Articles

Fifty percent of start-up businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years but despite the economic downturn, the SME market continues to grow. While no one knows if a business will succeed or fail - you can take steps in order to help your business get off to the absolute best start.

Simon Smith is founder and CEO of Extrinsica Global, a dedicated cloud services provider since 2006. The company offers bespoke cloud services to companies around the globe. Their clients include the Kawasaki World Superbike Race Team and the security team at the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Fraser Doherty is the founder of SuperJam, a company that uses traditional recipes to create a range of 100% pure fruit jams, which are sweetened with grape juice and made using superfruits such as blueberries and cranberries. The company has won a number of awards, supplies major UK supermarkets and is now included in a museum exhibit as an example of an ‘Iconic Scottish Food Brand’.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become something of a buzz phrase in recent years. There have been many arguments regarding whether CSR can actually help companies to improve their reputation and improve profit margins, if it costs businesses money and whether businesses are doing it to genuinely help the environment and society, or if it is solely a marketing technique.

So your company has been running for a year now and it’s time for some small expansion. The problem is that you’ve only ever worked for other people and you’ve never had to recruit someone. Or it’s been some time since you recruited someone into a role and aren’t sure how employment legislation has changed. Follow these simple rules, says Paul Pearce-Couch, and you won’t go wrong.

Phoenix Training & Development started in 1995. In that time, the company has been drastically restructured and grown, but remained in the same premises throughout. Tim Holmes, client relationship director, explains why location is of such importance to Phoenix.

Mazuma Money is an innovative accounting company that successfully rode the economic downturn and now boasts several offices across the UK, from which the company offers a range of services to clients. inspiresme.co.uk finds out more about what makes Mazuma Money unique from founders Sophie Hughes and Lucy Cohen.

Dress codes are popular policies throughout the business world and can be found within companies of all sizes. They codify precisely what is expected of employees with regard to attire and personal appearance. There are pros and cons – consider these before you decide to go ahead.

In recent weeks the growth in younger entrepreneurs, particularly amongst those aged 18 to 24, has been making headlines – but entrepreneurship is also an option for older workers, particularly in the current job market

For Russell Singler, the Director of Art You Grew Up With, his ‘magical’ career started when he was fourteen years old, when his parents bought him an original production cel of Baloo from Disney’s Jungle Book. ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘It was (and still is) my favourite film, and that kickstarted my collection.’ Skip forward thirty years and Russell is now director of the world’s largest destination for collectors of animation and character based fine art.

Keeping in touch with colleagues is essential in today’s fast-paced business environment. Finding the right mobile phones for employees – and on the right contract – can help improve productivity and keep costs down

Several hundred people are killed each year and hundreds of thousands suffer ill health and injury at work. Following standard health and safety procedures is essential for every business to help ensure the happiness and security of both staff and visitors.

Public liability insurance protects you in the event of third party injury or damage to property as a result of your negligence. If you regularly interact with clients or customers, either at their place of work or yours, you should consider taking out public liability insurance although for most businesses it is not legally required.

Industrial waste does not need to be written off and sent to landfill or incinerated - new technologies are emerging that can turn byproducts into usable and commercially viable items. With investments in this marketplace increasing, now is a great time to get on board.

Writing a business plan can be confusing for first-time entrepreneurs. Our sample outline provides you with a skeleton framework for writing a solid and well-crafted business plan.

In today’s world, many businesses are very reliant on technology. Employees will use computer screens for many hours; choosing the right monitors is important to keeping staff happy and maintaining high levels of productivity and output.