Monthly Archives: May 2021

Hot Business News Today

2020 named ‘Year of the Start-up’ with record 770,000 UK businesses created

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
A massive 770,000 new businesses were created in 2020 – an all-time UK record.
Figures from Tyl by Natwest reveal the number of start-up businesses grew by 30 per cent compared to 2019. Aside from April, 50,000 new businesses were created every month in 2020.
In a year of mass closures across the high street, entrepreneurs turned to the digital market to set up shop. This made online and mail order the most popular sector of creation in 2020.
>See also: The essential guide to starting and growing an online business
There were 305,608 online and mail order businesses created in 2020 compared to 13,615 in 2019. Buying and selling property was the third most popular source of new businesses created, growing by 40 per cent compared to 2019. The number of takeaway shops created increased by 33 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019.
The pandemic hit the female workforce particularly hard, with job losses affecting women 1.8 times more than men. So, women had to find new sources of revenue, such as Etsy. A massive 81 per cent of sellers on the platform identify as women and 69 per cent consider their Etsy shop a business.

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Using Islamic finance for your small business – what is it?

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
What is Islamic finance?
Islamic finance is a means of funding or banking money in a way that respects the principles of Sharia law, guided by Islamic economics. In Arabic, Sharia means the clear, well-trodden path to water. The fundamental principle of Islamic finance is to avoid any financial activities which could be deemed either harmful (Haram) or risky for the user.
The main difference between Islamic finance and standard finance is that charging interest in forbidden. Conventional banks and lending facilities earn money by charging fees and monthly interest charges for borrowers.
The principle features of Sharia-compliant finance are:

A ban on what the Koran refers to as “riba” and we would call paying interest
Sharing losses as well as profits

What is Sharia-compliant finance?
Sharia-compliant finance bans excessive risk or uncertainty, as well as restricting any form of gambling or speculation.
Businesses involved in the activities below cannot use Islamic finance:

Alcohol
Gambling
Tobacco
Pork
Entertainment such as music, TV or cinema
Pornography
Arms sales

Do you have to be Muslim to use Islamic finance?
No, you do not have to be Muslim as long as your business is halal (allowed) or promotes a social good.
What kind of small business suits Islamic finance?
Islamic finance dictates that a business

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Qardus opens Islamic finance to small business for first time

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Qardus, the first small business Islamic finance platform in the UK, hopes to arrange up to £2.5m worth of funding over the coming year.
The crowdfunding platform, which launched last July, offers sharia-compliant Islamic finance to any small business, whether it is Muslim-owned or not.
Muslim-owned SMEs are an underserved market in Britain, as they are forbidden to borrow money or pay interest under Sharia law yet still need to grow.
>See also: Sharia start-up funding boom as UK leads in Islamic finance
An estimated 3.3m Muslims live in Britain, many of whom need to grow their small businesses but are prohibited under Sharia from borrowing from high street banks. (The word “Sharia” means a well-trodden pathway to water, although in this case it means religious legislation.)
So far, Qardus has arranged nearly £320,000 worth of Islamic finance for five small business owners, including a property firm, a chemist and a dental practice.
Firms can arrange anything between £25,000 and £200,000, which they repay over up to 36 months.
Around 750 individual investors have signed up for the Qardus crowdfunding platform, attracted by projected annual returns of anything between 12 per cent and 16 per cent.
Just as Muslim-owned microbusinesses do

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

Part-Time Weekend Jobs You Can Do From Home

by  •  • 0 Comments

Whether you’re looking for a part-time job you can squeeze in alongside your regular 9-to-5, or you need a flexible way to make extra money, there are lots of part-time weekend jobs for the taking! In today’s post, I’ll brainstorm some work from home weekend jobs that will work with even the busiest of schedules. […]

The post Part-Time Weekend Jobs You Can Do From Home appeared first on The Work at Home Woman | Legit Work From Home Jobs.

Read more...