Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.
Business Ideas & Planning
There's a lot of issues to consider when starting up for the first time and this short guide will help clarify what those are.
News
Anti-competitive practices are damaging the UK's small businesses and the Office of Fair Trading is calling for them to fight back.
Tax
Small businesses are often tempted to 'go it alone' rather than seek professional help with their accounts – usually this is a cost-saving exercise, but can be a false economy in the long run.
News
British workers waste up to 12 weeks a year, surfing the net, texting friends, sending personal emails, and even looking for new jobs; all while they should be working.
Finding and selling to customers
The first step in gaining sales is to plan and organise.
News
A campaign to stamp out bullying in the workplace has been launched by private sector union Amicus, which is asking managers to take a good look at themselves.
News
Businesses proud of their training and staff development programmes are being invited to enter the 2005 National Training Awards.
Accounting
HM Customs and Excise (HMCE) says that the supply of most food and drink of a kind used for human consumption is zero-rated, but there are exceptions; catering being one of them.
Small Business Banking
It is not a legal requirement that you open business account – but there are several reasons why it is a good idea.
Small Business Banking
If you have an employee who does not have a bank account, and insists on being paid in cash, what are your options?
News
Sickness absence, whether it is for work-related stress (WRS) or for some other illness, can be a frustrating process for an employer to deal with.
News
From 25 June this year businesses have, for the first time, been able to prevent unwanted marketing calls by registering with the corporate Telephone Preference Service (TPS).