Life
The coronavirus pandemic has turned off the lights in millions of offices, factories and shops across the UK. But for many businesses who have switched to home-working the cost of their now empty property will still need to be met. And that dilemma is now causing growing concern among businesses – many of whom have seen revenue totally stop in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. Today one of Britain’s leading law firms has advised companies with concerns over meeting the cost of commercial leases to hold ‘sensible’ discussions with landlords as quickly as possible. Harper James Solicitors also advise firms yet to get a plan in place to do so – before it is too late.
Upscaling can be a daunting task for any business, many will find it difficult to step outside their comfort zone or be reminded daily the risks with investing in new opportunities. While this approach may work in our personal lives, it can be detrimental to new business opportunities as well as the entrepreneurial mindset when it comes to upscaling your business.
These are strange times, unsettling times, and if I am honest this is not a normal question that I overhear much in more normal times, but recently THE question that I keep hearing is ‘do I have to work remotely and what does that mean for my customers?’ or, put another way, ‘does remote working have to mean working remotely?’
Any business at any stage of its life must be able to adapt and change to changing circumstances. One of the very real benefits that early stage businesses have is that they are small and fast on their feet and are therefore perfectly structured to be able to react swiftly to changing circumstances.
A startling statistic from the European Commission’s: when it comes to European startups, 83% of startup founders are male. At the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), we want to see more women entrepreneurs: more female ownership of startups, and more businesses owned by women. It’s about equality and social inclusion, it is also about a good economic sense and using Europe’s biggest untapped entrepreneurial talent pool – women.
Some people are afraid of networking and others love it! It is true. We have all come across people that love nothing more than going to networking events and chatting to as many people as possible – some of these really get the benefits that good networking can bring to them and their business, and others simply love networking because it fits their outgoing personality.
For the whole of August, I embarked on a smartphone detox. There were a few reasons as to why, but the most prevalent was a worry around burnout. For the past 18 months I’d be working hard setting up and growing Shine Workplace Wellbeing, while also ensuring I was spending ample time with my two young sons.












