6 TOP-TIPS TO HELP YOU SUPPORT AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS DURING COVID-19.

This article provides our top tips and resources that are helping to support SME’s during COVID-19. 

Bounce back Loans/Self- employment grants

Bounce back loans for businesses:

Get one! Do not argue do not query and do not start thinking negatively about taking on more debt. You will not be given this opportunity again to borrow money at 0% and get to pay it back over 10 years. However, act quickly, they are being phased out starting next month. If you are concerned, use it to pay off debt which is costing you much more.

For more information about how to apply and the eligibility criteria read the Bounce back loan HRMC information

Self-employment grants for sole traders:

Self-employment grants

**Self-employment grants are being extended from 1 November 2020.**

The grant does not need to be repaid if you’re eligible, but will be subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance.

HMRC will work out if you’re eligible and how much grant you may get.

The second taxable grant is worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.

You can calculate how much you are eligible to receive from the grant through the self-employment support HMRC page

Get on to your local Growth Hub signposting Service

Every council in England has been given free rein to deal with Government Covid support packages as they see fit. The distribution signposting is run through each local council’s growth hub. These are an infinite repository of golden nuggets, not only in terms of the latest grants, loans or bursaries, but also in terms of vital support, free networking and business development resource. Many of these are distributed on a first come first served basis, so do not delay, get on that list today.  

To find out what’s on offer in your area head over to your county and/or city council websites.

Adapt to Online – Acceptance is the Key

They say that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting the same result is a sure sign of madness! So, why do we keep doing it then? No point bemoaning the new normal – digital dominance is here to stay! Best to accept it gracefully and adapt to all that it can offer. And indeed, it really can offer you amazing things. Think of all the new people you can reach without even moving from your chair, just think of how carbon efficient you will become. It is amazing.  It is entirely logical that everything has simply trans morphed to online Oh I hear you lament – the virtual world is not for me, well, alas poor Yorick, yes, it is. 

Check out this article for some great tips on how to move your business online.

Get a free employee via Kickstarter for six months and yes, paid for by the Government

So, you want to super charge your business – look no further. Of all the rather brilliant ideas that Dishy Rishey has cooked up for us, this has got to be top of the pops for us. Universal Credit is no longer the home of the down-trodden and beleaguered, rather it is the mainstay of the middle-class student and indeed wannnabee entrepreneurs with brains. So, why not bag yourself a brilliant handy helper who can help you Kickstart your business and deal with  with all of those niggly nasties and who more than likely will be able to teach you a thing or ten about social media, digital marketing and all of those “new normal” things that tend to bring us out in hives!   

So, the Government will pay the age-appropriate minimum wage for 6 months and give you £1,500 to train them to boot. What can be easier than that. We can provide you with support on how to get the best value out of your employee and similarly provide a peer to peer group for employers too. 

For more information about the kickstart Scheme and how we can support you with that, check out our guide here (link to guide)

Networking – zoom just one touch and your heart should go boom.

Kickstart

Networking has entered a new aegis. Never has it been easier to meet, connect and transact as it has been now. Gone are the requirements to spend any monies in respect of networking or travel to any far-flung breakfast venue at an ungodly hour only to be greeted by yet another unwanted not to mention calorie-busting fat frenzie first thing. Save your waistline and your pocket. The cost of networking has substantially reduced meaning that the world is but a click away from your laptop. All you need is a laptop, an ability to master the zoom along and some great tops (yes, nobody even sees your shoes, or your bottoms) and some mastered confidence. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Go on try it, it won’t hurt and it certainly won’t contribute to your lockdown jelly belly. For some inclusive and alternative networking, we would recommend www.love-entrepreneuurs.com – a networking group with a difference focusing on sharing experience, strength and hope and focusing on the Big Fix and resolving an individual business’ problem rather than espousing the culture of “meism” and “how great and wonderful” you are. Helping others to help themselves will result in you helping yourself to create a better, bigger and more sustainable business. Better still, if you don’t like it or don’t like them, you needn’t go again. You can trawl through the myriad opportunities that the web provides.

Silvatree (www.silvatree.co) business bartering with a modern day 21st century twist

As we all struggle for cash ironically, the more we chase it the faster it appears to disappear down the plug hole. Ever wondered why? Well, the answer is simple: in an age where competitive advantage is based on “discounting” you can’t simply keep discounting your way to the bottom, as you will be out of business before we can all say jack Robinson. So, consider a fast-developing alternative. The future of business is here. Modern day business bartering is the thing of the moment. Silvatree is a great example of this, enabling you to buy what you need for your life and your business but using your own goods to pay for it. It works simply by enabling you to sell your spare capacity (basically anything you haven’t sold yet) on the network for its currency, which you can then use to buy things you need instead of paying cash from other network members. Silvatree allows you to pay partly in cash partly in its currency, so you get the best of both worlds, new motivated clients who will find you because they want to spend their Silva, extra word of mouth advertising without you having to pay for it, great new networking opportunities without the cost and best of all the ability to conserve cash within your bank account where it is most needed. There could not be a simpler way to ensure that your business becomes sustainable, profitable and fit for the new post Covid world. Remember, it is as wall as and not instead of cash. So, businesses may not grow on trees but they do grow on Silva!

Check this VIDEO links out and be AMAZED!

https://joinsilvatree.com

So, those are just some of our top tips for ensuring that your business is skyrocketed into the fourth dimension, stays open and remains both competitive and sustainable. 

If you have any other resources or tips that you think should be added to this list, let us know in the comments below.

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