Category

Starting a Business

Advice on how to start your own business, with guides to help you plan, develop and finance a start-up company, plus recommendations on registering the business, its legal structure and finding financial backing for growth. Whether you are just beginning or have already taken the first steps and want to keep everything on track, our expert articles will give you the knowledge to help lead you to success, whilst maintaining a good work-life balance.

Starting a business can initially seem daunting, but with good support and a strong idea you can quickly pass through the key stages of the setting-up process and be able to launch your company with a solid foundation.

Topics covered include: regulations and requirements for company owners, finding and selecting the professional services you may need (such as banking, insurance, accountancy etc.), legal structure options (self-employed person, sole trader, a partnership or a limited company), business planning, UK start up funding sources and finding your first customers.

Asbestos, mesothelioma and the building trades

Here, we look at the rise and fall of asbestos and why business owners should be familiar with asbestos standards for construction workers and employers.

Advice

Business Ideas & Planning

Finding the right niche for your small business

The secret to finding the right niche is solving a simple problem better than anyone else does, as we outline here.

Setting up a company

5 reasons for start-ups to consider a property strategy

Often lacking in a business plan, a property strategy can give a start-up the edge it needs in a competitive marketplace. But why is the planning of a physically expanding business important for a fledgling business?

Business Ideas & Planning

Here’s why more and more of us are becoming ‘solopreneurs’

It has never been easier to start out in business on your own, says Louise Cairns.

Advice

Millennial female entrepreneurship in light of Britain’s post-Brexit economy

Marie Lexa explores what female millennials can do to begin overcoming the hurdles they face in business.

Startup Funding and Grants

How to tap into funding for female entrepreneurs

New report draws on academic research and advice from the UK’s most successful female founders to address the gender scale up gap.

Business Ideas & Planning

Launching a start-up: Key lessons learnt along the way

Rebecca Kelly discusses the learning experiences she has taken away from the early days of running her venue booking platform business.

Advice

Vending coffee: What are the options for your business?

Here are a few tips on the options your business can go for when it comes to vending machine coffee.

Business Ideas & Planning

Launching a start-up: Key lessons learnt along the way

Rebecca Kelly discusses the learning experiences she has taken away from the early days of running her venue booking platform business.

Advice

Vending coffee: What are the options for your business?

Here are a few tips on the options your business can go for when it comes to vending machine coffee.

Advice

Beating the early-stage business challenges as a young entrepreneur

In this piece, Samantha Whittingham discusses the challenges of being a young entrepreneur in an area often seen as being a hobby.

Advice

Five point plan to boost SME resilience

Half of Brits agree having a low level of resilience can adversely affect performance at work.

Work life balance

First-hand advice on planning a business while on maternity leave

Here, Lindsey Fish gives some top tips on how she went about planning a business while on maternity leave.

Advice

How lifestyle changes can help your small business to succeed

While you may not need to change everything about your lifestyle when you start your own business, there’s a good chance some changes are in order.

Partner content

What are the benefits of business broadband?

Business broadband offers a host of advantages over standard domestic connections, here’s why you should be considering an upgrade

Partner content

How should I select my business broadband provider?

As with any supplier, it’s important to do your research and ask important questions before you select a broadband provider for your business. But what are the must-have things you should take into consideration?

Business Technology

Future-proof your business communications set-up

Landlines as we know them will be scrapped in 2027 – along with a raft of upcoming business changes. Here's how to ensure your communications set-up is fit for whatever the future brings

Business Loans

A guide to getting a small business loan

Everything you need to know on what small business loans are and what types of loan are available for your business.