: http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/cbi-businesses-need-clarity-on-retirement-rules.html
Free Resources
Small firms need support to grow
Rese
arch by consultancy group, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), revealed that bank lending to small companies had fallen by 4.5% over the past year, while borrowing costs had increased.
The study forecasted that 312,000 start-ups will be created by the end of 2010 and a further 297,000 in 2011, making a major contribution to replacing the 330,000 jobs estimated to be lost as a result of public spending cuts. Furthermore, these firms spend £1.1 trillion on their supply chain annually – 49% of UK business expenditure – and account for £1.6 trillion of total national business turnover, greater than the whole of the FTSE 100.
Read full article: http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/small-firms-need-support-to-grow.html
Free Resources
Avoiding Fundraising Mistakes
What are the mistakes businesses make when seeking funding that instantly turn off potential investors? Rose Lewis, partner at Pembridge Partners, explores common proposal flaws and how to improve your pitch.
Before an investor will invest, they’ll do plenty of digging around about your business. As a start-up there is not much to look at other than the market opportunity and the management team. Market validation is key to convincing any investor that there is a big enough of an opportunity and a big enough market need for people to pay or switch their behaviour.
Not knowing your own plan is a key mistake. Don’t get someone else to write your plan. Edit it, sure, even jointly develop it, but you must know every word that is in there. If you get asked a question about your plan by an investor and you don’t have the answer then you might as well forget it and get out fast.
Read full article: http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/channels/raising-finance/financial-management/1304948/avoiding-fundraising-mistakes.thtml
Free Resources
Government Neglecting SME Needs
Entrepreneurs in the UK feel more neglected by the government than their counterparts overseas, research finds.
Nearly four out of five business owners (79 per cent) feel that the UK government neglects and ignores their interests compared with three quarters (75 per cent) globally, according to the Regus Entrepreneurial Environment Index.
The UK ranks below the world average on the index, which assesses the ease of doing business in each country, with a rating of 89 points compared with the global median of 100 points.
The index is based on the results of a survey that asked more than 5,000 entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners in 78 countries about recent revenue and profit trends, business concerns and recent causes of stress.
Highlighting a lack of access to credit for SMEs, 72 per cent of respondents in the UK say banks should be forced to lend more to entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses. However, this was lower than the global average of 74 per cent.
In other results, the majority of UK entrepreneurs (87 per cent) maintain that the government should back venture capital funds to support entrepreneurs and their business initiatives, while 74 per cent say penalties should be enforced for late payment of invoices. Both figures are around the global average.
Source: http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/news/business-news/1305238/government-neglecting-sme-needs.thtml
Free Resources
Cuts To Hit Growth, Says BCC
The government’s austerity measures will have a more serious impact on growth in 2011 than expected, claims the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) as it downgrades its economic forecast for next year.
The BCC has revised down its forecast for GDP growth next year from 2.2 per cent to 1.9 per cent but tips a recovery in 2012, raising expectations from 1.8 per cent to 2.1 per cent. The revisions came before the widely anticipated decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today to maintain the interest rate at 0.5 per cent.
According to a BCC statement, the change ‘reflects the assessment that the negative impact of the government’s austerity plan will initially be more serious than previously envisaged’. Lower house prices and other signs of ‘financial fragility’ in the UK household sector have been blamed for the downgrade. The worsening eurozone debt crisis will also dampen UK growth prospects next year more than previously expected, the statement says.
Free Resources
Sustainability tips to ensure a green business approach
Understand your impact – what affect does your business have on the environment and society? Tailor sustainability plans around these aspects and use online tools to help. Business Link has some excellent guides for small businesses- Think partnerships – team up with suppliers, customers, outsourcing partners etc to adopt a eco-friendly approach. Other organisations can be a great source of knowledge and resource. You could also switch to suppliers to support those that openly endorse sustainability
- Be passionate – whoever is leading the strategy should have passion and enthusiasm for the implementation. Staff won’t be motivated unless others within the organisation are. Utilise your internal communications and provide staff with easy access to top tips and advice
- Look for easy wins – examine where you can improve quickly to fit in with an environmental approach and provide an immediate return. Reducing paper by automating document processes is one example of this
- Eliminate unnecessary activities – can invoices be automated and handled electronically? Can that face-to-face meeting be replaced by a conference call?
- Make sure proposed improvements will deliver both economic and environmental benefits – quantifiable benefits are an essential requirement in any green strategy
- Printing, copying, storing, mailing and disposing of paper can exceed the initial price by as much as ten times so make sure simple practices such as printing double sided, using recycled paper and only printing when necessary are followed
- Search for local suppliers in your area – the more you can use suppliers who are local to your business, the less travelling they have to do, the less energy will be wasted
By John Elkington - Managing Director of Esker, Northern Europe
Read full article: http://mybusiness.co.uk/YcMa1s5oRI5jag.html
Free Resources
Lack of straight talking costs small firms £36m
Over a third (35%) of UK small business owners spend over 45 minutes a day, or nearly four hours a week, talking to suppliers, customers, colleagues and partners who don’t tell it to them straight, a new report has revealed.
According to a national survey of 2,000 small firms, these long-winded conversations collectively cost business owners almost three million working hours a week, or over £36m in line with the average hourly wage in the UK.
The research commissioned by T-Mobile, found that 86% of small business owners said they waste time every day talking to people who don’t get to the point. The vast majority (91%) see themselves as straight talkers, while almost three quarters (74%) admitted to switching off after just five minutes if they feel someone isn’t straight talking.
Read full article: http://mybusiness.co.uk/YV0FyM9o6VWuDg.html
Free Resources
