The pandemic was a disaster, but we learned a valuable business lesson: those that were financially fit with embedded digital systems and a strong support network survived where others sadly failed. In 2025, this is going to be a key emerging theme.
With National Insurance rises and increase in business rates for some independent high street shops and businesses kicking in, consistently staying on top of the business finances will become a supreme and necessary superpower.
We all know trends come and go, yet with the rising costs of doing business, financial acumen and a deep obsession with time saving digital tools like artificial intelligence are set to accelerate exponentially.
I’m not saying you should be crunching the numbers every minute of the day – but confidently and deliberately taking professional advice and adopting good habits to increase your financial fitness and boost basic business skills are prudent places to begin.
With the Government consulting on a Small Business Plan and confirming continuity on existing small business support schemes like the Help to Grow: Management course and an extension of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, it means there is help out there for the small business community.
We have seen a huge rush of concerned entrepreneurs hitting our Budget guide and wondering what they need to do next.
While the National Insurance may have gone up by 1.2 per cent, the reality is that for some small firms it means their tax bill may increase by more than a third in some cases.
Juggling that increased burden is yet another thing to consider in a long list of complex decisions that are just an every day part of being an entrepreneur.
We’ve got to work on what is within our control. We must double down on our skills – are they good enough? Can they improve? We must ignore the noise “this is all too much” and fall back in love with what we do. We must focus on making our businesses the best they can be in the knowledge that in doing so we’re helping to grow the economy – which benefits us all. And we must focus, focus, focus on the finances to make sure we can get to where we need to be.
Lean into your community: the Enterprise Nation membership community is now 130,000-strong who chat to like-minded peers in our curated Groups. You can join upcoming events and check out our support programmes or find an adviser from a growing adviser community.
The support is out there – accessing it could make the difference to businesses surviving the next few years.
