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Practical, no-nonsense ways to run a tighter, calmer, more profitable business.
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How small firms actually fund buying another business
Almost nobody turns up at completion with the full price in cash. Here is how the money is really put together, and the parts that catch first-time buyers out.
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Neonatal care leave and pay: what a small employer has to do
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Late payment interest: what you can actually charge on an overdue invoice
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When an employee resigns: notice, garden leave and the handover
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How to credit-check a customer before you take a big order
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How to register a trade mark in the UK: what it costs and what it protects
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How to build a cash flow forecast a lender will actually believe
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Carer's leave, dependants' leave and bereavement: the time off small employers get wrong
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Paying for stock months before you sell it: how importers fund the gap
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Your Google Business Profile: the free hour that brings in local work
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How much funding do you actually need? Calculating your working capital gap
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How to run a recruitment process that will not land you at a tribunal
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Angel, VC or equity crowdfunding: which route actually fits your business
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What a company director is personally liable for
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Payments on account: why your January tax bill is bigger than the tax you owe
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What actually happens when an employment tribunal claim lands
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The 48-hour week, rest breaks and opt-outs: what the working time rules actually require
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Where your business cash actually sits: the £120,000 line worth checking
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Health and safety: what a small employer must actually do
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No sick pay when you work for yourself: what freelancers actually get
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Buying your premises instead of renting: what it actually costs
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Statutory sick pay changed in April — what small employers now pay
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EMI share options: giving staff a stake without giving away control
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Debentures and floating charges: what a lender actually takes when you borrow
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Can't pay your tax bill? What a Time to Pay arrangement actually involves
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Suspending an employee: how to handle a serious allegation properly
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The minimum wage traps that catch small employers out
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Refunds and returns: what you must give, and what you can refuse
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How to make a redundancy fairly: the process a small employer has to follow
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Refinancing business debt: when consolidating helps, and when it just moves the problem
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Business rates: what a small firm actually pays after the 2026 revaluation
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Taking on an apprentice: what it actually costs in 2026
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Salary and dividends: how directors actually pay themselves
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Workplace pensions: what you must do the day you hire your first employee
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Employee, worker or self-employed: getting employment status right
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Card processing fees: what taking a payment really costs your margin
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What a lender actually asks for before they approve a business loan
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Employers' liability insurance: what you legally need the day you hire someone
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What actually happens if you miss a business loan repayment
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Maternity and paternity pay when you are the small employer paying it
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Settlement agreements: what they are, and when a small employer should actually use one
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CIS explained for people on the tools: deductions, returns and getting your money back
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Flat rate, APR or factor rate: what a business loan really costs
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TUPE: what happens when staff transfer with the work
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Director's loan account: what taking money out of your own company really costs
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Your business credit score: what a lender sees before they read a word you wrote
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How to price a monthly retainer without underselling yourself
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How much holiday are your staff actually entitled to?
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Flexible working requests: what UK small employers must do now
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EIS and SEIS explained: why investors ask about it before they'll write a cheque
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Funding options when you're a sole trader or freelancer (and the bank says no)
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How to give an employee a written warning properly
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UK business grants: what's actually out there, and what to expect
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What actually goes in a shareholders' agreement
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Start Up Loans and other government-backed schemes: what's actually available
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Zero-hours contracts: what UK small employers can and can't do
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Managing staff sickness absence: what small employers actually need to know
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Asset finance vs buying outright: how to fund new equipment or a van
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Probation periods: what they actually protect when you hire someone new
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Stock control basics: the cash that's sat on your shelves doing nothing
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Personal guarantees on business loans: what you're really signing up for
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Restrictive covenants: can you actually stop an ex-employee poaching your clients?
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IR35 in plain English: what it actually means if you hire contractors
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What actually happens if a customer takes you to small claims court
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Do you need a written employment contract for your first hire?
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Loan, overdraft or invoice finance: what's right for a trades business buying kit
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The real cost of a bad hire — and how to spot one early
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How to write a quote that wins the job without racing to the bottom
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How to chase late invoices without losing the client
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Should you register for VAT before you have to?
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The subscription trap: why recurring costs quietly kill small business margins
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How to set a marketing budget when you have no idea what 'normal' looks like
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Break-even point: the one number every new business should calculate before launch
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How to run an exit interview that actually tells you something
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Pricing for profit: how to stop underselling yourself
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Cash flow vs profit: the difference that catches every founder out
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How to read your management accounts in 15 minutes a month
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Delegation 101: how to let go without losing control
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Building a business that doesn't need you every day
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Five numbers every UK business owner should know cold
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