If you’re a new small business owner you probably concentrate on trying to grow your business, and might not even be in a position to think of selling it or getting out of the business. You probably don’t want to run the business for the rest of your life, and will probably want to retire at some point. Making sure you get an exit strategy in place is important as it will help you maximise the value of your business when you come to sell it.

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If you’re like me, you’ve undoubtedly received a variety of scam emails requesting money for the assistance of an ex-Government official, usually asking for your account details to transfer a large amount of money into your account! Unfortunatley a lot of people believe these emails, and fall victim to fraud. Your best chance is to just ignore any email that requests your financial information or wants to transfer money into your account as you can place a bet that it will be forged or fraudulently obtained. There are a range of other types of scams that occur, and there’s one in particular which can seem quite innocent, but is actually another scam and relates to business to business transactions, particularly small businesses…

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Anyone running a PAYE (Pay as You Earn) scheme here in the UK will undoubtedly have been bombarded recently with requests and reminders for the annual P35 form, which is basically a summary of all your business’ PAYE activity during the previous financial year. You also have to submit a P14 for each employee that you employed during the previous year. The 19th May is the deadline for these forms to be received by the HMRC – you can send them a completed paper version, or you can file it via PAYE Online. Whichever method you choose, it needs to be there by the 19th otherwise they will fine you £100 for each month per 50 employees. How nice of them…

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As with all things ‘Government’, nothing stays certain for long - there have previously been a variety of schemes aimed at encouring small to medium-sized businesses onto the Internet, to establish an eCommerce prescence in particular. In the past a company could apply for a grant for up to 50% of the website development cost of an eCommerce website, up to a maximum of £2,000. Unfortunately the provision of these grants is nowhere near as widespread, however don’t lose all hope straight away, there are still some opportunities to be had…

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The choice of business name for your new company is crucial for a variety of reasons. First and foremost they convey your brand image and represent what it is your business stands for. Consequently any name you choose should convey the feel that you’re trying to achieve, and the industry you are in. That doesn’t mean to say that it has to be stereotyped according to what all the other firms in your industry have chosen, however if you can find a catchy edge along a certain theme then this will help with customer brand recognition. Some business names such as Amazon actually bear no relation to the type of industry they’re in, so don’t feel pressured into your name having to ‘conform to the norm’. Once you’ve drafted up a shortlist of say ten or twenty names, the next step is to check that they’re actually available to register…

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From the 1st January 2007, it has become a legal requirement for all registered companies to display certain details both on their website, and in the footers of emails. The change comes in the form of the rather longwinded “First Company Law Amendment Directive”. Prior to this amendment, companies already had to publish company details on letters and other documents, however now the requirements have been extended to websites and emails. Carry on reading to find out what your business should be doing to ensure it is meeting these laws that are now in force…

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When launching your business there are a variety of legal entities that your business can take, and it is important to understand which one is right for you. The Business Link website contains a thorough outline of UK business structures, and provides useful tool to determine what legal business status is right for you. In the case of US businesses, a good description can be found here.

You may have been trading as ’sole proprietor’ or unincorporated partnership status for a while, but should things go belly up then you as the business owner would be personally liable for all business debts. I know this applies to the UK and am pretty sure that it’s the same over in the States, someone feel free to leave a comment and correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, but when your finances, savings and possibly home are at stake, you need to ensure that these are as ’safe as houses’ (excuse the pun) - you don’t want money coming out of your own pocket if things didn’t work out.

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