The stats are not promising when looking at women in tech within the UK. Last year it was revealed that women only make for 16.8% of workers within the tech field. Shocking right?

Startup founders and investors, especially in Silicon Valley, often talk about scratching your own itch as a way to reach the highly sought-after product-market fit, which will then accelerate your company to greatness. It’s likely that your problem isn’t unique, the theory goes, so by solving it you could stumble upon an idea for a product that could help thousands or even millions of people.

I always thought that nothing would take priority over my career. Even during pregnancy, I was certain that I’d be itching to get back to work. Back to my routine, back to what I’m good at and have worked so hard to progress and refine over many years.

In the current turbulent economic climate, many startups will be faced with financial challenges. In many sectors and industries, employers have not seen a return to pre-lockdown customer demand. That being the case, the starting point is to think about what your structure will look like for this new normal?

As a startup, taking the first steps into marketing can be daunting. Where should you start? What activity will be the best use of my time? If you’re limited on time or budget - and even if you’re not - a great place to start is content marketing.

For years, if not decades, being a ‘woman in tech’ has been seen as the exception to the rule and for many, a career path that’s littered with challenges. According to a Women in Tech report from PWC, only 5% of leadership positions in the tech sector are held by women, a paltry 3% of females say a career in tech is their first choice and only 16% of females have had a career in tech suggested to them (vs 33% of males).

A rise in startups born during the pandemic is hugely positive but also not surprising. We’ve had more time to think and do and explore new avenues, particularly where existing business models or employment have ceased to exist. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. But while the pandemic has created new opportunities, the lending environment for startups looks set to be challenging.

COVID-19 has brought about sweeping changes across all industries. Whether for better or worse, these changes are forcing a reset, providing an opportunity for businesses to emerge in a much stronger position.

Businesses, whether they’re established, starting up or looking to grow, all have one thing in common. The need to be agile and aware. And, if the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that businesses can adapt to a changing market and they can do it very quickly.

As the Founder/CXO of a startup, your other title is CFFO, or Chief Fire Fighting Officer. You don’t have time to attend a one-day workshop to solve a current problem in your business, let alone read a white paper on the topic. You need quick reads that provide you with answers to your problems now. And that is the purpose of this article.

Boosting employee morale is one of the most crucial topics that every leader should consider when finding ways to steer their small businesses to grow exponentially.  Low morale can result in poor cooperation, low productivity, and augmented turnover. Several studies have demonstrated that focusing on enhancing morale in the workplace can have a tremendous impact on a company’s growth.

Back in 2015, representatives from nations all around the world met to sign an initiative that would help combat the damaging effects of climate change. This very first globally collective effort in terms of reducing greenhouse emissions, to which 179 countries have formally agreed their commitment, focusses on limiting the rise in global temperature increases by two degrees above its preindustrial measurement.

Even the most optimistic founders and executives at high growth companies aren’t immune to the challenges of fundraising. According to PWC, European IPOs have been ‘heavily impacted’ in the first half of 2020, with just 28 deals compared to 53 at the same stage in 2019.

With lockdown forcing many people into furlough or redundancy, the thought of turning a personal passion into a startup has never been more tempting. But is this the right time or the right environment? And how do you turn a passion project into a viable business?

The return to the office has sparked some interesting debate. Our own research has found that individuals are more concerned about their work-life balance and having to commute than the impact of COVID-19 to their health. And similar themes have been explored around the attitudes of staff in different countries and why the UK is lagging with a proposed return compared to European counterparts.

Founders typically establish a business with one of two game plans in mind. They either want a lifestyle business and one that fits their work life balance, or they want to build a business and grow it with the ultimate goal of building something of value that they can exit when the time is right for them. For any founder seeking to raise finance for their company, or to sell it, whether a lifestyle one or one with more ambitious plans, there will always be the need for a valuation.

The East Anglian City of Ely has been labelled the worst connected city in the UK according to a study by Nomad Digital.

Cyprus’s tourist industry suffered a hammer blow this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but the disaster has fuelled other ambitions on the island with many political leaders, financial experts and corporate players now seeing the country as an international hub for SMEs.

It’s troubling times for industries around the world who are attempting to negotiate the impact of a global pandemic and - for those in the UK and EU, the uncertainty around Brexit.

Now more than ever, the power of design thinking is being recognised. From Airbnb and Netflix to Tesla and Samsung, companies are looking to this ideology to change the way they view business problems, using it as a catalyst to introduce customer-focused design that works.