A great way to building innovation into your business is to be looking for problems to solve and opportunities for improvement in your industry. That’s not to say that inventions haven’t succeeded by accidentally creating an invention and then looking to see what can be solved by that invention (case in point – post-it notes). However, that is not the topic of this article – today’s topic is about actively seeking to build innovation into your business. Create a culture for innovation to flourish First and foremost, if you want to embed innovation into your organisation, create a culture for innovation to flourish. If you forced me to come up with a formula, I would say: Make sure you hire people that are not only smart, they think creatively and are not afraid of change Relinquish control to your managers within a framework Encourage multi-disciplinary teams and internal networking between your sales, marketing and R&D team Make sure your employees understand … [Read more...]
To Register for VAT or Not, that is the question
What is Value Added Tax? Value Added Tax was introduced to the UK in 1972 to replace Purchase tax and to conform to the European Common Market. The Definition of VAT is a tax on the amount by which the value of an article has been increased at each stage of its production or distribution. For most businesses in the UK, VAT is added at 20%. However some things are exempt from VAT , eg most food goods, children’s clothes, postage stamps, financial and property transactions, printed books, magazines and newspapers. Some items are also charged at a reduced VAT rate of 5% e.g. energy and children’s car seats. When you are starting a new business when should you register for VAT? Reasons you should register immediately for VAT? Your new business is selling to other businesses. They will also be registered and will claim the VAT back as Input tax which reduces the amount they pay to HMRC. Your business is investing in capital items, … [Read more...]
Women in Technology – Overcoming the gender imbalance
Why are there so few women in technology and will numbers of female founders in UK tech startup and scaleup businesses grow in 2018? I take a look at some of the data on women in technology and tech startups – it’s not all that encouraging but are things changing? Women still make up a woefully small percentage of business founders across tech industries and tech startups. According to a recent report published by Beauhurst the number of women founders or executives in scaleups across all industries is also tiny. They found that only 4% of UK ‘Visible scalesups’ had at least one female founder. (Source: The Scaleup Index 2017) There is some evidence that part of the problem is that it’s harder for women to attract seed and venture funding. This was highlighted by a PwC report published last year that revealed that women across the world are more successful at raising crowd funding. Why? - Because the playing field is more even. Here is just one statistic from … [Read more...]
GDPR Check List – Your 8 Step Plan For The New Legislation
You need to start your preparations for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) as the implementation date of 25th May 2018 is fast approaching. For most businesses and IT managers, preparation has not yet started despite the deadline being less than 6 months away. Ignorance of the Legislation will be no excuse and with the severe penalties planned, some businesses could be made bankrupt if they fail to comply. How would you deal with a fine of 4% of turnover? Please use this checklist to start you on the road to compliance. These are the key areas you should address. As you get into the detail of your own GDPR review, you will also uncover data considerations, which are particular to your own industry and business type. 1 Raise Awareness In Your Business GDPR will probably require you to make changes to the way you collect, store, use and process data. In particular data held on individuals. The new regulations extend the provisions in the Data … [Read more...]
How do Research & Development Allowances (RDAs) help to buy buildings and equipment?
Research and Development Allowances can be claimed at 100% in year one, which means they provide a very generous cash releasing opportunity when you are purchasing fixed assets. Plus unlike the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) they apply to buildings as well as other fixed assets you purchase. RDAs are claimed against ‘capital expenditure’ that supports R&D activities within your business. They should not to be confused with Research and Development (R&D) tax credits which are claimed against ‘revenue expenditure’ relating to qualifying R&D activities. Unlike R&D tax credits, which are restricted to limited companies, RDAs are not restricted to limited companies, they can be claimed by individuals and partnerships as well, so long as the claimants are ‘traders’ and not carrying on a ‘profession or vocation’. They are a first year allowance, providing a generous 100% tax offset in the year when the money was spent. This means that, … [Read more...]
Is your business ready for new GDPR legislation on Data Protection?
This article outlines the key themes of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to help businesses understand their corporate responsibilities and the challenges of this new legal framework. Key facts about GDPR A data protection regulation to protect the data businesses hold on individuals. It is legislation with large fines for non-compliance It makes organisations much more accountable for the data they hold. Applies equally in all EU member states and to those offering goods or services to individuals within the EU Stricter stipulations apply to firms with over 250 employees Also applies to SMEs with under 250 employees when data processing carried out is likely to result in risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, the processing is not occasional or the processing includes special categories of data as defined in GPDR Article 9 It will be enforced across Europe from 25th May 2018 Overview of … [Read more...]
Making Tax Digital
This is the new initiative by HMRC for which the consultation document has come out. Consultation will close 7th November with draft legislation in December and the start of implementation in 2017 with full implementation as from 5 April 2018 with all taxpayers on stream by 1st January 2019. It will apply to all taxpayers both business and SA taxpayers. For businesses it will be a major change to the way they relate and report to HMRC. In this article we will only address MTD as applicable businesses. The MTD for businesses will apply to all businesses with a turnover greater than £10,000 p.a. Submissions to HMRC must be made quarterly with a 5th adjusting submission 9 months after the financial year-end. Submissions must use commercial software. The free HMRC software has been withdrawn. Micro businesses used to keeping their records on spreadsheets which are submitted to their accountants once a year will now be required to purchase software or … [Read more...]
The importance of integrating your systems for business success
It’s very easy to buy software today – gone are the times when you needed to go out and buy a disk and install something. Now you go online looking for a CRM system and, within minutes, you are using one on a free trial, and it works on your desktop, laptop, tablet, phone – anywhere you need it. This ease of access has a couple of effects: first, it’s easy to sign up for something without fully understanding the functionality on offer and, second, there are a lot of people after your monthly subscription, so there is a variable quality of product on offer. In short, it’s a bit of a minefield. Smaller businesses who are not willing or able to implement a modular enterprise system like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or one of the larger Sage products, for example, are potentially left with numerous different solutions. These may cover accounting, CRM, e-commerce, order-processing, inventory management, and other specialised business functions. It’s important to consider your full … [Read more...]
Selling a Business – Avoiding an own goal in due diligence – Part 2
How secure is your intellectual property? In the last blog I dealt with the tricky question of contracts and “change of control clauses”. Another hard lot of questions you will have to answer will be to do with your Intellectual Property. You have searched for all your IP stuff and mostly drawn a blank. The questions you could be asked are for you to provide a list and supporting documentation covering all: “Details of any software, web site or electronic database owned or used by the company indicating in each case whether the software, web site or electronic database is owned by the company or licensed. Supply copies of all licence agreements together with a list of fees payable and Copies of all other agreements relating to the development or operation of software, web sites, databases or hardware for or on behalf of the company. Details of any infringements or alleged infringements of any intellectual property owned … [Read more...]
What is Financial Modelling and how can it help my business? Part 1
What is Financial Modelling? -- Business owners have posed this question to me often. While there can be several complicated definitions, simply put, it is the practice of projecting a business’s operating and financial results. Financial modelling allows you to see into the financial future of your business, to plan, and to understand if sufficient cash is available to meet your future operating needs. Is Financial Modelling relevant to me? Every business, large or small, growing or struggling, needs to create robust business plans backed by sound financial forecasts. Successful businesses usually do this better than the ones that are struggling. Or reversing the argument, businesses that create sound financial forecasts are far more likely to succeed over time than the ones that do not. What kind of questions can financial modelling answer? The short answer is – almost all types. Here are some examples: For start-up businesses How much capital will I need? How many … [Read more...]
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