When starting a small business, one of the first things to be decided is the legal structure used for the business. It can either be a sole trader or limited company or a partnership. Setting up as a sole trader is the most popular legal structure in the UK, with approximately 3.2 million sole proprietorships in 2021. Sole traders accounted for 56% of small businesses in the UK. There were also 2 million limited companies, making it the second most popular legal structure.
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One of the questions we are most frequently asked at Company Bug is “how many limited companies are there in the UK”, or similar questions relating to the business population as a whole
The current VAT threshold in the UK stands at £85,000. Any business that has an annual turnover of that value must register for VAT with HMRC, and when they do this they will receive a VAT number. Before you work with another business, you normally want to find out all you can about them and you can easily do this through a Google search. However, something you might not consider looking at is their VAT number, and this is actually something that you should definitely be verifying.
There are 5.9 million small businesses in the UK and around 60% of people working in the private sector are working for small businesses. However, mental health and wellbeing advice and support is only really given to larger businesses. The FSB (Federation of Small Business) has started a campaign to focus on wellbeing for those in small business sector.
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Wired Magazine predicts that coding could become the next main blue-collar job which, if true, means that many small business owners will need increasing number of employees with programming skills in the near future. The problem affecting all businesses is that, without action, the UK could fall well behind other parts of the world in training for the future. This will affect our economy overall as well as our individual businesses.
If you are classed as self-employed or have a source of untaxed income, you will be required to complete a Self-Assessment. However, this criteria is vague and many are left confused as to whether they actually need to file the tax return or not.
We are still not sure what kind of Brexit we will get. Even assuming a ‘good’ Brexit, will we be thrown into another recession? Will history repeat itself and, if so, what will this mean for start-ups, SMEs, and investors?
As the bells and fireworks signal the dawn of another new year, we feel just enough optimism to make ambitious resolutions that, while well-intentioned, are often ditched come February. Rather than recommending you neglect Netflix in favour of a gym membership or swap your weekend (and evening) drinks for kale smoothies, I’d instead like to give you five reasons why 2019 is the year you should crowdfund your business.
A lot of businesses now choose to trade internationally to help their business grow and succeed worldwide. Trading internationally can not only be a great step for your business but can also help you to build your brand awareness and reach more customers. If your business is moving towards international trading then it is important that you know how to reduce your costs to help you save money in the future.
The last Budget before the UK leaves the EU was revealed by Chancellor Philip Hammond at the Houses of Parliament today. With the country edging close to Brexit, and no deal in place, the small business community is facing an uncertain time. The chancellor has tried to immunise the community from the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and give a well-needed boost to high street businesses.
As the possibility of a no-deal Brexit deal increases, what would be the impact on our telecoms if it were to happen? Is it another cause for concern for small businesses or are there some potential benefits?
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When it comes to hiring for any role, the main priority is getting the right candidate. You may need to look outside the UK if the applicants you are getting are not quite what you are looking for. There may be various reasons for wanting to employ people from overseas, however, whatever your reason you will need to adhere to certain rules and regulations.
When you are self-employed you will pay your tax based on the income and expenses you show on your Self Assessment tax return. Here Simple Tax will give you an insight of the Self Assessment process and your legal obligations as a self-employed individual.
In the latest Small Business Index (SBI) carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses, it was found that small business confidence has risen again. The confidence of small businesses has hit a one year high, which is great news for the sector across the UK. The steady rise in the confidence portrays a bright future for small firms that remain strong and positive despite adversities.
Gus Bartholomew is the latest entrepreneur to feature in our success stories. Gus is the co-founder of SupplyCompass, a company that helps clients in the UK get in touch with manufacturers in India. In this success story, Gus discusses working with a partner and working in both the UK and India.
In a recent study conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), it was found that the percentage of small businesses that have increased the wage for their employees is the highest it’s been in three and a half years.
Keeping on top of your finances is one of the biggest causes of stress for small business owners, as the financial position of a business can really be the make or break point for the future of it. There are many challenges that small business owners face, from building a customer base to being a supervisor or creating and delivering good quality products. As a business owner, you will need to wear multiple hats in order to keep the business running. However, managing your finances may be of particular importance to the livelihood of your small business.
Co-working is becoming more and more popular, with many corporations choosing to do this instead of having a full time, permanent office space. Coworking is about sharing office space with workers from other companies, all doing their own thing in one large, usually open plan, space. It has many benefits, and it looks as though coworking could really become the way of the future. Cornerstone Office Search give us reasons why so many corporations are choosing coworking as their preferred option.
The positive effect of having an online presence and being on multiple different social media platforms cannot be denied. Yet, a majority of SME’s are not taking the advantage of using social media to drive sales for their small businesses. Social media is a cost-effective way of effectively marketing your business, and the presence online is an absolute must in the present day.
The gender pay gap has been in the spotlight recently, with the government actually taking action to start tackling the issue. Companies with the more than 250 employees have to report on how much they are paying their staff. Although this only focused on bigger businesses, small business should also start looking at the gender pay gap at their firm. A positive finding was that UK Fast, a hosting firm, had the mean gender pay gap which was just 0.9%.
