Businesses and individuals face a growing number of cyber threats ranging from data breaches to ransomware attacks. These incidents can have serious financial and reputation consequences, that may be difficult to recover from.
Common reasons for startups going under during the first five years
In spite of being one of the fastest growing economies of the group of seven leading industrial economies, the UK remains a tough environment for small businesses to thrive and grow.
The partnership priorities for investors and start-ups
The acceleration and rapid growth of technology-driven enterprises has sparked interest from a range of investor groups, who clearly see the potential in the sector despite the Brexit blues and ongoing negotiations about Britain’s position following the divorce from the EU.
The silent curse for startups
People often talk about ‘margin’, which is the gross profit. The issue is, too many people think they have a margin of 85% (for example), and they don’t focus on what makes that margin up.
What you need to consider when scaling your business
Growth is in the very DNA of entrepreneurs and their businesses. Once you’ve gone through the initial steps of setting up your company, establishing a customer base and experiencing success, you start planning for additional growth.
Disrupting a market place steeped in tradition
When you take on an inherently traditional and somewhat ‘old school’ market place like Asian food, it’s not without facing a number of interesting challenges along the way.
Anxiety, fear and entrepreneurship – why aren’t we talking about it?
In this world of entrepreneurship, all they care about and all you should care about is giving value on top of value. Of course, this isn’t easy. No on starts out knowing everything and no one can resolve your fear of taking the leap.
Imaginative cost-cutting is key for SMEs
While some larger enterprises can afford to hire a full-time cost manager, for SMEs and start-ups the burden is on the management and the team to assess the way money is spent and to find savings.
Fancy ditching the nine to five?
Think you have an idea which will take the world by storm? Do you spend your commute fantasising about being your own boss and building a business empire based on a niggling idea which just won’t go away?
The benefits of online short courses
There are plenty of universities, colleges, and professional bodies that offer short courses as they give you the chance to rapidly update and adapt your skillset.
Understanding the borrowing needs of SMEs
The importance of the role that SMEs play in ensuring a healthy UK economy is beyond doubt. Statistics from the Federation of Small Businesses show that small businesses account for 99.3% of all private sector businesses at the start of 2016 and 60% of all private sector employment.
Advice to budding young entrepreneurs, from The Dragon and the Slayer
There is also now lots of help out there, particularly from experts who are keen to offer their time as mentors. One initiative we’re both familiar with that combines the important components of entrepreneurship and mentoring is The Prince’s Trust’s newest mentoring initiative, Mosaic, which runs fantastic mentoring programmes.
3 Top Tips for Finding the Perfect Client
Finding clients can be one of the hardest challenges for any business, and it’s certainly an issue for many small businesses. Here are a couple of approaches you can use to help you find those precious clients.
How to hire your first employee
If your business so far has only consisted of you, hiring your first employee can be a daunting task and many start-ups worry about covering themselves legally.
What should small businesses blog about?
You may have created a section for your blog some time ago now, but have you started using it? Knowing what to blog about is one of the biggest issues for small businesses, because sometimes it can be a bit tricky, especially if it is new territory.
The psychology of colour when branding your business
The psychology of colour may impact behaviour and purchasing decisions. This relationship is not yet fully understood, but it's believed to explain why some customers are willing to invest their money or time.
Google Adwords: The Good, the bad and the ugly
Fundamentally, that is the idea of Pay-per-click. In PPC, the sponsor will pay Google each time a guest click on their advert, and it takes them to the advertiser's website.
Not Everyone Needs GCSEs to Succeed
But, if my personal experience is anything to go by, some teens just aren’t ever going to do well in formal exams, and it’s important to reassure these kids that you can still be successful, happy and rich without a row of A* results in your GCSEs.
Bitcoin, the digital currency conceived in 2009 by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, is a financial phenomenon. Despite the volatility of global markets, it has demonstrated remarkable resilience.