Issue #88 - Are you feeling optimisitc? 🤞
Did the King’s Speech fail small businesses? | A guide to underinsurance and how to prevent it | 6 things to consider when renewing business insurance | 5 businesses, 1 question | Words | Tunes | More
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Did the King’s Speech fail small businesses? 👑
Welcome to Issue #88 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
Small business owner confidence is positive for the first time in two years, according to the Federation of Small Business’s Small Business Index. It’s the first confidence reading above zero since 2018 (outside of COVID-19 waves), which sounds pretty significant even if you’re sceptical about studies like this.
Confidence may have grown because Covid is becoming a distant memory, inflation is down to more manageable levels, and there don’t seem to be any lingering worries of recession. A change in government may also be giving people a little more confidence that things are on the up (or that they can’t get any worse, at least).
It’s been two weeks since the general election results were announced and the new Labour government has outlined its plans at the State Opening of Parliament.
Among the medieval cosplay that signals the start of the parliamentary calendar (interestingly, they all break up again in less than two weeks) the King read out a statement that outlines the incoming government’s policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session.
And, as you might have guessed if you read Issue #87 of The Backbone, there wasn’t much for small business owners to get excited about.
Not only is there no mention of ‘small business’ in the government’s 105-page briefing document accompanying the speech (and we thought five mentions in the manifesto was measly!), but the one policy of note that could affect small business owners could have unforeseen negative implications.
While the New Deal for Working People is clearly a progressive policy (offering improved rights for workers and ending ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts), findings from the Federation of Small Businesses show that “More than nine out of ten small employers say they are concerned about the prospect of increased costs and risks when they employ people, and there were no commitments within this to look after small employers who will struggle the most.”
This suggests the government is still out of touch with small business owners and will continue to lump everyone into the SME category, which includes businesses with up to 49 employees - a very different type of business to those with fewer than ten staff on the books.
It’s also still unclear what GB energy is and whether it will deliver cheaper energy to homes and businesses.
Even so, things can only get better, right?
🤝 COMMUNITY
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🗞 READ
A guide to underinsurance and how to prevent it 🛑
Estimating the value of your business assets and understanding what policies you need can be difficult to navigate alone. Especially when all you want to do is to ensure your company is properly covered.
But when you get it wrong and your package doesn’t cover all of the assets you own, that’s called underinsurance. Here’s how to make sure your business is fully covered.
6 things to consider when renewing business insurance ♻
When you already have a lot on your plate, organising your business insurance renewal is the last thing you want to do. But insurance really is one of those things that you need to sort and tick off your ‘to-do’ list to make sure you have the proper protection in place.
In this Bionic guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about renewing your business insurance.
🗣 SHOUTOUT
#BionicBusinessStory - 5 businesses, 1 question 🤔
All businesses have peaks and troughs during the year - florists might do most business around Valentine’s Day, while demand for salons might be biggest during the festive period. So, how do business owners cope during the slower months?
Bionic - How do you cope with slower months?
🍬 “I just have to keep myself motivated. Even if no one comes into the shop, I need to keep going and work out what might attract new customers. if we have quiet time in the shop, I just use it to sit and make strategies. We’re always developing ourselves and learning new techniques as well” - Nedelcho Vichev, N2 Sweet Lab
🍻 “For us, the summer is a good time to organise and plan for the busier times, come up with new ideas, organise things in the cellar or train staff.” - Kate Davidson, The Old Ivy
🐩 “Dip n Clip- I'm grateful because I don't really have that many quiet months. I have the occasional quiet week maybe, but I sell dog perfumes and grooming brushes on the side, so that helps generate business during quieter periods. I'm thinking about possibly starting up workshops in the future too to show owners how to brush their dogs with the correct techniques.” - Ella Holder, Dip n Clip
🟢 “The busy months tend to be Christmas and the summer. The winter isn’t too busy, but we use that time to think about how we're going to approach the busier seasons. That's normally when we bring in more products as well, so that that time is used for buying products and setting up our marketing strategy ready for the busier times. It’s just a time to make sure everything in the background is nice and neatly organised before it gets too hectic again!” - Reece Ashworth, The Little Green Pet Company
💐 “I think all small businesses go through peaks and troughs, but especially since becoming a wedding and event florist, we have really busy periods and then really quiet periods. For example, January was pretty quiet. I think financially and psychologically managing those big shifts in pace is really difficult Because we're now a wedding and events studio, I'm working to really long timelines. The winter months consist of consultation meetings with clients for the following year, I just try to really capitalize on the time that I have. So then in the summer when we're delivering work, I'm not super stressed about having to do lots of meetings.” - Rosy Sida, Filth Florist
Want to read more small business stories? Head over to Bionic 🦾
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📊 BUSINESS
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Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
🎧 LISTEN
Playlist 🎶
In keeping with this week’s podcast choice, we thought some 80s electronica was in order. 80s Electronic Mix has all the good stuff from OMD, New Order, Heaven 17, Human League, KLF, and loads more.
Podcast 🎙
Martyn Ware - originally of Human League, possibly more famously of Heaven 17 - has a podcast where he talks to the famous artists from the worlds of music, art, film, comedy, TV and creativity he's encountered during his 40-year career. It’s called Electronically Yours with Martyn Ware and its guests range from IDLES to Irvine Welsh via Stuart Maconie, Nick Heyward, Josh Wink, and loads more.
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🚫 STOP
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