Writing a Business Plan

A business plan helps you to do all the necessary research to take a business concept and lay out how it is likely to work out in practice. It will be particularly important in order to help attract finance for your business.

Financial projections are a particularly important part of the plan and a large amount of detail will need to go into them covering sales, margins, overheads and break-even analysis.

An overview of the Business Plan

Potential lenders need to get an insight into your current operation and future plans. For this to happen the plan needs to be well organised and presented.

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Sister blog dedicated to contractors

We have a sister blog dedicated to tax issues facing contractors. If you are a contractor or thinking of commencing contracting, then you may find our Contractors tax blog useful.

The 5 Key Qualities Needed to Succeed in Business

Why do some people succeed in business and others not and why are some exceptionally successful?

Some of it may be luck but there are common factors in successful business people that would seem to indicate otherwise.

It seems that great entrepreneurs have 5 key qualities that help them succeed in situations that others may fail...

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New Website

We have just launched our new website, with lots of free resources. Why not click here to have a look!

Which Business Structure Should You Use?

This post gives you an outline of the different business structures you can trade through. Your business format is not set in stone forever and you can change between them. It is fairly simple for a sole trader to take on a partner and become a partnership and for a partnership to become a Limited Company. There are however more complications with changing from a Limited Company to a sole trader or partnership.

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Welcome to Gemma

We are pleased to announce that Gemma Stephenson will be joining out team shortly as a Manager. Gemma is a graduate of Cardiff University with a degree in mathematics. She trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with a top fifty practice. Since qualifying she has gained a wealth of experience in accounting and tax for SMEs.

What to Put on Your Company Letterhead, Websites and Emails

I often get asked what needs to be put on company letterheads, websites and emails. Here's a quick reminder.

You should put the following on your letterhead and invoices...
■The full name of the company, normally ending with the word "limited".
■The company registration number given by Companies House.
■The company's registered office address.
■Where the company was incorporated - England and Wales or Scotland.
■Your VAT number if VAT registered.
■Details of any regulated profession of which you are a member.
Directors names?
There's no need to list all of the directors. However, if you do the rule is you must list them all. i.e. it's all or nothing.

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