Stock markets have again fallen worldwide, fired by concerns that turmoil in the financial sector is far from over. On Wall Street, the US Dow Jones index fell to 6,700  points for the first time since 1997. In the UK,...

One product that gives a ray of light in these gloomy times (forgive the pun) is energy-saving light bulbs. In the last three months of 2008, 12.3 million of them were sold in the UK, up from 8.9 million in...

Whilst the Bank of England and the Government continue to make predictions regarding the severity and likely length of this recession, many business owners have stopped listening. It took the BoE & Govt a while to acknowledge a “credit crunch”...

A member survey at the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) has shown that recent VAT cuts, bank lending guarantees and pledges on payment practices have had little to no effect on trading. The Government-backed Prompt Payment Code, launched last year,...

Here’s a gem of a post from “JimTheGeezer” on the BBC website. Sharp. “Double or Quits! Gordon Brown says to Mervyn King, “Could you help me Mervyn? I’m a bit short of money at the moment. I’ve taken on this...

It is amazing that there are still some commentators who are hedging their bets regarding the recession. Here we are, just one week away from Christmas with, hopefully a jolly good time for us all. The outlook for 2009 seems...

Is Darling living up to his name? In his emergency “mini budget”, The Chancellor, Alistair Darling gave out a few scraps to help small businesses. Firstly, the planned increase in the small companies rate of corporation tax has been deferred,...

Market share The tough economy will undoubtedly see its share of casualties. American Express OPEN reports that nearly 20% of small business owners felt that they are at risk of going out of business in this economic climate. What does...

Small Business Plan One of the key issues with business success is the small business plan. No plan – no direction – no progress. Each business needs to have an overall plan plus a detailed plan for each quarter, month,...

Have You Got A Website For Your Business? Let Me Phrase That Question A Little More Precisely... Have you got a website THAT GETS RESULTS for your business? Let’s show you what I mean...If you do a Google search for...

“Where would we be without those few individuals who refuse to accept defeat and who continue to soldier onwards when common sense tells the rest of mankind that there’s no use trying?” Whilst this ultra tough market place will push...

It gets worse! Just when you thought that the Envirowise advice on tea making was way too much excitement, here’s another... The Waste and Resources Action Programme – WRAP for short – is suggesting that workers should not buy a...

Listen up – here’s an important business initiative from the Quango Envirowise....use teapots instead of teabags and don’t overfill the kettle! Yep, they get £10 million a year to advise businesses on going green and they come up with this...

One of my favorite films is the Shawshank Redemption with Morgan Freeman. It’s about a man condemned to life in jail for the murder of his wife and lover. Tim Robbins plays the man who feels like the walls are...

One of the biggest problems for small businesss owners  has always been the inability to get the more talented individuals to work for them. Why? Because the large corporations generally offer better pay, better conditions, training, a wide range of...