If you’re aged between 18 and 30 and you’re thinking of going into business you should take a look at Start-Up Loans , a government backed scheme to fund and mentor young entrepreneurs.

Chaired by James Caan, the former star of the BBC TV show Dragon’s Den the scheme offers loans (the average loan is about £2,500) and mentoring to would-be entrepreneurs. Strangely, the scheme is only available to start up businesses where the owner(s) live in England.

I came across the scheme last week when I was reading the Gateway , a business and careers newspaper for students.

The article mentioned

60% of all private sector jobs and 50% of public sector output is provided by SMEs. The creation of new small businesses is vital to Britain’s financial health and job creation……

What a shame that last week’s Budget didn’t reflect this

Having survived yet another January rushing to complete tax returns at the last minute, I have realised how few people ever bother to consider the financial performance of their business when working with their accountants. They concentrate totally on their tax obligations, often rejoicing in the fact their tax bill is small or non-existent.

This is totally illogical and there is no “nice” way to say what I think

If your tax bill is small so is your profit.

For this reason I intend to challenge clients to think about their sales, their profit margins, their profits, their overheads, expanding their businesses and so on – and to let me keep the tax bills low (on the bigger profits they will make).

My blog posts have started to reflect this idea. Look under the business development category in the side column for my thoughts.

The Midland in Morecambe is described as

curving gracefully along the North West coast. Sleek, unique, it isn’t just any hotel. It’s a hotel with history, a hotel with a past, an internationally renowned Art-Deco classic. Today, Morecambe’s modernist masterpiece has regained its rightful place as the crowning glory of the North West coast. Now lovingly restored and taken right into the 21st Century, it’s a modern day masterpiece, inside and out. Seaside chic is back in style.

which makes me wonder why in these days of public sector cost-cutting has HMRC hired the Midland for its Morecambe Business & Employer Event?

If it wants to provide a ““friendly and relaxed”” for people who are setting up in business for the first time I’m certain they can find a cheaper venue.

I am delighted that Cumbria has been given £5m from the government’s Regional Growth Fund which will allow Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

having worked very closely with partners, to construct a programme that will support key priority sectors in Cumbria as well as promoting SMEs and exports

As usual the devil will be in the detail but what concerns me even at this early stage is who the partners are!

Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Chamber of Commerce will “deliver the project” and CN Group, publisher of The Cumberland News, will be the “media partner”!

What experience of “business development” does a county council have? The same question can be asked of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, whose Business Start-up Support Programme is delivered in partnership with numerous public bodies and quangos Britain’s Energy Coast, Cumbria County Council, Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency, Furness Enterprise and Ways into Successful Enterprise.

And, finally, what is a “media partner”? What will CN Group be doing to promote SMEs?

Yet again, we see government money intended for businesses being shared around public bodies and the numerous business support quangos which still exist in Cumbria.

Nothing changes.

P.S. Midden has many meanings.

I have commented previously about thinking long and hard before going into the licensed trade but as more and more pubs close, the brewers and the ‘property owners’ become more and more expert at enticing new people into the trade.

Union Tavern

Kendal used to have the rather dubious reputation of having more pubs per head than any other town or city in the country. I’m not certain about the accuracy of this statement but over the last ten years or so the closure rate has accelerated. High rents and breweries charging exorbitant prices to ‘locked-in’ landlords have been the major causes of most pub failures.

But individuals are still being shown the ‘promised land’ by greedy companies with too little emphasis being placed on the financial costs of failure. I often advise business owners to ask themselves,when faced with a major business decision, this question:

Who is going to benefit most from this deal? Me or the other side?

Faced with having to run it themselves and the loss of £10,400 per year rent  I know what the owners stand to gain.

Turning to the photo itself. the Oxford Dictionary defines hero as:

a person, typically a man, who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities:

Not quite what Enterprise Inns is looking for I think. May I suggest another four letter word? Fool, which is defined as “Someone who acts unwisely on a given occasion”.

Finally, if you want an insight into how much the property owners are interested in making the pub look good, take a look at the paintwork!

The BBC have published details of a report from The All Party Group for Micro Businesses  which concludes that the definition of a micro business should be changed to allow more targeted legislation and support.

Needless to say the government rejected their advice!

I never understand why when a group made up of a cross section of political views makes a recommendation to change things, does the government reject it.

Just yesterday morning a start up business asked me if they were eligible for any grants or assistance and I had to answer in a word

No

HMRC have just produced a leaflet to help people know how much money they should be saving towards their first tax bill.

What a wonderful idea. It could be improved in places, but it is better than nothing, which is about all  most newly self employed people have to calculate their tax liabilities, unless they are using FreeAgent which does provide an estimate of any tax due and the dates it has to be paid.

The problem of not having any money to pay is compounded by the time between starting self employment and having to pay the first tax bill. Someone who started self employment last April (2011) will not have any tax to pay until 31 January 2013, but will then be faced with a bill for 18 months  tax and Class 4 National Insurance!

The most difficult part of using the table in the leaflet will be arriving at a profit figure. HMRC define profit as income less expenses. It is vital that you don’t include the money you take out of your business for yourself (drawings) as an expense like wages paid to your staff – it isn’t.

Finally, may I suggest that if you are saving for your tax you keep the money in a separate account from your business current account otherwise it will just “disappear” and when the time comes to pay the cupboard will be bare.

This morning I have to register a business for Self Assessment which involves completing a form CWF1 (available on the HMRC website).

Easy I thought until I tried to print it and received the following message

Not wanting to give up at the first hurdle, after all this is the HMRC website so it wasn’t ever designed to be user-friendly, I decided to save the form to my desktop and then print it and received the same message!

Do HMRC expect everyone to enter the information in the form before printing it? If so, how do I manage when I don’t have all the details to hand?

I could understand it if the form was submitted online but it isn’t it has to be printed, signed and posted to HMRC.

I have checked with HMRC that I’m not missing the bleedin’ obvious and have been told that the form cannot be printed unless it is complete but I can phone the Newly Self-Employed Helpline and ask them to send me a paper copy to complete!

Have HMRC ever heard of the word efficiency?

About ten years ago I was made aware of a study conducted by Dr Alan Williams, PhD in the early 1970s  of nearly 14,000 Australian businesses  which found that, in contrast to failed businesses, successful businesses were most likely to have:

• Better accounting records
• Records which were more frequently made available
• Better preparation for business ownership
• Consulted with a knowledgeable person or other source of information before starting business
• Conducted a market survey to assess whether or not a market existed for their product or service
• A large number of customers
• Used formal written long-range (more than one year) plans
• Used time management techniques
• Regularly reviewed the suitability or otherwise of their location
• Continuously updated their product knowledge and the technologies associated with their major products and the services
• Continuously reviewed their firm’s marketing effectiveness and quality of business image
• Used financial data for managing
• Hired and retained good employees
• Been able to manage the firm’s financial resources

Nearly 40 years on some of the findings may be considered out of date but I can’t help thinking that these traits still form the bedrock of success in business.