Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.
Accounting
My former accountant advised me over a period of five years that I was VAT-exempt. He was incorrect with his professional advice. My VAT bill was £53,000. Is there anything I can do about it?
Sole trader
Jo Turnbull is a freelance SEO consultant, providing online marketing advice to small and medium-sized businesses. She talks about starting up on her own after being put out of a job.
Blog
Andrew Brown, partner at London and Cardiff-based law firm Capital Law, discusses the legal ramifications of the sale of controversial derivatives which has put thousands of small businesses at risk.
Sole trader
In 2012, Dana Elemara started Arganic, offering rare argan oil, grown exclusively in Morocco, to the cosmetic and food industries. She talks to SmallBusiness.co.uk about her company and how it began.
Sole trader
Sam Wright started SEO and web content provider Blink in 2010. He talks to SmallBusiness.co.uk about starting up and how the lifestyle of a sole trader suits him.
News
Nearly two thirds of small and medium-sized businesses admit to not following correct procedures when sacking a worker, research finds.
Blog
Over the past year, we saw swathes of government policies aimed at getting business moving in this fetid economic climate, some promising, some half-baked. Now there's a new one, or at least a development of an old one, to inspire or deflate entrepreneurs for the new year.
News
A quarter of all UK shoppers used their mobile in a store to compare prices elsewhere in the run-up to Christmas, research finds.
Business management
Charlie Francis set up mobile liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour Lick Me I'm Delicious in 2011 and is set to grow his turnover from £60,000 currently to £140,000 in his next year of trading.
News
Nine in ten owners of UK small and medium-sized enterprises believe the government’s recent business initiatives have not been of any help to their business.
Marketing
Small and medium-sized enterprises are having to rely on sizeable discounts to encourage new trade, research suggests.
Blog
...that's according to the results of a study that asks women if they prefer a male or a female manager.