Running an owner-managed business: filing obligations, company structure, pricing, cash and the decisions that come with growth. Written from twenty-five years of sitting on the other side of the desk.
Many business owners feel they are not as capable as others think. Replacing vague doubt with evidence from your own figures is a practical place to start.
A four-day week can help with recruitment and retention, but it needs careful planning around cover, pay and holiday. Here is how to decide whether it could work for you.
Running a lean business means cutting the cost, stock and time that do not add value for customers. Done well, it frees up cash and makes the business easier to manage.
Buyers pay more for businesses that are profitable, well documented and not dependent on the owner. Starting two or three years before a sale gives you time to make a difference.
Your free Google Business Profile is often the first thing local customers see. How to set it up properly, keep it accurate and handle reviews.
Good financial management is mostly a set of simple routines done regularly. These are the habits that help owner-managed businesses stay in control of cash, tax and profit.
Hire purchase and leasing both spread the cost of vehicles and equipment, but they differ on ownership, tax relief and VAT. Here is how to compare them.
Steady improvement comes from knowing your numbers, protecting margins, managing cash and freeing up the owner's time. Ten practical steps for owner-managed businesses.
AI tools can take a lot of time out of everyday marketing tasks, but they do not replace judgement, customer knowledge or accountability. A balanced view for 2026.
Profit and cash are not the same. How to forecast cash, get paid faster and keep costs under control so your business has a buffer when it needs one.
Company expense cards let staff pay for business costs without using their own money, while you keep control of limits and receipts. Here is how they work and what to watch.
Buying outright and leasing both get you the equipment you need. The right choice depends on your cash position, how long you will keep the asset and how much flexibility you want.
A practical guide to building an annual budget for an owner-managed business, from sales assumptions to a monthly profit and cash plan, and how to use it to test decisions such as hiring.
Productivity is the value your business produces for each hour or pound you put in. How to measure it simply and where small businesses usually lose time.
A lead magnet is something useful offered free in return for contact details. Five formats that work, how to promote them and how to stay within data rules.
Clear terms, prompt and accurate invoices, easy ways to pay and a consistent chasing routine. Plus your statutory rights when business customers pay late.
You cannot control the economy, but you can control how well you understand your position. Good information, a cash buffer and a plan for different outcomes.
Identity verification for existing directors closes on 18 November 2026, agent verification has slipped to late 2026, and the accounts reform that makes small companies file a profit and loss account has moved from 2027 to 2028. What to do about each.
VAT you have charged, PAYE you have deducted and corporation tax on profit already earned are not your money, but they sit in the same balance. Separating them into pots as the money arrives is the simplest fix there is.
Small companies and micro-entities will have to file a P&L, abridged accounts disappear, and every company will file through software in iXBRL, with no web or paper route left. Confirmed for April 2028, and there is one concession worth knowing about.