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Start up business ideas

For a successful business, you need a viable business idea, the skills to make it work and the funding. Discover whether your idea has what it takes.

Set up a business

Forming your business correctly is essential to ensure you are protected and you comply with the rules. Learn how to set up your business.

Skills and wellbeing

Advice on protecting your wellbeing, self-confidence and mental health from the pressures of starting and running a business.

Business planning

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

Start up funding

It is likely you will need funding to start your business unless you have your own money. Discover some of the main sources of start up funding.

Tax and National Insurance

Businesses and individuals must account for and pay various taxes. Understand your tax obligations and how to file, account and pay any taxes you owe.

Business law

Businesses are required to comply with a wide range of business laws. We introduce the main rules and regulations you must comply with.

Sales and marketing

Marketing matters. It drives sales and helps promote your brand and products. Discover how to market your business and reach your target customers.

Business premises

Some businesses need a high street location whilst others can be run from home. Understand the key factors from cost to location, size to security.

Employees

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

Business IT

It is likely your business could not function without some form of IT. Learn how to specify, buy, maintain and secure your business IT.

Grow your business

Few businesses manage the leap from start up to high-growth business. Learn what it takes to scale up and take your business to the next level.

Business planning

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

Resource topics

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Negotiating a purchase - checklist

Many people are nervous about negotiating purchases, but you could be allowing suppliers to walk all over you. Read our helpful tips.

Essential guide to purchasing

Effective purchasing can cut costs, increase profitability, lift the quality of your goods and services and make for a more efficient business. Read of guide to efficient purchasing.

Growing your business - checklist

Unless you are happy as you are, you will be looking for ways to develop and grow your business. These ten steps will lead you in the right direction.

Essential guide to sourcing sustainable suppliers and equipment

Using sustainable, environmentally-friendly suppliers does more than just make your business look good. It can also lead to tax breaks and cost savings.

Essential guide to increasing profitability

Boosting profitability depends on doing many little things better than the competition. Our guide to making your business more profitable.

Increasing profitability - checklist

Profitability needs to be the key long-term aim of any business. Follow our helpful tips to ensure you have the best chance of making profits.

Ten ways to increase your profits

Firms are always searching for ways to trim their costs and increase their profits, in good times and in bad. Make your business leaner and fitter.

Essential guide to new product development

Once you've come up with the idea for a new product or service, you need to develop it, test it and take it to market. Our guide to the key steps.

Essential guide to making your business more innovative

Innovating isn't a luxury, but an essential if you don't want to be left behind. How to use innovation to improve and expand your products.

Essential guide to key performance indicators

To make good management decisions, you need clear information on how your business is performing. How to identify and monitor key business drivers.

Using performance indicators - checklist

Key performance indicators can help you measure how your business is performing in particular areas, so that you can track and improve this over time.

How to do benchmarking - checklist

Benchmarking provides a way to measure how effective your processes are, compared to competitors. Here's how to set up benchmarking in your business.

Developing new products - checklist

Use this checklist to help to develop new products, from developing new ideas to setting budgets, deciding on product specification and prototyping.

Q&A: Strategy

Strategy simply means having a plan of action to get your business to where you want it to be. The key is to focus on what you're trying to achieve.

What goals should you set for your business?

To be successful and grow your business, you should consider reviewing and setting new goals for your business. What objectives should you be setting, and what's the key to achieving them?

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