Tag Archives: advice

Charity & CSR, Law, News

Law firm Bromleys backs Reuben’s Retreat as its charity of the year

Staff at Tameside law firm Bromleys have chosen Reuben’s Retreat, which provides support to families bereaved of a child and those with complexly poorly children, as their charity of the year for 2022.

Reuben’s Retreat is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is raising funds to meet its ongoing costs as well as for its multi-million pound Forever Home in Glossop.

The charity was founded in August 2012 by the family of Reuben Michael Graham, who died at just 23 months from an inoperable brain tumour.

His family launched Reuben’s Retreat just two days after his death to provide a safe place for families to ‘relax, recharge, remember and rebuild’.

Initially based in Ashton-under-Lyne, the charity purchased the former Wood’s Hospital in Glossop in 2014 for its base. Bromleys did the conveyancing work relating to the transaction for no charge.

Since its inception, Reuben’s Retreat has supported over 1,300 individuals from across the UK by providing peer-led monthly support groups, meditation evenings, weekend rambles, one-to-one counselling and holistic therapy sessions for parents and siblings as well as regular music and animal therapy, bespoke memory making and memorial events.

The charity also arranges respite and bereavement breaks, allowing families bereaved of a child to remember and rebuild, and those with a complexly ill child to relax and recharge.

Reuben’s Retreat recently completed an activity wing at its HQ, which houses a hydrotherapy pool, sensory room and play room with chill zone.

When completed, the Forever Home will feature five apartments for families to come and create memories with however much time they have.

Reuben’s mum Nicola said: “We are absolutely delighted to be Bromleys’ chosen charity, especially after what has been a difficult period during the pandemic for all.

“We have grown so much more since those early days of receiving Bromleys’ support when we purchased our Retreat nearly eight years ago.

“We are excited to share how far we have come, and are even more thrilled to have their talented team to be a part of #reubensjourney once more.

“Our vision is to continue to offer emotional and practical support to families bereaved of a child, and those families facing an uncertain future with their medically complexed child, to offer up unique space, a place where families can relax, recharge, remember and rebuild.

“Bromleys’ support will be key to building on these many milestones as we commit to the next building project so that we are able to reach more families.

“We’re so grateful to Bromleys for choosing to support our cause.”

Bromleys partner Paul Westwell said: “It is great to once again be involved with supporting this worthwhile cause, from the early days of seeing the plans for the Retreat on paper, through completion of the acquisition of the site and then windy walkarounds during the construction phase. Seeing it now in use and the plans to go even further is phenomenal.

“The support offered by the team at Reuben’s Retreat to all of its users is exemplary in so many respects, and everyone at Bromleys is proud to continue our long association with the charity.”

News

HURST scores with National Football Museum

The National Football Museum has appointed accounting and business advisory firm HURST to provide audit and tax services following a competitive tender.

The museum is the latest addition to a growing roster of sports, leisure and not-for-profit sector clients for HURST.

It already counts Lancashire County Cricket Club, Super League Europe, Chill Factore, the Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester Art Gallery and Life Leisure among its client base in these sectors.

The HURST specialists acting for the museum include Helen Besant-Roberts and Greg Wilson of the firm’s business services team.

The National Football Museum spans seven floors of the Urbis building in Manchester city centre and includes a number of event spaces to hire.

It attracts nearly 200,000 visitors a year from around the UK and overseas, and its highlights include a Hall of Fame, trophies, exhibitions, artefacts, interactive games and an educational space for schools and other groups.

Housing the largest accredited collection of football memorabilia in the world, it holds 140,000 items, with 2,500 on display at any one time.

Its collection includes both of the balls used in the first World Cup Final in 1930, the ball from the 1966 World Cup Final and the replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy, which was made in secret by the Football Association after the original was stolen and was paraded by the England players after their victory over West Germany.

There is also a range of memorabilia from footballing legends such as George Best, Diego Maradona and Pelé, including international caps and medals, as well as the original rules of Association Football written when the FA was formed in 1863.

The Hall of Fame is supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association and celebrates the achievements of those who have made an outstanding contribution to the game, on and off the pitch. Recent inductees include Terry Butcher, Paul Ince, Justin Fashanu, Carol Thomas and Walter Tull.

Helen Besant-Roberts said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with the National Football Museum. Football is of immense national cultural and historical significance and we are excited to be able to play a part in helping the museum to share everything that is great about the sport.

“Using our experience, we will support the museum in the next phase of its development, through deployment of our specialist charity accounting and tax team and our digital enablement service.”

Tim Desmond, chief executive of the National Football Museum, said: “We’re excited to move into 2022 with HURST, who align perfectly with our aims for the museum.

“They have shown a real passion for what we do, and we look forward to working together to engage an increased and wider diversity of visitors to our exhibitions and online.”

Marketing, PR and SEO, News

How to market your business – when you really, really HATE social media

Read any guide on the best way to market your business and you’re bound to find social media high up the list — and sometimes, the only thing on the list. But what if the thought of all this posting, sharing, liking, boosting, engaging, following and whatnot else leaves you cold? Should you suppress these feelings and slog over social media anyway?

It may be music to the ears of social media dodgers that, according to Gina Hollands, Commercial Director from creative marketing agency PMW that’s the worst thing you can do. “For marketing to be effective, it needs to be authentic,” says Gina. “If your heart isn’t in one type of marketing and you do it regardless, your audience will see right through it and the outcome won’t be desirable — it could even be detrimental for your business.”

So, in this age of social media seeming to be the only way to win the hearts and minds of consumers everywhere, what’s the alternative if it’s just not your bag? Here, Gina gives her top five tips.

  1. Focus on your strengths

Identify where your strengths lie and focus on these. So, if you’re a great networker, spend your marketing time networking; if you enjoy liaising with the media, then make PR your go-to marketing strategy; if you’re more of a personal relationships type, then make a few appointments to have coffee with people you already know in the industry and see where these conversations take you. When you concentrate on what you do well, your results will be better and you’ll enjoy the process a lot more.

  1. Try it, you might like it

If you just think you might not like social media, but haven’t ever really given it a go, then try it out — you might be surprised how you take to it. There is a lot of prejudice around social media that it’s just a bunch of teenagers dancing around or people sharing pictures of their dinner, but in fact, many a contact can be made and a deal done when you get it right. Consider taking a beginner’s course or asking a friend who knows their way around the platforms to teach you the basics, and go from there. If you still don’t like it after a few months, then at least you’ve tried. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know!

  1. Invest in the experts

Love it or loathe it, it is no secret that social media has propelled many a brand from zero to hero. That’s not to say of course that it’s the only way to market a business, but it is definitely a cost effective and accessible way. It may be that you have absolutely no motivation to go there, however, and if that is the case it’s worth paying someone else to take the pain away. Depending on how far you want to go with your social media, you could enlist the help of a local freelancer to create your pages and make a few posts or, if you want to really get serious with your social and use it as a platform for advertising your brand and providing insight and analysis, then hiring a social media specialist could be the answer.

  1. It’s not the only way!

It may be hard to believe, but you can still market your business without the need to turn to social media immediately. Certainly, once finances allow, it is wise to invest in hiring a third party to undertake your social media if you don’t want to do it yourself, but in the meantime, consider other routes to market, such as trade fairs, traditional advertising, press releases, events and other marketing methods which suit you and your brand.

  1. Pick one thing and do it well

We always say at PMW to do something well or don’t do it at all. Diluting your marketing budget by spreading it too thinly across an array of marketing platforms won’t get you anywhere, other than destination disappointment. It’s better to choose one marketing method which appeals to you, which you can afford and which suits your brand and do it well. Once you’ve perfected that, consider investing the return from this activity into your second chosen platform, and repeating the process.

The key things to remember when marketing your brand are to remain within the realms of affordability and — if you’re doing your own marketing — likeability. When you’re authentic to yourself, your passion will shine through and marketing success should follow.

News

Top tips for a healthy return to the office

As employees return to the office what are employers’ health and safety obligations? With an estimated 11 million Brits (source: BUPA) suffering increased back problems as a result of working from home, how can employers ensure the office is safe? Amanda Harris MCSP, expert Physiotherapist and Founder of The Physio Company (www.thephysiocompany.co.uk) provides her top tips:

  1. Ensure all employees are using fully adjustable chairs. If your employees are working partly from home, you will need to supply appropriate chairs for the office and home.
  2. Supply rucksacks. Will your employees be carrying laptops to and from the office and meetings? If so, it’s worth supplying rucksacks so that the weight is evenly distributed; laptops flung into handbags can cause serious neck injuries.
  3. Make sure that IT equipment can be used safely. Laptops are not designed for full time work. If you are expecting employees to use them, you have to supply stands and separate keyboards so that the screen can be brought up to the correct height (the top of the screen should be level with the user’s eyes. The keyboard should be level with their elbows).
  4. Train staff to adjust their workstation before use. Hot desking is no longer as popular as it was due to the pandemic. However, if you do intend to return to it, or introduce it, all employees have to be trained in how to adjust the workstation, including the chair, to suit them. They will also need to be instructed to clean the workstation after use to prevent infection.
  5. Make social distancing easy to achieve. You may find you will need to leave some empty desks or, if that’s not possible due to space, install screens between desks to protect staff. Hand sanitiser should be readily available and face masks should be worn in communal areas.

As an employer you have a legal obligation to supply a safe working environment. A key part of that is the workstation set up, whether employees are at home or in your office. All employees should be given desk tests (which can be conducted remotely) to assess the workstation and make any necessary adjustment. I would also recommend hiring a Health and Safety professional as it is easy for key issues to be overlooked, which can put the employer at risk of prosecution.

Please visit: www.thephysiocompany.co.uk

 

News

Covid Makes Criminals Go Cashless – Criminals now prefer to receive bank transfers over cash

We Fight Fraud (WFF) has used its unique access to the criminal underworld to discover how Covid-19 is transforming business within the illicit economy. The findings, announced today, include a move towards transacting the proceeds of crime via bank transfers and trading illegal goods on social media. This will alarm legitimate businesses, especially banks and FinTech organisations, who are being used to launder money, in breach of the regulations governing them. Legitimate businesses are also being used to facilitate fraud. The implications of the findings will be published in a whitepaper, to be discussed at the We Fight Fraud Live conference on 28th April – a free to attend, virtual event for business professionals, supported by fraud prevention specialists, LexisNexis® Risk Solutions.

Dr Nicola Harding, WFF Advisor and academic specialising in fraud, is lead author of the whitepaper. She explained: “The operational changes we found mirror those experienced by legitimate businesses during the pandemic, who reported a dramatic decrease in the use of cash. We found that the preferred option for criminals is now bank transfers, while some are also using PayPal or premium rate telephone numbers to send funds”.

The white paper’s findings also demonstrate how significant social media has become in connecting the legitimate economy with the underworld.  Simon, 26, who works in IT, shared with the WFF researcher the process of buying cannabis from a page on Instagram. He paid by bank transfer and the drugs were delivered to his house via Royal Mail – all within 36 hours.

The WFF team will all be speaking at the event and include: Tony Sales, – dubbed ‘Britain’s Greatest Fraudster’ by the Sun newspaper – who now helps household-name brands avoid fraud; Andy McDonald, former head of counter terrorist, organised crime and fraud teams at New Scotland Yard; and Solomon Gilbert, former child hacker, who has since worked with the National Crime Agency, Home Office, and private enterprises.

Researchers from WFF spoke to people involved in deviant and criminal commerce to understand the extent to which criminal and legal networks are entwined.

Tony Sales explained; “Criminal behaviour has adapted, innovated and evolved during the current crisis. We Fight Fraud uniquely talks to criminals to understand their activities.  There was an assumption that the decline of cash would make life more difficult for criminals. Our findings show that the reverse is true.”

To book a seat at the free conference go to www.wefightfraud.org/live. There are also sponsorship opportunities still available. The virtual conference will be sending delegate packs to 500 people registering to attend from the industry and the media*. These will include a copy of the whitepaper, offers and goods.

 

News

Why parents should feel confident about a return to work

It is no secret that parents can experience a steep decline in confidence after having a child. A huge study on nearly 85,000 mothers conducted by the University of Tilburg showed a direct correlation between childbirth and childrearing and levels of self-esteem. For many of these women, their self-esteem levels still had not risen again three years after giving birth, at which point the study ceased.

Mandy Garner, Managing Editor at workingmums.co.uk, says this drop in self-esteem is a problem which can severely impact a parent’s career prospects.

“We know that loss of confidence is a huge issue for parents after extended periods of leave. There is much work to do to improve recognition among employers of the experience – both in work and life terms – that parents bring.”

Some employers, however, do already recognise the skills that parents possess. Gina Hollands is Commercial Director at creative marketing agency, PMW, and handles hiring.

“Many of our team members are parents, and the skills they have acquired as a result are fundamental for the workplace. In our view, these skills are both highly sought-after and desirable.”

Here PMW takes a look at the top 10 skills parents have – even if they don’t know they have them!

  1. Diplomacy

When your child comes home from school upset because another pupil has called them names, your first thoughts as a parent are usually ones of empathy and annoyance on your child’s behalf. It’s natural to think of the other child as the baddie and to want to be disparaging, but that is likely to lead to even worse consequences the next day if your thoughts are repeated in the playground!

Instead, most parents recognise that the best way to deal with such situations is to try to take a diplomatic approach and suggest avoidance or handling techniques rather than tit-for-tat. Of course, depending on the severity of the situation, the right thing to do might be to speak to the school but, again, that is the parent’s judgement call – another skill parents develop in their nurturing role.

Diplomacy in the workplace is a very handy skill to have. Sometimes tempers among colleagues can fray and that’s when a level-headed interloper can be a welcomed influence.

  1. Patience

Although some parents may feel their children test their patience rather than improve it, once you become a parent, life isn’t quite so simple anymore. Ask any child what they did at school and you may be waiting eons before getting a sensible answer and that’s if you get one at all. Deciphering children’s responses or piecing together bits of information when clear communication is not forthcoming (think: teenagers) is also a new skill parents have to pick up. Code crackers have nothing on parents!

If you work in a team rather than independently, or you’re client-facing, you may find yourself at the mercy of colleagues or customers from whom you’re waiting on information. Their responses may not always be as speedy or thorough as you like, so it’s over to you to prise out the information. Unfortunately, this can be a slow process, in which patience is a virtue. See how, as a parent, this gives you a key advantage!

  1. Compassion

Compassion, understanding and empathy are at the heart of parenting. Trying to comprehend, consider and act on someone else’s feelings, even when you may not necessarily share them, often plays a part in guardianship. These skills are useful in the workplace too. Ever had a colleague who’s upset about something, whether personal or professional? Rather than shrugging off their feelings as silly or an overreaction, people with compassion and empathy (and that’s obviously not just limited to parents) are often best placed to help resolve the situation and achieve a favourable outcome.

  1. Negotiation

When you’re a parent it’s no longer just about you and what you want. Now, there’s someone else’s wants and needs to consider. Sometimes, of course, a no-negotiation stance might be the best course of action – just as it can be at times in the workplace – but on other occasions, reaching a mutually agreeable outcome can be the better way forward. Cue the parent: well-versed in the art of compromise and negotiation, the parent is often the master in dealing with difficult discussions.

  1. Resilience

Ever started on a project but given up before reaching the end because things got tough – too many obstructions and problems along the way? We’re probably all guilty of that at some point, as hurdles have an annoying way of eroding our staying power. But when you have children, there’s no going back or giving up – that’s a lifelong commitment, and one which has more of its fair share of challenges along the way.

Many parents come to realise that resilience, stamina and determination are must-haves when it comes to approaching any challenge, be it child-rearing or a testing work project! Stoicism and developing a rhino hide can also be the side effects of having children, which can be brought into the workplace to great effect!

  1. Leadership

This is of course not to say that all parents automatically make great leaders in a working environment, but bringing a child into the world and helping them navigate all that is thrown at them can certainly do wonders for improving a person’s leadership qualities, sometimes to the point that they’re able to transfer this into the workplace.

Offering mentorship, acting as coach, inspiring and positively influencing another person’s behaviours are all part of being an effective leader. Parents who are composing their CVs for the first time since having children would do well to remember that becoming a parent isn’t the time in life when working skills go out the window – quite the opposite – it can be the time when these skills are most effectively honed.

  1. Creativity

Ever had to think of a way to keep a child entertained on a rainy day when there’s not a lot to do and perhaps affordability is an issue? Chances are, a parent has, and possibly to various degrees of success. Trying different tacks with a small person who is not easily satisfied, kept entertained or indeed impressed at your efforts, has a good way of carving out the important skill of creativity in a person. There are endless opportunities for a creative mind in the working world, and not just within a creative industry such as marketing, fashion or the media. All industries and businesses benefit from a spot of creativity and ingenuity, so don’t be afraid to list it as one of your skills when applying for jobs.

  1. Time management

Any working parent knows how infuriating it can be when a colleague arrives late to work, flustered, claiming they’ve had no time for breakfast and/or no chance to worry about ironing their shirt and/or have forgotten something important as a result of their haste. This is because, as a responsible human being and parent, you have most likely managed to do everything your colleague hasn’t, while getting to work with time to spare. And all that while having to manage a small human being and deposit them promptly to their school or childcare facility.

Time management, while considered the elusive Holy Grail of many an employee, can often be a skill the parent possesses without even realising its value.

This skill is everything in the workplace, especially in a role such as account management or PR. Without it, clients don’t get their projects delivered on time, and the company gets a bad reputation. Never. Never, ever, underestimate the importance of having good time management in your armoury.

  1. Communication

Failing to communicate to other family members in your household can result in children not being picked up from school/friends’ houses/sporting clubs on time and vital paperwork not being filled in, meaning that much looked-forward-to school outing is missed. And that’s without even thinking about greater problems such as family expectations not being properly communicated and making false promises which are inevitably not met.

Effective communication in the workplace is essential if deadlines are to be realistic, toes are not to be stepped on and understanding of expectations are to be gained.

Some people are naturally more communicative than others, whether they have children or not, but as a parent considering a return to the workplace, it is worth considering whether having a family has improved your communication skill. If it has, mention this as a skill you possess when being interviewed.

  1. Reliability

For most parents, the prospect of letting down their children is unthinkable. And that is a moral which can extend beyond the household. Personal reliability aside for a moment, parents are often looking for long-term, permanent employment and many prefer to feel settled in a role if they have no intentions of moving locations while their children are in school. Hiring parents can therefore mean longevity and loyalty for employers, who may be keener to invest in individuals who are planning on sticking around for some years to come.

 

“Parents need to recognise that, far from being less able as a result of parental leave, they have additional skills,” says Mandy Garner. “Parenting is a process of huge change and learning and the ability to adapt to change and to learn are among the most valuable skills in today’s fast-changing workplace.”

 

News, Sales

Sales Methods and Strategies for a Covid-Impacted World

If there is one thing for certain in today’s world, we can’t assume that sales methods (and strategies) which were effective pre-Covid-19 are still working. In fact, many B2B organisations already know they’re not.

Our Covid-impacted world has heightened the importance of knowing more about customers and prospects who are now working very differently. And many companies have been forced to look deeper into the digital channels and communication techniques that they didn’t prioritise or perhaps use previously.

A recent project undertaken by Manchester-based digital agency Absurd looked to understand why some B2B sales teams are getting less engagement with their customers. While the research focused on a specific industry sector, the team identified five key findings that apply to many more B2B sectors than those we were exploring.

Oliver Bailey, co-founder of Absurd, explains:

“While some of our insights may seem obvious, they are nonetheless somewhat business-critical for helping to boost B2B customer interaction via digital services.

1. Adapt to the ‘new’ 9 to 5

Many people’s working day has become much more fluid with the onset of home working and restricted office operations. The daily commute which for many was a time to catch up on emails or check social media and news bulletins has been replaced by an early or later start to do ‘proper 9 to 5 work’. Predicting when the best time to reach out is less formulaic as it perhaps was before.

This obviously has implications around how your organisations’ sales team needs to operate; but with mobile platforms and tools such as Calendly, technology gives us opportunities to ensure that any time used outside of the 9-5 is of value.

2. Be flexible with your IT

You might prefer Zoom, but your client’s IT department may stipulate Webex. Some customers might not be able to access Dropbox and others might not be allowed to access Google Docs.

As more online meeting options become available to facilitate remote working, and face-to-face meetings reduce, this is actually heightening the complexity of how we arrange essential virtual interactions.

This is important because if you’ve only got a short meeting, not having the right tech can cause delays – you don’t want your customer hanging up because, “it wasn’t important anyway” or they ran out of time due to another meeting.

3. Make your content accessible any time

Working busy schedules around set times for physical events, industry exhibitions or webinars have always been commonplace in the B2B sector. Events in particular have long been an important way to connect with customers and potential customers face-to-face, building new relationships or solidifying existing relationships to generate demand.

Even though the ‘face-to-face’ part has changed, the importance of events has not. Sales teams have adjusted to virtual events to launch new products, showcase new techniques and to generate demand for products and solutions.

To be successful these events need to hold the participants’ attention, with succinct messages and to add value to the audience, because unlike previously where they had invested in travel they can now just close their browser if the event does not hold their interest.

So perhaps just as important, and which relates back to point one, is now opening up ‘attendance’ and consumption of information presented during events to be less scheduled and more in line with flexible working.

Webinars might be yielding good results, but new insight shows that customers are more engaged in their own time; during a commute, during a daily walk or early morning/evening. Giving customers the ability to watch a live presentation or discussion in a less time-sensitive way can be an important means to increase their engagement.

Similarly, think about podcasts, recorded videos, whitepapers; ask ‘what alternative formats can you provide that mean there are multiple opportunities for your customers to focus their time on you?’

4. Put greater importance on your search visibility and IA

While not strictly a recent shift, customers predominantly use Google as their search engine over searching for content on a specific site (often ‘in the moment” of a specific task). To be on the consideration list as a product or service provider in your area of expertise, it’s vital that your content ranks high via search and that platforms are visible through optimisation for search, and intuitive interfaces.

Customers often need their question answering and they need it done now. If your outreach and other efforts haven’t engaged their attention, then content via Google might when they’re ready to consider it will.

5. CRM is now more important than ever

We’re now in a time where customer interactions are more digital than ever, and digital means traceable (more often than not).

Make sure your CRM is capturing as much of your customers’ interactions as possible to fuel personalisation and create new opportunities to engage.

Tools such as Salesforce’s Einstein, an AI assistant for the Salesforce CRM, provide recommendations for the next action with a prospect; and the richer the data, the more accurate this can be.

Developing campaigns targeted towards the right customer at the right time is critical to success. Providing different types of content will help to target these customers and build interest in your offering.

“As the battle to adapt goes on, remember the new rules of engagement”
All of these changes mean that, as sales teams, we must accurately communicate the value of our products and solutions to get prospective customers interested, and to keep existing customers engaged.

And above all, with any current approach, a greater understanding of an audience’s needs and requirements is more critical than ever. There’s no substitute for research.

Empathy goes a long way. And if you can create techniques that are personalised and relevant, and also deliver value, engagement levels – and hopefully sales – will rise.

App News, Finance and Banking, News

Nearly three quarters of people confused by government financial support for small businesses

At the end of last week, the Chancellor announced improvements to the winter support package to help small businesses struggling in the crisis. However, research from Tommys Tax app has revealed that nearly three quarters (73%) of people find the support from government ‘confusing’ and 85% say that the new package is still not enough.

On the Self Employed Business Support Group on Facebook, managed by Tommys Tax, many of the 11.5k small business owners in the group ranted about the new grant being a ‘disgrace’, as the support covered just 40% of their average monthly trading profits across three months, (with a limit of £3,750 in total), while many said they still weren’t eligible for any support at all.

With talks of tax rising by up to two or three percentage points soon, 55% of people thought they would really struggle to pay the extra costs, with 4% saying they would stop working completely as they could get more money on benefits.

Tommy McNally, Tax Expert and Founder of Tommys Tax says: “The new measures are welcomed as an improvement, but 40% still leaves the self-employed struggling to survive and too many (around a third) will be excluded due to the eligibility criteria. Small businesses and freelancers have seen their income drop dramatically during the pandemic. It’s a tough situation for everyone, but my clients believe they’re being treated unfairly compared to others. When you look at how little they’re still being offered, I have to agree with them.”

Tommys Tax was founded in 2015 and has since secured a total of £20 million in tax refunds for clients. They launched their free app in April 2020 and it so far has helped over 10,000 people. On average, they currently secure refunds of £3,000 for those on PAYE and £2,800 for the self-employed.

Tommy concluded: “It’s great that the government is helping small businesses but with the prospect of a rise in tax, they need to do more or we’re going to see a huge number of small businesses closing for good, which is not only bad for the economy, but devastating for individuals and their families who have worked so hard over the years.”

Tommys Tax App gives business owners all the tools they need to manage their finances – including bookkeeping, invoicing, tax calculators and the ability to get a tax refund that can come within as little as 72 hours.

News, Start Ups

Eight top tips for setting up your own trade business

Being your own boss has many perks that make it an appealing career move, but it also presents challenges you’ll need to prepare for.

To help those looking to set up their own business, IronmongeryDirect, the UK’s largest supplier of specialist ironmongery, has spoken to tradespeople who have already taken the step to go self-employed, to reveal eight things to be aware of.

Consider if you’re a sole trader or limited company

Choosing whether you will operate as a sole trader or as a limited company is an important step and will have implications for how you pay your taxes. A sole trader is the simplest form of business structure and is essentially a self-employed person who is the sole owner of the business. A limited company has its own legal identity, separate from its owners and managers. This remains the case even if you’re the only person in the company.  Despite a limited company being a more complex structure, it offers an owner more protection. This is because as a sole trader, you have unlimited liability, meaning the law does not distinguish between your business and your personal property. This means that if your business incurs losses then your property could be seized by creditors.

Michael Wynn, Managing Director of Yorkshire Brickwork Contractors, said: “Setting up as a sole trader is seen as more manageable for busy tradespeople. This tends to be the preferred choice as less administration is involved when managing taxes, in addition to lower costs compared to a limited company.”

Put together a business plan

One of your first priorities should be to create a detailed business plan.

Christopher Field, who set up CJF Electrical Services, said: “By creating a business plan detailing all of your initial overhead costs, you ensure that you can save and budget for all the things you need to get started. This will include things like a van, tools, uniform, insurance, qualifications, and budget for marketing and advertising your services.

“Make a list of everything you need to buy and do, as well as estimating how long it will take to get everything sorted. It takes time to apply for a bank account, get the appropriate and best deal for insurance, set up wholesale accounts and create a website and social media channels, so don’t expect it to be quick to set up!”

Make sure you have the right insurance

Business insurance is essential in any sector but is especially important in trades where health and safety is a factor in day-to-day work.

Alan Gott, from Alan’s Home Improvement Services, said: “It’s very important that you have public liability insurance (PLI) and professional indemnity insurance (PII). PLI covers you for injury and property damage claims made against you, whilst PII covers things like negligence claims and unintentional breaches of copyright or loss of data.”

Don’t forget your taxes Another part of getting your finances in order is knowing what taxes you’ll need to pay. Michael Wynn adds: “Remember to make sure you keep up-to-date records of all business sales and expenses and plan to submit a self-assessment tax return every year – this is critical so do not forget! If you don’t keep up to date, it‘s really easy to fall behind and find yourself in a rather sticky situation.

“Another thing to note is that if your turnover is more than £85k, you must register for VAT. You can also register voluntarily if you sell to other VAT-registered businesses and want to reclaim the VAT at the end of the year.”

Focus on customer service

While good customer service is always important, it is particularly crucial when first starting out as it can be the difference between your business succeeding or failing.

Alan Gott added: “Remember that customer service is key. Create a personalised and quirky answerphone message so that people can leave a message, and always respond to messages promptly, regardless of whether or not you’re able to do the job. Arrive on time, and always be polite, courteous and obliging with your customers. This will help you to build up trust and spread positive word of mouth.

“Remember that even the little jobs can lead to more work in the future, so never turn down opportunities because you think they’re not big enough for you to spend time on.”

Market your services

Marketing your services can be done cheaply and effectively online, using Facebook or Google My Business. This will help people find you and increase awareness of your business.

Andy Porter said: “Look into local advertising methods to market your services and see how other tradespeople are doing it for inspiration. Alternatively, social media sites like Facebook can also be a great way to market your services for free if you don’t have the budget for advertising.”

Keep a cash reserve handy

Businesses need to be prepared to deal with the unexpected and keeping a cash reserve could help your company get through difficult times.

Andy Porter, a self-employed carpenter, said: “It’s important to make sure you’ve got plenty of money saved up in advance, as cash flow is really important. Having a contingency pot of emergency funds will help make your business resilient during quiet periods, as well as allowing you to deal with unforeseen occurrences beyond your control.”

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Remember that you don’t have to go it alone when you’re first setting out. Industry organisations, friends and family on similar ventures are great resources of knowledge.

Andy Porter added: “It’s a good idea to speak with other sole traders that have established their own businesses and done it all before. Ask them for advice to help you repeat your successes and avoid their mistakes. This can also be a good way to build relationships with professionals in other trades, which can sometimes lead to additional work that you otherwise wouldn’t have been offered.”

IronmongeryDirect sells a range of tools and products you might need to start up your own trades business – for more information, visit: https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/