As a business owner, there’s no telling when an urgent matter will suddenly rear its head. Whether it’s a website going down or a delay to an important delivery, you’ll need staff to rally around to put things right.
But what if some key stakeholders are away from the office, maybe working from home? There’s no time to call everyone into the workplace. That’s where a conference call can help out.
More of us than ever before are working from home. The ongoing popularity of hybrid working means more employees have been given the option to work away from the office for at least part of the week. And although the number of people working from home dropped by 7% between 2021 and 2022, remote workers still account for 30% of the UK workforce.
But if you had to choose one day to work from home, which would you choose?
Women entrepreneurs are thriving. The UK has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of start-ups in recent years, and the number of new female entrepreneurs in the UK has risen far faster than men in the past decade. It also seems investment funding is more forthcoming than ever before.
More than half of UK workers say they wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for the money. Although that sounds obvious – most of us work because we need the money – the figure of 60% who would opt out of having a job is higher than any comparable workforce in the world.
The findings from a study by Randstad, a provider of workforce insights, back up another study that revealed almost half (46%) of all employees feel more stressed at work than they did a year ago.
So if you’ve been feeling more stressed out with work than usual lately, you’re not alone.
Back in 2016, there were more than three million workers whose commute took longer than two hours a day. The pandemic and a switch to hybrid working have changed the routine for many of us, and the latest figures from studies by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) show that average commuting times are on the up.
We all know that getting to and from work can be an inconvenience, but did you know it can actually be bad for your health?
Launching a new business can be an overwhelming experience, especially if you’re starting up on your own, and you’ll be glad for all the help and advice you can get.
You never stop learning where the world of business is concerned – you’ll not only take on board the advice of those in your industry, you’ll learn from your own mistakes and from the mistakes of others.
But what if this advice isn’t as forthcoming as expected? You could try networking events and get to know other people in your sector or situation, or you could scour the industry press, the internet or even social media for guides to help you along the way.
Or you could check out any one of these five brilliant business podcasts, perfect for business owners entering 2023.
Did you know that if you work from home, you may be able to claim tax breaks on certain bills and expenses?
Midnight on Tuesday, January 31 is the deadline for online, self-assessment tax returns – meaning that if you’re self-employed or another type of self-assessment taxpayer, you have until tomorrow night for filing your 2021-22 taxes.
If you were hoping to send in a paper tax return, you’ve missed the cut-off by a couple of months, as the deadline was October 31, 2022 – so you’ll have to get everything sorted online instead.
And while tax returns are never the top of anyone’s to-do list – anything seems preferable to sorting out your tax – if you don’t file and pay your return by the deadline, you could find yourself hit with some hefty fines.
Cybercrime has been on the rise since the pandemic. More of us have had to make online purchases, which means scammers have more opportunity to defraud us.
If you regularly make online payments, whether for goods or services, you’ll need to watch out for the latest technique fraudsters are using to get their hands on your money – push payment fraud.
Figures from UK Finance, the banking trade body, have revealed that £236 million was lost to push payment fraud, with banks unable to return nearly three-quarters (74%) of the lost money.
In the vast majority of cases (88%) it was individual consumers who were conned out of their money, with an average loss of £2,784. The remaining cases were made up of businesses, who lost an average of £24,335 each.
If your business is planning Christmas drinks and parties while getting ready for the seasonal wind-down, the atmosphere around the office will be getting very Christmassy over the next couple of weeks. But spare a thought for those freelancers who work tirelessly all year but never get to see any of the fun stuff.
OK, they don’t have to contend with the commute or the office politics, and they can work in their pyjamas should the fancy take them, but that doesn’t mean those that work from home should be left out of the festive revelry.
So, this year, why not get your freelancers involved in the festive fun?