There is a hidden danger that many people choosing the Sole Trader route to running a business are not aware of. Yes, operating as a Sole Trader is certainly the simplest way of running a business. There are no annual accounts to send to Companies House and most can run without needing to pay out [...]

Given that today is Friday the 13th I thought it interesting to look at the role luck plays in business success. Firstly it would be wrong to say that luck, or being in the right place at the right time is non-existent – it does happen.  Think of those who bought property in places like [...]

Actually there are several inter-related aspects of starting a business that need to be worked on to ensure a successful startup, but I consider these to be the most important… 1. Start a business in a subject that you are interested in. Running a new business is hard work, it becomes a little bit easier, [...]

In an alarming development Britons are starting to wonder if the “so called experts” might have something going for them. We’ve believed for years (well ever since Michael Gove revealed in his Brexit speeches that experts are always wrong) that people who have studied a subject for decades can’t be right. Tony Simonds, retired Sales [...]

Having a business partner that you can bounce ideas off, share the work load and motivate each other is a great help to a young business.  They should also bring complimentary skills and additional expertise that allows the business to be driven forward faster.     Sounds perfect doesn’t it? Yet even with all of [...]

Businesses are often wary of change. It creates uncertainty and development projects get stalled. Instead of seeing change as an opportunity, business leaders start to plan for worse case scenarios that may result from the change. The businesses adversely affected are normally large organisations with a vested interest in the status quo, however for smaller [...]

Let’s face it there are a lot of attractions to having a regular salary, perhaps expenses paid and some security. So why would anyone venture out on their own? Yet every year thousands of people do exactly that. Having previously been in large corporations myself for over 20 years I can sympathise with those that [...]

So you’ve made the decision to launch an ecommerce business? Congratulations – you’ve chosen a great path for your new business. But like every new venture, if you want to give yourself the greatest chance of success, you’re going to need a solid plan. Everything from the style and tone of your content, to your [...]

Over the years I’ve talked to many entrepreneurs who started with a great concept and high energy yet failed to launch a successful business. I’ve also seen people who only had modest ideas and yet went on to establish large profitable companies.     These are my conclusions and top tips for a successful start-up:  [...]

Investors have a lot of choice and you are in competition with all other investment opportunities, the final decision on which gets investment will be those with the best combination of good sustainable profit and lowest risk. That may not be the highest profit, or the least risk, but an acceptable (to that Investor) mixture [...]