http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net Tue, 11 May 2010 22:54:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Choosing the right furniture for your business depends essentially on the type of business. Cheap, second-hand desks and chairs may not be good business sense. If you think it possible that customers or suppliers will visit your premises at regular intervals, it is crucial to select furniture which projects the ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/the-right-furniture/ THE RIGHT COMMUNICATIONS You need to buy a fast modem; choose the faster feasible modem on general supply (say ?150 - ?200). A modem – either installed internally within your computer or attached externally – lets you communicate with others direct from your computer screen using your phone line. You can ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/choosing-other-equipment/ There are two constructive steps you can take: consider whether you could negotiate with creditors to pay off what you owe in instalments or to pay a smaller sum which they will accept in full settlement. Or you can enter into what is known as a formal voluntary arrangement. This ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/the-final-process/ Keep a healthy dose of skepticism about franchises, franchisors and franchise specialists. Make your own choice of advisers, do not use those suggested by the franchisor. The most unbiased advisers are likely to be a High-Street bank – some of which have specialized franchise giving independent advice – and the solicitor ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/a-guide-to-choosing-a-franchise/ Growth businesses are the cream. They make up the top five percent of small companies – and around 20,000 a year are started. There are several subtle differences between the growth companies and the rest. What marks them out? The definition of a growth company will usually be based upon one ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/going-for-growth/ It is the person, not the business, who is registered for Vat. Each registration covers all the business activities of the registered person. For VAT purposes, a company is treated as a person. There are a number of reasons why you might not have to register. These include: ? your ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/who-has-to-register/ It’s all too easy when you’re struggling with the finances, the production, the employees to regard customers as ‘just another problem’, ‘a nuisance’ or ‘getting in the way’. But you need to drag yourself back to reality. Without customers, you have no business, no matter how slick your financial control, ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/customer-care/ There will be many businesses for whom the simple system described above will not be sufficient. This will apply to you if you make many sales or purchases each month and keep a lot of stock on the premises. There will be an increasing number of documents and records needed. ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/when-the-business-is-more-complicated/ The advice accountants may be able to give ranges from the basic services, such as book-keeping, to the more sophisticated, such as tax planning or raising funds. Not every accountant will offer every sort of advice. For example, a big firm of accountants is unlikely to undertake weekly book-keeping functions; ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/accountant-and-book-keeper/ Before you can answer this question, you have to find out what your customer wants. What are the benefits and features of a service or product which your target group rates most highly? Research is essential. Once you have the framework of your customer needs, you can begin to vary your ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/why-will-they-buy/ The simplest way of increasing your pension is to start paying money into a personal pension, which is organized and invested by an insurance company; and, because you can get tax relief on what you pay at your highest rate of tax and your money is put into a tax-free ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/if-you-are-self-employed/ Once you have selected your business or product name, your next strategy is to devise means of getting your name noticed by as many of your target customers as you can. Obviously, you do not want your name to be associated with any bad news, so you may find that ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/building-your-reputation/ What Do You Charge Vat On? You charge VAT on the taxable sales you make; this is known as output tax. The amount of VAT is worked out on the price for the goods or services you are supplying. Occasional sales of second-hand goods are treated in the same way as ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/how-is-the-tax-worked-out/ If you have made a loss in your business, what can you do with it to cut your tax bills? Your two main options are to: ? deduct the loss from other income or a capital gain ? carry the loss forward and deduct it from future trading profits from your business. DEDUCTING ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/losses-for-the-self-employed/ Going for growth usually means raising more money. Not always. You may have created that elixir of business, a cash-generative model, and be able to fund your own expansion with your own resources. But you are likely to be the exception. 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BUYING OUTRIGHT This does not necessarily mean ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/how-to-pay-for-equipment/ Banks obviously offer a wide range of financial facilities, such as current accounts, provision of overdrafts, longer-term loans, leasing and factoring, import and export assistance. There is more detail about the provision of finance ‘Raising the money’. Most of the banks also have specialist services for small businesses and networks ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/banks-obviously-offer-a-wide-range-of-financial-facilities/ When you produced your business plan before you started your business, you incorporated some forecasts: profit and loss and cash flow. These could form the basis for your plan (or budget), which you need to control the business, although probably with some adjustments. What you need for a budget that you ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/the-plan-to-control-the-business/ WHO IS THE MESSAGE TO? If you do not know what your target market is, you really do not deserve to succeed. You need this information at your fingertips from a very early stage of planning your business. Defining the target market necessitates sorting out its characteristics: the number, the location, ... http://www.federalgrantsforsmallbusiness.net/the-message-who-what-how/