Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Suffering from busyness and stress is something all small business owners have most likely experienced. With the festive period approaching and COVID-19 restrictions still in force, this time of year could be one of the most stressful for SME owners.
Our research* showed that 71 per cent of small business owners experienced stress in the workplace in the last 12 months with factors that caused their stress ranging from juggling business and personal commitments (26 per cent) to time pressures (24 per cent) and staying on top of business administration (21 per cent).
At the UK Domain, as part of a series of helpful content for SMEs we’ve been working with professional performance coach, Phillippa Hurrell, on a series of resources to help small business owners reduce stress, manage time and boost productivity.
Our latest feature is focused on how you, as a small business owner, can reduce stress. One of these approaches is the act of understanding and tackling thought spirals and is the focus of our latest infographic, which you can view below. The infographic explores what thought spirals are and shares four simple steps you can take to get out of one to
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Hot Business News Today
Small business owners reveal how they’ve handled mental health and COVID-19
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
This year has been tough for small business owners – not only have they had to deal with the normal challenges of running a business, but they’ve also had to tackle the hardships that have come with COVID-19.
We’ve joined up with the UK Domain to discover just how these entrepreneurs have been feeling.
COVID-19 and its effects on small business owners
While we were looking into wellbeing, we wanted to understand how COVID-19 has impacted small businesses.
The pandemic has touched all areas of life: health, family, lifestyle and, in a significant way, business.
When we asked you, just shy of half (48 per cent) said that COVID-19 has had a ‘severe impact’ on their small business while 35 per cent said it has had a ‘major impact’. A tiny two per cent said that it has only had a ‘minimal impact’.
As we all know, the consequences of COVID-19 are vast, and this is reflected in our results. Most small business owners worried about adapting their business to these changing times (27 per cent). This was followed by the stress of supporting employees (18 per cent) and confusion over the help available (17 per cent).
Some respondents elaborated
Hot Business News Today
7 things you can do to perk up your on-page SEO
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Everything counts when you’re setting out your webpages – on page and off. How you build and create your website, pages and blogs can help search engines to understand your content to improve your rankings. This is referred to as your on-page SEO, and we’re going to look at this area of search engine optimisation in today’s article.
What is on-page SEO? What’s the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
It is as it sounds: the SEO credentials that will appear on your webpage. On-page SEO refers to both content and HTML source code on a page whereas off-page SEO refers to external links, backlinks and social media.
Factors affecting the success of your on-page SEO are changing all of the time so it’s a good idea to keep up to date with what’s happening. SearchEngineJournal has a full history of Google algorithm updates.
Now we’ll guide you through some of the vitals of on-page SEO and a few examples to make things clearer.
1. Build internal links
External links count as off-page SEO but internal links count towards your SEO too.
Having lots of relevant and useful links to other content on your site will bump you up in
Hot Business News Today
7 things you can do to perk up your on-page SEO
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Everything counts when you’re setting out your webpages – on page and off. How you build and create your website, pages and blogs can help search engines to understand your content to improve your rankings. This is referred to as your on-page SEO, and we’re going to look at this area of search engine optimisation in today’s article.
What is on-page SEO? What’s the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
It is as it sounds: the SEO credentials that will appear on your webpage. On-page SEO refers to both content and HTML source code on a page whereas off-page SEO refers to external links, backlinks and social media.
Factors affecting the success of your on-page SEO are changing all of the time so it’s a good idea to keep up to date with what’s happening. SearchEngineJournal has a full history of Google algorithm updates.
Now we’ll guide you through some of the vitals of on-page SEO and a few examples to make things clearer.
1. Build internal links
External links count as off-page SEO but internal links count towards your SEO too.
Having lots of relevant and useful links to other content on your site will bump you up in
Hot Business News Today
Avoid multitasking to improve your productivity – infographic
by Partner Content • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
As a small business owner, you will always have far more to do than time to do it. From managing your marketing to taking care of staff and balancing the books, there’s a lot to take on and you’ve likely found yourself wishing for more hours in the day.
In fact, our recent research found that 26 per cent* of small business owners said a major cause of stress was juggling business and personal commitments and 24 per cent* said time pressures caused them stress.
The answer does not sit in working longer hours or trying to squeeze more into your day, it’s all around identifying what drives your busyness and what steps you can take to reduce this and remain focused while still looking after your wellbeing.
One of these steps, and the focus of our latest infographic below, is to work smarter and avoid the temptation to multitask. The infographic shares some interesting statistics and tips when it comes to keeping focused, avoiding distractions and learning how to manage your email inbox. With 21%* of small business owners reporting that staying on top of business admin is one of the main factors that causes
Hot Business News Today
Avoid multitasking to improve your productivity – infographic
by Partner Content • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
As a small business owner, you will always have far more to do than time to do it. From managing your marketing to taking care of staff and balancing the books, there’s a lot to take on and you’ve likely found yourself wishing for more hours in the day.
In fact, our recent research found that 26 per cent* of small business owners said a major cause of stress was juggling business and personal commitments and 24 per cent* said time pressures caused them stress.
The answer does not sit in working longer hours or trying to squeeze more into your day, it’s all around identifying what drives your busyness and what steps you can take to reduce this and remain focused while still looking after your wellbeing.
One of these steps, and the focus of our latest infographic below, is to work smarter and avoid the temptation to multitask. The infographic shares some interesting statistics and tips when it comes to keeping focused, avoiding distractions and learning how to manage your email inbox. With 21%* of small business owners reporting that staying on top of business admin is one of the main factors that causes
Hot Business News Today
SME wellbeing tips from performance coach, Phillippa Hurrell – a podcast
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Today’s episode features professional performance coach, Phillippa Hurrell, who shares practical and insightful tips and advice on how small business owners can look after their wellbeing in these high-pressured and stressful times.
Covering healthy habits, how to understand stress to combat negative thoughts and how to increase productivity, the recording is packed full of practical tips every small business owner can start implementing today.
Have a listen to Phillippa Hurrell in the media player below.
For more advice on running your small business, head over to the UK Domain.
Want to hear more podcasts?
The previous podcast from the UK Domain talks about customer data and cyber security.
We’ve featured a host of guests too. Listen to the latest episodes below.
Angel investor and digital expert, Sherry Coutu
Entrepreneur and former Dragon, Rachel Elnaugh
Businesswoman and Dragon, Deborah Meaden
Entrepreneur and The Apprentice 2005 candidate, Tim Campbell
Gousto CEO, Timo Boldt
Entrepreneur and The Apprentice 2018 candidate, Jackie Fast
Investor and former Dragon, Piers Linney
Investment fund manager, Nicola Horlick
Supermodel turned entrepreneur, Caprice
We’ve got podcast episodes from the first series looking at:
How one business owner’s mental breakdown caused her to see trolls from her past
How one entrepreneur hired a videographer to track their every move and build their
Hot Business News Today
SME wellbeing tips from performance coach, Phillippa Hurrell – a podcast
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Today’s episode features professional performance coach, Phillippa Hurrell, who shares practical and insightful tips and advice on how small business owners can look after their wellbeing in these high-pressured and stressful times.
Covering healthy habits, how to understand stress to combat negative thoughts and how to increase productivity, the recording is packed full of practical tips every small business owner can start implementing today.
Have a listen to Phillippa Hurrell in the media player below.
For more advice on running your small business, head over to the UK Domain.
Want to hear more podcasts?
The previous podcast from the UK Domain talks about customer data and cyber security.
We’ve featured a host of guests too. Listen to the latest episodes below.
Angel investor and digital expert, Sherry Coutu
Entrepreneur and former Dragon, Rachel Elnaugh
Businesswoman and Dragon, Deborah Meaden
Entrepreneur and The Apprentice 2005 candidate, Tim Campbell
Gousto CEO, Timo Boldt
Entrepreneur and The Apprentice 2018 candidate, Jackie Fast
Investor and former Dragon, Piers Linney
Investment fund manager, Nicola Horlick
Supermodel turned entrepreneur, Caprice
We’ve got podcast episodes from the first series looking at:
How one business owner’s mental breakdown caused her to see trolls from her past
How one entrepreneur hired a videographer to track their every move and build their
Hot Business News Today
A quarter of entrepreneurs don’t use social media for their small business
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
New research reveals that 25 per cent of entrepreneurs don’t use social media for their small business despite the benefits that it can bring.
The UK Domain study shows some surprising results from the 500 business owners it surveyed. Out of all the users that took part, 24 per cent don’t think it’s relevant to their industry, with 23 per cent saying they don’t know how to use it to promote their business or they don’t have time for it.
A smaller 15 per cent say that they have enough customers already and 15 per cent have other reasons for not using social media.
For those that do, Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform (27 per cent), surviving recent controversies over data. The visually powerful Instagram comes in second place (25 per cent) while social media veteran Twitter takes a respectable third (though it has around half as many users as Facebook at 14 per cent).
Small business owners use social media for a variety of functions. Chief among them is raising brand awareness (29 per cent), increasing customer engagement (26 per cent) and generating sales (20 per cent). Social media platforms are also
Hot Business News Today
A quarter of entrepreneurs don’t use social media for their small business
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
New research reveals that 25 per cent of entrepreneurs don’t use social media for their small business despite the benefits that it can bring.
The UK Domain study shows some surprising results from the 500 business owners it surveyed. Out of all the users that took part, 24 per cent don’t think it’s relevant to their industry, with 23 per cent saying they don’t know how to use it to promote their business or they don’t have time for it.
A smaller 15 per cent say that they have enough customers already and 15 per cent have other reasons for not using social media.
For those that do, Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform (27 per cent), surviving recent controversies over data. The visually powerful Instagram comes in second place (25 per cent) while social media veteran Twitter takes a respectable third (though it has around half as many users as Facebook at 14 per cent).
Small business owners use social media for a variety of functions. Chief among them is raising brand awareness (29 per cent), increasing customer engagement (26 per cent) and generating sales (20 per cent). Social media platforms are also