A blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group that is written in an informal or conversational style.

Perhaps the pandemic made you reassess your working life, or maybe you’ve always planned to start your own business and are ready and raring to go. Either way, if you’ve decided to go it alone, you’ll need to be prepared for the multiple challenges – and rewards – being a business owner will bring.

The backlash against the recent decision by OnlyFans to ban content depicting 'sexually explicit conduct' from its platform - and its subsequent U-turn in the face of that backlash - can serve as an important lesson for startups in how (and how not) to communicate news around big business decisions that might impact their customer base. 

Whether these businesses will opt for working from home full time or hybrid working - where employees split their time between home and the office - remains somewhat unclear at this point. For some, a return to pre-pandemic office life is on the cards, but for others, there's simply no going back to the way things were.

The modern companies that are looking to get maximum returns on investment have to concentrate on developing human capital difference by using effective training and development programs for their staff to improve their productivity. The workforce of an organisation is a valuable asset for any company.

Working at Thrasio, one of the fastest-growing acquirers of Amazon third-party FBA brands, you learn how Amazon sellers can adapt their offering and remain competitive as consumers return to the high street.

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.

Imagine stepping into a health shop after a long day at work. You’re on the hunt for a multivitamin that will kick the fatigue that’s been following you for weeks. You want to be engaged and productive, but you wake up tired, and you have trouble focusing when you need to give it your all. Let me introduce you to Feel. We caught up with founder Boris Hodakel to find out more on the startup.

There are strong indications that many proprietors are seeking to diversify in the post-pandemic world, whilst others are looking to take advantage of the increased interest from overseas investors following the UK’s departure from the EU.

A new survey of 2,000 UK adults has revealed the fate of COVID-inspired business launches.

We don’t often address mental health in male-domintated sectors, despite well-being becoming a more accepted topic in mainstream media. There is a lingering macho stoicism surrounding the conversation about the toll that raising capital can take on business leaders, which is perhaps no wonder in a field where the pursuit of work-life balance is seen as a weakness.

COVID-19 introduced new changes and accelerated already existing ones in the ways we work and interact with one another within our organisations. As we adjust to the new ways of working and work at breakneck speed to return back to normality, Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, Chief Strategy Officer at FinTech company Blend Network, argues that it is more important than ever for businesses and their leaders to champion inclusive growth.   

When it comes to holistic living, doctors, psychologists, and life coaches have a lot to say. It’s not really the place of business founders to be handing out lessons, after all, they’re known for being work-obsessed and putting in long hours. But, they do know a thing or two about what it's like starting and growing a business, 

We’re currently in the midst of what many are calling a 'startup boom'. More than 4.4 million new businesses have been created in the US since last March, according to the Census Bureau - the highest amount ever seen since records began in 2004. 

Rocket Academy, a startup providing online coding courses, has announced it has raised $1.1m in pre-seed funding. The investment comes from a consortium of 50 marquee tech investors and venture capitalists including entrepreneurs Darius Cheung from 99.co, Marcus Tan from Carousell and Stanley Tang from DoorDash, former Singapore Ambassador to the UN Kishore Mahbubani, SEA tech leaders’ investment network XA Network, and VC firms Taurus Ventures and Hustle Fund.

Chances are, you have probably had some sort of engagement with a chatbot in the past. These technologies are used by an array of organisations, usually in an attempt to create a much more efficient customer experience, and in many circumstances, cut costs along the way. However, these solutions are not always up to the task.

With its recent launch across the Nordic and Baltic states, we caught up with Jonas Sellberg, Co-founder and COO of Staccs, a premium streaming on-demand service for concert video and music documentaries. The new home for concerts on demand, Staccs is set to offer music fans the opportunity to relive their favourite concert moments. Jonas explains to us what Staccs is all about, the journey so far and what lies ahead.

Brilliant female entrepreneurs across the UK are being encouraged to apply to take part in a campaign which showcases inspiring women running their own businesses, and offers support.

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.

New research released by Ricoh Europe revealed that just 35% of employers trust their staff fully while working remotely, with 39% suggesting their people don’t work as hard or effectively as in the office.

2020 saw an uptick of newly registered businesses, with almost half a million (468,371) being registered in the UK, with the most popular startup being in the retail sector. In 2020, there were six million private sector businesses in the UK, up by 112,700 compared to 2019.

With less than three months to go till COP26, the UK, in particular, has a unique opportunity to establish itself as a global hub for sustainability, a world leader in green technology and investment, and a place where all tech businesses join forces to tackle one of the greatest issues of our time.

The pandemic triggered a serious economic shock, giving rise to great uncertainty. CEOs, CFOs, investors and shareholders have had to restructure their financial plan to get to the next stage of growth and recover sales. Moreover, in every company there comes a time when a change is required. This is where we welcome the interim CFO, or in other terms, the prototype of a modern day CFO.

Whilst many say young people have been hugely affected by the pandemic, new polling reveals a new wave of optimism when it comes to the study and the career choices of today’s school leavers.

Pearson College London, part of Pearson, a FTSE 100 and global education company, is inviting early stage startups and entrepreneurs to apply for their annual incubator programme.

It’s fair to say investment banks don’t have the best reputation for offering employees the perfect work/life balance, but one such firm - Numis - is setting out to change things.

Launching a business can be one of the most exciting yet nerve-racking decisions we can make. Once we've taken the leap, nothing says ‘venturing out into the unknown’ more than that common question: “What are you doing about marketing?”

Educational institutions worldwide are leveraging technology provide to learners with better educational resources. Students are no longer dependent on a single teacher or instructor's knowledge to learn their subject. They have access to a world of information at their fingertips.

The mental health of employees should be a concern for all companies, regardless of size. Creating a culture that supports mental health is not only a moral - and often legal - imperative, but also business savvy. The consequences of a workforce with poor mental health are expensive. Proactive, innovative strategies in relation to employee mental health should therefore be part of all company toolkits.

Hannah Holland, Managing Director and founder of HLD Management, HLD Models, HLD Studios, Levelled Up: The Podcast, a leading female lead management company, is a strong powerful female entrepreneur. Since its inception in 2019, HLD has quickly grown to become a leader in the female Talent Management industry. We caught up with Hannah to find out more about her, her journey and HLD Management.

Over 80 budding entrepreneurs from across the UK are participating in the Santander X Entrepreneurship Awards 2021 and are in with a chance of receiving up to £75,000 of business development support at the competition final, due to take place at Wembley Stadium in London in October.

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.  

There’s no denying that high-profile influencer marketing, when executed well, can drive a mass of traffic and word of mouth hype. But now thanks to ASA laws, influencers now have to be transparent when working with brands on these campaigns, which can leave customers feeling unsure as to whether an influencer is being authentic. As a result, a brand's reputation can take a massive hit. 

A pioneering scheme designed to support startup businesses and stimulate growth in Wales is showcasing the best of innovation and tech talent in August.

Sir Dave Brailsford led the Great British cycling team to unparalleled success during his era as Performance Director between 2003 and 2014. The team went from the periphery of world cycling to winning over 150 gold medals across the 10 years he was in the role.

Thinkific Labs, a platform for creating, marketing, and selling online courses, today announced the launch of the third annual Think in Color Summit.

 

Four cutting-edge UK technology startups will now have the opportunity to develop minimum viable products (MVPs) to help industry titans digitise and improve their manufacturing processes, after being selected to go through to the final stage of Digital Catapult’s Made Smarter Technology Accelerator Programme.

Northern-based volunteer collective, Fund Her North, which brings together women in the investment industry to support Northern female founders, has launched the region’s only female angel syndicate, Women Angels of the North.

This topic is probably one of those that were lost on very few people from the industry. But if this piece could save another startup founder from making a move that would affect their relationship with investors and probably jeopardise the whole fundraising process, I'll try my chances.

Do you ever wonder how long you spend scrolling on social media platforms? Or, have you ever found yourself deep in a TikTok binge until the early hours of the morning? It’s a remarkably common occurrence, and it’s not your fault: social media apps are intentionally designed with addictive features. This comes at a big cost for both our physical and mental health.

I’m a big believer in reading. It’s always relaxed me and offered guidance in surprising ways. As a founder who set up a company in my 20s, I read every entrepreneur book I could get my hands on at the time, desperate to soak up some wisdom from those who had made a success of their businesses.

An effective SEO strategy doesn't always mean you have to work hard, but it always requires you to work smart. Whether you just launched a website or your website's SEO needs a different approach, there is always room to improve regardless of the business type, size, or industry. SEO expert at UENI, Matt Reevy, shares 7 handy online marketing tips to help you upgrade your website's SEO and help boost your business.

A major part in delivering a successful campaign is to ensure you have the right people behind your brand. By having the best individuals to represent your product or service, the better engagement you’ll have with consumers. When it comes to creating your ideal team, there are some important factors to consider. From personality, knowledge, skills, attitude to experience. If you can tick all of these, then the greater impact your campaign will have.

It’s easy to understand the alure of starting up and running your own business; the highly attractive personal, professional and financial rewards bring a great degree of job satisfaction. But there is no doubt that the pressures can sometimes be all-consuming.

Apple announced big updates for iCloud and iOS 15 at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference this June, with a particular focus on privacy and data tracking. Newly unveiled features from the tech giant include the ability for users to load remote content privately without disclosing their IP, as well as using 'burner' email accounts to sign up for email offers.

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.

Since the 1990s media artist Chris Hales has taken a solo DIY approach to create interactive film installations and performances that have been shown worldwide. His current interest is in customised film, in which user data (a video grab, a voice recording, selfie photo, or text responses) is incorporated into a short film in humorous ways, giving a personal experience for each user.

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.  

The education sector is often called out due to its difficulty to implement change - whether that is because institutions have legacy systems in place, do not have the time it takes to adopt new technologies, or the affordability aspect. To understand how the education industry as a whole can take the necessary steps forward and achieve its long-anticipated digital transformation, we must first look at the key barriers holding it back.

Are you sitting on an idea for a brilliant new app or digital product? Perhaps you have already started the process into making that idea a reality but it is taking too long or just not coming out exactly as you had imagined? At Intrface, we specialise in helping start-ups develop and realise their vision with methods such as Rapid Validation and something we like to call: The Design Sprint 2.0.

Today’s workforce is increasingly becoming more age-diverse, with more workers staying in employment into their later years and delaying retirement to secure a better financial future for themselves and their loved ones.

There is no doubt that consumer demand for sustainable options is on the increase. It is now becoming a huge factor in the choices buyers make when shopping for goods. A recent survey conducted by Deloitte found that 32% of consumers are highly engaged with adopting a more sustainable lifestyle, with 61% of respondents saying they have limited their use of single use plastic, and 34% have chosen brands with environmentally sustainable practices and values.

The restrictions the coronavirus pandemic has placed on thousands of businesses and their ability to trade normally has forced many more companies than ever before to shift their products and services online.

The internet is awash with help and advice for business owners. With all this information at your fingertips, is it worth having a dedicated mentor? The short answer is yes, without a doubt.

The past year has seen many industries navigate a multitude of challenges and shifts to remain operational. However, as we emerge from a post-pandemic landscape, it’s time for organisations to gather their bearings and analyse how their business has fared over the past year and what long-term implications the global lockdown could have had on them.

Education doesn’t finish after school. With further qualifications required to move up in fields as diverse as healthcare, beauty therapy and construction, there’s a huge opportunity for edtech to help employers manage training. But how do you introduce your product to industries with plenty of trainees, but low tech adoption?

Money, dedication, sleepless nights - maybe even some failure along the way. Starting an ecommerce store can be a daunting task, but nothing matches the feeling once you start to reap the rewards of all that hard work.

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. 

Companies providing services like home workouts, high-end meal kits and even crochet tutorials all have boomed during the pandemic. Not everyone has had a smooth path through the pandemic though; businesses have had to become more agile and invest in technology. Many entrepreneurs and individuals have adjusted their attitudes, spending more time on worthy causes or making sure they are planning for their own futures.

Innovate UK is releasing new data which reveals the proportion of women setting up businesses has not only remained stagnant at just over a quarter of the total number of new businesses for the last decade, but seen a slight dip since 2010/11 when it was at 28.7%, compared to 27.3% today. Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Awards looks to help balance the playing field in business by providing more support to female entrepreneurs from across the UK.

As we approach the end of compulsory remote working, many businesses are retaining some element within their operations. Remote working technology enabled virtual connectivity when physical proximity wasn’t possible, but how has this affected business operations in the long-term? Here we explore the impact of remote working technology on business and society.

Are work ethics losing their relevance to the pursuit of profits and ambitious objectives of growth? In contemporary times, there is a paradigm shift in the hiring strategies of most organisations. The great focus of business owners is to hire employees with versatile skills and creative perspectives. Without a doubt, this is the way forward to create an agile and competent workforce. As a business owner, you need an accomplished workforce exhibiting inspiring skills. However, what about their work ethics? Are you underplaying the significance of work ethics?

Fraud has always affected business and it can be particularly devastating for those companies that are in the start-up phase.  A recent report has found that fraud (particularly cyber fraud) has increased by 28% in the last year, largely driven by the Covid-19 situation.  This article looks at the warning signs, what might be done to stop it and what to do if you expect that it might be happening.

You’ve come up with a business idea, created your presentation and you already know what needs to be said. The very next step is to find potential investors and persuade them to fund your business proposal. In order to do that, you need to be able to effectively present your business.

The NEXUS ESG Startup Programme is designed to give founders the practical knowledge to launch and scale their creative and digital businesses.

Whether it’s an online fashion business or a breakthrough idea for a new financial service, starting a business today will invariably require some elements of a digital journey between the product or service and the end user, if not in its entirety.

While many industries suffered in 2020 with the ongoing health crisis, cyber crime and in particular ransomware grew significantly. With more time spent online by individuals, and the switch to remote working for many businesses, bad actors recognised the opportunities for increased cyber attacks and grabbed them with both hands. The bad news - this trend is going nowhere in 2021.

The economy has shifted. More and more people are becoming business owners or self-employed, so why are so few entrepreneurial skills taught in schools? From a young age we should all be learning how to innovate, collaborate and communicate effectively so that we are better prepared for the world of work. Edtech is perfectly equipped do this effectively, as well as encourage lifelong learning so that as adults we can all upskill and reskill easily.

Running a small business can be hugely rewarding but also hugely frustrating. You have the perfect product, website and sales process in front of you, but getting in front of the perfect customer, and then scaling this, is a battle that we have all have to face. Often, SMEs will be time poor and resource limited, with individuals covering a range of different roles, making it hard to scale effectively.

The future of the office remains uncertain, and the recent speculation around changes to the right to work away from the office only muddies the waters further. Regardless, many large businesses such as Amazon are already planning their return to an office-centric culture to enable collaboration. Google also revealed that 60% of its workforce would be in the office a few days a week, with only 20% of the workforce working remotely.

Every three seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s. And although there are currently 44 million people worldwide living with the disease, there has been no new treatment approved in the last 14 years and over 400 clinical studies have failed. There has been €540bn spent on Alzheimer’s and Dementia globally. It has also been estimated that the number of Alzheimer’s patients are expected to triple by 2050.

Leading sports travel operator, Sportsbreaks.com, are the first platform to provide match breaks for Chelsea’s 2021/22 Premier League fixtures. With the announcement of their Official Ticket and Hotel Breaks for the upcoming Premier League campaign, Chelsea fans can purchase their tickets from £129pp. Thanks to Sportsbreaks.com, fans can beat the rush, and secure their Premier League match breaks before they go on general sale.

In today’s world where technology continues to innovate, and automation is a large key to success, the benefits of using multiple SaaS (Software as a Service) are phenomenal. From subscription focused ones, such as Profitwell, which works to reduce churn and shows Monthly Revenue Per User to team communication-based products such as Slack, which allow internal and external communication and automation to happen in synchronicity.

More people than ever before are using their smartphones to browse the internet - 90% of the world’s internet population in fact! As such, it is essential that start-ups are equipped to deal with the demand by optimising their websites for mobile and developing apps to help reach and engage with customers more effectively. 

Women trying to return to the engineering industry after a career break are more likely to experience recruitment bias than men, according to a survey by STEM Returners.

Whilst many people enjoy watching the sparring between business angels on TV this type of investing may feel like something for others i.e., the millionaire business owners.  Because of this, rather than exploring this exciting asset class, we put our investments into safer options we are more familiar with such as mutual funds and stocks. Gavin Heys, Envestors Private Investment Club explains.

UnderPinned has hit its funding target of over £500k within an hour of going live on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Having quadrupled their community and launched accelerator programme with day one profitability since their last round, they’re raising to amplify marketing and further enter US & European markets.

Legal & Governance Hub, are a business law consultancy supporting startups, scaleups and SMEs. I am Gulnaz the Founder who trained at a startup boutique law firm, which was my first real exposure to learning about business. I worked in marketing, finance and even sales with my own client following! Starting my career in a startup was a great move, I had lots of responsibility and autonomy.

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.

When launching their business, entrepreneurs get very excited at the prospects of finding clients, but also anxious about how to do it. While there are many priorities for them in terms of business operations, building up the right teams, or maintaining their cash flow, organic marketing isn’t one that should be neglected or postponed.

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

To help catalyse London’s green recovery from the pandemic, ReLondon today launched a support package to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reap the financial and environmental benefits of the circular economy. 

Do you believe the next generation of tech giants will be European? At Scale-Up Europe, we do. That’s why, a few days ago, our group of stakeholders from across the world of European technology innovation presented a shared ambition for the continent to house 10 technology companies valued more than €100bn by 2030.

Closing the skills gap in organisations and industries around the world has a key role to play in our pandemic recovery. Factors such as geography, poor infrastructure, financial hardship and a lack of public resources are preventing many from accessing training that could transform their futures. Yet recent research shows that if digitally lagging sectors—such as manufacturing, mining, healthcare and education—double their use of digital tools, Europe alone could add €2.5 trillion to its GDP by 2025. 

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.

New app matches pitchers with retail buyers and investors using 30 second video pitches. Serial retail technology entrepreneur, Chris Brown, has launched the world’s first ‘speed-dating for business’ mobile app, Pitchsocial.

Marketing spend has risen to record levels since the pandemic. PR and marketing have become business lifelines, boosting resilience and reputation throughout a challenging time. A large part of the focus has been on retaining customers and marketing efforts have become highly targeted with brand loyalty as a key driver. Approaches are increasingly personalised with customers treated as individuals and humanised to drive authenticity and credibility.

Having a strong reliable team is at the heart of building any successful sustainable business that is why investors say they invest in people not ideas. Many entrepreneurs overthink the ideas, the plans, the strategies, and underestimate the importance of building the team of people who will actually execute and turn these ideas into reality.

There are many resources that can walk you through the business basics: what to plan for, what numbers to crunch, and how to move forward. But there are a few things that we forget, or worse - things that we were never told about to begin with!

Starting a successful business at 30 and older may be daunting, especially if you have family and financial obligations. However, if you test the concept, write a plan, create a marketing strategy and find your customers, you will succeed.

The famous Chinese proverb stating that 'a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' is often wrongly accredited to Confucius, but whether it was him, Lao Tzu, or it is simply used in everyday life, does not alter the fact that it is, of course, true. And it is just as true that little steps normally lead to big steps.

With remote working and other scenarios caused by the pandemic increasing cybersecurity risks for businesses big and small alike, the team of experts at CloudCoCo have put together the following cyber security tips for small businesses.

Pioneering tech startups will have the chance to join the UK’s cyber security experts in their mission to keep the country safe online thanks to a new initiative.

The way in which businesses across the country work has transformed exponentially since March 2020, with entire workforces suddenly told to operate remotely. Some organisations thrived, with their cloud solutions and unified communication tools empowering them to adopt a remote working ethos with ease. On the other hand, those with more rigid and antiquated processes have found this sudden shift jarring. 

A survey of real estate and IT professionals across a range of industries has revealed that better remote working technology is perceived to be twice as important as workplace testing.

In anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry, one of the theories that is often discussed relates to whether certain actions and activities are the result of nature or nurture. In so many ways, this ‘nature Vs Nurture’ question is also the same in business, and how it affects the next steps taken by any business – especially early stage ones that are growing.

I founded Just Helpers after seeing first-hand the exploitation which migrant workers – and particularly women – were experiencing in our cities. I wanted to offer an alternative – a cleaning business which paid fairly, offered decent working conditions and developed potential in our people.

Have you ever wondered that why is leadership development important for every workplace? The most straightforward answer to this question is that leadership skills ensure the team stays on track, achieves goals, and keeps the business profitable.

The challenges faced by small businesses over the past year have had a profound impact on global economies. This is unsurprising given that they account for more than two-thirds of global employment and contribute up to half of national global GDP.

While the heroic abilities of the NHS have been on display throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the last year has also exposed the longstanding limitations and frailties of our underfunded healthcare system.  

Many people see processing a payroll as a monotonous task and one to leave to the pen-pushers. However, having a successful process leads to employees being paid the right amount, on time. Payroll is a large part of the day-to-day running of a business and has over recent years become burdensome on business with the introduction of regular electronic filings and auto-enrolment compliance for pensions. There are also many penalty provisions available to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to penalise for incorrect and late filings.

The Inspiring Fifty UK awards, hosted by accelerateHER, opens nominations to spotlight women excelling in technology careers across the UK and showcase 50 incredible trailblazing leaders.

Meet Disco: A combination of improved purchasing power and super-safe security structures, extension features a referral program within the add-on, and auto-fill shopping cart for all the favourite merchants.

Following on from 'Unexpected Tips for Business Growth: Part 1', here are three more tips taken from successful entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs who know what it takes to not only survive tough times, but to thrive in them.

Sometimes in life it can pay to watch, observe, and to take no immediate action. But there are also many times in life, and in business of course, where by far the best thing to do is to seize the moment. No action, can itself become an action, as events are taken out of your hands or the situation has moved on and left you behind.

Until the early 2000s, banks held almost a monopoly in credit. Around that time, enabled by the emergence of the internet a new type of digital lending started to emerge and with it a new way to invest in private debt: peer-to-peer (P2P) lending.

Winning any award is nice, but it means so much more when that award reflects a mission you’ve intentionally set out to accomplish. For our team at Plux X Brighton, that’s what it meant to pick up the prize for Best In-House Workplace Mental Health Awareness Initiative at the inaugural Company Culture Awards in April. The building is also on track to become the first in South East England to achieve WELL Platinum accreditation from Wellspace, global benchmark setters for wellbeing at work.

As a startup, it’s easy to find yourself admiring a colossal corporation and begin mentally listing all the ways entering into a partnership with it could help you get where you want to be. There's no doubt that the economies of scale, the vast customer reach, and the global brand reputation of a blue-chip player can help elevate a startup company to another level.

We face a forever-altered landscape of communication and commerce. As a native of Ukraine, I have survived difficult times. As an entrepreneur, I have kept my company alive in the face of war and revolution. And, though the details and depth of our situations differ from day to day and person to person, these steps can offer a port in any storm.

There are now over 600 million blogs globally; the U.S.A. alone accounts for 31 million of them, and together they publish over 2.5 billion posts a year (that's 4800 per minute)!

As the country slowly emerges from COVID restrictions, one of the lasting impacts of the pandemic is the mental health crisis it has left behind. For businesses to bounce back, employee wellbeing must become a commercial priority.

“My ‘lightbulb’ moment came when I was wedged into someone’s armpit. Now I want to help other people avoid this and get back to work safely...”. A commuter left frustrated at constantly having to travel on crowded trains has invented an app to help people move around more safely. 

Vaccination against coronavirus began in many countries worldwide, which means that humanity will soon return to everyday life, including working life. Employees and employers can safely return to their offices. Let's talk about how to do it right.

A new business takes a lot of courage, and this holds even for small businesses. Entrepreneurs must exercise their proficiency on different levels - from legal to finances, from marketing to sales, there is a lot to take in before taking off.

In the traditional sense, a marketing approach is usually used to drive sales and a PR strategy is used to build and maintain a positive reputation for a company. The PRCA states that PR is “all about the way organisations communicate with the public, promote themselves, and build positive reputation and public image”.

Sit tight and read keenly as this small piece might change the way you do things in your business. Right, a startup is no less a business than a factory or a shop. And putting processes and procedures in place is a very best practice and my kind advice to you.

Almost every business owner wants to scale their business in one way or another, at one time or another. But that is when the questions start: How do I grow my business? How do I maximise my limited financial resources? What should I do first – hire more staff, spend more on marketing and PR, get bigger premises? So many possible next steps, but which ones are best for you to take first?

So, your business has been doing great locally - but you don’t want to stop there. You want your business to expand on a global scale and reach out to customers across the world. You’ve already taken care of the international process lines you’re going to use to provide global customers with your products or services. But… have you thought about translation?

We are increasingly becoming a cashless society. Cashless payments make payment processing easier than ever before, helping you drive more sales and provide great customer service.

Thanks to COVID-19, remote working has become the ‘new normal’ for many workers across the globe. While many profess to prefer this way of working, the impending re-opening of offices and a gradual return of many colleagues to the 9-5, is causing increasing anxiety to those who will remain almost, or entirely working from home.

Virgin StartUp has released new research to celebrate funding its 4,000th founder. Virgin’s not-for-profit entrepreneurial hub reveals that one in three (33%) Brits dream of becoming an entrepreneur and would like to set up their own business.

As a start up business owner there is no doubt that you may have overcome challenges to get to where you are today. But one area that many business owners may struggle with is the relentless heightened momentum that is needed to steer a business to success without hitting burnout. Keeping up momentum when you have limited staff and are trying to jump from department to department throughout the day can leave business leaders not knowing what to prioritise.

Like so many other business owners, my entrepreneurial journey since the start of the pandemic has been unpredictable, with plenty of twists and turns to navigate along the way.

According to research undertaken by GRiD for Mental Health Awareness Week (10th-16th May), of the four in five employees (79%) who currently have health and wellbeing concerns, stress and anxiety is the biggest issue for almost two thirds (62%).

Sustainability, more than a word or an ambition, but a daily reality and practise. Since we opened Huckletree in 2014, we have worked hard to make sure that being environmentally conscious was in each and every strand of our DNA and who we were as founders.

Over the last 30 years, there has been a steadfast campaign calling for remote working to be offered to employees. Calls for more flexible working options seemed to fall on deaf ears. Businesses were sceptical of change, unable to assess the differing productivity levels of those who worked remotely and those who worked in an office, so they consistently opted for the tried and tested. Us&Co - Professional Workspaces explores.

Business, and the economy as a whole, can be very much like the English weather – sunshine and showers. We all know that long range forecasts are less accurate than short range ones, simply because there are a greater number of unpredictable factors to try and consider, and a small variable in any one of them can change the final outcome quite considerably.

Cyber is becoming an increasingly important part of every business, from small to large enterprise. Regarding the added issue of security – how do you protect what you value most?

The majority of executives deem sustainability to be important, yet a mere 25% integrate sustainability into the core of their business (according to a BCG/MIT study). The issues stem from the fact that sustainability is considered a business side-branch, and not integrated into the business strategy and model.

Half of the world’s population is using social media in 2021. That’s great, right? Well, there’s no easy answer to this question. Before jumping to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, we have to consider how this number affects your social media activity.

As a 90s kid I wanted nothing more than a glittering career in the music industry. I soaked up the Spice Girls’ confidence and felt like I could summon the power within myself to become famous. When TV shows like X-Factor and Popstars gained popularity in my teen years, a career in music seemed within arm’s reach. I believed that if I worked hard and didn’t give up, success would be there for the taking.

As we emerge into this new, post-lockdown, post-brexit world, many businesses feel it's time to take the next big growth step - international expansion. Huge opportunities await across borders, but no doubt everyone's aware that new market entry is a time and labour-intensive process, and can be very costly if not successful. 

The latest research shows that employees' mental health is being affected by COVID and that this is having a knock-on effect on their working life. For Mental Health Awareness Week, Towergate Health & Protection urges employers to look after employees at all levels.

How can the British public help their local pub, restaurant, cafe or hotel recover from May 17th when venues reopen indoor seating?

Martijn De Wever’s venture capital fund Force Over Mass has raised €103M to back the UK and Europe’s most promising tech startups. One sure bet in this pandemic has been the accelerated growth of tech, including the record returns seen in venture capital.

Musicians reportedly lost out on two thirds of their income in 2020 with the doors to live music venues closed and festivals cancelled across the board. With live music taking a backseat, innovations in the sector came to the fore, with collaboration and creation taking on a truly digital-first approach.

According to the latest statistics, the average business spends between 5-12% of their annual turnover on marketing. While millions of organisations - particularly those operating in B2C sectors - perceive digital marketing as fundamental to driving sales and resulting business growth, other business owners still need convincing of its value, and often have preconceptions of the Return On Investment (ROI) required to make it worthwhile.

It's a shame when brilliant ideas are left in limbo before they are able to come alive because of financial constraints. Did you know that most founders underestimate how much time their startup will need to achieve market validation by two to three times? What if one of these businesses runs out of money before anything viable can be completed, then this means that many great ideas are never given the chance they deserve. How many businesses could have succeeded if they had more time and money?

The number of public sector contracts being awarded to SMEs continues to rise and services are frequently being broken down into smaller contracts to facilitate SMEs. However, where SMEs may not have the funds to offer free value adds or perhaps offer the lowest price, it’s vital that they clearly articulate how they can deliver value.

Companies that sell across borders have higher revenues, higher profits, higher valuations, and better defend their domestic market. Buyers from around the world can access your website from wherever they are, so it’s time to optimize and make your site accessible for non-English speakers.

Record numbers of businesses are now using AI-based systems to hire and fire staff. And sign-up to these systems has sky-rocketed during the pandemic as more and more companies look at remote ways to recruit people.

GoDaddy has revealed that a micro-business ‘powerhouse’ has emerged in the North of England during the global pandemic, with growth in new ventures outstripping that in the South.

Timing, it is often said, is everything. And this can certainly be true in the world of business, as almost everything that you or your business does can be affected in one way or another as to when that action is taken. 

Remote is an international HR tech startup that enables companies to hire people all over the world, wherever they are located. Remote is the first self-serve platform for global employment, and the startup also supports payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance for businesses of any size. Here, Startups Magazine speaks to Nadia Vatalidis, Director of People at Remote to find out more.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns have placed a unique strain on many industries. As we begin to emerge into some form of normality, we may be surprised to find a radically different landscape of business strategy and consumer behaviour than previously.

For many businesses, the pandemic has been the biggest unwanted spanner in the works that will take some time to come back from. After working from home  for over a year, we can see first-hand the impact that the situation has had, especially for women.

Thursday 22nd April 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, a day that celebrates our planet and aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting it. Before the pandemic, events would take place all around the world on this day and in the lead-up for individuals and businesses to get involved in.

Corgee has secured its first pre-seed investment from Think Bigger Capital to develop its AI-powered finance app to make personal finance simpler for the UK’s 5.3 million self-employed.

As CEO and Co-founder of the UK’s biggest free sharing app OLIO, it’s fair to say Tessa Clarke knows a thing or two about what it takes to start and grow a successful business. She has rounded up her biggest business do’s and don’ts for other ambitious entrepreneurs looking to build a successful new venture.

As restrictions continue to lift and organisations prepare to bring employees back to the workplace, a new report from hackajob has revealed that 86% of technology professionals in the UK and Europe don't want to return to the office full time at all.

A week after the next steps out of lockdown were taken the differences are palpable. A very large percentage of the population have been shopping in ‘non-essential’ shops, sat outside a coffee shop, eaten outside at a pub or restaurant, or had their hair cut. In fact, almost everyone that I have spoken to has already done more than one of these.

The year 2020 stands out as what you would call the banner year for remote work. While a good number of people worked remotely before that, the outbreak of the pandemic forced a major shift to remote work. People and companies that hadn’t embraced remote working had it rough trying to adjust to the circumstances.

The last year has shone a spotlight on the long-term future of the UK’s business sector, its reliance on people and the need for business resilience. It was crucial to protect the financial security of consumers so that they could continue to conduct business with each other, and that was understandably Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s priority, with the unprecedented introduction of Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and furlough schemes.

The PR industry continues to go from strength to strength with a steady 5% growth in 2020 and the five years previous to that. This demonstrates that organisations recognise the value that communications play in their overall business strategy. Consumer research has shown that 48% see journalism and earned media to be the most credible source of information.   

With the vaccine rollout continuing across the world and a potential end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have looked at three of the top payment trends businesses should get to know as life gets back to some normality and the hospitality, travel and other sectors start to open once again.

With a number of people using eCommerce for the first time and employees working at home, the costs of cybercrime exceeded $1tn in 2020, up 50% from 2018.

As part of the last budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the limit for contactless payments is to be increased from £45 to £100. As a large portion of UK businesses have been closed for months, there’s an obvious reason to want to stimulate the economy by making larger purchases easier. While this increase in the contactless limit seems to be a good move on the surface, we must look at the impacts of this change and debate the case for alternative payment methods.

The global early-stage venture capital firm, Antler has unveiled the seven startups it has invested in during its third UK cohort.

Ethos is the home of social discussion. A socially responsible alternative to platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the channel provides a safe and connected online space that encourages conversations which discuss a variety of social issues. It aims to encourage others to learn from, engage, and interact with unique content that inspires and motivates a new generation. Here, Startups Magazine, speaks to Alejandra de Brunner, Founder and CEO to find out more.

A new study by Lenstore has revealed the detrimental effects of spending time on your devices during COVID-19 and the effects this is having on your physical and mental health. 

How will people and businesses act now that we are finally coming out of what is generally expected to be the last lockdown? Not only is that the question that every business owner is wondering, but the answer will also be crucial not just to individual businesses but to the economy as a whole.

Founding your first startup is no walk in the park. If it was, everyone would do it. There will be long nights of building your MVP and many times you’ll want to rip your hair out. But there will also be incredibly rewarding moments, and, chances are, you won’t regret taking the journey. If the thought of building your own business sparks a fire within you, it’s worth the hard work that goes into it.

There’s no denying that the ultimate goal of launching a startup is for that startup to be successful. However, a significant reason that many individuals never follow their Big Ideas to embark on the founder’s journey is fear of failure. Failure they won’t succeed, failure their product will never take off.

They say nothing ages as quickly as yesterday’s vision of the future and this is especially true about digital technology, which is performing an increasingly crucial role for businesses across all industries.

It’s often claimed that there’s never a better time to start a business than in a crisis. The adage ‘from crisis comes opportunity’ has been rolled out constantly over the past year, replayed in countless articles from the New York Times to the BBC.

Banco Santander and the Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft (GSIC) present FootballCan 2041, a joint initiative to create the best innovation solutions to make football more inclusive, diverse and sustainable. This initiative aligns with Santander’s purpose to help people and businesses prosper, and with its strategy to have a positive impact on football and society.

If you sell online then there a number of statutory or regulatory requirements you are obliged to fulfil or to which you must adhere.

Data from absence management platform, e-days, reveals that when comparing pre-pandemic levels in March 2019 to March 2021, the number of stress sickness days recorded has increased by 113%. 

Marketing in the 21st century has become one of the biggest priorities for companies in all industries. Every year, it becomes important to show the general public your company still deserves their dollar and their support. People no longer settle simply for what they have ‘always known’ or what fits best in their budget.

Whilst the UK is home to a large number of innovative startups, and has even been proclaimed the ‘unicorn’ capital of Europe, it also has a disappointingly high gender funding gap. According to a report commissioned by the British Business Bank, for every £1 of VC investment, less than 1p went to all-female teams and only 10p to mixed-gender teams. The initial reaction may be to point fingers at the VC industry, however interestingly the report also noted that in fact only 5% of all pitchdecks received are from all-female teams.

Your company’s Brand is what people think of you. It’s not what you have written on your website, or on your company walls, but it’s defined by the people who use your product or service and their perception of what your Brand stands for.

The challenges for founders of today's tech startups are manifold: the product must be developed and constantly optimised; investors must be convinced your idea is viable; employees must be recruited and managed – and so on and so forth. 

Getting a small business up and running is complex enough without having to worry about click fraud affecting your ad campaigns. 

Asides from having a great idea, one of the most important things you need to do as a startup, is consider your budget. It’s important to have a clear understanding of what you can spend, what you can expect to make, and how the two balance out. Without undertaking this process, you risk ending up in a situation where your finances are out of sync, causing significant issues for your business.

A recent study cited by a leading Fintech publication found that whilst 30% of the fintech workforce is female, only 17% of senior fintech roles are held by women and just over 5% of founders are women. These statistics are pretty shocking as Fintech is such a dynamic world of discovery and innovation.

Fintech, Foodtech and Healthtech companies are defying pandemic pressures and driving strong hiring growth among British startups and scaleups, according to new research from leading start-up job site Work in Startups.

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs ask at the early stage of a company is - how do you secure funding? After all, it’s one the most crucial steps in developing a company and will give entrepreneurs the ability to hire employees, develop their product and take the company to new heights. And as the company matures, the process can be slightly different along the way – there are different objectives when raising seed funds, versus Round A, B, and C because at each stage the company itself is at a new level. 

Since 2016 the Startup Heatmap Europe crowns the most attractive startup hubs in Europe. Based on a representative sample of founders in Europe the survey reveals the Top 50 cities where founders would like to start a company if they could choose freely. 

Innovative travel technology company, TapTrip has partnered with industry leading, TravelPerk to integrate TravelSafe API, a new product designed for the wider travel ecosystem to help boost fluid business travel through traveller confidence and safety. 

Founders must spin endless plates and wear lots of hats when firing up their entrepreneurial engines, whether that’s managing marketing and recruitment, or tackling development and accounting.

By now, many of us are aware of the benefits that coworking can bring; from collaborations to new inspirational ideas and the opportunity to work alongside others experiencing similar challenges. That’s why world-wide well over three million people opt for coworking spaces. And despite events of the past 12 months closing many coworking hubs, leading some to see a 50% decline in footfall, that figure is still set to double in 2022.

Matthew Singleton, Investment Director at Throgmorton Capital Management has spent most of his career advising his clients on how to manage their wealth and plan their financial futures. From time to time Matt advises clients on strategies that may involve investing in startups. He is also a passionate champion of startup businesses and has been involved in early-stage businesses himself. Here, he shares his financial and investment advice for any early-stage business looking to grow quickly without exposing themselves to unnecessary financial risks in his six top tips.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is just the latest version of Google Analytics and is now the default version for all new properties. Because it’s the fourth version, it’s called GA4. 

Multiview Media allows you to increase revenue, reach and reaction. Converting iconic historic content or streaming live events in an immersive way, we caught up with Ray Meadham CEO of Multiview Media.

There is not long left to appy for the opportunity to up-skill and up-scale your business, refine, develop and launch your product to market and secure a contract of work with Transport for Wales. 

The business world has, for some time now, appreciated the importance of collecting data. Organisations across a range of industries understand how analysing that data can unlock a wealth of insight and intelligence that can help them move forward.

To say data is critical to success in financial markets is a vast understatement, but for many banks, the ability to extract the true value of their data is still beyond their grasp. What’s holding these institutions back and why, in a post-COVID world, could failure to ignore prove costly?

The findings of a new report shows that employee welfare has been catapulted to the top of the HR agenda for business leaders, with two-thirds of employees reporting a spike in support being offered to both furloughed and non-furloughed teams since May 2020. 

It’s not what you know but who you know. Or so the old saying goes. Whenever that is said though it always seems to be said in a disparaging way, as in the ‘old school tie’ is more useful in life than being clever, working hard, or looking for opportunities to make your own way in life.

Founder of the multinational coaching company Shamila M, Shamila Mhearban specalises in creating and implementing bespoke strategies and solutions to help clients realise their vision of success. Launching the business back in 2017, Shamila has built up an expertise, and here she shares tips on how businesses can rebound after the economic uncertainty of the global pandemic.

There are many new age jobs available in the 21st Century that our parents can’t quite get their heads around. Whether it is an SEO specialist or UX designer, one of the most new and interesting careers that exists is known as a ‘penetration tester.’

Hello Genius is a revolutionary app-based learning system designed to foster closer relationship bonds and empower greater connectivity between parents and their children through intimate, personalised learning experiences that are explored together. Now available globally, the integrated system of dual parent-child apps identifies the individual uniqueness of each child through an adaptive learning journey, while providing parents with insights, opportunities and resources to engage with their children in ways which complement the child’s interests and gifts and optimise their learning and development.

If you’ve read any of my previous articles for Startups Magazine, you may have noticed that anything related to healthcare excites me beyond belief. Fun fact about me: I used to have a massive fear of doctors but I’ve since turned that into an unhealthy obsession with the healthcare sector and I’m now known as the ‘Queen of all things Medical’ by my colleagues. So of course, when I discovered digital training startup, Virti who are focusing initially on healthcare, my blood pressure shot up with excitement and you’ll see why as you read on. 

World Sleep Day falls on 19th March this year. With significant numbers of people reporting poorer quality sleep during lockdown, Towergate Health & Protection is suggesting employers should look towards the Netherlands for good sleep habits.

COVID-19 has changed many businesses forever. The rapid transition to e-commerce and limited in-person shopping created an impossible situation for some businesses, 60% of which have closed permanently. However, some entrepreneurs have successfully worked through the challenges, getting help from anywhere they can.

The UK is more environmentally conscious than ever, with 89% of adults prioritising being more environmentally friendly this year. Ahead of World Recycling Day on 18th March, flexible office specialist, Workthere, has shared top tips on how UK workers can be more conscious of recycling in the office.

Some very interesting statistics were released this week relating to trade over the past twelve months. What was so interesting about these two particular sets of statistics is that both of them were unique to looking backwards from spring 2021, and this period will be studied in schools and universities for many years to come.

When I left university, I entered arguably one of the most slow-moving, heavily regulated corners of engineering, nuclear power. I was a member of a team that made sure the world wasn’t given a spin-off series of HBO’s Chernobyl, building layer upon layer of safety programs.

2020 flipped everyone’s plans for the year upside down, with no corner of the world left untouched. In this state of complete disarray, the primary business challenge for many was to keep customers happy while rapidly shifting staff to remote working. With this now mastered for most businesses and homeworking being the new norm, the next hurdle for leaders will be getting the balance right between the many conflicting desires of those in their workforce.

Nearly a year on since the onset of COVID-19, many companies have realised their staff are able to (almost) work as effectively remotely, as they did in an office. For tech companies and their investors, the transition to remote working was relatively seamless, as the culture and infrastructure needed to succeed was already in place. It has, however, prompted many startups to reconsider whether they need an office at all, and whether high rents in cities like New York, London, and San Francisco can be justified.

Digital transformation means many things to many people, so it’s important to segment and analyse startups developing foundational enabling technologies as well as key impacted applications, such as Industry 4.0 and digital health. Lux Research’s digital transformation experts are continuously monitoring industry megatrends and events to identify innovative startups in the space.

Today, the sales funnel is more buyer-focused. It’s no longer about sales professionals and their understanding of products and services, but rather a concentration on buyers and how a business can fulfill their needs. And if you are a business wanting to get more prospects and clients, you need to put enough information about your brand where your targets spend the most time.

What are the blueprints needed to start your own blockchain tech startup? How can you navigate through the tech tools, software, hardware, platforms, resources, projects, processes, methods and strategies necessary for success?

TapTrip is an award-winning online travel management company, founded in 2018 by Thomas Young, Neil Ruth and Jack Timblin. It was the first ever travel tech (and Manchester-based) company to be accepted onto the Barclays powered by Techstars accelerator. Here, two of the founders, Neil and Thomas share some tips for FinTech startups on the hunt for finance.

At the recent SaaStock exhibition, Philip Edmondson-Jones, Oxx, a venture capital (VC) company investing in ambitious B2B SaaS companies, explained the best practice when scaling your business rapidly.

Adapting and pivoting. For businesses, these two words sum up 2020 and the COVID pandemic perhaps more than any other words. Each and every business has had to reinvent itself in some form or another during the last year or so.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #ChoosetoChallenge, so we’ve spoken to a host of female leaders doing just that. CEO of Clearbanc, Michele Romanow is using AI to challenge traditional VC investment. With decisions based on data and not ‘who you know’ Clearbanc has invested in 8x more women than men in the UK. CMO of Fiverr Gali Arnon, believes freelance marketplaces are helping to diminish the gender pay gap for women across the world and Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls is on a mission to get more women into coding. 

Gender roles have been set back significantly since the COVID crisis began stated 57% of respondents to a new survey of the UK tech industry released ahead for International Women's Day 2021.

March 8th 2021 marks International Women’s Day, and a Yoopies survey on equality has revealed that 70% our survey respondents believe there is gender inequality in the workplace in various ways. Pay gaps, missing out on promotions and lack of access to positions of responsibility were cited amongst the most pressing issues of professional gender inequality and furthermore, we revealed that women are far more likely to have trouble balancing their home or personal life with their professional one than men.

Women throughout history continue to make their mark creating innovations and discoveries that impact our lives today. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, Miranda Kent, Managing Associate at intellectual property firm, Mathys & Squire, reflects on inspiring female inventors in each decade since 1910 - when the firm was first founded - to demonstrate the significant value that realising new ideas and inventions can bring.

Most women are suffering with general self-esteem issues with 79% admitting to struggling in this area, according to new research released by think tank The WealthiHer Network, which was published for International Women’s Day, taking place on 8th March 2021.

A recent survey by Arctic Shores, which investigated the talent acquisition landscape for the year ahead, revealed that three in four companies plan to review their diversity hiring practices for 2021. These findings are surprising, considering 81% of companies already run unconscious bias training. This would suggest diminishing confidence amongst talent leaders that unconscious bias training alone is enough to ensure fair, consistent and effective processes.

A growing number of people are showing interest in investing. This has been evidenced by an increase in the number of trading and investment accounts opened over the last 18 months and the interest is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, more and more business and startup entrepreneurs are getting involved as well. This is due to an interest in becoming more financially literate as well as the desire to benefit from investment yield. But how to go about it?

The UK is heading towards a ‘burnout breakpoint’ with search data exposing alarming levels of people seeking help. As we quickly approach the anniversary of the first lockdown, Chris Parke, CEO of Talking Talent who discovered these findings is urging businesses to support employees and implement practical solutions to prevent similar levels throughout 2021 and hordes of workers reaching their breakpoint.

Research from Ezra, a global provider of digital coaching, has revealed to what extent the current pandemic could change the face of the professional workplace on a permanent basis. The trend of working remotely is one that has been largely forced on us due to lockdown restrictions and concerns over safety. However, for many it means more time at home and a positive increase in the work-life balance.

The education sector is facing some of the toughest years in its history. But how can it position itself to handle the demands of the modern-day learner? Here we take a look at what’s driving a return to the classroom and how providers can best respond by offering new digital learning methods. 

You’ve heard the maxim that 'failing to plan is planning to fail,' right? I’m not here to debate it. For any complicated initiative, a plan is needed – that’s true. But I do want to suggest that the long-held maxim only represents one side of the spectrum, and that the other side (overplanning) is equally dangerous to the success of a startup.

This Mum Runs is the largest mobile, on and offline running community for Mums in the world, aiming to empower millions of women to feel great about themselves just through moving more and doing it using the power of community. Here we chat to Mel Bound, Founder and CEO of This Mum Runs, as part of our International Women's Day celebrations.

If you’ve dipped a toe into marketing, you know that every business needs social proof to grow. You must reassure potential customers that they’re right to pick you, because other people have done so before.

Right now it might feel harder than ever to cut through the noise and get your brand featured in the press. You might also feel that you'd like to secure media coverage but you don't have the budget to employ a PR agency, or perhaps the time yourself to knock up a press release or work out which journalists you should be targeting.

Over the last 12 months, video conferencing tool Zoom experienced exponential growth, B2B social media platform, LinkedIn, saw a 60% increase in user content creation and 55% of UK buyers revealed they will continue to shop online even when the high street re-opens its doors.

Last year was an incredibly challenging one for entrepreneurs and small business owners. According to a survey from Alignable, 45% of small businesses reported earning less than half of their pre-pandemic revenue. Statistics like these can scare you away from starting a company in 2021, but they shouldn’t.

Do you have a digital marketing strategy?

Sustainable events agency and consultancy, Legacy Events, is set to launch its new innovative marketplace, which includes everything needed to organise a successful sustainable event, in one place.

The past twelve months have been especially hard for the UK’s many businesses. After several years of negotiations, the UK finally departed from the EU with a deal that had been finalised merely eight days before the formal withdrawal.

A new report by Claromentis has revealed that 73% of UK workers want to split their time between home and office working after the pandemic. Unilever, Twitter, Square and many more companies have announced their staff may never return to working a five-day week in the office. But what do workers want?

Part of being human, is being connected. No person is an island, even if a few might own one. Innovative startup, Crème de la Crème, develops and uses their software to help people connect, specifically; to help companies connect to freelance experts in tech, marketing and design.

incspaces, a space as a service operator with locations across London and Manchester, is opening a brand new 24/7 flexible workspace in the heart of Leeds. The 19,000 square foot venue will play host to both young startups and established businesses embracing the ever growing flexibility of the future of work.

As a social impact entrepreneur and investor, I like to think I know a business opportunity when I see one. The 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars provides us with a massive opportunity. Entrepreneurs and investors should be incredibly excited about this new technology and the potential to innovate. As far as I’m concerned, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the new smartphones.

Social media will always be an integral part of your small business’ digital marketing strategy, whether you’re using it to alert fans and followers about new offerings, industry news, or showing how things work behind the scenes in your company

Small changes consistently applied over a period of time WILL have a big impact on your business. For example, if you simply commit to spending 30 minutes every day engaging with your target audience on social media, this daily activity on your part will gradually compound into a significant impact on your business.

Online learning has become the new normal since last March, and since the most recent lockdown was announced, searches for how to learn new skills online have increased by 218%, suggesting more people want to utilise their spare time at home to learn.

You don’t need investment to start a business. However, you do need money and, depending on the nature of the business, probably more than you think. Even the smallest start-up businesses need money for marketing and to buy the equipment.

Ahead of the UK’s 2021 Budget and Economic Recovery Plan, new research from Sage has revealed the tough conditions that will be facing Small and Medium sized Businesses (SMEs) well into the second half of 2021. The research highlights how the latest lockdown has further divided the outlook of UK SMEs, with one-third worse off than November, one-third in a similar position and one-third better off.

In this article, I will discuss the best ways to effectively implement a mental wellbeing policy in the workplace.

'Why men shouldn’t be the only architects of our digital future'. In the tech world we're always talking about solutions. You hear it all the time, in every pitch deck, on every panel, how if you want to build a successful startup you need to find a problem for consumers or businesses and solve it.

Love for a tech brand has a massive impact on customer loyalty and recommendations according to a new study. People who love a brand are three times more likely to recommend it to others and will tolerate it making twice as many mistakes as any other, before taking their custom elsewhere. Indeed, according to the Brand Love report, such a brand can mess up almost five times and people will still stay loyal to it.

With the unprecedented changes the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted on the world, the fintech industry has had to deal with navigating the challenging climate as well as providing many opportunities for businesses and consumers to review their financial options.

Enterprise blockchain has seen huge advances in its application over the past year, and as we enter 2021, startup founders in virtually every sector are considering whether they should be incorporating this technology into their product.

For many of us, 2021 could not come fast enough. I will not expound on the world’s collective gratitude in 2020 being finished, you can watch Netflix’s Death to 2020 for a much more humorous take on this! As we continue in yet another lockdown, I’d like to frame some of the work that Allia will be working on this year to support the impact start-ups and local businesses that are getting ready to step up and make a difference.

For many, the New Year is a time to focus on personal resolutions such as getting fit, organising the house, or saving money. This year, what if we focused on putting our work life in order too - effectively gaining more space to cope with the demands of super-busy modern business life, make working in start-ups a bit easier or even get that next promotion? 

The amount of waste we produce has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, with global annual waste generation expected to jump to 3.4 billion tonnes over the next 30 years, up from 2.01 billion tonnes in 2016, according to report published by World Bank. Businesses and consumers alike are now faced with the challenge of reducing how much landfill our actions generate. With conflicting interests making for slow progress, the circular economy model could change our fortunes. Here we explore why the circular economy is here to stay and why it is set to play a vital role in a low-carbon future.

After being diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (a rare genetic disorder) at the age of 22, former investment banker Angus Drummond, was told his mobility would decline over the next few years until one day he would require a wheelchair. Determined to experience the best of what the world had to offer, Angus quit his job in London, and set off with his wife to explore 35 new countries.

The UK edtech market was predicted to increase to £3.4bn by 2021. With £90.9m invested into edtech companies in 2018, up from just £9.9m in 2013, this market is clearly growing. However, when schools first closed due to COVID-19, and again at the start of this year, it became clear that many were understandably underprepared for the enforced radical shift to tech-led remote learning. Teachers struggled with the transition to online work, and many students lacked the necessary devices and connectivity to engage effectively online.

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) has become significant force in the venture capital market. In Europe, CVCs participated in 1,325 deals worth €19.4bn in 2020 and are active in virtually every sector, and across all stages from Seed to growth equity. In the UK, CVCs participated in some of the biggest deals of 2020 - Hopin, Carzoo, Arrival - and despite significant headwinds due to COVID-19 deal activity remained strong, defying critics who had anticipated a slowdown as corporate balance sheets came under pressure.

Business process management is one of the cornerstones of operating a successful company. Implementing a specialised software solution dramatically boosts the effectiveness of BPM.

One of the UK’s young tech entrepreneurs is speaking out to warn organisations operating across multiple sectors that the post-COVID business world may look quite different than it did before.

As the pandemic continues to impact businesses - both small and large - across the globe, I meet with four diverse founders based in the UK, who are taking part in WeWork's Diverse Founders Programme in partnership with UK social enterprise, Foundervine.

With men being twice as likely to become entrepreneurs than women, the business world has a long way to go to address the barriers which stop women from starting companies, and help to create a more equal society.

Renowned technologist, investor, podcaster and business author, Arunkumar Krishnakumar a Partner at Delphos International, is releasing his second book - Restartup: A Founder′s Guide to Crisis Navigation - on the 4th of February along with his co-author, Maxson Tee. 

If we learnt anything from the past year it’s that having control over cash flow is the cornerstone of business health. The impact of COVID and other external factors like Brexit mean that things are constantly changing for small businesses, meaning they have to continuously adapt. This means that you will need to consistently map your cash flow and review your forecast  as things change. For example, things like furlough coming to an end in April will need to be factored into forecasting.

Small and medium sized businesses that have suffered due to COVID-19 don’t expect to recover to pre-pandemic levels until summer 2022, according to new research published by Santander UK.

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.

Job interviews are tough. Video interviews can be a disaster. Poor internet connection, the threat of a pet or child appearing in the background, and nowhere to hide from your own face as you try to concentrate on presenting the best version of yourself.

Otta, a startup that helps job seekers find roles at fast-growing companies, has revealed the most innovative companies in London to work for in 2021. Fifty startups and scaleups appear on the Rocket List, including tech unicorns Cazoo, Hopin (now a ‘double unicorn’) and Gousto, along with fintech firms, Revolut and Checkout.com, which are hiring for the most roles right now (79 and 68 respectively).

Since the year began, entrepreneurs have observed a serious global economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Small businesses have been impacted greatly by this crisis because they have limited resources to adapt to the changing context. If you own such a business, you must have experienced sales go down as well as an increased difficulty in accessing business inputs. While it might look like the end of your business, you should not despair.

It’s official – London is Europe’s global tech city, with London based technology firms having raised more than $10.5bn in new investment from venture capital firms in 2020. As good as that is, the good news just keeps on coming, as 2021 looks to be even more promising given that London based VC firms have raised record amounts of fresh funds ready to deploy this year.

With most of the country on strict lockdown and no prospect of returning to the office any time soon, 2021 is playing out like much of last year so far, and people all over the country are understandably frustrated and tired. With uncertainty around the future and remote working continuing for most, staying motivated at work is crucial for us to maintain positive momentum and mindset this year.

Despite the government relaxing or extending certain deadlines for several annual financial outgoings, such as insurance policies, mortgages and MOTs, the call to extend the 31st January 2019/20 self-assessment deadline was rejected.

COVID-19 has put unimaginable pressure on small and medium sized businesses across the UK. For these businesses, now more than ever, cash flow is everything. Expenses play a major part in a business’ cash flow, and if handled correctly, can leave companies with a substantial pot of money at the end of each financial year.

CREY is a new gaming platform designed specifically for Gen Z and with social at its core. With the gaming industry going from strength to strength, we decided to catch up with Fabien Rossini, CEO at CREY about how they have broken on to the scene. 

Ales Spetic, the now CEO and Co-founder of Klevio, a smart intercom and smartphone app that lets you open doors and share digital keys using your phone, from anywhere in the world, could be described as a serial entrepreneur. Prior to co-founding four different startups, he was a software engineer before switching to business, where he achieved an MBA from California State University and has also written a book on database programming.

London is at the centre of Europe’s burgeoning tech scene, with new research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners showing that London tech companies helped Europe to reach record levels of tech venture capital funding in 2020. International investors continue to look to London, with the findings revealing that the UK capital received more tech VC investment than any European city in 2020.

To help businesses capitalise on shoppers’ appetite to buy local, web development and digital marketing agency, digitalbeans, releases advice on key areas for online investment.

Before we can begin to understand AI, we need to learn about the edge. A lot of people have never heard of the edge, but in truth it's a bit like the chicken and the egg - you can’t have one without the other. For clarity, the ‘edge’ we are talking about involves the device on which you’re reading this article.

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a difficult year for many businesses out there. Many have been faced with unexpected hurdles and challenges that have made them rethink their advertising efforts and direction.

British businesses have had a tough 2020, with almost all small businesses reporting they had been dramatically affected by the pandemic but with January being historically one of the hardest months in the working calendar, it is important we work together to beat those blues and be the best we can be. 

2020 has redefined healthcare for good. In the same way that every company wanting to thrive has had to become a tech company, every company’s become a healthcare business too; safeguarding people and customers is at the core of everything. 

Innovative companies around the world are realising their dreams and going to market with new and creative products and services. As they’re starting out, they often assemble teams of creative minds and experts in areas of product development, research, human resources, marketing, and more. More often than not, one key member of the team often omitted is the expert focused on intellectual property (IP) and patent strategy. This area is typically the last thing on an entrepreneur’s mind as they’re launching their business.

Staying on track financially can be one of the most challenging aspects of creating and managing a startup. If it wasn’t hard enough, the global pandemic has added another dimension of difficulty which even the most robust of businesses have struggled to navigate. However, there are a few key things that startups can do to stay on top of their finances. Below are five tips for startups aiming to become a thriving and profitable business.

New research conducted by Accountancy and Finance, HR and Data Analytics recruiter, Wade Macdonald has found that 44% of employees are finding working from home much harder, physically, mentally and emotionally, than being in the office.

As the UK is now in its third national lockdown, consumers and businesses are turning once more to remotely delivered services and digital experiences to survive in the coming month. As the world adapted to the impact of COVID-19, 2020 saw a rapid increase in digitisation, including from age groups that traditionally had been slower to adapt.

Duolink wants to build a future where music finally adapts to you. No matter whether you are on the go, listening alone, or socialising with others, it wants you to enjoy music to the fullest. So who are Duolink and what are the SpeakerBuds? We spoke to Founder Victor Liu to find out more.

Can we blame COVID entirely for startups failing or is it the investor system failing them? Stats from Beauhurst show that maybe now isn’t the worst time to be a startup?

In an ever more digital world, we find ourselves less connected. As our society continues to evolve, otherwise welcome advances can also increase the risk of loneliness exponentially. It is time to address the elephant in the startup and entrepreneurship room: loneliness.

Few business leaders at the start of the pandemic would have thought that video conferencing would be anything more than a temporary solution to a temporary problem. Now, nine months down the line, we are still Zooming in order to hold business meetings. What was at first a safe and novel alternative, is now an exhausting chore.

The Global Talent visa is an immigration route to the UK launched in February 2020 to replace the Exceptional Talent visa. It is one of many immigration routes that businesses looking to employ foreign nationals could use but it often appeals to startups and SMEs because Global Talent visa holders do not require sponsorship from their prospective employers.

“What will the new year bring us?” “365 opportunities!” This was the question and answer in a cartoon that was sent to me a few days ago, showing two people sitting on a hill looking into the distance. New Year’s eve this year was not so much a celebration in the normal sense so much as a “Great, 2020 is over so now let’s move on!” But the cartoon perfectly matches my own mood and that of many of my clients and other contacts.

As we approach the end of an unusual year it is safe to say what a year we have had! Although not as we expected, I am a positive person that likes to look on the bright side of life, and with everything going on this year it has been a silver lining seeing a lot of startups and small business, adapt, pivot and even excel.

This year has seen the biggest increase in reliance and need for connected education technology within the education sector in the past decade, and so we spoke to Rahim Hirji, UK Country Manager of leading online learning platform and app, Quizlet, who reflects on the past year in education and looks forward to 2021 to offer expert insight into the future of the education sector.

Advances in technology have transformed the nature of consumption in almost every sector: it isn’t just the products we buy that are different, it is the way we buy them. But there is one sector which remains relatively untouched by the tech revolution, a sector responsible for over a billion trees falling every year, alongside 670 thousand tonnes of landfill in the UK and 10 million tonnes in the US: furniture.

As we prepare to enter a new year, businesses must take a moment to reflect on the last 12 months as they put plans in place for 2021. For most businesses, the events of 2020 will have been completely unprecedented and how each company has reacted to this crisis will be unique.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated many already-present trends in almost every aspect of our lives. For businesses, this has meant an accelerated reliance on technology. Of course, companies of all kinds have had to rely on technology for decades. But 2020 has forced organisations to entirely shift processes from the physical world to the digital one.

In today’s world, stress has become an inevitable part of professional life. According to a survey conducted by the Regus group, across 15 different countries, the levels of workplace stress have risen over the past two years. Employees all over the world are getting exposed to excruciating levels of work stress. The sad state of employees calls upon employers like you, to take actionable measures for employee stress management. It is essential, both for the well-being of your employees and your organisation.

The 2020 festive period is now in full swing. However, with the UK coming out of lockdown to tighter tier restrictions, it’s fair to say Christmas will look different this year. A work Christmas party is often a great excuse to let your hair down and celebrate the festive season with your colleagues. After a year filled with lots of change, ups and downs and staying at home, now more than ever it is important to celebrate all we have achieved.

This is a question we ponder often at Seed, the readers of Startups Magazine no doubt question and every new Entrepreneur needs to consider. How the hell do you fund this great idea of yours.

The recruitment landscape has changed dramatically. Just before the nation’s lockdown at the end of March, the industry was already feeling a slowdown which was driven by several things, including the looming uncertainty of Brexit. However, when COVID-19 hit, recruitment froze, and the industry became a ghost town; it was an anxiety-fuelled time for firms, their clients and their candidates.

Preparing a new office environment is often an exciting time for everyone involved. In every room, you see opportunities, productivity, and progress. And yet, some leaders tend to get too carried away in the aesthetics and other meaningless factors, and don’t put enough effort into setting things up in a way that’s actually conductive to all that productivity they envision. If you want to keep things running smoothly, there are some modern approaches to certain aspects of office environment setup that you should pay close attention to.

The past year has been make-or-break, not just for individual businesses but entire sectors.  Digitisation and market disruption are hardly new trends, but amidst a global pandemic, they have transformed the way we work, shop and live. Many of the businesses that stepped into the gap of legacy businesses have been scale-ups: fast-growth businesses on an upwards trajectory. Think of the likes of Deliveroo, Monzo and Cazoo. The question remains: will these businesses continue to grow once the pandemic has passed?

It’s been a tale of two halves for the startup scene this year. The pandemic has created both challenges and new opportunities - and for many, it’s been a mixed bag of muddling through and innovating out of a crisis. 

In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4%) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. From 2005 to 2017, the number of reported mental health symptoms has increased by 52% in adolescents, and by 63% in young adults.

A fifth of bosses are looking at using software that allows them to spy on employees working from home and monitor productivity. A survey of over 2,000 found 20% had already introduced 'remote tracking' or were considering bringing it in.

The North East of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Yorkshire & Humber are fast becoming new powerhouses for UK tech innovation.

The biggest marketing trend that we’ve seen throughout 2020 is the drive to build a strong personal brand. Customers are becoming savvy to the ethics and ethos of the businesses that they are buying from. They are being more discerning in their choices driven by the desire to do good and to avoid untrustworthy brands during an unpredictable time.

Founded in 2011, by two Finnish entrepreneurs who were looking for a way to manage their finances, Holvi is digital banking service for freelancers and entrepreneurs. Combining money management tools with an easy-to-use business account, Holvi offers an innovative banking experience that helps you run your business.

The R&D tax relief schemes and R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) have driven greater innovation in the UK, according to analysis by HMRC. A review of these schemes, as well as the Patent Box, highlighted that there were both positive direct and indirect impacts on business for those that utilised the schemes whilst also spurring on innovation.

Finding suitable talent for your business has always come with its challenges, and 2020 has accelerated a shift in workplace culture that means a higher level of remote workers, searching for their perfect employment match, creates new hurdles for recruitment.

Looking back on 2020 and learning as many lessons as possible is a very worthwhile exercise for all of us. At the beginning of this series, nearly three months ago, I paraphrased a famous quote from the Monty Python film ‘Life of Brian’, and asked “what has 2020 ever done for us?” 

After a difficult year, there is no surprise that most people are looking for ways to save some money and scrape those pennies together. No matter which part of your life you are looking to tighten the belt in, it can often be difficult to know where to start; particularly if you are a business owner, who has felt the brunt of this year. We don’t blame you; we have all been there! Try not to stress, however, for we have a helpful and effective list detailed here, of ways you can cut costs to your business, without causing any damage to profits.

As a startup, you’ve got loads of goals, problems and opportunities to think about, but make sure you carve out some time for some PR activity that will help raise your profile and grow your business. 

There's no doubt about it: leadership has been put to the test this year. Over the course of 2020, leaders of businesses everywhere have had to step up to a monumental challenge. Not only have many businesses had to fight to stay afloat, but company leaders have been required to find new, creative ways to work remotely, motivate their team in the face of extreme adversity, and achieve their goals.

Without beating about the hypothetical bush, the future of the labour market in the UK is looking rather bleak. Reports suggest that we are on course for the worst recession in more than 300 years. The Institute for Policy Research meanwhile has warned that more than one million young people could be unemployed by 2021.

Gone are the days where profit reigned supreme in a business’ strategy. Now, investors, customers and talented employees are all looking for businesses with a purpose they can buy into.

In the first part of this series I looked specifically at why women aren’t investing. This time, I’m exploring what’s stopping everyone else.

As we continue to work towards the government’s net zero emissions by 2050 commitment, businesses are naturally becoming increasingly aware of the need to be more eco-friendly. Other strategies, such as the Clean Growth Strategy, which aims to promote economic growth at the same time as decreasing emissions, mean that the focus on having a positive effect on the environment is now higher than ever.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way the world works, and with UK workers working at home for the foreseeable future, it can be difficult to connect the workforce together. To support workers, flexible office specialist, Workthere, has shared five tips on how you can stay connected to your colleagues, both in and out of the office.

Relationship marketing is significant for all businesses. It is the customers who keep your business running. SEO for big brands can get them the necessary clients. But that is one aspect and keeping them is quite another story. Customer loyalty for your business can go a long way in maintaining a strong relationship with the customers.

In a recent study of 2,100 UK adults, undertaken by global affiliate network, Awin, it was found that as many as one in five Britons (19%) are planning to carry out their Christmas shopping online for the first time this year.

A new survey by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) has found that brands have become more compassionate in 2020. The majority of senior marketers (74%) surveyed said their brands or clients have shown more compassion and thoughtfulness amid the pandemic - this included 14% who said this increased, with just 6% reported this happening less.

myGP, the UK’s largest independent GP booking and healthcare management app that connects patients with primary care, has announced its intention to provide the people in England with a simple, clear means of communicating their verified vaccination status, via their Smartphone.

Accenture & Ponemon’s 2019 Cost of Cybercrime Study indicates that the right approach to cyber threats might save companies up to $5.2tn of future revenues in the next few years. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are among the most vulnerable as they only recently became more conscious of clear and present cyber threats. 

Businesses, and indeed stock markets, hate uncertainty.  Sadly, there is no doubt that 2020 has been full of uncertainty at every stage.  And whilst the main focus, for very obvious reasons, has been on Covid-19 and all the trading and other ramifications that that has brought with it, it has not been the only source of major disruption this year.

Ask yourself, what would your 2020 have looked like without Zoom, Slack and Google Drive? If anything has stepped up and carried the load of remote working this year, it’s these tools.

It should come as no surprise that a strong environmental ethos within an organisation is a driving factor for many jobseekers when choosing where to apply for work. However, a recent report has detailed just how important sustainability aligned with social responsibility really is in terms of recruitment.

Almost half of UK businesses have seen an employee move on because their mental wellbeing wasn’t being looked after, with a quarter losing a key member of their workforce, according to new research from not-for-profit healthcare provider, Benenden Health.

A staggering £4bn of investment went to UK tech companies in the first half of 2020. The British Business Bank’s recent Government report, together with recent surveys by leading investment platforms like Stakeholderz, show that despite the challenges posed this year, investors are continuing to back the UK’s high growth tech companies, with many indicating they will invest the same or more over the next year. Tech has long proved to be a lucrative and attractive sector for investors and entrepreneurs.

Virgin StartUp and Crowdcube have partnered to help the next generation of purpose-driven founders grow their businesses and achieve real change through their Collective Impact programme.

Kanban has been around as a methodology since the '40s but is now getting more attention partly due to the increase in remote working and the popularity of agile and lean in every sector. While Kanban was originally applied to manufacturing, it can work in virtually any setting. It can be used as a stand-alone tool, or in conjunction with other agile management methods. Implementing it, however, can be easier said than done. Let's take a look at the steps you need to take to implement a Kanban system in your organisation.

All hope abandon ye who enter here. If 2020 had a tagline, that would be it. It's been a rotten year for the startup community. The Coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented economic damage, imperilled revenues, and poured cold water on investor confidence.

The fourth in our six part series of articles harnesses our Associate and Partner network and focusses on Founders and the complexities of relationship between Founders and Co-Founders - for better or for worse. "It's not you, it's me," how do you stop things going pear shaped at the top and what do you do if it does?

This has been quite a year and if 2020’s taught us anything it’s that we need to take very good care of ourselves, as our business’s biggest asset. Your wellbeing is the source of energy and creativity that your business needs.

I love startup life. It has been my passion for many years now. In 2007, I launched my first company, Skimlinks from my apartment living room in Sydney. It grew to become a $50m-a-year revenue business, headquartered in London with offices in San Francisco and New York.

“I’m starting to think my profile could be an asset for the business,” a brilliant female founder confided over a virtual Zoom coffee a couple of weeks back (I miss real life, barista made flat whites and hugging clients hello but that’s a sidebar). “I always want to make it about the business but I think I could be a bit of an asset.”

In the world of startups, scaling and sustainability are made to feel like opposites. You may have started with the best intentions, but as businesses grow it gets harder to ensure high ethical standards are met, particularly when faced with outdated industry practices and the pressure to keep down costs. The company values you wrote at your kitchen table start looking more like suggestions than rules to live by, and growth and greenness feel diametrically opposed. Sustainability just seems like a sacrifice you’ll have to make on the altar of profit and progress.

As the UK emerges from lockdown for a second time, it’s crucial we keep up the conversations we’ve been having about the importance of a healthy work life balance. The majority of people who I’ve spoken to have enjoyed the freedom of remote working and are keen to retain some of this newly-discovered flexibility in the future. With this new mindset and the ongoing restrictions, I certainly don’t anticipate an immediate rush back to offices.

Winter alone can have a negative impact on anyone’s mental health. Couple this with spending the best part of the year dealing with a pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and it's no surprise that according to ONS statistics, the weeks after the clocks went back saw record levels of loneliness in the UK.

While the economic ramifications of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are still very much a selection of rather worrying predicted lines and correlations on graphs, there is no doubt the world of commerce and industry is set to be deeply impacted in the long term, and likely changed for good, by the crisis.

Brits are being called upon to offer vital support to small businesses as high streets reopen in time for Christmas. It also hopes to tap into soaring public affection for small businesses, as research from the campaign and its principal supporter American Express shows 59% of Brits support small businesses more than previously, following the major role firms played in communities during coronavirus lockdowns.

Our physical and mental health has been at the forefront of many of our minds during Coronavirus. So should we really also be worrying about financial health? The year of 2020 saw many employees furloughed and even made redundant, causing financial stress. However, there are also many people who have been lucky to be able to continue working during COVID-19.

Ten percent of the population are believed to be dyslexic, but it is still often poorly understood. With the right support, the strengths and talents of dyslexic people can shine. So how come workplaces have yet to wake up?

Considering introducing an employee wellbeing programme in 2021, but concerned about the financial outlay and where to begin? Fear not, as it does not take a huge chunk of cash to create a successful wellbeing programme for your staff. However, you do need to invest some time to plan an initiative that will best suit your team. Here are four cost effective suggestions to get such schemes up and running, and to maintain momentum. 

Small businesses in the UK still aren’t offering their people enough flexibility, according to new research from Tiger Recruitment. While the pandemic has required many to work more flexibly from home, more than a quarter of employees questioned say they still aren’t happy with the flexible working options available to them, and men are just as dissatisfied as women.

2020 has been an unusual year for businesses. Every industry has been affected by the pandemic in some way, whether that’s for better or worse. As companies continue to try and navigate these difficult times, it’s essential to find ways to thrive and keep the money coming in.

Thursday 3rd December marks International Day of People with Disability (IDPD), originally created by the United Nations and designed to bring awareness and celebrate the diversity of the global community. This years’ theme is ‘not all disabilities are visible’, something Leeds-based behavioural research and UX consultancy, SimpleUsability, is keen to encourage businesses to consider when interacting with their customers.

If you run a business that relies on vehicles for operations, it can become more and more difficult to manage the fleet as it grows. Keeping the fleet in good working order, making sure that driver safety is a top priority, and saving money on maintenance and repairs can all become much harder to manage as your vehicle numbers rise. Because of this, it’s no surprise that many growing fleet-based companies are turning to fleet management companies. But is this the right solution for your company? Here are some reasons why it might be the best idea.

Two decades ago, London was the place to be. The bustling environment of city life was a haven of opportunity, both personal and professional. Students, graduates, young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs had their sights set on the cool bars of Soho and classy ‘lunch and learns’ in the hotspots of the capital while enthusiastically scribing their first business plans on whatever napkin or beer mat happened to be available; it was the only place to be.

Co-op CEO Steve Murrells opened a round-table on 26th November with representatives from the Department for Education, National Apprenticeship Service, National Society of Apprentices and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The conversation focused on a brand new report, commissioned by the Co-op group, into the national apprenticeships programme with recommendations on change to government policy.

Of all the industries in the world, the jewellery business is one of the most traditional and old-fashioned. It is also the most reliant on direct interaction between master craftsmen and merchants. The most precious metals and stones in the world pass from hand to hand in a supply chain that has barely changed in hundreds of years.

As Britain’s high streets prepare to return to life in time for Christmas, small business owners have been given tips for coping with a still uncertain winter. This year’s Small Business Saturday - an annual celebration that encourages consumers to 'shop local' - couldn’t be better timed, with 5th December falling three days after the English national lockdown lifts.

Following the recent lockdown #02, there has never been a more important time to focus on wellbeing for clients and employees and of course yourself! I wanted to share what we have been doing at Clockwise to support everyone we work with.

If you own or run a small or medium sized business (SMB), chances are you’ve heard a lot about data: how it can give you new customer insights, tell you more about your staff, or help you make better business decisions. All of that may be true, but you’re also likely thinking about one key question: how does data help me boost my revenue?

YouPic is a free-to-use social platform from Sweden transforming photography-sharing by enabling a global community of over 3.7 million users to build an audience, gain insights about their portfolio, and share their passion for photography.

One of the rules of a startup is that there’s always more to do than there are people to do it! Even when you are hiring, you have to remain lean and startups are usually moving from one round of funding to another. That means you cannot always deliver what you want, and usually, marketing is at the bottom of the list.