Tag Archive for Outlook

Free start-up checklist

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
With redundancies expected to soar when businesses eventually emerge from lockdown and those on furlough lose their jobs, many of us are thinking of going into business for ourselves.
Last year saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses setting up in 2020 compared with 2019.
Indeed the number of firms incorporated in Britain during the four weeks to mid-December was over one third higher than during the same period last year.
The year-on-year growth rate for new company registrations has been in double digits since June 2019.
If you have worked for an employer all your life, the idea of setting up on your own can seem daunting. Here is a free start-up checklist to take you through every step of creating your own business.
#1 – What’s your business idea?
First, you need to have a great business idea.
British entrepreneurs have always been good on capitalising on the emerging business trends that could boom in the near future and beyond.

What’s the problem that you’re addressing?
How can you help solve it?
What is the need in your local area?
Who is the competition?
How big is the potential market?

Ground-breaking digital business ideas have found their beginnings in

Read more...

Free start-up checklist

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
With redundancies expected to soar when businesses eventually emerge from lockdown and those on furlough lose their jobs, many of us are thinking of going into business for ourselves.
Last year saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses setting up in 2020 compared with 2019.
Indeed the number of firms incorporated in Britain during the four weeks to mid-December was over one third higher than during the same period last year.
The year-on-year growth rate for new company registrations has been in double digits since June 2019.
If you have worked for an employer all your life, the idea of setting up on your own can seem daunting. Here is a free start-up checklist to take you through every step of creating your own business.
#1 – What’s your business idea?
First, you need to have a great business idea.
British entrepreneurs have always been good on capitalising on the emerging business trends that could boom in the near future and beyond.

What’s the problem that you’re addressing?
How can you help solve it?
What is the need in your local area?
Who is the competition?
How big is the potential market?

Ground-breaking digital business ideas have found their beginnings in

Read more...

Businesses ‘crippled’ by Tier 4 call for more government help

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: There are now over a million business premises shut down across the UK, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
Many of these small businesses have “no cash reserves left”, according to the FSB, having invested heavily in making themselves Covid secure.
Meanwhile, business group UK Hospitality said that the sector has been “effectively shut down” from today, following yesterday’s widening of Tier 4 restrictions to much of the rest of Britain, which limits pubs, cafes and restaurants to takeaway only.
Three quarters of the population of England are now living under Tier 4 rules, which also require non-essential retailers such as clothing and homeware stores, gyms and hair and beauty salons to close.
>See also: Which small businesses can stay open in Tier 4 lockdown?
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, has called for new support grants and the extension of the reduced VAT rate and the business rates holiday beyond March if the government wants to avoid “hundreds and thousands of job losses”.
On Tuesday, FSB chairman Mike Cherry wrote to Rishi Sunak proposing a five-point package including converting Covid emergency debt into shares for small business employees, another round of grants and a German-style

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Small business calls for multibillion-pound Covid-19 support package

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small business has asked the chancellor for a multibillion support package to help get it through to the other side of the pandemic.
Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, has written to Rishi Sunak outlining his proposed small business support package.
Measures include a second round of £10,000 grants, a new German-style reimbursement scheme for lost trading, improved terms for state-backed Bounce Back Loans and income support for the newly self-employed.
>See also: Rishi Sunak urged to help self-employed company directors
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees account for 99 per cent of all businesses in the UK. SMEs account for three fifths of all employment in the private sector.
In particular, the FSB has called for:

Small Business cash grants – a second round of one-off grants of £10,000 through the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), plus targeted grants of up to £25,000 for small firms in retail, hospitality and leisure
Revenue Loss Scheme – a German-style scheme to reimburse small businesses for the financial impact of a significant loss in custom, whereby the government would cover a percentage of lost revenue compared to the same time last year. The German version of this

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Turn Covid emergency debt into shared ownership, urges small business

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government should consider converting “unmanageable” levels of Covid debt into shared company ownership, the Federation of Small Businesses has urged.
Four out of 10 small businesses called their level of debt “unmanageable” in a FSB report published over the weekend.
Nearly half of those surveyed used personal finance products such as personal credit cards, overdrafts and loans to keep their businesses going.
Shared ownership means employees owning shares in the businesses they work for. Famous employee-owned businesses include John Lewis and, most recently, Richer Sounds, which was taken over by its employees in May last year.
Currently, 370 UK companies are categorised as employee-ownership SME businesses, 61 per cent have changed ownership in just the past five years.
Employee-owned businesses in Britain are currently worth £20.1bn between them, employing 178,000 people.
The FSB told The Times that emergency Covid debt could be assigned to an employee ownership trust in return for the trust getting preference shares in the business of the same value, plus an option to acquire 10 per cent of the business when there is a future change of control. Turning Covid debt into shared ownership would move the debt off the company’s balance sheet, the

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Which small businesses can stay open in Tier 4 lockdown?

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses that must close in Tier 4

non-essential retail, including clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. The above business venues can continue to offer click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected off the premises) and delivery services.
personal care facilities such as hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons. Tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services must also close. These services should not be provided in other people’s homes.
hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs – apart from offering takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery.
accommodation including hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances. See government website for more details.
leisure and sports facilities including leisure centres and indoor gyms, indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor riding centres, and indoor climbing walls.
entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft

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Businesses ‘crippled’ by Tier 4 call for more government help

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses are calling for further support to help them stave off collapse following the government’s shock imposition of Tier 4 on Saturday.
Specifically, business lobby groups are calling for the business rates holiday to be extended for another 12 months from January, VAT relief and additional direct support for businesses forced to shut.
Business rates are currently due to restart from April, which will cost already punch-drunk companies £12.8bn during 2021, according to property adviser Altus Group.
>See also: Bounce Back Loan Scheme extended until the end of March
Non-essential shops, hairdressers and leisure and entertainment venues were forced to close yesterday after Boris Johnson’s abrupt announcement on Saturday afternoon to enforce new Tier 4 restrictions amid concerns about a more virulent coronavirus strain spreading rapidly in London and the South East.
Health secretary Matt Hancock suggested yesterday Tier 4 will stay in place until the vaccine programme has sufficiently immunised the population – which could take months. There is now talk of Tier 4 being imposed until Easter.
Meanwhile, all non-essential shops in Wales will shut from Boxing Day when it mirrors England’s Tier 4 restrictions, while Scotland and Northern Ireland also go into their own three-week and

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Which small businesses can stay open in Tier 4 lockdown?

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses that must close in Tier 4

non-essential retail, including clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. The above business venues can continue to offer click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected off the premises) and delivery services.
personal care facilities such as hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons. Tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services must also close. These services should not be provided in other people’s homes.
hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs – apart from offering takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery.
accommodation including hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances. See government website for more details.
leisure and sports facilities including leisure centres and indoor gyms, indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor riding centres, and indoor climbing walls.
entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft

Read more...

Europe’s small businesses call for three-month post-Brexit transition period

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Companies need a minimum three-month transition period for new regulation, even if a Brexit deal is agreed, say Europe’s small businesses.
SMEunited, the organisation which represents small businesses at an EU level, say businesses need a phased introduction to trading with Britain post-EU.
In order to allow SMEs necessary preparation time for new customs rules, transport requirements, phytosanitary tests and more, a phased three-month transition is required, says SMEunited. Otherwise, the new conditions will have serious repercussions for SMEs on both sides of the Channel.
>See also: How Brexit is going to affect your business – #1 imports
SMEunited warned many SMEs are struggling to adapt to the changing status of the EU-UK relationship. SMEunited has been encouraging its members to inform SMEs of the changes to EU-UK trade conditions, such as new customs rules and transport requirements.
Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses said: “Some border checks and payment rules are already delayed to July, however small firms will need time to get to grips with the new requirements. We have asked the government to include in the deal a phased introduction of new trade arrangements for the most complex areas,

Read more...

Europe’s small businesses call for three-month post-Brexit transition period

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Companies need a minimum three-month transition period for new regulation, even if a Brexit deal is agreed, say Europe’s small businesses.
SMEunited, the organisation which represents small businesses at an EU level, say businesses need a phased introduction to trading with Britain post-EU.
In order to allow SMEs necessary preparation time for new customs rules, transport requirements, phytosanitary tests and more, a phased three-month transition is required, says SMEunited. Otherwise, the new conditions will have serious repercussions for SMEs on both sides of the Channel.
>See also: How Brexit is going to affect your business – #1 imports
SMEunited warned many SMEs are struggling to adapt to the changing status of the EU-UK relationship. SMEunited has been encouraging its members to inform SMEs of the changes to EU-UK trade conditions, such as new customs rules and transport requirements.
Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses said: “Some border checks and payment rules are already delayed to July, however small firms will need time to get to grips with the new requirements. We have asked the government to include in the deal a phased introduction of new trade arrangements for the most complex areas,

Read more...