Write Away

Hello, and welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small business owners, freelancers and anybody who is thinking of jumping into self-employment. Firstly, to regular readers, apologies it’s been a while – after some time away recovering from an op. we’re back with, what you will hopefully find to be, some valuable tips and resources for anyone in the small business arena. Today we look at something that anyone who has ever started a business (or eve thought about it) will have come face to face with – obstacles and setbacks. In a recent article for the “This is Money” website, Richard Reed, one of the founders of successful start-up Innocent Drinks commented, on starting a business: “There are a 1,000 riddles you are trying to work through” These can range from fundamental, game-changing problems such as raising money to get your business off the ground, to smaller, seemingly less important issues such as trading structure or name etc. But, you can be sure ther...

Hi there, it’s great to be back after some time away, thanks for finding your way to Write Away – the blog for small businesses, freelancers, and anyone with a healthy desire to cut loose from paid employment and work for themselves.   In this post we deal with engaging and using an accountant for your small business. A lot of small business owners start their business armed with a specific set of skills, knowledge or experience. One of self-employments biggest challenges is how to plug a gap in that knowledge in areas you may have never needed to understand or be involved in. For a large proportion of small business owners and freelancers, the financial management of the business, specifically matters relating to tax and accounting would probably be the area most likely to induce a cold sweat! Unless you are an accountant by trade, why would you need this knowledge anyway! So now you’re up and running, you need an accountant, right? Well, yes is the short ans...

Welcome back to Write Away, the business blog aimed at those working for themselves or anyone who'd love to but has yet to take that first step. There is an increasing number of people who are deciding to become their own boss later on in their career. There are many reasons for this, some people see it is a viable alternative to trying to get another job after redundancy, others are tired of working for someone else and some just have a big idea that is bursting to be launched in the form of a new business. Becoming self employed can also be a fantastic way of gaining a better work / life balance when you have a young family and working hours need to fit around school hours. Whatever the reason, there are a number of benefits to becoming your own boss later in your career. Not only do you have a lot more experience to draw on, you also have the benefit of having made some mistakes at someone else's expense! Often, those over forty may also be fortunate to have built s...

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, freelancers, start-ups and budding entrepreneurs. Our latest post is about a new revolution for start-up businesses that already have an online presence, but would also like to try out a bricks and mortar, high street presence, without having to commit to long leases and thousands of pounds in rent and refitting. The concept has enabled a number of businesses, in Richmond in Surrey, where the flagship store opened, to co-work with other small retailers for two weeks at a time. Further stores are planned in Victoria and Shropshire, and the beauty of the concept is that it enables unused retail premises to be bought back to life showcasing new British brands. Popup Britain is backed by Start Up Britain, a national campaign started by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, to inspire enterprise throughout the UK. The campaign is also looking to go nationwide in a bid to present small businesses across the country wit...

Hello again, welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, freelancers or anyone interested in working for themselves. Mentoring has long being heralded as a great way for small businesses to tap into the vast knowledge and experience of successful business people or entrepreneurs, without having to pay for the privilege. I’ve read many comments, from small business owners, on the value a mentor has added to their business, as well as the personal benefit they have drawn from the experience. If mentoring is something you’ve considered for your business, fear not, here is your chance to have Deborah Meaden, star of the BBC show “Dragons Den”, as your business mentor for 12 months. A competition, run by an initiative called Local Business Accelerators (LBA), is giving UK businesses who are between one and five years old, the chance to win this prize, plus £10,000 cash and an IPad. The link to where you can enter is at the end of this post, and this gives ...

Hello again. Today's post is about the co-author of a well known business start up guide called “The Beermat Entrepreneur”. Mike Southon is both an entrepreneur and business mentor and also writes regularly for the Mail on Sunday  and the Financial Times about small businesses and entrepreneurship. The Beermat Entrepreneur is a business self-help book aimed at people who have an idea for a business and need to know how to take it to the next stage and turn the idea into a viable business. Whilst the book is a recommended read for aspiring entrepreneurs, this post seeks to guide you to some useful resources on Mike Southon’s own website. If you so desire (and can afford to!) you can book Mike for a personal appearance from here, but there are a number of other free resources that may be of more interest. There are a number of free guides to download, some linked to the “Beermat” series but others, such as the useful “Sales pipeline simple spreadsheet”, that ...

Welcome back. For the first time on this blog I’m going to include a book recommendation, just because I think it is an excellent book and could be a worthwhile investment if you’re seriously considering setting up your own business. It’s called “Make It Happen – The Prince’s Trust Guide To Starting Your Own Business” (ISBN 9780857080455) – I was asked to review this book for the Chartered Management Institute and I’m very glad I did. The book is divided into ten sections which range from marketing and sales, managing your money and writing a business plan to advice on growth and getting yourself a mentor. The format and layout of the book make it very easy to read and there are numerous nuggets of advice from both well known entrepreneurs (such as James Caan of Dragons Den fame and Tony Elliot who started Time Out magazine) and not-so-well know business people, but all offer sound advice and excellent tips based on their own experiences.   As start up books go, I found it ref...

Hi there and welcome back to the Write Away blog, an online resource for entrepreneurs and those working for themselves, or thinking about making the leap into the world of self-employment. Today’s post is about another useful internet resource for small business owners and anyone working for themselves. Fresh Business Thinking is a website aimed squarely at this part of the market. It has a quality “Business Advice” section with articles on every aspect of running a business, a   number of “how-to” guides, ranging from Self-Assessment through to Recession-proofing your business, its own video channel and a newsletter you can subscribe to called the “Virtual Director” which aim to inspire and offer support on a wide range of topics. The site also contains a directory of a range of businesses, which you can pay to be part of should you so desire. The site has a good search facility that makes it easy to find relevant articles or information meaning you can dip in and out of the ...

Welcome back. Today’s post discusses the value of working with others, either on ideas for a new business or in actually starting something up together. I think there is a common view, that starting a business is something you do on your own initially, and this can mean that would-be entrepreneurs miss out on valuable advice and input from others. A few years ago, I enrolled on a course called Teamstart, the basic premise being to bring a group of people together who either had a business idea, or just a burning desire to work for themselves. The six-week programme consisted of different modules linked to starting a business with a number of workshops included, where you were put into pairs or groups to come up with, and work on, various business ideas. I made lasting friendships from the course, but it also taught me that two or three heads can definitely be better than one when you’re trying to come up with that elusive business idea or concept. So if you’re struggling in this a...