Do you see Angels? It’s tough to be an entrepreneur out there in this current market, tougher than I’ve ever seen it before. Small business owners with stellar ideas for start-up ventures and innovators with life-changing inventions are being left dangling over the precipice of despair, abandoned by institutions that previously might have funded them, and having to watch their dreams crumble.

Could Gordon Brown lead a business? We asked Paul Bridle, leadership methodologist to reflect on the Prime Minister's speech to the Labour Party conference last week

Microsoft sparks race row after removing black face from advert Microsoft has sparked a huge race row after removing black face from advert

Could being grateful be making you weak? “I guess I'm just lucky to have a job at the moment.”

This is a common response to the “how things are going at work?” question. With so many redundancies, many people feel grateful to still be in gainful employment and relieved that it's their salary rather than savings that will feed the family for another month.

Can a 'technophobe' really make it as a successful entrepreneur? Are there three people in your relationship – you, your partner and your Blackberry? From the bedroom to the gym and even on the beaches of foreign shores, a Blackberry or iPhone is often never far from an entrepreneur’s side.

Apple has sold 21.17 million iPhones worldwide and last week RIM, the Canadian technology firm behind the BlackBerry, has unveiled a new mass-market version of its popular phone.

Do entrepreneurs ‘think’ differently to other people? How different are entrepreneurs? Robbie Steinhouse, author of the book ‘Think like an entrepreneur’, believes that the entrepreneurial mindset is truly distinct. Entrepreneurs have a very specific attitude to things like risk, luck, convention and decision-making.

Office top summer holiday destination this year Schools may have finished last week, but more than 1 in ten Brits have chosen not to take a week of their annual leave this year because they are worried whether they will still have a job to return to, according to new research.

Don't like your clothes? Just tweet us... Online clothing retailer ASOS is now addressing customer complaints and comments through micro-blogging site Twitter. Is this the start of a change in dealing with customer complaints and something that other companies should follow?

The Apprentice Final live Join us during the final of The Apprentice on Sunday 7th June from 8.30pm for live comment and conversation from business owners and fellow show viewers via twitter. Take part yourself if you are a Twitter user by using the hashtag #bmapprentice

Want to reflect on the series, then join in the debate by commenting below

Business investors – Are you a Gekko or an Allen? Bill Morrow, co-founder of Angels Den looks at whether successful business investors need to be nice guys, or do you have to be a nasty piece of work to make it out there in the big bad world of business?

The Budget: Entrepreneur reactions We speak to leading entrepreneurs about their reactions to the Budget. Is this the kick start that they feel business needed or just Mr Darling taking UK PLC down a further road to debt laden ruin?

Government 'Big Brother' proposals will halt use of social media for business Government proposals to monitor social networking sites centrally fail to consider the impact of such action on businesses that now use these tools as an integral part of their marketing strategy and could result in some businesses abandoning social media altogether, according to a leading social media consultant.

The Apprentice update: Anita Shah fired first Business strategist Anita Shah became the first The Apprentice candidate to be fired by Sir Alan Sugar tonight.

Recession spawns new breed of business owner Natural selection is not only confined to the theories of Darwin according to a new study which has unearthed a new breed of business owner, fit to survive the current recession and well into the future.

Sizzling growth from bangers with a bit more bite to them Former pig farmer Andrew Keeble is looking to replicate last year’s 70pc sales growth. It helps that the firm he runs with wife Debbie supplies premium sausages to supermarkets across the UK. Even in tough times, people have to eat.

Worrall Thompson a victim of the credit crunch or just normal banking procedure? The celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has blamed his bank after putting his restaurant chain into administration last Friday. Sixty staff lost their jobs after four of Worrall Thompson's restaurants stopped trading. The chef has used his own savings to keep two more outlets running, and has criticised Lloyds Banking Group for refusing him an additional £200,000 increase on his current £200,000 overdraft to help the business through the next few months. However we have taken the lid off the boiling pot and think that many UK business owners will sympathise with AWT, but are surprised at his 'It's the Credit Crunch what did it' explanation.

What women want

What drew you to your current bank in the first place? Was it the excellent services it offered, the lure of a free iPod or possibly the promise of vouchers off your next holiday abroad? There’s no doubt that banks will offer the world to secure your custom these days. But are they maximising their potential and catering for everyone?
Well, no apparently not. New research suggests that banks are totally failing to cash in on the potential riches that could be gained from having more female customers. But why target women?

Are the CGT proposals as grim as many SME's claim?

Are the Government’s Capital Gains Tax proposals as grim as many small and medium sized businesses claim? Property mogul Jim Moore, founder of Inside Track and Instant Access Properties - the UK’s biggest buy-to-let education and investment company – takes a closer look…..

"When I first heard the Government is to slash Capital Gains Tax from 40% to 18% I thought it sounded good. But if it’s really as good as it sounds, why are so many small businesses against the Government’s plans?

Make ‘your’ voices heard

Businesses are the lifeblood of communities, and collectively they are the economic engine of the country. Business opinions matter greatly, and to ignore this voice would be disastrous to any government with aims of achieving economic development and future prosperity.
This year, I hope the party conferences act as a platform to promote the issues affecting businesses, and with the current ‘credit crunch’ taking hold, uncertainty at Northern Rock, and a government in power that claims it wants to utilise ‘all the talents’ available, this really should be the time for politicians to listen, learn and to wholeheartedly deliver.
So what is it that we are determined to voice? The first thing that strikes me when I travel around the country talking to businesses on behalf of the British Chambers of Commerce, is a growing skills gap. This country is suffering at the hands of an education system failing to deliver a skilled, enthusiastic and professionally minded workforce. Manufacturing, engineering and the science and technology sectors are suffering.

Sorting the wheat from the chaff

With recent negative press coverage and investigative television programmes such as Panorama looking at the British residential property investment market - in particular whether buyers and lenders have been the target of widespread fraud - Jim Moore looks at how you, as a seasoned investor, can sort the good guys from the bad.