Small Business Resources

I heard today on the BBC News:
“Corporation tax rates should be reduced to help revive the economy and boost competition, the Tories have said. The main rate is due to fall from 30% to 28% in April, but shadow chancellor George Osborne wants it cut to 25%Speaking ahead of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s debut Budget on [...]

The Other Six Days

I’ve been reading a lot of books and scripture lately that relate to a ‘theology of work’. My colleague Stuart let me borrow the book The Other Six Days (by R. Paul Stevens) and it has been really helpful to me as I wrestle with what ministry is in daily life. I’m part of a community (Mosaic) that [...]

Creating a corporation

My task over the next few weeks is to create a corporation for the business. For tax, investment, and liability reasons it seems to be the best option. Suprisingly, it is quite easy to do as many online companies offer to create one for as little as £32. The difficulty is that there doesn’t seem [...]

Business Gateway

Today I finished the third of three workshops that help you with starting a business. I attended business planning, marketing and financial forecasting workshops through the Business Gateway. I have some business background in each of these areas, but not as it relates to starting your own business. The benefit to me was the reality check [...]

Forecasts

Every entrepreneur thinks their product or service is the best thing on the market. “Of course it will be a success!” or ”We’ll be more competitive than any other business in the area!” I’ve finished a business plan and have now turned my attention to forecasting. I need to add up all the expenses by month, [...]

Local resources

As we start the journey of opening a business, I have found some local resources very helpful – some that I had to do the ‘digging’ to find (and then analyze) and another that has been proactive in their help. I started by looking for research on the arts & craft retail market in Scotland. [...]

Proverbs 21:5

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
I’ve been preparing a business plan, researching costs, assessing the market for locations, and gathering resources. I know that LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is the commonly heard mantra and any overlooked factor can be disasterous. However, a proper business plan -what that is [...]

In the beginning

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15 
It’s interesting that ‘in the beginning’ work is featured as a natural part of Adam’s existence. Many people believe that true freedom or the meaning of joy in life cannot be associated [...]