With COVID-19 restrictions rushing businesses to channel their resources online, 2020 marked an unprecedented turn in building an efficient marketing strategy with great emphasis on premium website content.

The first lockdown had a profound impact on education as students were told to study at home - a location that doubled as the new office of their parents, ultimately creating a co-working cocktail with a sharp aftertaste. Children were unable to learn in classrooms or see friends while parents were acting as teachers during working hours.

Parenting in 2021 is not easy. Even before the arrival of the pandemic, juggling work and childcare was a challenge and as we spend more time in lockdown, many parents are taking the time to re-evaluate their lives – or come up with ingenious services or inventions aimed specifically at people just like them. According to a 2019 article, Forbes refers to the ‘new mom economy’ as an estimated $46 Billion millennial parenting market, clearly showing it’s benefits and popularity.

The great idea has started to come to fruition. You are excited about the future for your business and yourself. You have a team in place, and you have got the startup started. The investment market has predetermined that you should go and look for investment to drive your business forward. A good majority of startups follow this route without question.

This is arguably one of the toughest times to run a small business. The FSB this month published figures that suggest that nearly 5% of UK small companies expect to be forced to close within 12 months, the largest proportion in the history of the Small Business Index. If accurate it would mean that 295,000 companies will shut down this year. How can you be sure that you’re not part of this statistic?

For small business owners, 2020 was all about adaptability. You adapted the way you do business, the way your team operates, the way you offer support to clients and employees. A lot was asked of you, but the old answers no longer applied. We learned a lot in 2020, but what’s next? And how can we get ready for the twists and turns that lie ahead? Great HR and remote working practices will be key to being a successful employer in 2021 and beyond.

International founders can now submit their applications for the Future Hamburg Award conferred by the City of Hamburg. With this startup award, Germany's economic hub aims to support innovative solutions for the city of tomorrow. Innovative startups from around the world are invited to submit their projects until 31st March 2021 here.

New data from SeedLegals has revealed a surge in investment from family and friends over the last year, which has helped to prop-up new and existing startups.

Email marketing is a fundamental part of business communications, but how many are customers actually reading? According to a recent survey by af2m (French Association for the Development of Multi-Operator Multimedia Services and Uses), only 20% – far fewer than most marketing teams would care to admit. Is there a better way to reach your customers?  Research by af2m has found that SMS campaigns are blessed with a 90% open rate within three minutes of receipt!

You can’t be what you can’t see. This is a phrase that crops up time and time again. We often see organisations pledge to take action to boost the number of opportunities for LGBT+ professionals to take up leadership positions; however there is still a lack of visible LGBT+ role models across business.

Embracing digital, diversifying products and services and accessing emergency finance – particularly Bounce Back Loans - were found to be the top ways small firms have survived the covid-19 crisis so far, according to a new report from Small Business Britain that offers firms advice on how to be resilient in a crisis.

If we learned anything from 2020, it's that the world is changing faster than expected and that new trends are shaping our realities. For businesses, this means increased pressure to adapt and remain relevant to their customers.

As I write this, from my living room floor (don’t judge me, since lockdown started I’ve noticed it helps me get creative when I’m writing) we’re still in a global pandemic and I’m just about getting used to all that isolation life has to offer. But as I interview the two brains behind a luxury British accessories brand that specialises in creating stylish contactless payment accessories, Tovi Sorga and Agnes Davis, I can’t help but think about how timely this interview is.

Here’s how you can get off to the right start. Just because the world is more unpredictable than now than it has ever been in our lifetimes, it does not mean that you can afford to let your business opportunities get away from you.

GoDaddy, the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, has released new research which finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in young people starting their own businesses in the UK.