Small Business Matters

Intuit: Proud to be sponsoring StartUp Britain

StartUp Britain, which launched on 28 March with the support of the Government, aims to help budding entrepreneurs around the country through access to a combination of practical support, offers and assistance.

StartUp Britain helped me! 

Jennifer Okpapi is one of the many entrepreneurs that has been helped by StartUp Britain. In late 2009, she opened Akhaya, the UK’s first African cooking school and the business is continuing to grow. She told us about the support she’s received and the highs and lows of being in business.

Budget puts small business Britain in the spotlight

George Osborne delivered a fairly enterprise-friendly Budget, but it wasn’t all good news for small business owners.

As promised, the Chancellor cut corporation tax with a 2% reduction from April 2011 instead of the originally planned 1%. It will then fall by 1% in each of the next three years to reach 23% by 2014. The small companies’ rate will also decrease from 21% to 20% next month as previously announced. It was also encouraging to hear that the small business rate relief holiday is to be extended by one year to October 2012 and the 1p cut in fuel duty will certainly help many small businesses. Red tape is also going to be reduced for small businesses with 10 employees or fewer who will be able to take advantage of a three year freeze on new UK regulations.

What does Small Business Britain want from the Budget?

It is that time of the year again when the famous red leather briefcase comes out and the Chancellor of the Exchequer makes his Budget announcement for the fiscal year. Budget Day is always full of interest for small businesses but this year the anticipation seems greater. That is because in the run up to the broadcast tomorrow, the coalition Government has been assuring small business Britain that it will bring in measures to support them and drive entrepreneurship. Now the moment is upon us, many small businesses are waiting to see if the government delivers on its promises.

Putting all the hype and media speculation aside, there are a number of measures the Government could introduce to really help small businesses grow. These include initiatives to ease the tax burden on small businesses such as a reversal of the rise in national insurance contributions by employers, reversal of the January 2011 fuel duty increase and further corporation tax and small companies’ tax rate reductions.

Small Business Britain unfazed by VAT increase

One month on from the VAT increase, we decided to poll 1400 small businesses to see how they have been affected by the change. The results were slightly surprising! Despite the widespread media hype, two thirds of those we surveyed confirmed that the VAT increase has had no impact on their business. Perhaps even more unexpectedly, 44% of small business owners said they agreed with the Government’s decision when quizzed about whether increasing VAT is the best way to tackle the national deficit.

It is certainly reassuring to know that many small business owners have been able to cope with the recent VAT increase despite widespread predictions of doom and gloom. As this is the third VAT rate change in less than three years, many of you who have been around for a while may feel that you’ve have had enough practice to cope with the changes! What is even more encouraging to see is that when looking for advice on how to manage the change, around one in five turned to other small business owners for support.

Do these results reflect your own experience with the VAT increase? Do you think the tough times are still to come? Have your say in the comments section below.

Start your start-up right in 2011

What better time to start up a new business than in the New Year? It’s traditionally a time of fresh starts and lots of change, and setting up a new business marks a refreshing and daring break from the norm for a lot of people.

In fact, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, David Frost, reported in the Daily Telegraph last week (4 January) that many new businesses in 2010 were started by those who found themselves out of a job. In a year which saw more new businesses set up than in any of the previous three years (British Bankers’ Association), the continuing rise in unemployment last year resulted in a surge in start-ups. According to Frost, ‘girl power’ was also behind the increasing popularity of self-employment as there was a hike in the number of female-led start-ups.

However, a small business owner needs more than just enthusiasm to be successful, so budding entrepreneurs should be aware of a few handy dos and don’ts in the art of starting a business.

Don’t jump into it too soon...
While it can be easy to get carried away with your ingenious idea for a business, this enthusiasm can be many people’s downfall. Ensure you have a thorough business plan and prepare for all eventualities before you start. Even trialling an idea before you dive in can be very useful to gather feedback and iron out any teething problems.

A royal business opportunity

The big news announced this week was that Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry next spring or summer in London. And while many in the nation are celebrating, there are sure to be plenty of business owners of all sizes from around the world considering how the news will affect their companies.

In fact, the marriage could give a 620 million pound boost to the economy, retail researchers Verdict said on Wednesday (Reuters).

Asda has admitted that it had already produced thousands of mugs to mark the couple's engagement which will be in stores this week.

Looking further afield, in Sweden earlier this year an array of Royal wedding products were launched to capitalise on the royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling, from coffee and cakes to umbrellas and porcelain vases (Sweden.se).

But even if you don’t have the purchasing power of Asda, there are still ways that smaller companies can benefit from the news. Alisa Donohue, owner of boutique stationary firm Creatively Engaged, notes that the “inspired by” concept is sure to be huge. She is already planning a special discount of royal-wedding-themed invites for her Facebook followers – “The key thing is to put your own spin on it so you can bring value to the product or service” (ThePortfolio.com).

Whether it’s through new products or special offers, we’d love to hear about your creative ideas on how to get the most out of the royal nuptials. Feel free to share your comments below!

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Top tips to get started in business

As we mentioned earlier this week, our UK MD Pernille Bruun-Jensen took to the airwaves on Monday in honour of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Pernille spoke to over 20 local radio stations around the UK, and shared the results of Intuit’s latest research into British entrepreneurial spirit which found that more than a third (34%) of men and women across the UK want to, or have already started their own business, but they lack the finances and the courage to do so!  

If you missed the interviews but you’d like to hear some tips on how to get started in business, click the link below to hear Pernille’s interview with 91.8 Hayes FM 

Interview with Hayes FM

Global Entrepreneurship Week: a third of Brits want to be their own boss

Many of you may already know that this week (15th – 21st November) is Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), an opportunity to not only raise the profile of UK entrepreneurship, but also to showcase and celebrate all the amazing work that goes on year-round from the Small Business Britain community.

In celebration of GEW, Intuit UK has commissioned some research to investigate the entrepreneurial appetite of Brits. Our research found that more than a third (34%) of men and women across the UK want to, or have already started their own business, up from 32% last year. However, the economic recovery is hampering their entrepreneurial confidence. When those who want to set up their own business were asked whether they plan to set one up in the next year, only 12% agreed, this is down from 18% in 2009.

What was really fascinating to learn was the reasons why people are keen to start their own businesses. The most popular response was ‘to be my own boss’ (58%). This was closely followed by ‘reap all rewards of my own hard work’ (54%) and ‘I want to make more money’ (43%). Perhaps unsurprisingly, more men want to set up their own business than woman with only 22% of women saying they want to set up their own business compared to 31% of men.

The research also asked those who want to set up their own business (or have already done so) what the barriers are to setting up a new business. The number one barrier was ‘finding the money’ (53%), followed by ‘finding the right business idea’ (38%) and ‘finding the courage’ (32%).

If you’d like to see the full announcement based on the findings, you can view it on our Small Business Britain  community site.

Do these findings echo your own experiences of setting up in business? Let us know if you think the UK is an entrepreneurial country by commenting below or joining the discussion on www.smallbusinessbritain.co.uk

Intuit UK MD – coming soon to a radio station near you!

In honour of Global Entrepreneurship Week, on Monday morning our managing director Pernille Bruun-Jensen, will be featured on local radio stations across the UK. She’ll be discussing Intuit’s latest research into British entrepreneurial spirit, as well as sharing tips for the men and women across the country who would love to start a business, but don’t know how about go about it.

For more information on when and where you can tune in, please see below:

• BRFM, Blaenaugwent (at 09:35)
• BBC Foyle, Londonderry, Northern Ireland (at 10:15)
• CCR, Cheshire (at 10:25)
• 91.8 Hayes FM, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hounslow (at 11:15am)
• 97.5 Kemet FM, Nottingham  (at 11:25am)
• Bolton FM, Bolton (at 11:35am)
• Big City Radio, Birmingham (at 11:45am)
• WFM, Cheshire (at 12:15pm)

Or throughout the day on:

• Kingdom FM, Fife
• Leicester Sound FM, Leicester
• High Peak Radio, Peak District
• Ashbourne Radio 96.7, Derbyshire
• Waves Radio, Peterhead
• Mearns FM, Stonehaven
• Nevis Radio, Fort William
• London Greek Radio, London
• Sheffield Live! 93.2, Sheffield
• Radio Verulam, St Albans

Can’t get to the radio in time? Don’t worry – we’ll be uploading a podcast in the next couple of days for anyone that missed it!   

Mum’s the boss!

Recent research from Netmums.com found out that one in eight working mothers who have a full-time office job are desperate to be their own boss. Many of the respondents said they find it hard to balance their current working life with family life, and they feel that they have no choice but to find a different type of career. For this reason, many mums are turning to the option of starting their own business.

Traditionally, men are far more likely to go it alone than women. In fact according to the most recent GEM report, women in the UK are half as likely to start their own business as men. In spite of this, there are currently an estimated one million female entrepreneurs in the UK, generating an impressive turnover of about £4.4billion combined. The research from Netmums.com could mean that this figure is set to grow even further.