With another year coming to a close, it’s important to reflect on the year in business, looking at the highs, lows and everything in between.
Our community has seen a lot of change this year – and we love being able to have open and honest discussions with our members about the challenges of being a small business owner.
So, alongside discussing what’s new with UKBF, we’ve gathered the best advice from our community forums – as well as exploring what’s changed for founders across the UK.
With the cost of living crisis keeping pressure at an all time high – it’s no surprise that our members had some money-saving tips to share on our forums.
Whilst enterprises may have followed the general shift towards raising prices, adapting to customer trends and terminating third party contracts to save the pennies – our members have offered advice tailored to them – some of which you may find useful:
Cutting the subscriptions could save hundreds, if not thousands in the long run, as UKBF member UKSBD explains;
“Let old domains lapse and stop registering new ones on a whim. In the days when domains were only £2.00 a year it was fine just keeping the ones you had registered for little projects, which you never got round to doing anything with.
With domains now £13+ a year it soon mounts up just keeping them because *one day* you might do something with them.
The same with hosting – rather than having 3 reseller hosting packages with about 30 sites in each, get rid of the sites you're not really doing anything with and get rid of 2 hosting packages.
That would be about £1,000 saving a year, but I know I'll just put off doing it.”
We adapt our products and services in line with consumer trends – but sometimes this doesn’t quite cut it. Economic pressures have led most of us to tighten our purse strings this year, and many store owners report dwindling footfall as a result. So why not take things one step further by taking your business to them?
This idea is shared by member Greg PW Shearman, who states;
“Don't pay high street rents. Take your business to high footfall events and festivals and only pay rent when you are busy!”
Though you may have found initial success when setting up shop on the highstreet, you might now be experiencing financial pressure – leading you to question where that leaves you and your company. Whether you’re a clothing or jewellery retailer, a salon owner, a restauranteur or an art specialist – why not consider making your firm mobile?
Attending relevant fairs, festivals and other events means you’re always bringing your company to where your target customers are drawn to, whilst meeting other like-minded founders on a similar journey to you.
Making yourself available for hire could also be a lucrative move, and having a van such as a mobile hairdressers or a food truck may lead to significant savings on rent and energy costs in the long run.
To learn more about making your enterprise mobile – read our useful article on how to launch a catering van business.
If your firm only requires you to work from a laptop (such as accountancy or design work), why not give up your shop or office space and take advantage of the ever-growing technological world? Working remotely can save on commuting and rental costs, whilst various advancements in technology may enable you to save on staff costs, too.
For example, if you need an extra pair of hands to help with administrative tasks and marketing efforts but you’re not in the financial position to hire just yet – tools such as monday and Later can help with planning and automated scheduling. Similarly, AI tools like ChatGPT can assist when you need new creative material to enhance your marketing campaign, or are looking for some fresh ideas.
To learn more about how AI could save you time and money, read our article on building a business in 2023: what tech do I need for starting up?
“Don't take anything for granted, work hard to look after everything in your life you wish to keep”.
A simple message with significant meaning: you may be looking to grow into bigger and better things, but this isn’t to say you need to neglect other elements of the company, your personal life or health.
Why not use the festive break to look back on how far you’ve come? Whether you hit your annual targets or just fell short of the mark, take pride in every effort you made to get where you are, and use it to propel you into the new year.
On another note, Christmas is a chance to spend time with family for many – and as some of our members might agree, becoming an entrepreneur can at times come at a cost. Perhaps take the holidays to spend time with your nearest and dearest – typically the people that support you when the firm is going through a tough period.
How can you take what you’ve learned in your entrepreneurial journey this year and apply it to your wider life? You may have been looking at ways to improve communication amongst your team members, or encouraged them to pursue their own interests to generate more of a work-life balance – could you say the same for yourself or your loved ones?
Finding balance is tricky, but this advice reminds us that we want our enterprises to have longevity. So, sometimes it’s necessary to slow down, approach things differently and look after ourselves and others to ensure business health and personal happiness.
This is the experience of UKBF member cjd who expressed;
“Security first, last and always. Learned the hard way.”
We wanted to respond to this all too familiar experience felt by founders across our forums – which is where Smart Business comes in.
Smart Business is UKBF’s sister site, created in partnership with Simply Business, one of the UK’s leading insurance providers, who help business owners compare quotes to find the right cover for them – providing security and peace of mind in the form of tailored insurance plans.
With the help of Smart Business, you can protect yourself and your firm against the unexpected, and explore a range of options suited to your enterprise – including public liability, professional indemnity and employers’ liability insurance.
On this topic, UKBF member Mark T Jones offers some advice to keep in mind along your enterprise journey;
“When the fun stops, stop.”
Building a firm from the ground up can be one of the most challenging times of your professional life, but it can also be the most rewarding. It’s important to bank those all important wins to see you through the slow periods – and importantly, to know when to stop.
Whether you’ve built a fully fledged company and a team capable of continuing the hard work without you, you’re ready to sell and reap the rewards, or things just aren’t working out – it’s always better to leave on a high, and take the positives with you into your next adventure.
And, though this year has been tough for many, there have been some key positives to hold onto. UK businesses have shown resilience in an increasingly difficult time for trading, particularly independent retailers, which have been supported by ongoing trends towards buying local. The Autumn Budget saw the 75 percent business rates discount extended for hospitality, retail and leisure enterprises – which could bring some levels of relief for those feeling the strain of the cost of living crisis, as well as the long term impacts of Covid-19.
The introduction of our Business Membership has enabled us to do more of what we love – offering a premium service to our inspiring members, whilst learning from trailblazers across a variety of sectors through our podcasts, articles and more.
If you’re yet to upgrade to a Business Membership, you can also enjoy 20% off until 2nd February 2024, to help us celebrate 20 years of UKBF! Just use the code 20FOR20 at the checkout.
Our community has seen a lot of change this year – and we love being able to have open and honest discussions with our members about the challenges of being a small business owner.
So, alongside discussing what’s new with UKBF, we’ve gathered the best advice from our community forums – as well as exploring what’s changed for founders across the UK.
Be smart with your money
Let’s face it, this year has seen a lot of SME owners facing financial concerns. According to recent reports by ONS, owners across multiple sectors have been considering raising their prices well into December due to energy prices, labour costs, and the rising cost of raw materials.With the cost of living crisis keeping pressure at an all time high – it’s no surprise that our members had some money-saving tips to share on our forums.
Whilst enterprises may have followed the general shift towards raising prices, adapting to customer trends and terminating third party contracts to save the pennies – our members have offered advice tailored to them – some of which you may find useful:
Stop registering new domains
This is something that seems to fly under the radar for a lot of SME owners, and whilst you may be looking at more obvious ways to save, have you taken the time to catch those seemingly small subscriptions that amount to an eye-watering sum over time?Cutting the subscriptions could save hundreds, if not thousands in the long run, as UKBF member UKSBD explains;
“Let old domains lapse and stop registering new ones on a whim. In the days when domains were only £2.00 a year it was fine just keeping the ones you had registered for little projects, which you never got round to doing anything with.
With domains now £13+ a year it soon mounts up just keeping them because *one day* you might do something with them.
The same with hosting – rather than having 3 reseller hosting packages with about 30 sites in each, get rid of the sites you're not really doing anything with and get rid of 2 hosting packages.
That would be about £1,000 saving a year, but I know I'll just put off doing it.”
Take your business elsewhere
As commercial rents increase, SME founders are weighing up selling their enterprise, going fully online or making staff cuts to cope with rental costs – but have you considered taking your firm elsewhere?We adapt our products and services in line with consumer trends – but sometimes this doesn’t quite cut it. Economic pressures have led most of us to tighten our purse strings this year, and many store owners report dwindling footfall as a result. So why not take things one step further by taking your business to them?
This idea is shared by member Greg PW Shearman, who states;
“Don't pay high street rents. Take your business to high footfall events and festivals and only pay rent when you are busy!”
Though you may have found initial success when setting up shop on the highstreet, you might now be experiencing financial pressure – leading you to question where that leaves you and your company. Whether you’re a clothing or jewellery retailer, a salon owner, a restauranteur or an art specialist – why not consider making your firm mobile?
Attending relevant fairs, festivals and other events means you’re always bringing your company to where your target customers are drawn to, whilst meeting other like-minded founders on a similar journey to you.
Making yourself available for hire could also be a lucrative move, and having a van such as a mobile hairdressers or a food truck may lead to significant savings on rent and energy costs in the long run.
To learn more about making your enterprise mobile – read our useful article on how to launch a catering van business.
Use technology to your advantage
Another change in the SME community has seen the rise of AI in 2023. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay – and can prove useful if you’re considering taking your company elsewhere.If your firm only requires you to work from a laptop (such as accountancy or design work), why not give up your shop or office space and take advantage of the ever-growing technological world? Working remotely can save on commuting and rental costs, whilst various advancements in technology may enable you to save on staff costs, too.
For example, if you need an extra pair of hands to help with administrative tasks and marketing efforts but you’re not in the financial position to hire just yet – tools such as monday and Later can help with planning and automated scheduling. Similarly, AI tools like ChatGPT can assist when you need new creative material to enhance your marketing campaign, or are looking for some fresh ideas.
To learn more about how AI could save you time and money, read our article on building a business in 2023: what tech do I need for starting up?
Don’t take things for granted
When you’re hyper focused on making your new firm a success, it can be difficult to see what you have in front of you. But UKBF member HFE Signs puts things into perspective in this reflective post;“Don't take anything for granted, work hard to look after everything in your life you wish to keep”.
A simple message with significant meaning: you may be looking to grow into bigger and better things, but this isn’t to say you need to neglect other elements of the company, your personal life or health.
Why not use the festive break to look back on how far you’ve come? Whether you hit your annual targets or just fell short of the mark, take pride in every effort you made to get where you are, and use it to propel you into the new year.
On another note, Christmas is a chance to spend time with family for many – and as some of our members might agree, becoming an entrepreneur can at times come at a cost. Perhaps take the holidays to spend time with your nearest and dearest – typically the people that support you when the firm is going through a tough period.
How can you take what you’ve learned in your entrepreneurial journey this year and apply it to your wider life? You may have been looking at ways to improve communication amongst your team members, or encouraged them to pursue their own interests to generate more of a work-life balance – could you say the same for yourself or your loved ones?
Finding balance is tricky, but this advice reminds us that we want our enterprises to have longevity. So, sometimes it’s necessary to slow down, approach things differently and look after ourselves and others to ensure business health and personal happiness.
Put security first
When you’re juggling marketing, sales, customer queries and supplier negotiations alongside many other obligations, company security can fall to the bottom of the list – and unfortunately making it a priority only comes as a result of founders finding out the hard way.This is the experience of UKBF member cjd who expressed;
“Security first, last and always. Learned the hard way.”
We wanted to respond to this all too familiar experience felt by founders across our forums – which is where Smart Business comes in.
Smart Business is UKBF’s sister site, created in partnership with Simply Business, one of the UK’s leading insurance providers, who help business owners compare quotes to find the right cover for them – providing security and peace of mind in the form of tailored insurance plans.
With the help of Smart Business, you can protect yourself and your firm against the unexpected, and explore a range of options suited to your enterprise – including public liability, professional indemnity and employers’ liability insurance.
Enjoy yourself
This one may seem simple, but it’s something we often forget when we’re in the throes of growing a new firm.On this topic, UKBF member Mark T Jones offers some advice to keep in mind along your enterprise journey;
“When the fun stops, stop.”
Building a firm from the ground up can be one of the most challenging times of your professional life, but it can also be the most rewarding. It’s important to bank those all important wins to see you through the slow periods – and importantly, to know when to stop.
Whether you’ve built a fully fledged company and a team capable of continuing the hard work without you, you’re ready to sell and reap the rewards, or things just aren’t working out – it’s always better to leave on a high, and take the positives with you into your next adventure.
And, though this year has been tough for many, there have been some key positives to hold onto. UK businesses have shown resilience in an increasingly difficult time for trading, particularly independent retailers, which have been supported by ongoing trends towards buying local. The Autumn Budget saw the 75 percent business rates discount extended for hospitality, retail and leisure enterprises – which could bring some levels of relief for those feeling the strain of the cost of living crisis, as well as the long term impacts of Covid-19.
What’s new for UKBF?
Alongside the launch of Smart Business, 2023 brought another significant change for the team at UKBF and our community. UKBF turned 20 this year (where did the time go?) and to mark the occasion, we looked at ways we could offer even more to our fantastic community.The introduction of our Business Membership has enabled us to do more of what we love – offering a premium service to our inspiring members, whilst learning from trailblazers across a variety of sectors through our podcasts, articles and more.
If you’re yet to upgrade to a Business Membership, you can also enjoy 20% off until 2nd February 2024, to help us celebrate 20 years of UKBF! Just use the code 20FOR20 at the checkout.
