Monthly Archives: June 2025

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Top 5 tips for customer experience running a small business

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By Chris Sparling on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Great customer experience is vital not only for retaining and increasing your customer base but also for providing valuable insight into how consumers respond to your product or service, which can subsequently be leveraged to improve your small business.

For smaller organisations, which are more sensitive to fluctuations in customer loyalty, these benefits cannot be underestimated.

Research has found that 92 per cent of consumers are likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.

Related: How to personalise your customer experience

Clearly, this is an area of great potential for businesses looking to gain a competitive advantage, and I would advise all leaders to consider customer experience as a core pillar of their business blueprint. This may seem daunting, but with the right tools in place, you can efficiently manage feedback to ensure no customer issue is left unaddressed.

#1 – Identify some clear strategies for feedback

Keep it simple but use feedback to help drive your business goals.

Growth: Are you sharing customer feedback on your website and Google? Not only will this help the awareness of your brand, it will help with conversion too.

Conversion: When you

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Small business savings account comparison

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By Nathaniel Dalby on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

If you’re just starting up your small business, the idea of actually saving money might seem so pie-in-the-sky that it’s not even worth considering. However, saving the spare cash your business generates (no matter how small) can have huge benefits in the long term.

That’s why we’ve created this small business savings account comparison, which shows currently available in the UK. We will also cover why you need a business savings account and how you choose the best one for your business.

Continue reading or use the links below to jump to a specific section:

What are business savings accounts?

Why do I need a business savings account?

Can I use a personal savings account for my business?

The best business savings accounts

Which account is best for my business?

Paying tax on a business savings account

What are business savings accounts?

A business savings account is similar to a personal savings account, but used specifically for business. Using these accounts, a business can save any cash spare reserves and accrue interest on them, with different rate types available.

How business savings account work varies on the account and bank, with some requiring an initial

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Five reasons SMEs waste money on HR consultancies

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By Kate Russell on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

She covers five common areas where HR outsourcing providers can fail:
Poor quality service
Lack of flexibility
Poor quality advice
Long contracts
Unnecessary insurance cover
…and then offers some key questions to ask when hiring an HR consultancy.

Business guru Peter Drucker once said: “Do what you do best and outsource the rest”. Wise man. For most SMEs it makes sense to buy in some services on as “as required” basis, and HR consultancy is a prime example of where you need some help sometimes.

Most small businesses are really microbusinesses too small to have an inhouse HR manager. Possibly a staff member with some HR experience has been seconded to the role. But employment law changes so rapidly and you could unwittingly be leaving yourself open to legal action by a disgruntled employee, if you don’t exactly follow HR procedure.

Or it may be that you yourself, as owner-director, handle all your own recruitment – taking precious time away from what you do best: running your business. A 2022 study by NatWest found that 95 per cent of small businesses have struggled when recruiting staff members.

‘Some companies require you to sign up

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The best freelancer platforms

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By Anna Jordan on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

Whether you’re starting or developing your freelancer career, where do you build your client base?

Hopefully you’ll have one already, filled with clients that you’ve worked with over the course of your employed career. But if you’re moving industries or simply starting afresh, freelance platforms can be an extremely helpful tool.

We’ll be looking at what freelancer platforms are and a few of the best ones around right now. Read on for the full guide or use the navigation below to head straight to the section you want.

What is a freelance platform?

When should I use a freelance platform?

What should I be looking for in a freelancer platform?

The best freelancer platforms

What is a freelance platform?

A freelance platform lets you see jobs and projects available from companies, with the option to bid/pitch for the ones you want to go for. Depending on the site, they might provide the means to manage the project, facilitate communication and do invoicing.

When should I use a freelance platform?

If you’re savvy and organised, you could use it for regular work. If it has the functionality, it can be handy as a way of

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How to do bookkeeping as a small business

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By Ryan Grundy on Small Business UK – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

There’s no getting away from it – if you run a small business, you’ve got to run its bookkeeping too. Sometimes, this can seem like an overwhelming and lengthy job, especially if you’re not 100 per cent sure what you’re doing.

You also probably find it a bit of a chore, since you didn’t start your business to search through boxes of receipts, enter data into spreadsheets, or read through bank statements at eleven o’clock at night.

Here’s the good news. With the right approach and tools, you can make sure all aspects of bookkeeping when it comes to your small business are meticulously taken care of, without feeling stressed or sacrificing too many hours each month.

In this article, we’ll show you how.

It covers:

What is bookkeeping?

Can I do my own bookkeeping?

How to make bookkeeping easier

Which software features to look out for

What is bookkeeping?

Using “bookkeeping” and “accounting” interchangeably is common, but the two terms do have different meanings. You’ll need to know the difference, because accounting is not something you can really tackle all by yourself (though you’ll still need high involvement in it).

So, how do they

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PM-International’s Rolf Sorg on Cover of Forbes: “From Schengen to the World”

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PM-International and its founder Rolf Sorg have once again drawn global attention — this time from Forbes Magazine Luxembourg, which recently published a full-length cover feature: “From Schengen to the World: Rolf Sorg And The Rise of PM-International.”
The article chronicles how a bold vision born in the 1990s has become one of the most successful direct selling companies in the world — with $3.25 billion in revenue in 2024, over 30 years of consecutive growth, operations across 40 countries and 6 continents, and a clear path to $5 billion in sales by 2025.

“We’re not just building a business,”

Sorg says in the interview.

“We’re building a legacy that improves lives.”

Forbes unveils cover featuring Rolf Sorg (Photo ©Nader-Ghavami for Forbes Luxembourg)
View related article: Forbes Unveils Cover Featuring Rolf Sorg
A Legacy Built in Luxembourg
PM-International is headquartered in Schengen, Luxembourg, a strategic choice both logistically and symbolically. In the article, Sorg calls the move “strategic and emotional”, crediting the country’s central location, infrastructure, and political neutrality as key to the company’s global growth.
Forbes highlights how the company — now with hubs in Germany, the U.S., Singapore, and China — has scaled efficiently while remaining debt-free, privately held, and deeply family-led.
Rolf Sorg, Founder and CEO

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Small business owners in the Midwest seeing stress from consumers

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National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) survey data shows small business owners are feeling more optimistic about the economy but increasingly concerned about inflation, which has consistently been cited as their top operating problem for over a year.FOX Business spoke with two Midwest small business owners Tuesday about their take on the economy, and both said that while their businesses are doing fine, many of their customers are not.Penny Olson, owner of Waukesha Antique Mall in Waukesha, Wisconsin, says her business is doing well overall, but she has noticed a slowdown in foot traffic and an increase in people selling their heirlooms.”I think that people are stressed out by politics and the economy, and this is kind of like their chocolate, you know,” Olson told FOX Business, “where they buy things for pleasure, to make them feel good.”INFLATION IS STILL A BIG CONCERN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: CODIE SANCHEZWaukesha Antinque Mall has been in operation for 35 years, and Olson has owned the shop for the last 12. She said all of her business’s costs have gone up in recent years, from the electric bills to garbage pick-up to advertising, and that increase in expenses is “one thing that small businesses

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US Chamber names top 100 small businesses in America

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The United States Chamber of Commerce released its list of the top 100 small businesses in the country on Thursday, recognizing entrepreneurs from across the nation.The “CO–100,” as the list is known, is not ranked, and represents the finalists out of 14,000 applicants, which will be winnowed down to a top 10, and a single overall winner will be crowned next month.”Small businesses embody the resilience and ingenuity that define America’s free enterprise system, yet they often go unrecognized,” Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of CO Jeanette Mulvey told FOX Business in a statement. “As the world’s largest business organization and network representing companies of all sizes and industries, we understand what makes a business great.”EMPLOYER HEALTH CARE COSTS EXPECTED TO JUMP 9% IN US NEXT YEARThe CO–100 honorees for 2024 represent 31 states and Washington, D.C., and were measured for their company culture, ability to innovate and success in overcoming challenges. More than half of them – 64% – generated $1 million or more in revenue last year.This year’s list, as always, spans across several industries, too, from microbreweries like Holidaily Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado, to aerospace suppliers such as 2Lyons Aerospace in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There are also health

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What is a tax write-off? How the deductions impact businesses taxable income

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Starting and running a small business is expensive. There are many different costs that go into operating a business, but many can be tax write-offs. For an expense to be deductible, the cost must be both “ordinary and necessary,” according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). An ordinary expense is defined by the IRS as “one that is common and accepted in your industry,” and a necessary expense “is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business.” SURGE IN US SMALL BUSINESSES STARTED AS SIDE HUSTLESWhen it comes to filing taxes as a business owner, it is extremely helpful to work with a tax professional who can help you navigate tax deductions. Below is more information about tax write-offs and common examples of business expenses that could be deductible. “A deduction is an amount you subtract from your income when you file so you don’t have to pay tax on it,” according to the IRS. Expenses can be deducted that are for your business, not ones that are for personal benefit, according to Investopedia. You can further look into what tax deductions you may be eligible for by using the IRS Tax Guide for Small Business. ONE-THIRD OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WORRIED THEIR COMPANY WON’T

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Arizona small businesses owners struggle to make ends meet, voting for economic relief this election

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Some Arizona small business owners are saying economic relief will be a big part of their vote this year, and it could make or break votes in one of the key battleground states.Small businesses play a major role in Arizona’s economy, employing more than 40% of people in the state, according to the Small Business Administration.Chad Heinrich, the State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business(NFIB) – Arizona, said one of the biggest clouds of uncertainty for small business owners this election cycle revolves around the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It was put in place by former president Donald Trump and expires at the end of 2025.WHAT IS A TAX WRITE-OFF? HOW THE DEDUCTIONS IMPACT BUSINESSES TAXABLE INCOME”Not only are small businesses facing a significant tax increase if Congress lets this expire. But Arizona’s economic growth really hinges on Congress acting and making the 20 percent small business deduction permanent,” Heinrich said.More than 500 business groups across the United States are calling on congress and the next administration to keep former president Trump’s tax cuts in place.START YOUR OWN BUSINESS: HOW TO MAKE YOUR SIDE HUSTLE DREAM A REALITYBoth candidates, Trump and Harris have said they plan

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