Monthly Archives: April 2021

Hot Business News Today

Starting a business during changing times: danger and opportunity

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Originally written by Matthew Cushen on Small Business
The Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is ‘wēijī’ in the latin alphabet. It’s become (after JFK used it in a speech) a cliché that it’s made up of two Chinese characters signifying ‘danger’ (wēi) and ‘opportunity’ (jī).
The second character is part of the Chinese word for ‘opportunity’ (jīhuì), but that has multiple meanings, in isolation it means something more like ‘change point’.
Another cliché is that recessions are great time to start businesses. The poster children are Uber and Airbnb, both set up during the global financial crisis around 2007. Further back General Motors launched in 1908, after another financial crisis and McDonald’s was founded during the second world war and grew into the efficient franchise model just after (whilst being joined by arch competitor Burger King). I could go on.
But, more to the point, you could name any year and any context and there would be examples of the birth of great businesses.
Whilst the generalisation is unhelpful, thinking about whether you are stronger or weaker over time or more relative than your competition is always helpful and especially so when we are at a change point (‘ji’).
Nature gives us a couple of examples. Think

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Hot Business News Today

Recovery Loan Scheme 2021 full update – where do I apply for my loan?

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Government has launched its long-awaited recovery loan scheme today (April 6).
Announced at last month’s Budget, the recovery loan scheme (RLS) has replaced the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
The aim of the scheme is to help businesses of all sizes to access loans and other finance so they can recover from the pandemic and move forward. It can be put towards improvements like managing cash flow, growth and investment.
Up to £10m is available per business. The minimum funding is £1,000 for asset and invoice finance and £25,001 for term loans and overdrafts. The total amount offered is at the discretion of the participating lender. They will carry out credit checks and fraud checks before granting you the finance.
>See also: What is invoice finance?
The Government is guaranteeing 80 per cent of the finance to the lender and the borrower will always be 100 per cent liable for the debt. The annual interest rate and upfront and other fees cannot be more than 14.99 per cent.
Unlike BBLS and CBILS, the RLS is being lent on standard commercial banking terms. Kreston Reeves says that businesses will need to

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