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Tax relief for buying or leasing assets
Information on the tax reliefs available when buying or leasing assets, and the rules for VAT.
Business mistakes: unrealistic goals
Being over-optimistic about your market size and potential overtrading can be problematic for new businesses.
Assessing your cash needs: creditors and debtors
Debtor days ratios and creditor days ratios estimate how long you take to pay debts and customers take to pay you.
Assessing your cash needs: assets and liabilities
Gearing ratios, working capital ratios and quick ratios are useful tools to compare assets and liabilities.
Avoid the problems of overtrading: assets
How to solve cashflow shortfalls and bring new money into the business in a variety of ways.
Avoid the problems of overtrading: debts
Debt factoring, prompt payment discounts and regulating cashflow help reduce the risk of overtrading.
Matching sales and production cycles
Ensuring a closer match between sales and production cycles can help avoid overtrading.
What is overtrading?
How insufficient finance and resources to sustain a business’s level of trading can lead to overtrading.
Example of overtrading
A case study of a situation of overtrading and the potential disaster it causes.
Business mistakes: taking your eye off the competition
Analyse and monitor your business competition to stay ahead by understanding their strategies, anticipating market trends and adapting your plans accordingly.
Business mistakes: poor stock control
Guidance on how you can avoid poor stock and asset management on in the early days of running your new business
Common mistakes to avoid when starting a business
Learn about the most frequent mistakes made by new business owners so you can avoid them in your start-up journey
Avoid the problems of overtrading
How expanding businesses can match production and order cycles using gearing, working capital or quick ratio tests.
Business mistakes: poor or inadequate market research
Conduct thorough market research and get to know your clients when you start-up in business.
Business mistakes: weak financial planning
Lack of capital, contingency plans and a reluctance to seek professional advice are all potential start-up problems
Borrow money for capital investment from pension schemes
How small self-administered pension schemes allow a business to borrow money with certain restrictions.
Claim loan interest against tax
If you deduct loan interest from your profits you can reduce your business tax bill.
Six tips to avoid common business start-up mistakes
A quick list of common start-up business mistakes which new businesses owners can make and how to avoid them.
Business mistakes: hiring the wrong people
Making unwise staff hiring choices can seriously undermine the success of your start-up business.
Advice and support for young entrepreneurs
A list of support organisations, funding and advice available to young entrepreneurs