Mental Health Awareness Week takes place 15 – 21 May, and this year’s theme focuses on anxiety. Most people can relate to feelings of anxiety around a social activity, be it a family gathering, big work meeting, or starting a new job. Social anxiety disorder, however, can be far more debilitating than the ‘normal’ nervousness that we can all experience, and it can have a significant impact on the wellbeing and relationships of those it affects, as well as those around them. 

If there is one thing everyone hates, it's the sense of failure. Indeed, the sweetness of victory feels just so much better. As an entrepreneur, though, you may learn much more from setbacks than successes. We must approach failure with a different mindset - seeing it as a chance rather than an obstacle.

In the final article in our four-part series, we will pick up where we left off in part three (startups leveraging each other’s networks to drive portfolio sales) and look at how young firms buying from each other creates opportunities for closer collaborations. Over to Sam Perry, Founder of Ensemble, with contributions from Rory Sadler Co-Founder and CEO at Trumpet.

It’s mental awareness month, and educating people about mental health is essential as more and more people are affected. When people around us are experiencing mental health issues, we need to know how to respond.

Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy, accounting for 36% of turnover in the UK private sector and half of the UK workforce. However, this backbone is experiencing a great period of economic uncertainty as both their costs have increased and customers have less to spend. This uncertainty has led to four in five small business owners struggling to plan beyond 2023. Facing such economic headwinds, small businesses should look to the power of branding as the way to continue thriving. 

Designing your business systems can give you clarity in many areas and identify what steps you are missing or need to improve. The key is to keep things simple. The core of your business is your customer journey, so that’s what you should focus on. You and your team may have many ideas on new ways to improve the journey, but it is important to look at the following six main steps when shaping it.

More than ever, startups are hiring college interns. But most startups have little experience training and managing interns. And most students have never worked in a professional setting, let alone a fast-paced startup environment. Result: host companies rarely educate interns properly. Only once in a while do students actually get to do anything substantial. More likely, they’re given too little to do or outright neglected. And it’s a shame. Here, Samantha Dewalt and Nicola Corzine share their insight.

As a business owner, navigating the complex world of taxes can be a daunting task. However, by employing effective strategies, staying informed about tax laws, and seeking professional advice, you can confidently navigate the intricacies of the tax system. By doing so, you can identify and leverage various opportunities to minimise your tax liability and optimise your financial position.

In the past, requesting a demo or contacting the company was seen as a mainstay of B2B commerce. Today, however, modern B2B customers have shifting expectations when it comes to their purchasing journeys, and B2B websites must keep up if they want to turn traffic into leads.

Of the six million UK businesses in 2022, just 32,000 (that’s just 0.01%) grew beyond 45 employees and only 8,000 businesses scaled to the point that they employed more than 250 people.

When is the right time for startups to invest in PR? With a Seed round secured, focus turns immediately to the most pressing priorities and how to spend wisely to move the boat faster. 

Business today is extremely competitive. Customers have access to a large number of products and services and are hesitant to make buying decisions.

Ask any early-stage business owner and they will tell you that getting funding to scale can be tough. Very tough. All will tell you that it takes much more time and effort and takes much longer to complete than they had expected. And all will tell you that raising finance is a massive distraction from actually running and growing the business.

I run a recruitment business for startups, typically helping companies 10-50 employees to help them make key hires and scale their team. Our team gets to talk to founders and leaders about their hiring challenges and plans, as well as people that are thinking about their careers and what they would want if they were to take a new role.

People are the most important part of any business, and looking after their health and wellbeing is a top priority for most organisations - we know that a happy and healthy workforce is an engaged and productive one. 

When it comes to workplace mental health initiatives, self-employed people and small businesses are often overlooked. But the truth is, these groups need mental health support now more than ever.

Mental Health Awareness Week only started two decades ago in 2001. Luckily, since then mental health in the workplace has grown in importance. However, there is still so much real change needed in workplaces to provide better mental health support for employees. Many companies now have mental health policies and guidelines, but in reality, aren’t supporting their employees. Mental Health Awareness Week should be a significant date in the calendar for startups.

Synonymous with famous landmarks, chic neighbourhoods and multiculturalism, London is a dream destination for tourists, enchanting millions of travellers each year. However, is the capital an ideal place to launch a tech startup? 

You've had a bright idea, given what feels like endless hours of thought to your business and worked on your company mission statement, which will shape culture and guide commercial activities. You've pulled the business plan together, developed a marketing strategy for the year ahead and set the company's revenue targets to deliver incremental growth. You can pitch your product or service; you know who your customer is but who are you? And what matters to you and your team? Where's the plan that guides your activities as a business owner, as an industry thought leader, or as a diverse collective of human beings?

Startups are as likely to fall victim to cyber-attacks as large organisations. A survey by Identity Theft Resource Centre shows that 58% of cyber attacks in 2022 targeted small businesses. 75% of these victims were attacked more than once in the same year.  A constant threat lurks over the IT infrastructure of startup companies and they need cybersecurity to safeguard their digital assets, data, employees, and stakeholders.