Starting a business is a very personal journey and one that requires absolute attention and effort. Entrepreneurs often create businesses that reflect who they are as a person – meaning that personal habits and motivations can commonly creep into business proceedings. However, it’s important to ensure that you recognise when you are doing something for the benefit of the business or yourself because these lines can become blurred when you are at the helm of a startup.

I wanted to write this article for you if you’re a budding entrepreneur who wants to be in charge of your own destiny. Maybe you’re craving that feeling of creating something from nothing. Or perhaps you just want that sense of freedom: taking holidays when you like, doing only what you love and dialling your earnings up and down as much as you please.

23-year-old MedTech start-up founder, Moises Barbera Ramos, attributes his childhood playing team sport as the reason why he has created his own support network while founding his own business, Drill Surgeries.

The past two years have been like no other. The business has been turned on its head and workers have had to rethink the accepted norms multiple times, through multiple lockdowns. The sudden shift to remote working interrupted childcare, and widespread job losses in certain industries have led many workers to rethink their lives and careers. This has contributed to the much talked about great resignation. In just one month last year, almost 3% of the workforce left their jobs, the highest number on record. In the UK, the situation was just as stark with the number of open jobs surpassing one million for the first time.

People who don't think like you help you make better decisions.

Only a handful of people are naturally talented at public speaking, and even fewer genuinely love it. As a result, most people regard the practice of preparing and giving speeches as difficult, uncomfortable, or even boring. Regardless, some level of public speaking is required in several lines of work. You may be instructed to deliver a speech in a private meeting, provide a status report for the whole organisation, or speak at a summit or some other event. Whatever it may be, or however intimidating it may seem, there are measures that can be taken to make preparations and develop your skills.

While hearing the term 'icebreaker' may make many employees want to run for the hills, team building is an important activity for startups to utilise.

Modern working can come with a certain amount of pressure. However, following the pandemic, increased working from home and the blurred boundaries between home life and work life, some employees are becoming increasingly overworked.

Recent statistics indicate that over one in three UK workers see burnout as an evitable part of their career. This, combined with the challenges imposed by remote working, the rising cost of living, and a new world of “living with COVID”, have made it more important than ever before when it comes to the strategies employers have in place to support the wellbeing of their staff.

Have you ever considered running a recruitment business? We caught up with Alex Dick, Managing Director of Alexander Lyons Solutions, who had some thoughtful advice regarding what you need to know if you do. 

Research released by all-in-one HR, benefits and payroll platform Employment Hero has found that British small businesses are facing a rocky road ahead as only 40% of employees feel fairly paid for their work and over half of the workforce have a work-life balance that is average or poor.

In cooperation with the University of Vienna, Arcletic developed a new technology to measure mental performance. Now they bring these mental trainings from elite sports to all high performers smartphones, as a gamified freemium app.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins next week from 21 – 27 March is in the UK, a time dedicated to challenging the biases and misconceptions that surround neurodiversity.

What is a startup? Within my four years of working in the startups industry and community, this may be the question I have been asked the most. However, being completely honest, I don’t believe there is an exact answer.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, often referred to as ADHD, is a condition that affects behaviour, it can lead to a lack of concentration, hyperactivity, restlessness, and impulsive actions. ADHD is commonly identified in childhood, especially at times of transition when symptoms can become more noticeable, such as the start of a new school.

We all know that a healthy lifestyle benefits us in the long run, but we rarely think that exercise can increase our work productivity today. The secret to the beneficial effects of exercise is that new, unfamiliar physical activities cause our brain to wake up and get out of automatic mode. This article will be helpful for those who want to become more successful in their work, increase concentration, relieve stress, strengthen memory and other cognitive functions.

My copywriting business launched when I was going through treatment for cancer, back in the spring of 2015. It was both the perfect and worst possible time to set up. 

Having spoken to thousands of founders and businesses over the years working at Startups Magazine I have quickly learnt that it takes a certain type of person to become an entrepreneur and really pursue growing a business. 

As we enter a new year, and hopefully a more normal year than more recent ones, we wanted to take a look and see what the sector might bring us this year and what trends we maybe graced with in 2022. We spoke to a few names in the entrepreneurial world to ask about their 2022 predictions. 

With a new year comes a new set of exciting opportunities, as well as challenges for every business - meeting set targets and goals, as well as improving organisational strategy and productivity. However, the mental wellbeing of employees and workforces shouldn't be left to the wayside.

A new platform designed to improve the health and wellbeing of employees has announced its plans to raise £1m for charities across the UK in a bid to truly make exercise count.

At CES 2022, innovation within the healthcare industry was at the forefront of many conversations, seminars and exhibitors stands.

Workplace wellness has come under the spotlight in the last few years. Now, a vast number of people are looking beyond the traditional methods of coping with stress and embracing other ways of relaxing, unwinding, and recovering from intense pressure.

With the Omicron variant appearing to have peaked in the UK according to the ONS, research from Infogrid, the smart building platform, has revealed that nearly a third of working Brits (32%) want to return to their offices in January because they feel it would improve their mental health, which has been impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   

The idea of Blue Monday (17th Jan) has persisted in culture despite it now being widely dismissed as pseudoscience and a clever PR trick. It suggests that our fears and anxieties culminate on one specific day, when in reality they fluctuate throughout the year.

Winter is here, and so is a higher chance of catching the common cold, flu, or norovirus. As we spend more time indoors, we’re more likely to be exposed to germs and transmit infections to one another. 

Hiring the best talent for your startup is an essential step towards building a sustainable organisation. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to hiring. Just imagine the skills and competencies required across the industries, the business models, and the various functions within your company.

As a business owner, your wellbeing and ability to deal with the demands of your company is inextricably linked to the wellbeing and longevity of your business.

With COVID-19 rapidly altering the nature of the workplace to one that's more digital and flexible, the debate about the future -  and the purpose - of the office continues. As society adapts to post-pandemic life, businesses need to figure out how to accommodate their employees’ desire for flexibility while navigating all the difficulties that come with the lack of regular in-person contact with their team. Hybrid working appears to be the solution, but comes with its own challenges.

Sufferers of chronic illness or those with disabilities are afforded a fair level of protection in the workplace under UK employment law. But can the same be said about women going through the menopause, a proportion of whom will endure a number of debilitating and severe symptoms?

If you’ve stumbled upon this article then the chances are, you’re on the cusp of submitting your very first tax return, with an impending HMRC deadline looming over you. Don’t worry if you’re feeling a little lost and confused at this point - you certainly aren’t alone. Tax returns are confusing, so we’re here with a whistle-stop step-by-step on how to complete your tax return.

After a long-winded eighteen months of distancing and lockdowns, Britain rejoiced as restrictions were lifted. Many of us were hoping to throw the ultimate festive bash to mark the end of another difficult year, especially as last year’s office celebrations were entirely online.

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. Digital transformation is disrupting so many areas of our lives and over the next decade we will see it continue to advance areas such as training, learning and education.

The life of an entrepreneur, especially in the initial stages of founding and growing a new company, is often marked by long, gruelling hours spent working alone. Though being your own boss is one of the main attractions to starting your own business, it is an inherently risky endeavour that can leave you making critical decisions alone, and ultimately shouldering a lot of responsibility.

How our mental health has been affected by COVID-19 depends on age – according to a new global consumer survey.

One of the most effective ways of telling your story is by building your network. As any business scales it will inevitably deal with an ever-increasing number of customers and suppliers, as well as partners or enablers such as providers of all the myriad of services that will be required.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from COP26, it’s that we’ve a long way to go before we hit our CO2 emissions targets of which the transport industry is one of the biggest contributors. The sector accounts for 23% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, and so, if businesses neglect to place sustainability at the crux of their strategies, they’re likely to fall behind, fast. 

Technology, notably salon software, has grown to become a crucial piece of salon business management. From marketing, managing employees, to inventory management, technology is helping salon managers streamline operations and get more done for less time and money.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for employees to return to the workplace, the United States Department of Labor is acting on an executive order from the Biden administration which requires all companies with more than 100 employees to issue vaccination passports or agree to frequent COVID testing, as a part of their day-to-day business activities.

There are many reason for people to require storage for their items. Whether you’re moving house, needing somewhere to store your shop’s extra stock, or just want somewhere to put valuable and sentimental items when you don’t have room at home, storage lots can be incredibly helpful. Finding somewhere safe to put your things isn’t always the easiest thing to do though and choosing the right place can feel like a struggle. We’ve put together a short list of the questions you should be asking before committing to a decision on your storage, and why these questions are so important.

Shruti Chawla and Johanna Bolinder are on a mission. As Head of Marketing and Head of Health and Sustainability at Spoon Guru, they are part of the startups quest to make food shopping smarter and easier for everyone.

With it being International Stress Awareness Week (1-5 November), Alex Hattingh shares five tips for overcoming occupational stress, a huge concern across every business.

The modern workplace is rapidly becoming an increasingly competitive place in the post-pandemic environment. Ultimately, such high competition in the office leads to a lot of stress and strife. As colleagues and other staff members become sick, the remaining ones have to take the slack. 

A recent Utility Bidder article reveals that hybrid working offices could save businesses up to a net of £1.6bn. 

From the time of your initial idea, you will have been thinking of all the very many steps necessary of turning your vision into reality. One of the first steps when starting up is to consider how you will build your market, and as you scale this will remain at the forefront of all that you need to do. 

In the UK, the percentage of small businesses dominate the economy. Of all UK firms, 99% are considered small businesses and 60% of the workforce is employed by small business firms. Amazon has over 17,000 small business partners in London alone and these small businesses recorded over £970m sales just last year.

Successful companies understand that its workforce is its biggest asset. Their collective knowledge and skills set a company apart from its competitors, making them the backbone of the organisation. Therefore, arguably the greatest investment you can make is in your people.  

As we recently celebrated World Mental Health Day and National Work Life Week, Employment Hero is asking employers to step up for their workforce, because it’s important that employees who do their jobs well should be able to earn opportunities for expanded responsibilities and training for job advancement. Don’t let employee recognition end after a few nice words.

With most of the Covid-related restrictions having been eased, the UK is currently in the process of establishing a new normal in the post-pandemic era. One lockdown trend that appears to have cemented a long-term future is flexible working, with employees dividing their time between office and home working. With this in mind, many business owners are keen to reassess existing leases, with an eagerness to include a break clause in agreements.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the cost of acquiring a customer to purchase products. It works along with the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). CAC is an important term for growth businesses.

Don’t take a ‘one size fits all approach’ - Unless there’s a critical reason to, avoid blatantly assigning learning modules or courses to your staff members. By doing so, you’re ignoring your individual team members’ unique interests, skills and goals. You’re also making learning less compelling.

I didn’t mean to, it just happened, I stumbled into the world of the tech start up. I was that mum who was scrolling in the early hours whilst feeding my baby. I was trying to find something to do the next day to avoid the anxiety of being in the house with a baby to entertain for the whole day. I realised that I was searching across multiple websites, social media platforms and getting frustrated by constantly finding out of date classes, mixed messages or trying to find the answers to whether this is a good class for me and Ruby, bleary-eyed at 2.00 am. How did I know what was good for my baby’s age? Who was going to be there? Where was it? Is it even still running?

We’ve all had those days. You plough through your to-do list, smashing items off one by one. You get to the end of the day having achieved everything you set out to and yet… you feel awful. You’re probably mentally checking out of tomorrow already. If you have lots of days like this, you’re either heading for burnout, or you’ve already been there and not heeded the lessons.

Last year, my friend Laura, and I co-founded Tally Market. We’ve raised our first investment round, onboarded over 400 venues and learned a lot along the way. Here’s the backstory behind how we made it happen.

Millions of Americans have left the workforce due to the ongoing public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women were particularly impacted since many of them had to sacrifice their job and become the primary caretakers of their children due to school and daycare closures. Many companies may be at risk of losing some of their best and brightest employees if they don’t figure out how to accommodate female workers with children.

It goes without saying that the past two years have been, for the most part, unpredictable. In both our professional and personal lives, we’ve all had to pivot and adapt to situations we never thought imaginable. In fact, according to the World Uncertainty Index (Ahir) we’re living in the most uncertain time in human history. 

Initially, burnout was a term coined for the helping professions like nurses or doctors, but has now been extended to include others. It can affect anyone, from corporate workers to small business owners, celebrities, overworked employees, and stay-at-home parents.

This week marks National Worklife Week, a national event celebrated to raise awareness of workplace wellbeing and worklife balance. As we look beyond 2021, businesses must make employee wellbeing initiatives a focus. Providing access to health services, promoting work-life balance and career progression opportunities, are all steps employers can take to boost employee wellbeing.

Times are changing, and the world is tilting towards working remotely rather than working in an office space. There have been waves of coronavirus that led employers to make the difficult but urgent decision to make employees work from home.

We all know how important it is to get that right work and life balance, but as an entrepreneur it can be difficult. As this week is National Work Life Week, we wanted to highlight the many factors that can contribute to your high-stress levels, some such as lack of sleep and getting sick. But did you know that all three of these actually go hand-in-hand? 

Many businesses across the world will be celebrating International Week of Happiness at Work this week, which focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of all employees within a business.

Accounting for 99% of all companies and 77% of the workforce, according to McKinsey, small and medium-size enterprises are, by far, the largest commercial segment in the UK.

Team leaders have a lot on their plate: not only do they have to skilfully manage the egos, personalities and collective focus of a group of people, they also have a responsibility to their boss to deliver results.

Work-life balance is my lover and spreading its joy with others is one of my reasons for living (we are in a very open relationship, please join). But we’ve not always been so close.

In what has been both a mentally and organisationally testing period for many, businesses need to ensure they’re taking every action to support their employees’ mental health and encourage employees to make decisions that prioritise their mental and physical wellbeing.

Mental health charity, Oakleaf, which is based in Guildford and supports people through training and wellbeing social activities, has partnered with Professional Training Solutions (PTS), a provider of employability, apprenticeship courses and training programmes. PTS works across London, Surrey and the South East, and together they will deliver an employability programme to help individuals get started or return to a work environment. 

There’s a common misconception that exporting services and goods are reserved for the big leagues. In fact, from natural teas to blue-light blocking screen protectors and men’s cosmetics, there are thousands of small businesses in the UK that are going global and sharing their products with the rest of the world.

Having decided that the entrepreneurial life is for you, it is then necessary to think about how you will actually make that best happen. The specific legal structure that you choose is only the vehicle used to transform your ideas into reality, and your theory into sales and profit. 

Important conversations surrounding mental health have grown, particularly over the past year, however this is not always translating into meaningful actions that support and protect everyone in the workplace. 

For anyone starting a business there is that delicious and intoxicating mixture of excitement tinged with fear. Both these are driven by stepping into the unknown and doing something new. Doing anything new or different will always present new challenges, and the further outside of your personal experience or comfort zone any new enterprise is, then potentially the larger those challenges will be.

Today, we all live a fast-paced life, rushing from one place to another, one task to another, one thing to another, and so on. This hasty lifestyle has introduced a lot of stress in our lives and the year 2020 further added a lot of anxiety to our already stressful lifestyle with the global spread of the pandemic. If life has turned into a challenging affair for you because of the pandemic or any other reasons and you are eager to find peace, hope, bliss, and inner joy again, it’s time for you to embrace mindfulness.

Autumn is already upon us and the nights are drawing in - Christmas is only just round the corner. However, this isn’t always a reason for small businesses to celebrate. The calendar year-end can often coincide with tricky cashflow gaps for smaller companies which can lead to some less than silent nights for business owners. Here are some tips on why it may be worth thinking ahead now and looking at company finances in advance, to avoid getting some unsightly lumps of coal in the company stocking instead of a winter celebration. 

The past few decades have been all about the myriad physical benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise. We all know about the improvements in our cardiovascular health, not to mention decreased blood pressure and much lesser risks of developing various diseases. 

According to Edays, 41% of respondents felt that their workplace has had a negatively impact on their wellbeing during the pandemic.

With 1 in 4 of us actively looking to move roles right now, how can businesses minimise the risk of losing the best of their team to the ‘Great Resignation’? It starts with wellbeing.

Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Automotive, was instrumental in the creation of the 9-5 model in the early 1900’s. Following the passing of the eight-hour workday in Illinois in 1867, Ford was one of the first (or at least most well-known) business people to implement this change within his own company.

The market for startups these days is red-hot. According to PitchBook Data Inc, in the US alone the venture industry raised $73.6bn in 2020, well above the previous high of $68.1bn set in 2018.

Starting a business is a huge commitment. As a brand-new startup founder, it can be difficult to prioritise your health and wellness when you’re trying to build your client base, create and submit invoices, manage team members, and ensure everything runs smoothly. It can feel like a lot of pressure on your shoulders.

It’s not unusual to pick at the odd spot, or to yank out a hair growing in the wrong place. But have you ever felt a burning urge to keep picking at your skin until it bleeds, or felt an uncontrollable need to yank out more and more strands of your hair, eyebrows or lashes?

The impact of COVID-19 has seen many organisations asking their employees to work part of their time at the workplace and part remotely, as hybrid working becomes the norm for many of us.

Nicky Story, a 30 year old from South Yorkshire, started his business from his garage just five years ago. He is now the owner of a multi-million pound business empire and the CEO of Supplies For Candles, The Soap Kitchen and Glassprints.

The pandemic has provided a clear illustration that the link between money and our mental health is just as strong as we think. 

The impact of COVID-19 has brought many changes to the world of business and innovation. In this continually evolving process, the current paradigm is being challenged in almost all areas across the board, from hybrid work practices to a focus on up-skilling and bringing wellbeing centre stage.

Remote work has transformed all aspects of our professional lives, and this includes interviewing and recruitment. Video conferencing has enabled businesses and applicants to carry out an interview process in a fairly similar way to in-person interviews, but there is much that businesses need to consider and look out for when recruiting and interviewing for remote positions - the typical interview questions no longer cut it.

Business credit ratings have been around for a long time and are seen as being directly connected to the financial capability of a company, but despite this many companies don’t maintain an awareness of them and don’t fully understand the impact they can have on day-to-day operations and growth.

Trade shows, trade fairs or exhibitions – whatever your preferred term – the format is not to every business owners’ taste and in many cases get a bad rap. However, some of the biggest entrepreneurs including Phil ‘Shoe Dog’ Knight, founder of Nike, and Patagonia’s owner Yvon Chouinard, relate pivotal points in their businesses having taken place at B2B trade shows.  

Over the last year, many of us have become very familiar with remote working. However, as we begin to return to normality, you’re probably wondering – what now? Is everything going to go back to the way it was pre-pandemic, or are we going to use this experience to change the way we work for good? It’s a decision that your leadership team needs to make together and back 100%, so how do you get them on board?

The pandemic has affected businesses across all sectors, with many having to navigate a broad range of issues from customer and employee safety to adapting operations and following government guidelines.

Covid has caused a massive shift in what people want, driving many millennials to bring their entrepreneurial dreams to life, but it’s important to note that getting started with your own business doesn’t just happen overnight. It is a long process that requires a lot of dedication and time.  

With restrictions set to lift imminently, allowing workers a return to the office, workplaces will no doubt be quickly planning their summer office parties. At Just Eat for Business, we’ve already seen a spike in companies planning their get-togethers to increase the social interaction and employee wellbeing we’ve been lacking post- work from home. 

Let’s face it, “business as usual” is killing us. Short-term thinking, corporate greed, mass consumption, and endless extraction and exploitation in the pursuit of profit has put us on a fast-track to climate breakdown and human misery.

When it comes to punching above your weight, the UK’s startups know all there is to know. These ambitious and entrepreneurial small businesses are vital to the overall health of the UK economy, contributing some £196 billion each year.

Our new-found, post-pandemic ability to work from home has certainly brought benefits for many of us. No more long commute, no more interruptions at your desk and the ability to work from anywhere...

In June of 2020, the US Supreme Court handed down a ruling that barred employers from discriminating against queer and transgender employees. This was the latest of many fights happening worldwide to introduce or strengthen legislation to protect the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.

What exactly is an Advisory Board and why is it so important to growing your business? This is a question that I am often asked by founders of early stage businesses.  Thankfully, as questions go, it is one of the easiest to answer and, indeed, one of those topics that can make a fundamental difference to your business.

Black Tech Fest calls on businesses to take further action to ensure greater awareness and racial parity for Black people working within tech.

This week (14th-20th June 2021) is Men’s Health Week. Physical and mental wellbeing have been important considerations for leaders over the past year and it is essential this focus is maintained as we build back for the future. Here we have asked five experts for practical tips leaders can implement to create healthy workplace cultures.

With another month to wait before lockdown eases, this doesn't need to be bad news for businesses. Instead, leaders can use this as an opportunity to refresh the way their workplace operates.