Shweta Jhajharia is a business coach and entrepreneur who has spent nearly twenty years helping business owners build companies that are more profitable, scalable, and less dependent on their founders. As the creator of the 6M Growth Model, she brings a structured lens to a problem many owners face but rarely name: being so deeply embedded in daily operations that growth stalls rather than accelerates. In this piece, she unpacks that model, six interconnected areas spanning mindset, mastery, mission, money, management, and methodology, and offers a practical way for owners to identify which one is actually holding their business back,…

Businesses relying heavily on paid social advertising are being warned to diversify how they attract customers as new restrictions on young people’s social media use highlight how quickly access to an online audience can change. The UK government has announced plans to prevent social media platforms from offering their services to children under 16, with the new rules expected to come into force from spring 2027. Further protections are also planned for 16 and 17-year-olds, including personalised recommender feeds being switched off by default, affecting the content and advertising young people are served online. While the immediate impact will be…

Cyber insurance experts question whether most employees would know what 159 is and when to use it 159, the UK’s dedicated telephone number for helping people to safely contact their bank when they suspect financial fraud, has received more than one million calls, but cyber insurance experts at Everywhen are asking whether enough businesses and their employees know what these three numbers mean and when to use them. The warning comes as the latest UK Finance Annual Fraud Report reveals criminals stole £1.28 billion through payment fraud during 2025, up 4% year-on-year. Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud alone accounted for…

By Stefano Maifreni, founder of Eggcelerate  Founders rarely tell me they have an execution problem. They tell me their go-to-market strategy needs refreshing; they believe they need a sharper value proposition, a new pricing model, a different customer segment or perhaps another product line. The assumption is always the same: growth has slowed because the strategy is wrong. Most of the time, it isn’t. What limits growth is something much less visible. Long before revenue plateaus or customers start leaving, execution begins to break down. Not dramatically, but gradually. Exceptions become routine, workarounds become permanent, and founders step into every…

By Hardeep Singh | Universal Delivery Solutions Ltd Why the reason for dispatch must match the invoice, customs value and supporting evidence A parcel may contain the same physical product whether it is a buying sample, a warranty replacement or a customer order. Customs, however, does not see those movements as interchangeable. The reason for dispatch affects the evidence required, while the goods themselves still need an accurate description, classification, origin and value. For a small business sending from the UK to India, the safest starting point is to decide exactly why the parcel is moving before anyone prepares the…

Efficient tax planning is a priority for every business and business owner. Yet far too many small businesses are still overpaying tax and failing to take advantage of financial products that will not only reduce the corporation and income tax burdens but also safeguard the business through effective succession planning. In a complex market, however, taking a product-by-product approach is rarely going to work. SME businesses need a joined-up model that considers how life insurance, wealth management and business protection can work together to unlock valuable opportunities to improve tax efficiency, strengthen succession planning, protect shareholder value and build long-term…

Bupa becomes the first major private healthcare provider to launch DNA-led services to help people understand their genetic risk of serious disease and take action years before symptoms appear. From 1 September 2026, Bupa will offer ‘Prevention Pathways’ for breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, alongside its recently launched Medication Check service, with 200,000 people expected to benefit by the end of 2027. Where someone is deemed high-risk, the service includes access to specialist support, preventive treatment and potentially life-saving surgeries, redefining the role of private medical insurance. The launch marks a crucial first step towards more personalised healthcare, moving…

This year’s Black Friday will be the first peak trading season under the EU’s new customs rules for low-value ecommerce imports. For UK retailers selling into Europe, the challenge is no longer simply generating more orders. The real question is what happens to margin when higher customs costs, more complex peak-season baskets and the January returns wave are added to the equation. With Q4 planning already under way, retailers still have time to model that exposure before volumes rise. Black Friday falls on 27 November this year, but the decisions that will determine its profitability are being made now. Retailers…

Tunley Environmental has published a new paper exploring whether sustainable products are becoming a strategic advantage or an increasing commercial burden, drawing on the views and experiences of 16 sustainability leaders from across a range of sectors. The paper, Sustainable Products in 2026: Strategic Advantage or Commercial Burden?, follows a roundtable hosted by Tunley Environmental in June 2026, where leaders from product-based organisations came together to discuss how sustainability is influencing product development, procurement, customer expectations and wider business strategy. The discussion found that sustainability remains commercially important, but that it does not replace the fundamentals of a successful product. Price, quality,…

Running an ecommerce business sounds digital. When every order has to become a physical, one-off tool, the difficult bit starts after checkout. Michael Kelly, founder of Outpost Workshop, shares what he has learned from building a specialist manufacturing business around design, CNC machining and small quantities. Most ecommerce businesses try to make their products as standard as possible. Mine does almost the opposite. At Outpost Workshop, in Liverpool, I make custom brass branding irons and leather stamps for makers, small workshops and larger companies. Customers send a logo, a sketch or whatever artwork they have. I prepare it for manufacture,…

Marina Shulga, Chief Product Officer specialising in AI-driven education and gaming-tech ecosystems across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, offers practical lessons for SME leaders navigating expansion, uncertainty, and infrastructure constraints. I have spent twenty years walking into businesses that don’t work or don’t exist at all, and turning them into ones that run. Not by importing a model from somewhere else and hoping it holds. By working out what a market is missing and building that missing piece myself, whether it turns out to be an education program, a selection process for new teams, or a working relationship with…

While AI adoption is rising, only 10% of AI-using businesses report using the technology extensively, suggesting that most organisations are still using AI to support existing work rather than replace it. Frances Li, Founder and Director of Biscuit Recruitment, believes the conversation should move away from asking which jobs are “AI-proof” and instead focus on the skills and responsibilities that still need a person behind them. “I’d be careful about calling any career completely AI-proof. There are very few jobs where technology won’t change something about the way we work,” Frances says. “But there’s a big difference between AI being able…

A new leadership role often brings immediate pressure to make things happen. But lasting impact rarely comes from trying to change too much, too quickly. Instead, the first 90 days are an opportunity to listen, assess, and establish the foundations for sustainable progress. Here, four experts share practical advice on creating clarity, giving teams greater autonomy, strengthening culture, and staying alert to the external forces that could shape the organisation’s future.  Establish direction before creating motion The pressure to prove yourself can make the first 90 days in a leadership role feel like a race to take action. But activity…

Behind every headline fraud case are thousands of honest businesses just trying to prove their work is real. Good documentation is how they achieve it. R&D tax relief exists to reward innovation, but a handful of high-profile fraud cases have put the scheme under heavy scrutiny from HMRC, the media and Parliament. Ahead of October’s Autumn Budget, the examples below show why more action is still needed to prevent costly R&D tax fraud. Josh Perry, UK & IRE Head of Sales at innoscripta says: “The following cases grab headlines, but it’s important claimants don’t lose sight of what they show. In each one,…

SMEs and businesses of every size have worked hard over the years to make sure Google noticed them. The right keywords in the right place at the right time, woven into a company website, would help keep you hovering just below the sponsored links on page one. Not any more, though, says Paul Houston, co-founder of Catalyst Marketing Agency. Here, he explains why the rules have changed, and offers some simple steps business owners can take to avoid becoming invisible. This past few years have seen a complete re-write of how people search for information across the internet. Where once upon…

Hargreaves Lansdown recently announced that staff will be required back in the office three days a week from next year. It is the latest major company to reinstate mandatory office attendance, following in the footsteps of the likes of TSB and JPMorgan Chase. A drive to rebuild collaboration, improve workplace culture and encourage productivity are among some of the main reasons that staff are being asked to return to the office. As the topic of office attendance climbs the agenda once again, should businesses be considering how to make office life more appealing? Shane Duffy, Managing Director at Click Offices, says: “Getting people…