Latest news and industry views direct from Cypher HQ

Six months after his death, the author of Steve Jobs’ biography, Walter Isaacson, wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review magazine.

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Have you ever considered that strengthening your business is even more important than growing your business?

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As we all know, every business, at one time or another will have clients that don’t go so well – and consistently don’t go well.

Speaking, writing and reading are integral to everyday life, where language is the primary tool for expression and communication.

Mention an innovative business and most people will point to a tech business; a platform, a SAAS product or a hardware producer like Apple or Dell.

As we approach the end of 2021 – yes it has, hasn’t it – lots of business owners will be thinking about their plans for 2022.

I was listening to Jack FM – a number of our clients advertise with the station – and an advert came on for the Oxford Institute for Ethical AI. Firstly, I’m really pleased that there is an Institute for ethical AI…

At the start of the year, on the Mind Your Business Podcast we said that 2021 was the year of the entrepreneur; the ‘Entrepren-Year’ and we have seen that prediction play out over the last 10 months or so…

No matter how old your business is, it’s important to have a business plan. Lots of business owners have one; it gets done once, with just enough information to convince you there is a business opportunity there…

Apathy is something that can haunt all entrepreneurs and business owners at various stages of their journey-sometimes quite drastically- such is its destructive power…

‘Jobs up, growth up, debt down’, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his long-awaited autumn budget speech today.

In the war on talent, one of the overriding messages was that strong company cultures would always attract better talent…

The whole concept of brand and reputation is something that is easily translatable between the biggest and the smallest organisations…

Prime Minister announced that National Insurance contributions and dividend tax rates will increase by 1.25 percentage…

Most of us have experienced our inner critic: that little voice in our head that’s sniping away, bringing us down, criticising our efforts…

Given the abundance of knowledge available – why doesn’t every business owner have a thriving business?

This blog is about a concept called Waiting Brain, which came about from an article that I read and that rang very true for me.

There is a talent shortage and everyone wants the best available. This blog is about winning the war on talent.

On our twentieth podcast we discussed the distinction between work-life balance and work life integration.

This blog was based on a podcast that was inspired by an article I read about the four overlooked mistakes that sabotage first year entrepreneurs.

This blog, from a Mind Your Business Podcast Episode is all about the power of belief for the entrepreneur and business owner.

It’s a bit of a cliché that is often used but potentially misunderstood. What does it mean and how do we actually work smarter, not harder?

This blog was from a podcast that was created in response to a listener’s question. They had emailed in and said that since the start of lockdown, they were finding themselves becoming busier and busier…

Xero has announced an upcoming change to its subscription pricing, which will affect Cypher clients in October…

The Government could announce an end to its work from home guidance in England next month, leaving companies with three broad choices: bring everyone back to the office…

I have a conversation about pricing almost every week. It usually starts when a client tells me my prices are too high and I have to explain that actually we are very good value for money…

There was a great story this recently about an American-style fizzy drink that went from a simple kitchen idea to being stocked in a range of supermarkets…

Did you know that the average human being lives for around 4000 weeks, which equates to about 77 years.

It is undeniable that throughout 2020 and 2021, most business conversations have happened over a screen of some sort.

Resilience is a term we have heard a lot over the last 12 months. It has become somewhat of a buzzword during lockdown.

You know the saying ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’. It’s true. And right now, there isn’t a better time to plan for you the future you want from your business.

Business owners will always try to understand who their competitors are, where they are stronger, where they are weaker, what their competitive advantage is.

I spoke to countless business owners throughout the various lockdowns, who all told me they were using their relative downtime to focus on their social media presence.

We’ve teamed up with Melu to offer you a special discounted rate for their amazing managed live chat service.

Earlier this month, Amazon opened its first UK till-less store. Shoppers at the new Amazon Fresh shop now scan a smartphone app.

This podcast episode was inspired by my first ever conversation with Alan Clark. I started Cypher by buying another business.

This blog from a Mind Your Business episode was inspired by the numerous stories we have read in the past 12 months about businesses having to pivot

The chancellor Rishi Sunak has released his much anticipated budget. Many of the headlines were trailed before today, so there were very few surprises.

Domestic reverse charge (DRC) is a new way of accounting for VAT, it will apply to all VAT registered construction businesses in the UK.

Businesses that deferred VAT payments last year can now join the new scheme to pay it in smaller monthly instalments.

They say two things in life are certain; death and taxes. Being an accountant, I focus on helping clients with one of those eventualities more than the other.

They say two things in life are certain; death and taxes. Being an accountant, I focus on helping clients with one of those eventualities more than the other.

VAT and Corporation Tax can now be deferred until March 2022.

At the start of the year, Alan Clark from Exponential Coaching and I decided to record a series of podcasts.

One of the on-going effects of the Covid-19 pandemic could be the creation of new, innovative businesses. 2020 saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses starting up compared with 2019. We shouldn’t be too surprised; every economic downturn in history is accompanied by a rise of entrepreneurship.

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a year like no other. Instead of the perfect 2020 vision, we experienced a year that has changed the way we work, live, interact and shop like no other time in history. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Last week I was delighted to speak at this year’s Digital Accountancy Week. It was a virtual event and I enjoyed a ‘fireside chat’ with a representative of Fathom, who provide our state-of-the-art business performance and planning software.

Earlier this year, as business owners struggled to come to terms with the impact of Lockdown 1.0, we hosted a webinar on this very topic. As the UK enters Lockdown 2.0 we wanted to revisit one of the most critical issues for small business owners: managing their cash flow.

From the 1st September, the new 70 registration plates have been released, as the DVLA makes a change to its car registration system. This new system will see 2s and 7s in the number plate throughout the 2020 decade.

In September, the Government announced the launch of its new £2billion Kickstart scheme which is designed to fund six-month, paid, job placements for people aged between 16 and 24 who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

Whether you want to set up a side hustle or create a start-up company for yourself, there are some key decisions you must make first.

Let’s be honest, the reason any business is set up is to create wealth for a business owner and their family or to create funds to give away or invest into other ventures.