Monthly Archives: February 2020

Doing business abroad: 2020’s top 3 countries for international expansion

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
If you think your business could benefit consumers outside your home country, perhaps it’s time to expand your horizons. Many successful companies reach a point where they’ve earned a sizeable share of their domestic market, which makes going global their only logical next step.
Once you’ve decided to venture abroad, you will need to conduct extensive research to determine which locations to target. This will depend on factors like what goods or services your company offers and the market it currently serves. However, there are some countries which are arguably riper for investment than others, particularly those with a strong economy, availability of talent and low start-up costs, all of which serve as good indications of a nation’s suitability. Here are three nations to think about expanding into.
1. France
The first place you should consider is conveniently close to home. One of the top five countries to invest in and the world’s sixth-largest economy, France’s economic stature alone makes it well worth investigating. In their guide on doing business in France, international language experts London Translations cite France’s world-leading electronics, manufacturing and finance sectors as a great reason for British businesses to reach out.
Home to

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Taxman will not fine you for getting things wrong with IR35 within first year

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government has confirmed those affected by IR35 tax changes, potentially bringing hundreds of thousands of freelancers within PAYE, will not be fined if they get things wrong in its first year.
Unless, that is, the taxman finds evidence of deliberate non-compliance with the controversial new IR35 rules.
This soft-landing period will only last until April 2021.
The Treasury has published the findings of its review into IR35 off-payroll working rules, due to come into force next month.
As expected, there will be no delay to the implementation to IR35, but the key changes are:

Customers (both employers and freelance contractors) will not have to pay penalties for inaccuracies relating to the off-payroll working rules in the first 12 months unless there is evidence of deliberate non-compliance
HMRC will amend the legislation to exclude wholly overseas organisations with no UK presence
The government will have a legal right to force clients to respond to a request for information about their size from an agency or worker

Brian Palmer, AAT tax policy adviser said: “This means that if employers or [freelance] contractors have taken reasonable steps to comply but get something wrong, HMRC will not be pursuing them with fines and penalties.”
>See

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4 small business digital marketing trends you need to know in 2020

Originally written by Jack Teare on Small Business
Digital marketing is a very fluid field, and it’s our job to stay on top of the ever-changing tide. So, here are four digital marketing trends for small business you should know in 2020.
 #1 – Video content is king, but he’s changing its crown
If you even keep half an eye on small business digital marketing trends for small business, you’ll know that video content has been the most popular form of consumable content for some time now.
And if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet then this year is really your last chance to do so, or else the ship will sail and you’ll be left on the dock, wondering where your audience went. If you’ve already invested in creating video content, then get ready for a change.
>See also: How to get 1,000 followers on your small business Instagram
With video’s continuous rise in popularity, it’s getting harder to differentiate yourself from the competition. Brands create one video and chop it up into chunks, which then get spread across all their social platforms. Because of this, everyone’s video reach is inevitably going to start going down. It’s time to stop doing that.
Focus on creating

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