Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Investing in a franchise
Reader's Question: I am considering investing or buying a franchise but i am not sure where to start. Have you any advice for me?
Marketing
Three quarters of consumers who heard about a bad customer experience via social media stopped doing business with the offending company, research finds.
Marketing
Faith Evans, Head of Website Production at BT Business, explains how search engine optimisation can get you to the top of Google.
Business Ideas & Planning
Dr Simon Mosey, head of Institute for Enterprise and Innovation at Nottingham University Business School, offers some business planning wisdom for SmallBusiness.co.uk readers.
Government Grants
Louise Guinda, founder of baby product company Safedreams.co.uk, received help from Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise.
Marketing
Good public relations can help a small business get its message out to the right audience. A few simple tips may help to get the press writing about you and in a good way
Export & Import
Online businesses are defying the economic downturn and flying the flag for Britain on the international stage, finds research.
Employing & managing staff
What is the official HR policy on smoking breaks? One member of staff has complained about another taking excessive time out.
Setting up a company
I've got an idea for a company to run an sporting event that will start in mainland USA but finish in Hawaii and have participants from around the world. How do I go about registering the company?
Tax
Tim Lyford, director in the Corporate Tax division of Smith & Williamson, discusses the limitations of an OTS discussion paper on a tax solution for microbusinesses.
Business Technology
Mobile payments are becoming increasingly useful for consumers on the move, and there is evidence of more and more SMEs adopting a mobile payments strategy to capitalise on the smartphone market.
News
Small companies struggle to make effective use of the internet and social media to market themselves, finds research.