Employee engagement is often seen as an activity on top of the day-job, rather than a critical measure of it, and it’s worth remembering that employees join organisations engaged – disengagement is the result of poor experiences at work.

Consumer technology products, such as laptops, are increasingly difficult to differentiate. Operating systems aside, most laptops are of similar size and shape and offer broadly the same functionality. Clamshell laptops typically combine a display, a keyboard, and a trackpad – with few aspects that really distinguish models from competitors. 

As we marked National Work Life Week last month, it became clear that work-life balance is a value not everyone shares equally. According to a new poll carried out by the charity Working Families, 41% of working mothers say being a parent is holding them back from promotion at work – and 50% of people with caring responsibilities (such as looking after an ill or elderly relative) feel the same way. 

It is no secret that the global pandemic has shifted consumer spending habits, with more and more people opting to shop online. What is different about this shift however, is where people are buying from. With the number of social media platforms available today, it should come as no surprise that there has been an increase in purchasing directly from these sites. According to research, social commerce sales will continue to rise by 35.8% by the end of 2021. Despite this, many businesses have failed to recognise how impactful price optimisation can be on social commerce, and if used correctly, how it can help retailers capitalise on the increasing popularity of social commerce. 

We’ve all heard about the ‘Great Resignation’: a mass exodus of employees worldwide, caused by a rapidly changing working landscape and general pandemic fatigue. In the UK, almost a quarter of workers say that they are actively planning on quitting their jobs in the next few months, while job vacancies are at the highest level since records began.

It used to be that the classier, bulkier and more luxurious the packaging, the more appealing the brand. Thankfully, consumer mindset is changing and adapting to help protect the planet and reduce extreme amounts of waste.

Over the last 10 years we've gone from being a £500 startup with myself and my wife trading from our spare bedroom at home, to a business worth hundreds of millions, employing nearly a hundred people globally and having one of the best selling chocolate bars in the UK. 

Technology never stands still. Anyone running a company has to accept this fundamental truth if they want to stay on top of cyber threats and run their business as securely as possible. New products emerge, workflows develop, and habits evolve along with them.

Starting a business is not always easy. But scaling a business, any business, often brings many more challenges than actually starting one. A typical small business is quite simple, bat as that business grows it becomes more complex and has more moving parts which become ever more complicated to coordinate.

Customer data decays at an alarming rate (approximately 37.5% every year), with thousands of people moving home or passing away daily.

As a digital layer continues to be applied across everything we do, the world we are living in will seem to get smaller. Boundaries and borders and even language hurdles will be broken down via this new digital world and time zones and currencies will become less important.

Startups Magazine caught up with Tarryn Gorre, Co-Founder and CEO of Kafoodle. 

We all have a personal favourite when it comes to a pet, some are dog people while others love cats.

Deadlock (a lack of unanimity between co-directors/co-shareholders) is a situation to be avoided by all SMEs. Unfortunately, it is all too common, particularly in private, owner-controlled businesses and during times of economic crisis such as has been precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do you ever find yourself alarmed by the stark contrast in ecological attitudes between friends, family and colleagues? For many, net zero targets are a top priority. Others’ mindsets vary, with some making small adjustments to their way of life, and some refusing any personal responsibility.

Ask any established business leader for the secrets of their company’s success, and it is almost certain that having inspirational role models – be they other entrepreneurs or businesses - would have played a key role in their growth.

Startups and corporates are often depicted as advisories. The challenger and the incumbent; the plucky upstart and the behemoth. But, in truth, there are an increasing number of partnerships forming between these two groups, particularly when it comes to the development of new technologies.

As any startup founder knows, there’s an ongoing battle that you wage with yourself to do with staffing. More specifically, whether and when to staff up – or to keep trying to spin all the plates yourself. When you’ve grown a business from the ground up, it’s hard to pass responsibility to other people. In fact, I’d liken it to a kind of bittersweet grief; I’m happy things are going so well but it is hard to take a step back and hand the reins over to someone else.

It is true that many people do not like change and shy away from it. But it is equally true that periods of change bring much more opportunity for innovation and for businesses to adapt and pivot and supply products and services to fulfil needs that have opened up or changed in some way. In times of rapid change as we have seen over the last few years then the opportunities are both bigger and more abundant.

Before entering into a potential brand licensing agreement as either a licensor or licensee, it is crucial to have a clear idea of your positioning and future aims for any licensing negotiations. This will help you to achieve a successful licence agreement for you and your business.