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Thinking about starting a business? Have an idea to explore – or ready to launch? The MEC Resource Centre is here to support you

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For a successful business, you need a viable business idea, the skills to make it work and the funding. Discover whether your idea has what it takes.

Forming your business correctly is essential to ensure you are protected and you comply with the rules. Learn how to set up your business.

Advice on protecting your wellbeing, self-confidence and mental health from the pressures of starting and running a business.

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

It is likely you will need funding to start your business unless you have your own money. Discover some of the main sources of start up funding.

Businesses and individuals must account for and pay various taxes. Understand your tax obligations and how to file, account and pay any taxes you owe.

Businesses are required to comply with a wide range of business laws. We introduce the main rules and regulations you must comply with.

Marketing matters. It drives sales and helps promote your brand and products. Discover how to market your business and reach your target customers.

Some businesses need a high street location whilst others can be run from home. Understand the key factors from cost to location, size to security.

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

It is likely your business could not function without some form of IT. Learn how to specify, buy, maintain and secure your business IT.

Few businesses manage the leap from start up to high-growth business. Learn what it takes to scale up and take your business to the next level.

News

August 2021

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Two leading enterprise organisations are running their annual searches to recognise and honour the UK's most inspiring female business owners.

The Federation of Small Businesses is calling on the government to support small businesses by significantly reforming business rates - which it has described as "regressive and outdated".

The government is expected to get rid of some website cookies rules as it promises to scrap key parts of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in 2018.

A new study has found that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is having a significant impact on small businesses, with some delaying a return to the workplace and many planning to make COVID vaccinations mandatory for their employees.

A new survey suggests that around 2.9 million small business owners have experienced burnout since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

The government is accused of scoring an own goal over Freedom Day as it emerges that July's retail figures fell.

A new study suggests that sole traders may have been disproportionately impacted by COVID restrictions, with almost six in ten reporting that they are either not trading at all or are trading less than pre-COVID.

Research conducted by the Institute of Directors has found that 44% of businesses are currently struggling to recruit the staff they need.

As the travel green list extends to 36 countries, new research has found that up to 2.5 million UK small businesses are looking for ways to expand overseas.

The government may be encouraging people to return to work, but new research has found that workers in small businesses are twice as likely as those in larger firms to continue working from home.

Larger firms are far more likely to be taking environmental action than small and micro-businesses, according to a new study by the British Chambers of Commerce and O2.

A-level results day has seen record numbers of students getting top grades with plans to go to university, but new research reveals that four in five employers don't require a degree qualification for entry-level roles.