Monthly Archives: July 2020

Getting Dirty With Mike Rowe

by Dan Bova • July 21, 2020 • 0 Comments

The host of ‘Dirty Jobs’ experiences some poo PTSD reliving some of his grossest on-camera moments.

4 Principles to Sell Your Business From Steve Little, the Mergers and Acquisitions Master Who Always Gets More

by Mike Koenigs • July 21, 2020 • 0 Comments

Learn these guiding concepts to build a business with great value.

The Start-Up Series competition is back — £250,000 equity funding up for grabs!

by Nick Ismail • July 21, 2020 • 0 Comments

Originally written by Nick Ismail on Small Business
Following a short hiatus due to the coronavirus, Small Business and Worth Capital have partnered to reopen the UK’s largest seed funding competition — The Start-Up Series.
The Start-Up Series competition
The Start-Up Series competition was launched in 2016 by Worth Capital, with the aim of searching for the brightest entrepreneurs with the smartest ideas to invest real cash into these promising start-ups.
From September 1st 2020, The Start-Up Series competition in association with Small Business is back and will open for applications at the beginning of every month.
Each month one or two winners will be selected to receive a prize package consisting of:
• Up to £250,000 of SEIS/EIS equity funding.
• A minimum of 2 years invaluable hands-on help from experienced mentors.
• Media coverage on smallbusiness.co.uk and other channels to promote your business.
We are on the hunt for B2B or B2C business across all sectors. As long as your business is eligible for SEIS or EIS HMRC advance assurance, then we’ll consider your application.
We’ll be impressed by innovative products or services, in high growth or underserved markets, with the  potential to build a loved brand. If you can demonstrate these, you’re in with a fighting chance.

For

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What winning Start-Up Series meant for me – Nick James, Bedfolk

by Timothy Adler • July 21, 2020 • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Engaged couple Nick and Jo James were finding the experience of shopping for bedlinen extremely frustrating when they hit on the idea for Bedfolk.
Traditionally dominated by one or two department stores, Nick and Jo decided to set up an online business exclusively selling the finest cotton sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases. They are inspired by other online vendors who specialise in one bespoke product, such as Harry’s razors.
James says: “For a product you spend a third of your life in, it seemed ripe for disruption, getting better quality at better prices.”
The couple spent a year researching the bedlinen market, trying to source the best suppliers. The couple spent their honeymoon romantically or not, depending on how you see it, visiting textile factories in Portugal before settling on one in particular.
James says: “We go and do the hard work to find the best materials and the best makers and because we’re online we can do it at a fraction of the traditional luxury retail price.”
The couple, who like many entrepreneurs were working full time while pursing their start-up dream, sold their London flat to raise working capital and persuaded a Portuguese

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Insurer using small business Covid grants to justify cutting payouts

by Timothy Adler • July 21, 2020 • 0 Comments

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
NFU Mutual, the insurance company, is using small business Covid grants already received by business owners as a pretext to cutting coronavirus payouts.
The insurer is paying less to struggling small businesses in the hospitality sector because it says they have received small business Covid grants.
The Government has paid more than £10bn to almost 900,000 small businesses in need in the form of one-off grants of up to £10,000, paid out by local authorities.
NFU Mutual said deductions made to reflect state aid are only applied to loss-of-profit claims, not to those made for loss of income. Determining a loss-of-profit claim settlement, it said, includes the need to consider “all taxable income”, including Government grants, as well as any other forms of compensation.
However, the Professional Association of Self Caterers UK (PASC) has branded the practice “highly immoral” and suggests NFU Mutual is using it to boost its own profits.
PASC UK executive chairman Alistair Handyside told insurance trade magazine NS Insurance that insurers should honour their contracts and not behave “so poorly”.
Handyside said: “Overwhelmingly our members are small, family-run, rural and coastal businesses for whom the Small Business Grant Fund is a critical lifeline intended to