Now that’s a spectacular early Christmas present for the Chancellor, and more importantly for more than 80,000 people, who are no-longer listed as being out of work.
Category: Opinion
Some of the UKs leading business leaders and opinion formers share their insight and ideas for growth
Why people fail as property entrepreneurs
Lots of people like the idea of investing in property – and that’s a good place to start, but it’s not enough to enable you to develop a profitable property business – one that will continue to make you money, provide cash flow, an easy retirement and a legacy for your family.
Why you shouldn’t tell anyone your business goals
Many business coaches suggest we tell everyone our business goals – it makes them more real and it forces accountability. But according to Jessica McGregor Johnson author of ‘The Right T-Shirt’ this is not a good idea. In fact the exact opposite is true – don’t tell everyone your goals!
Response to the Autumn Statement
So there we have it, the Chancellor’s third Autumn Statement. So what did we at the FPB think about it from an SME perspective?
Learning to let go
Success results not from adding things to your life but from letting go of them.
Don’t let shoddy imitations devalue real apprenticeships
Doug Richard’s long-awaited report into apprenticeships could have been written by me, or I suspect any other employer who truly understands the benefits to businesses, individuals and the economy of quality workplace training.
Why Innovative Thinking Is The Real Key To Social Media Success
The way we as a society communicate has changed fundamentally in the last decade. The growth of social media and the internet has brought vast opportunities to businesses. In particular it has been a powerful and relatively inexpensive way for SME’s to increase awareness of their products and promote their brands on a global stage. It has also brought huge risks to brand reputation.
Sorry is no longer the hardest word
At some point in the recent past – was it when the utilities began treating complaints as a benchmark for consumer satisfaction? – the word sorry was entirely cut adrift from meaningful action. It became one of those vague expressions of regret, the emotion you experience when you tread on someone’s toe in a crowded lift, not quite unmeant but not actually meaning anything either.
The problem of Late payments
Late payment has remained high on the SME agenda over the past 12 months. Against a backdrop of the European credit crisis, the banks still resolutely refusing to lend to business, and the economy contracting in the first two quarters of the year, the issue has remained firmly on the front burner.
The latest Government initiative: Supply chain finance
Supply chain finance was announced with some fanfare by David Cameron last month. The latest in a long line of Government initiatives to put money in the hands of cash starved small businesses.
Entrepreneurs have never been more valuable to the country than right now
Right now, as we finally seem to be emerging from recession, we are perhaps more reliant on entrepreneurs than any time in recent history.
A business that overdraws on goodwill is already bust!
Have you ever given any thought to the fact that reciprocal agreement between employee and employer is not simply a case of trading hours or even performance for salary?
It’s Tough at the Top: 5 Lessons from the Bosses of Facebook, Yahoo, Barclays and JP Morgan
As Elton John’s iconic song goes, ‘sorry seems to be the hardest word’- and the higher you get up the company ladder the brighter the spotlight on you, not just from colleagues and clients but shareholders, the press and an increasingly global audience.
Make it in Britain: Entrepreneurs Should Pay More Attention to the Benefits of Backing British Manufacturers
In just 30 years, the UK’s manufacturing sector has all but capitulated in the one of the largest de-industrialisations of any major economy. While the economy is now focused on the service sector, digital and research and development, UK-based manufacturing has shrunk to just a third of what it was in 1970’s and therein lays a massive opportunity for Britain’s SMEs, whilst at the same time providing a boost to the stagnating economy.
Entrepreneur Loans: Why We Need to be Planting More Acorns
The Business section of every bookshop is awash with “How-I-Became-Successful” books written by well-known Entrepreneurs. If you read these books you will realise that behind many of the success story’s there was an initial ‘risk’ funding event that kick-started the journey and we need to urgently address this.