Start Your Own Business

Lifelong friends, graphic designer Gary Cadogan and agency creative leader Stuart Davis started their London-based sustainable children's footwear brand Dubs in August 2022, after the pandemic had forced the UK into lockdown. At the time, Stuart was struck by just how fast his young daughter’s feet were growing, and frustrated that the new shoes he bought didn’t last more than a few months. Worse...

What with rising costs, slimmer margins, increased employers’ NICs, the ever present blight caused by late payment and sluggish economic growth, as well as difficulty accessing finance, funding and skills, things continue to be tough for small businesses in the UK. Many owners need all the help they can get – so how does Sir Keir Starmer’s government plan to make life easier for small businesses i...

A large number of UK businesses, many of them small, sell to customers in other countries and although it can generate a fantastic revenue stream that can fuel significant growth, it does bring specific challenges. One of the key challenges for UK-based businesses is accepting payments in other currencies, which provides many pitfalls, especially if you lack experience and knowledge. Small busines...

Research suggests that 80% of businesses with employees that use digital tools use accounting software. But that figure falls to about 50% for those with fewer than 20 employees, while among the solo self-employed, just 33% use accounting software. Non-users miss out massively on numerous business benefits. Accounting software saves time and money through automations and reducing manual data entry...

More than 320,000 businesses are started each year in the UK, but only 40% of them survive five years. Whether linked to funding, finance, pricing, invoicing, marketing, premises, suppliers or a long list of other things, many people make classic mistakes when starting their own business. Some mistakes are relatively small and easily corrected. Even if they’re bigger and more damaging, it may be p...

Globally, TikTok has more than 1.5bn active monthly users, making it the world’s fifth most popular social media platform. Reportedly, users spend more than an hour and a half per day on TikTok. This hasn’t escaped the attention of marketeers, of course. Worldwide, an estimated 28% of marketers use TikTok, while more than 1.5 million UK SMEs also use TikTok for marketing. You may be one of them. I...

Although they’re often unfounded, many of us have fears in different areas of our life, including our professional and business lives. It’s completely natural to have fears in business, because starting and running a business involves uncertainty, big challenges, risk and having to make important decisions that have consequences. People running their own business often experience feelings of doubt...

Having worked for more than a decade in communications and marketing, in 2014 Steph Douglas started her business, Don’t Buy Her Flowers. She was inspired by receiving eight beautiful bouquets after having her first baby, which were sent with the best of intentions, but made her realise that flowers were not the best gift to receive when what you actually need is TLC and reassurance. Having grown s...

Setting up and running a business with a partner is common. It could be a friend, a colleague, your spouse, partner, sibling, parent or other family member. Going into business with a partner can offer many advantages. Partners can have complementary skills and experience, they can share managerial responsibilities and financial risks, as well as the workload and the headaches that often come with...

The UK's freelance population stands at slightly more than 2m, according to self-employed membership association IPSE. That’s a slight increase, “indicating a period of relative stability following more significant decreases to the overall [freelance] population in previous years,” according to IPSE. Freelancers make up almost half (49%) of the UK’s entire solo self-employed population (4.12m) and...

James Eder co-founded Student Beans with his brother Mike in Birmingham in 2005. It started as a digital student loyalty platform offering exclusive discounts and has since grown into a global network generating revenue of £30m. Almost 20 years later James and Mike started Pion, which now has 250 employees and operates in more than 100 countries. Pion is a leader in youth marketing insights, “supp...

Creating and maintaining strong supplier relationships is the lifeblood of a successful business. But whereas once it would have been difficult, time-consuming and expensive to find and build a strong relationship with suppliers – especially those in other countries – B2B e-marketplaces are making it much simpler, quicker and cost effective to build a truly global network of suppliers. You can als...

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is one of the biggest changes to the UK tax system in recent years – and it’s coming soon. Wondering how this impacts your normal self-assessment obligations? In this final episode of a four-part mini-series on MTD for Income Tax, Helen Wood from TaxAssist Accountants dispels some of the common misconceptions surrounding the MTD requirements for those sole t...

Getting your self-assessment right is about staying on top of the basics – and for many sole traders and landlords, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is now the big one to understand. Instead of a single annual rush, Making Tax Digital means keeping digital records, using compliant software and sending simple quarterly summaries – so you’ve got a clearer picture of tax due as you go. In this third...

From April 2026, any sole traders or landlords earning a combined income of over £50,000 will need to comply with Making Tax Digital, with phased deadlines for lower income thresholds following in 2027 and 2028. In this second episode in a special four-part mini-series on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, Samantha Skyring from TaxAssist Accountants breaks down how to prepare for Making Tax Digita...

From April 2026, if you are a sole trader or landlord and earn over £50,000 from self-employment or property, you’ll need to keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC, with the entry point dropping to £30,000 in 2027 and £20,000 in 2028. So, how will things change once Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax has been introduced? How will sole traders and landlords be required to keep...

Higher living costs, record price increases across the board and wages that haven’t kept pace has led many millions of people in the UK to have their own “side-hustle” in recent years, as a way to supplement their main income. Side-hustles have become hugely popular. Research carried out by leading accounting software provider Sage in 2024 found that almost half (47%) of UK adults had a side-hustl...

AI – artificial intelligence – is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Its rise to prominence has become much more rapid in recent years, with resistance to its progress seemingly futile. Although some concerns have been raised over the implications of AI, it’s already being used widely, providing significant benefits to users, many small-business owners among them. Potentially, AI can pro...

It’s the stuff of entrepreneurial dreams. To come up with a pioneering product idea, develop a prototype, create a hugely appealing brand and start a highly successful business that you grow and sell for a huge amount of money. That’s exactly what Rob Law MBE did. Coming from a product design background, he founded Trunki in 2006. Trunki is the much-loved ride-on suitcase for children, which come...

If you really want to grow your business at a faster pace or achieve significant growth, more than likely, unless you’re rich or your business is super profitable, you’ll need to attract external funding or finance. There are many options, but one of the most common is attracting investment from a wealthy investor or group of them. Find the right investor, and not only do you gain from their wealt...

You might be really skillful, knowledgeable and experienced when it comes to your trade or profession. Maybe you’re a brilliant salesperson. However, if you’re new to running your own business, you might not know much about how to manage your finances as a start-up. Unless you come from a financial background – why would you? But if your new business is to survive and grow, you should know a few b...

There are many things you need to do to succeed in business, but one of the most important is to stand out. It’s essential if you operate in a crowded, competitive market, as most businesses do. If your business fails to stand out, because your brand, products and services haven’t been differentiated, you’ll just blend into the background and fewer people will know you exist, let alone buy from yo...

What if your business is earning a cash surplus every month? What would you do? Many small-business owners don’t do anything. They leave it in their current account to earn little or no interest. Some do nothing because they’re kept very busy with many other things. Others don’t do anything because they don’t realise they have other options. As a small-business owner, you can invest cash and poten...

Globally, LinkedIn has a staggering 900 million-plus users. You might well be one of them. In the UK, LinkedIn is estimated to have more than 35 million users, a mix of individuals, organisations and businesses of all sizes. They use the site to raise their profile, network and find new customers. So, how do you connect to the right people on LinkedIn to raise your profile, attract new contacts an...

Staying on top of your cash flow is essential. Running out of cash can be fatal. This simple cash flow forecast will help you keep on top of your finances. Download this  free cash flow forecast template  and watch the intro video featuring Darren Fell of Crunch Accounting and Fiona Prior, host of the  Start Your Own Business podcast , for tips and advice on how to make the most of...