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This second episode debunks the myth that it takes money to make money. You can build a business without debt and the PopUp Business School trainers show you five ways to get going quickly. New episodes of The Rebel Entrepreneur Podcast are released weekly. Watch a short teaser below and download the full episode on your preferred podcast streaming platform. For exclusive access to the whole of series one, go to the ChooseFI Website.
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Simon and Alan are joined by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung, founders of Millennial Revolution to talk about taking advantage of the situation, how they deal with rejection and how they got a book deal through blogging. RECORDED LIVE: 28th April 2020 Millennial Revolution - millennial-revolution.com You can watch the full stream below and make sure to tune in LIVE every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm on our Facebook Page as we answer your questions and get top tips from our special guests. We have joined forces with Starling Bank to help bring you help and financial advice as part of our Business Survival Guide. In this second guest blog, Starling will run through some tips and benefits of using a digital bank compared to the traditional high street banks. The world has evolved. The way we shop, download music and order food has changed. The last few years has seen a revolution in the way people and businesses do their banking too, with a move towards app-based bank accounts challenging the high street ‘big four’. Starling Bank is a digital bank which has won Best British Bank three years running, in addition to Best Business Provider and Best Current Account 2019 & 2020. In this blog, we’ll run through some of the reasons why people and business owners are making the change. Click here to learn more and open an account. Set Up in Minutes, from Anywhere Setting up a Business Bank account was historically a lengthy and frustrating process which could take weeks. Business owners were required to collect together a mountain of paperwork, and arrange an in-person meeting at their local bank branch to set up their account. At Starling, we recognised this needed to change. That’s why we created an award-winning business account that’s completely free to use, and takes minutes - not weeks - to apply for. All you need is a valid form of I.D such as a passport or UK driving licence, and details of how your business operates and a document or website that backs this up, and you are good to go. Applying for an account takes just minutes and providing you pass the security checks you will be up and running after a matter of days. Plus, because we’re an app-based bank, business owners can set up their account from their homes or office. So, say goodbye to waiting weeks to see a bank manager. Save TimeStarling was built to be the best bank in the UK - but our intention remains for our customers to spend as little time banking as possible! All of the tasks that you may have spent hours queuing for, or on hold for, you can now do from the palm of your hand. A digital bank account fits around your schedule, and keeps the same hours you do. So you can check your balance, make payments, or do your accounting, from anywhere. And if you do need help, our UK-based customer support team is on hand to make your life easier 24/7 - simply access them in-app or via our help line (0800 0231 617). Seriously Secure and ProtectedAt Starling, we make security our highest priority, especially when it comes to transfers and payments. Our experts have built in multiple levels of security within the app, including biometric security, which means if your phone can store individual fingerprints and facial data, you can access your account this way. According to Apple, there’s a one in a million chance that another person can access your account via facial recognition, so it’s a good option for many of our customers. In addition to this, our instant notifications keep you in the loop about what is coming in and out of your account. So, if there are any transactions which don’t look familiar, you’ll be the first to know. With our Card Controls, you’ll also be able to freeze or cancel your card instantly, if you think it may be lost or stolen. For extra peace of mind, just like ‘the big four’ Starling is a fully-licensed bank, with customers’ eligible deposits up to £85,000 protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Reduce your adminTo reduce your admin it’s a good idea to make technology your friend. And with a digital bank account, this has never been easier. In the Starling Marketplace, you’ll find integrations with a range of third party products and services. This includes the likes of Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, which all allow you to connect your real-time bank transactions with your accounting software. Spending less time on your financial admin will allow you to spend more time on your business. The Starling Marketplace has insurance options too, for example, invoice insurance from Nimbla or cybersecurity or indemnity cover from DigitalRisks or CyberSmart. For project management tools, there’s UnderPinned and to help you keep track of your digital receipts, there’s Flux. Deposit cheques from homeBeing able to deposit cheques on your mobile is handy at the best of times, but especially so right now. After a flurry of customer requests, Starling Bank recently introduced this functionality to its app to make sure their customers really can do all their banking from home. Simply take a photo of your cheque in the app, and Starling’s team will process it within two working days (which is generally faster than sending via post).
A massive thank you to Starling Bank for writing this blog post to help discuss why many businesses are turning to digital banking.
We are obviously a massive believer in doing things the opposite and we love how Starling have been shaking up the traditional approch and what it means to be a bank. Come back next week for tips on budgeting your money and making the pennies stretch further! Simon and Alan are joined by Ken Okoroafor, founder of The Humble Penny to talk about how you can master your money worries and how he built his online business. RECORDED LIVE: 21st April 2020 The Humble Penny - thehumblepenny.com You can watch the full stream below and make sure to tune in LIVE every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm on our Facebook Page as we answer your questions and get top tips from our special guests. Updated on 12th May 2020 to reflect latest furlough scheme changes. With all of this Coronavirus madness going on in the world, it can become quite difficult to cut through the noise and figure out what to do in business with all of the uncertainty. The UK Government have released a lot of support for businesses to increase survival rate and retain jobs. While this is all very helpful, it's not always easy to decipher! We've written, with the help of our glorious accountant Emma Cooke, explanations of the support available for UK Businesses. This blog is all about furloughing and what it could mean for you. The coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furloughing)The UK government know how important it is for people to still have a solid income to be able to survive and provide for their families. The Job Retention Scheme or 'Furloughing' as most people will know it as, allows UK companies to give garden leave to it's employees while the government pay 80% (Up to £2,500pm) of their salary from March 1st until October 31st PLUS the National Insurance amount to match. The scheme was recently extended from June to October with more flexibility to support the transition back to work in August and September. Further detail will follow from the government by the end of May regarding this extension. Employers can choose to top up an employee’s salary with the additional 20% but are not obliged to if this has been agreed with the furloughed employee (as above). If in doubt, seek legal advice. Furlough is from 1 March so you can backdate to when the employee was furloughed. This will be in place currently until the end of October. You may only backdate if employees were NOT working in that time period. As we say during the PopUp course, we are not legal professionals. If you are unsure if you are eligible or have any specific concerns, ask for professional advice or consult the UK Government webpage for those who can and cannot claim. gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme How do you claim?Before you claim, you need to know the following:
Why would you do this?The main reasons you would do this in your company are: To increase the financial runway of the business At a time like this, a lot of businesses may struggle financially. A big cost in a company is employee's. At PopUp, it's our majority cost as we have no other major overheads. By furloughing employees, you are taking away a large cost to the business for that time period, therefore increasing the time that your money will be able to support the business. To give your employee's security and certainty Security and certainty are some of the biggest impacts this pandemic has brought with it. People are uncertain about their jobs, uncertain about their financial situation and do not feel secure. This leads to fear, which leads to panic, which leads to things we don't want. By furloughing employees, it gives them security and certainty for two reasons: That you are being active in finding solutions and that their job is safe. At least for this period of time. Who can claim this allowance? (Must tick all boxes)
Who can they claim it for?This can be claimed for furloughed and redundant employees (on any type of contract) who were on the payroll on 28th February 2020. Employees hired after this date cannot be eligible for this scheme.
The effect on morale and having the conversation
Be transparent. Transparency = trust. If you don't have 100% trust with your employees, this is going to be a difficult time for you and the business. NOTE: trust goes both ways. If you're thinking about this route for your business and your employees, we'd advise a team call or 1-2-1 communications with your team and get them involved in the decision. This will bring them closer, feel valued and also give them a chance to tell you their thoughts. The worst thing you can do is make this choice and tell them how it is. That will be difficult and painful. They will also bring up amazing points that you won't be thinking about, this will help you make a better choice for everyone involved. Things you should talk about with your employees. This will differ with every business, but here's a quick list from us. This mirrors exactly what we spoke about whilst making this decision at PopUp:
Managing delivery. Once you've made your decision, you need to tell everyone this. Dependant on the size of your team, i would set up group calls and inform everyone at the same time UNLESS you are part-furloughing (see more below) then do this 1-2-1. Group calls when announcing things that have a company-wide impact are key. This brings the team together and boosts the morale when hearing news, whether it's good or bad. Follow these group calls up with everyone on a 1-2-1 basis and talk them through what happens next. Even if all of these calls are exactly the same, your team need to see you caring for them on an individual basis. This also gives you the opportunity to answer any questions they have that they wouldn't want to ask in a group scenario. What should employers do?Employers should discuss with their staff as soon as possible and make any changes to the employment contract by agreement (seek legal advice where necessary). Transparency is key. Employers should write to their employee confirming that they have been furloughed and keep a record of this communication (again, seek legal advice on this where necessary).
How is the employee's wage calculated?
Can you part-furlough?You are able to furlough some people and not others. You do not have to furlough the whole company. We've been looking at this as a time to get back in to Start-Up mode. If you're trying to kick it in to a high gear to be agile and fast moving, you'll struggle with a larger team... It's not like it once was when you started! You could, if you wanted to, down-size to essential people (Sales, Product development) and furlough the rest to save cash but not stunt growth. Just some food for thought... Can directors of Limited Companies claim it?Where a company director can no longer work through the business, they should be eligible to claim in the same way as for employees or even if they're the only employee. You can furlough the PAYE element of their income - ie, get 80% of salary up to £2,500pm. This isn't likely to be huge as it's likely more of your income is dividends (and there's no help there), but it's something... Directors must not be able to do any work, including administration work, during this time. This is the most difficult part! How can I get further business advice and support?
We have joined forces with Starling Bank to help bring you help and financial advice as part of our Business Survival Guide. In this first guest blog, Starling will run through some tips to help you manage your business finances. This is an uncertain time for everyone, for businesses great and small, old and new. If you are using this period to continue to make plans for your new business, the Starling Bank app can help. Click here to learn more and open an account. Track Your Costs The most important tip to managing your business finances is to ensure that you have a clear picture of your costs. When tracking your finances, there are three questions which you should have oversight of: ● What are your largest outgoings? ● Where is your income stream is coming from? ● Is your spending this month is higher or lower than your monthly average? Keeping track of the answers to these could help you meet your key payments, cut down on non-essential spending, and monitor your income streams to avoid nasty surprises. With a Starling business account, your income and outgoings are automatically categorised in the mobile app under the Spending Insights tab. Here, you’ll be able to see how much was spent on a variety of categories, from Admin to Equipment, as a percentage of your total spending, and as a stand alone amount. Use Digital Tools Now more than ever, we’re seeing the benefits of technology which is helping us all navigate through this unusual time. And when your business takes off, investing in digital tools can also really help you streamline your finances and admin. At Starling, we work with a number of different partner brands - via the Marketplace - that offer a wide range of products and services to help our business customers. Among the most popular are the accountancy software partners. Xero, Quickbooks and FreeAgent all provide clever accounting software which connects to your real-time bank transactions. This makes managing your taxes, invoicing, and sorting bills and expenses automatically a breeze, saving you a lot of time and hassle along the way. There are also plenty of other app-based brands that offer time-saving products at competitive prices. From project management tools from Underpinned, to business insurance for invoices from Nimbla. Why not use this time to do your research on which Marketplace partners might be helpful to you? We created the Starling Bank Marketplace to help our customers manage a variety of their financial tools, directly from their app. Being able to keep track of all of your financial tools and products from one place will minimise the risk of you missing something, giving you peace of mind. Plus, you can rest assured in the knowledge that all of our third party partners have been thoroughly vetted - so you’ll only be working with the best. Keep Money Organised Organising your finances into separate pots of money can really help you plan ahead when managing your budget. Starling helps business owners do this via our ‘Goals’ feature, which enables account holders to customise their different pots to fit their individual needs, for example: ‘Tax’, ‘Wages’, ‘Stock’ and ‘Marketing’ are all popular categories. You won’t be able to spend that money unless you move it back into your main account. So, you can keep your finances organised and visible. Open a Dedicated Business Account If you’re starting your own business as a sole trader, there’s no legal requirement to open a business banking account. However, by opening a dedicated business account will make it much easier to keep your finances organised. You will also look much more professional to your clients or customers if they can make a payment to your business name, rather than your personal account. When choosing your business bank account, you should think about factors such as transaction fees, withdrawal fees, admin features and what level of customer care you will have available to support your business along the way.
A massive thank you to Starling Bank for writing this blog post to help give advice on how to manage your finances. We are obviously a massive believer in doing things the opposite and we love how Starling have been shaking up the traditional approch and what it means to be a bank. Come back next week for tips on budgeting your money and making the pennies stretch further! Simon and Alan are joined by Barney Whiter, otherwise known as the Finance blogger The Escape Artist to chat on how to manage your cash during the current climate and learning points from the crisis. RECORDED LIVE: 14th April 2020 The Escape Artist: theescapeartist.me You can watch the full stream below and make sure to tune in LIVE every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm on our Facebook Page as we answer your questions and get top tips from our special guests. Simon and Alan are joined by Accountant Emma Cooke to answer questions about furlough, self-employment support and the finance issues and opportunities for small businesses right now. RECORDED LIVE: 31st March 2020 You can watch the full stream below and make sure to tune in LIVE every Tuesday and Thursday at 9pm on our Facebook Page as we answer your questions and get top tips from our special guests. Emma's Blog at Millward, May & Co: millwardmay.co.uk/limited-vs-sole-trade 
How many companies have messaged you this week offering to extend your credit limit?With the Coronavirus lock-down in full swing, flow of money slowing and businesses having to lay people off we are at our most vulnerable in many years! click here to read the full blog post at alandonegan.com
Help for the self-employed?It’s what we’ve been waiting for. The Chancellor’s support package for self-employed folk has arrived; here is our quick guide to support for self-employed.
We've gone through everything released and filtered the important things to know. Fun fact: There’s FIVE MILLION self-employed workers in the UK and they’ve delayed this a bit whilst they try and work it out but it looks like this:
As Columbo said, there’s just one more thing: At least half of your income must be from self-employment either from your 2018/19 tax return or the average of your last three years of tax returns: 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 tax returns. |
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