Monthly Archives: June 2016

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Five things to consider measuring in your small business

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When you’re running your own small business it can sometimes be a challenge just staying on top of your everyday work, let alone managing all the things you need to do behind the scenes.
But if you can dedicate some time to measuring a few important pieces of admin in your business, you may find that you’re likely to work more effectively and give your business the best opportunity to grow.
How you’re spending your time
If you bill clients by an hourly or daily rate, you’re probably already tracking your time to ensure you charge for all of the work that you do. But monitoring your time is still a very useful habit to get into even if you don’t bill this way.
By identifying how much time you actually spend on working for clients compared to managing your daily business admin, you’ll be able to see how profitable your business really is and which clients are potentially costing you money.
If you track admin time, and other unbillable time, you’ll also be able to see exactly how much time you’re spending on your business that you can’t charge for. It may well be more than you think!
And if your business offers a range

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EU referendum: The self-employed plan to vote on a personal level

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According to a study by Intuit QuickBooks of 1,000 self-employed workers across the UK, 72 per cent of self-employed workers will cast their EU referendum vote according to personal or political preference, with just one in five (20 per cent) entering the ballot box with their business or career in mind.
Despite placing a personal choice before their business, the referendum remains high on the self-employed agenda and a huge majority (95 per cent) will make sure their voice is heard.
Their vote is currently evenly split with 41.9 per cent set to vote ‘remain’, 41.3 per cent voting ‘leave’ and 11.4 per cent still undecided.
Implications of the EU Referendum
Regardless of this even split, the clear majority (62 per cent) of self-employed workers admit to being concerned about the implications of the EU Referendum result on their future self-employed prospects, but most (57 per cent) believe that in times of economic uncertainty it is still more reliable to be self-employed, rather than working for a full-time employer.
In the event of a Brexit vote, 82 per cent would choose to remain self-employed, rather than trying to find work with an employer (18 per cent).
Just 14 per cent of self-employed workers have fully prepared their business

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Female workers consider training or retraining

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The study of 2,000 adults commissioned by Oxford Open Learning Trust finds that many women are willing to retrain in order to get a foot in the door of a new job.
Almost a quarter of female workers (24 per cent) would consider training or retraining up to a year for their new role, while around one in ten (12 per cent) would train for up to two years for a new career.
Female workers are considering a career change
The results show that moving into a different job role may be on the cards for many women, as more than a quarter of female workers are considering a career change in the next ten years (27 per cent). Around 11 per cent of workers are planning to move within the next year.
Among female workers, most respondents say working hours (57 per cent) followed by location (49 per cent) are important factors when choosing their current job role.
However, when it comes to choosing a new career or job role, two thirds (66 per cent) of female workers choose salary as an important factor, suggesting that monetary incentives are key for choosing a new career.
Top five priorities for female workers in their current job

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Technology jobs: Employers believe women face uphill struggle

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Despite almost half of employers (48 per cent) admitting they find it difficult to recruit for technology roles, there is reluctance to adapt current policies to encourage gender equality, with three quarters (75 per cent) of employers admitting they have no plans to do so, according to Monster.co.uk.
Some 59 per cent of UK employees report there are more men than women in technical and digital jobs within their organisation and just 35 per cent believe men and women are equally represented in these roles.
The research highlights that many still feel the UK is a long way from achieving gender parity in the office, 39 per cent believe women still have to work harder for a promotion or recognition and over two fifths (47 per cent) of females say they have either experienced themselves or witnessed gender inequality in the workplace.
Transparency on equal pay for women
In order to address these inequalities, the top five things UK employees think need to be implemented are transparency on equal pay for women and men (55 per cent), offering paternity and family leave to both men and women (43 per cent), greater flexibility on working hours and working from home (40 per cent), more encouragement

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What broadband options are available for my business?

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There are many different types of broadband connections available. With people tending to know very little about the wide range of different connections that are available and there being so much technical terminology banded around, choosing the right one for you can be tricky.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the main types of broadband which are available to help you make sure that you’re making the right choices when it comes to getting broadband:
Dial up connections
A dial up internet connection tends to be much cheaper than other options but can be very slow and inconvenient.
If you don’t regularly use the internet, then having a dial up connection may be a good idea for you as you have to connect to web via a phone number that you call through your computer.
A dial up connection means that your phone line is out of action whilst you’re connected to the internet, so is not the best or quickest option for those requiring regular internet access- an internal or externa modem is required for a dial-up connection.
Wireless
Wi-fi uses radio frequency to connect to the internet and is one of the most flexible internet connections.
With wi-fi available to connect to

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Summer HR rules employers should consider

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With the first day of summer now upon us, employers may see an increase in the number of issues and requests within the workplace.
Many employers and managers will have to rely heavily on their workplace policies to correctly deal with issue which may arise.
Holiday requests
Most employees tend to take the majority of their annual leave entitlement during the summer months, meaning that employers can expect the number of holiday requests to rise during this time of year.
This increase can result in numerous overlapping requests which businesses, especially small businesses, may not be able to accommodate during this specifically busy time.
Managers and employers may need support when handling requests and implementing and following a holiday policy may be what is needed.
The policy should specify the how requests are to be made, as well as clarify how requests will be considered.
For example, if two or more employees have requested the same time off, whether the requests will be decided in the order they were received, at random or whether the employees will be given the chance to negotiate between themselves.
Flexible working requests
Flexible working requests may also increase in the summer period as this coincides with summer school holidays

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