We cannot see continued delay with businesses in limbo for months and years, not knowing the future of our trading environment – small business confidence has now been in negative territory for an unprecedented five straight quarters. Reimagining the workplace to ensure social distancing, factoring in the need for collaborative space and reconfiguring high-traffic areas are crucial considerations. Leverage tech to provide access to scheduling via a mobile platform so employees know when desk space is available. Ensure there’s visibility into cleanliness protocols and how many people are in the office at any given time. Have real-time information available at employees’ fingertips. - Maria Miletic, Blue Prism Software However, Sarah Williams, head of employment at Taylors Solicitors, says the government’s proposal opens a great debate as “small financial incentives, pressure and penalties for jobseekers may not succeed”. This guidance is an important first step. It won’t provide every answer, no guidance can, but directors can use it to inform their risk assessments for operating in this pandemic. Hunt said if we truly wanted to remove obstacles to employment, we needed to reach out to parents of young children as childcare was still simply “too expensive” for them, and that he didn’t want any parents of children under the age of five to be prevented from working if they wanted to, because doing so would be “damaging to our economy” and would be primarily unfair to women.

This guidance is essential. As those working in support services and construction are asked to continue to help keep Britain going - and step up to the next level - their health and safety must come first, alongside the needs of those they are serving. They have been vital for the emergency response, and have already helped keep the country going during the first phase of the crisis. For instance, an approach “providing employee benefits for the masses has a better impact than tax breaks for a select few”, he says, while adding that the right employee benefits, group income protection, private medical insurance and cash plans all directly aim to reduce illness in the workforce –“and we’d encourage employers to look at these if they want to retain their workforce and be seen as an employer of choice”, says Williams. Extension of childcare funding for working parents With two major groups in our membership, we have since worked with all political parties to make sure the small business voice is heard respectfully by those in power. If you feel uncomfortable because colleagues have opted out of being jabbed you could ask to work remotely or seek other changes to your working environment. However, Barnes says: “No one person’s right outweighs another’s when it comes to an individual’s decision to have the vaccine. It’s easy to cast judgment, but neither employers nor colleagues have a right to impose what team members should or shouldn’t do.”Firstly, think through the physical risks faced by your staff and put new safety procedures in place to reduce them as best you can. If you have an HR department, ask them to perform a risk assessment. Or you can use templates provided by the government or the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. You’ll need to put extra safety precautions in place, such as additional cleaning, social distancing and hand sanitation stations. You might not consider every issue that could affect your staff day to day at first, so ask everyone to share their concerns. Research is an essential part of business as it helps you to learn, grow and improve. Businesses should spend time and money researching the industry, competitors, their target customers, and new opportunities so that they can make positive changes to the business and achieve higher levels of success. The world is constantly changing with new trends, technology, challenges, and consumer habits, so it is important that you are able to keep pace with all of these. Now is a partially good time to invest in research as so much about life and business has changed as a result of COVID-19. This means that there could be exciting new opportunities to take advantage of, and you might be able to find a way to attract new customers to your business.

One of the peculiar observations that has emerged from the study of the quantum realm is non-locality. A change in a particle's state in one location can instantaneously influence another "entangled" particle somewhere else – something Einstein referred to as "spooky action at a distance". This has been " shown experimentally many times" in Nobel Prize winning research, says Adlam. Your team will be the driving force behind where your business goes – not for nothing are people known as ‘the biggest business asset’. By investing in training and development, you can equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to progress your business effectively. It also pays to invest in your company’s culture, which can be anything from providing a supportive onboarding programme and offering rewards to running team building days and creating a comfortable and motivating workspace. However, Jane van Zyl, chief executive of Working Families, says that while the government’s strategy for increasing funding for childcare is encouraging because it is finally treating affordable childcare as a “vital component of economic growth”, the budget as it stands “falls short of delivering on the promise of a fully supported system from nine months to four-year-olds”.For example, investment in machinery that will enable twice as much production for the same level of labour may mean it will pay for itself in a year. This will in turn lead to an increased turnover which will boost profits. If the retained profits are insufficient, it would not be possible to take advantage of this excellent opportunity without using other forms of financing. Like the UK population, small businesses and FSB members were split on the Brexit referendum question in 2016, with many voting for remain and many voting for leave. Any money spent on running a business is an investment. Whether it’s come from your own funds or an external financer (like crowdfunding), as long as it is used to grow your company it is classed as a business investment.

Alternatively, if you want to stay in the driving seat, reinvesting profits rather than seeking external equity avoids diluting your ownership and control rights of your business. The question of encouraging talent does not just relate to workers from overseas. One crucial aspect of any Brexit deal is the question of what the UK does next with important business support schemes, in addition to the need to establish and promote financial institutions that will support small businesses to grow. While many people dislike reinvesting in their companies because they view it as spending money, avoid falling into this mindset trap. Investing isn't about wasting money on unnecessary expenses, it's about applying resources in a strategic manner that will result in higher profits and help you to reach your long-term goals of continued growth and success.It isn't even possible to send a message into the past, says Adlam. "The retrocausality is very specifically hidden by the way it's implemented." This change includes removing the work capability assessment and supporting claimants to work without fear of losing their financial support.

Does your business need to innovate? Are your competitors coming up with new and better solutions to the same problem? R&D that advances scientific or technological knowledge may be eligible for government funding, so it’s worth looking into. MarketingIf your enterprise is making profits, it can reinvest them to further improve profitability, productivity or efficiency and will improve balance sheet strength. This will increase the value of the business without the commitment of liabilities. As I touched on earlier, your strategy and how well you apply your skills and knowledge are what will ultimately determine the success of your investment. One of the best ways to safeguard against early failure is to amass a nest egg for business emergencies. Many entrepreneurs enter the market with the assumption that their startup capital will be enough to last them through to self-sufficiency. This isn’t always the case. Things are going to be different to the norm for quite some time, so think about where you can make lasting changes to protect the physical and mental health of your team. For example, you might want to change working hours so staff can avoid a rush-hour commute, implement team pairing where they start work together in bubbles of two, or make your office paper-free to avoid sharing printers and photocopiers.