Issue #99 - Feeling alive for 2025? 🤩
How confident are you feeling for 2025? | Is business energy more expensive than home energy? | Business Insurance myth-busting | 3 Businesses, 1 Question | Facts | Words | Tunes | More
🦾 GO
New year, new hope? 🤞
Welcome to Issue #99 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
We’re not quite sure how it happened but here we are, bang in the middle of the 2020s. I think it’s safe to say the last five years have been pretty turbulent (‘unprecedented’ was the buzzword for at least 30 of the last 60 months) and most business owners will have felt a little uncertain about the future at some point.
But how are business owners feeling as we enter 2025?
In our 3 Businesses, 1 Question section, we asked a few business owners about their ambitions for the next twelve months (yes, that’s three businesses and not the usual five - proof that everything really is getting smaller) and the general theme was growth and trying out new things.
And that seems to be a common theme among business owners right now. According to a report in The Guardian, “A majority of UK businesses expect a positive start to 2025, according to two economic confidence surveys which show managers planning for growth after a challenging period for the economy.
About 70% of UK businesses expect their turnover to increase over the next year, up from 62% in December 2023.”
But that’s not to say the next 12 months will be easy or without challenges.
The Autumn Budget will still be fresh in people’s minds and the changes to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will kick in from April this year. This will make it more expensive to take on employees, which could mean businesses will have to push up prices to cover the extra costs.
A study by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found that almost two-thirds (63%) of businesses say tax, including national insurance, is now a concern. More than half (55%) now expect prices to go up in the next three months, mainly because of increased labour costs.
But how are you feeling for the year ahead? Let us know by voting in the poll below.
If you want to go into more detail on how you’re feeling about the next 12 months or want to let us know your feelings on any aspect of running a business, join the conversation in our community or email us at thebackbone@bionic.co.uk
🤝 COMMUNITY
Join our community of small business superheroes 🦸♀️
Small business owners are the superheroes of the high street. But small business owners rarely get their voices heard. Now there’s a place where they can chat, share advice and help each other through the lows and highs of running a business. To get involved, scan or click the QR code above or click the button below to sign up.
🗞 READ
Is business energy more expensive than home energy?
The New Year cold snap has been cold enough for at least one government minister to implore everyone to put the heating on. Easier said than done if energy bills take up a large part of your monthly income.
And it’s the same story for business owners. You need to keep things at a certain temperature for employees to be able to do their jobs. If you have customers coming in, it needs to be warm enough to not turn them away (particularly in hospitality).
But is business energy more expensive than household energy? And what’s the difference between the two anyway? Find out the answers to these questions and more by hitting the button below 👇
Top 10 business insurance myths to look out for 👀
“I don’t need business insurance if I’m a sole trader”, “My business has been running for years - I don’t need insurance now”, “I don’t need insurance if my business is online” are all reasons some business owners have used when asked about their insurance.
And all are incorrect. Click the button below for some myth-busting that could possibly save your business 👇
🗣 SHOUTOUT
#BionicBusinessStory - 3 businesses, 1 question 🤔
A new year can bring new hope. OK, we may still have the same problems hanging over us from the previous 12 months, but a new year feels like an opportunity to try new things. So, we asked three small business owners about their ambitions for 2025…
Bionic - How do you use social media to boost awareness of your business?
🛹 “With 2025 being my 10th year in business I’d like to get out and have some pop-up/physical happenings. Over the years I’ve got to know “my people” and it will be great to meet some of them in real life.” Mike Holmes - The Long Shot Exp
🍻 “To continue the slight growth we experienced this last year. Our busy times are really busy, but we have quiet times too (weekends for example which is typical of the City, but unusual in general for hospitality). We'd love to plug those gaps. We have plans for new events, new menus...” Kate Davidson - The Old Ivy House
🐶 “2025 is a year of testing for us, we're going back to basics and trying out lots of different types of events, themes, market research and seeing what people actually want. It's tough to know if, for example, Labrador sessions will be busy. Even though they're popular dogs, the owners may not want to bring them along to a Pup Up Cafe, put on a party hat and get some professional photos taken. But once the test event is live, we don't like to cancel events as we'd hate to disappoint anyone that does book in and support our testing phase!” Marcus Ackford - The Pup-Up Cafe
Want to read more from small business owners? Check out Small Business Stories at Bionic. And head over to our YouTube channel to see some interviews in action, like this one with Mike from The Long Shot Exp 👇
📊 BUSINESS
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic is the comparison site for your small business. We compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
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 🎶
We usually leave this sort of stuff until February (like the real romantics we are 😬), but Dan, our Senior Customer Experience Manager, asked “who doesn’t like a bit of love to start the new year?” and we think he has a point. Indie Love Songs is the perfect playlist for anyone who’s ever whipped their fringe out of the way to give someone the look of love.
Podcast 🎙
Our new favourite podcast here at The Backbone has actually been going since 2008 (NO-ONE listened to podcasts in 2008!) and has a back catalogue of more than 2,000 episodes. Not saying we’re late to the party, but we are definitely late to the party. It’s called Stuff You Should Know and it covers pretty much every subject you can think of in great detail but simple terms.
👩🤝👩🏾 SHARE
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🏡 HOUSEKEEPING
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🚫 STOP
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small business bulletin 🤝🏻
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