Turner Little’s guide to offshore savings accounts

Offshore savings accounts are familiar to most people through media reports of celebrity scandals involving tax avoidance. However, the reality is that offshore account holders do have to pay tax, but there are other benefits that make them a good option.

Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t have to be massively wealthy to take advantage of these benefits. We’ve put together a quick guide to offshore savings accounts.

How to get your business financially fit in six steps

At Turner Little, we can help with different aspects of setting up your business, from financial advice to more complicated planning. Here are our sure-fire steps to achieving a financially stable business in 2018. Follow these good habits and you’ll be on your way to a lean, mean, fighting fit business.

Read the article in full on the Turner Little Blog.

Turner Little’s view on why you should consider setting up a trust

Trusts can be confusing, and with so many variations around it’s not easy to work out which you need, or whether you need one at all. The factor that differentiates trusts is the reason for them being set up in the first place.

It’s important to understand the purpose of a trust before it’s set up, and whether the agreement is what you need. At Turner Little, we can help you choose the right trust for your purposes. We’ve come up with reasons why you should think about setting up a trust.

Do you have a will? Almost two thirds of adults in the UK don’t…

While everyone is aware that making a will is necessary, most people leave it on their ‘to do’ list. Research shows that almost two-thirds of UK adults don’t have a will, which means their estate could go to someone they haven’t chosen after they die. An estate covers more than you think – it’s not just property and money, it also includes all possessions and even dependent children can be involved.

At Turner Little, we know how important it is to have a plan in place for after your death, and we also understand it’s not always a priority for people busy with day-to-day life. Here’s why you must start planning for your dependents after your death.

Turner Little on how to choose the best business structure for your needs

When you’re starting up a business, and particularly if it’s your first-time, the legalities can be confusing. Your idea may be sound and you have the ambition, but do you know which legal structure you should choose?

Everything, from the way you pay tax, make decisions and how your business grows, depends on the legal structure of your business. You must decide at the outset of your business but bear in mind you can change it later if it becomes necessary.

Here we discuss the Business Structure options for all scenarios.

Why you don’t need a revolutionary idea to start a business

There are 5.5 million small businesses and start-ups in the UK today, and the appetite for going it alone isn’t slowing down. But sometimes, that ‘Dragon’s Den’ lightbulb moment proves elusive.
Does that mean your entrepreneurial dreams should be over? We don’t think so. If you want to be your own boss but you’re worried you don’t have an epic enough idea, this doesn’t need to stand in your way. The team at Turner Little has come up with a guide on how to launch your start-up anyway…

Eight rules for Asset Protection Planning

Asset protection planning is about making sure you’re ready should you hit bad times. Limiting creditor access to your valuable assets, while remaining within the debtor/creditor law, is an important part of running a business.

Should everyone be concerned with asset protection planning? Absolutely. If you have something that you want to protect, then you must plan. Here are eight rules you should follow to stay on the right side of the law and protect your assets should the worst happen.

Read about the 8 rules of Asset Protection on the Turner Little Blog.

What are the best finance option for your business?

Choosing a method to finance your business is the most important step you will take. If you’re not sure which way to go, have a look at our handy breakdown of the most common sources of finance.Finance from your bank

All major banks offer various financial support choices for businesses. They can also give advice on what would suit you best. The kinds of options you’ll be looking at are:

• Fixed term business loan
• Credit cards and business overdrafts
• Cashflow finance solution
• Borrow money against assets
• The EFG (Enterprise Finance Guarantee) scheme

Read about the best finance options on the Turner Little Blog.

How to plan for Brexit

Recent research shows that 88% of e-commerce businesses already sell overseas, and 45% see international sales as vital to the future of their business.
As overseas trade is so important to many small businesses, Brexit is a major concern. While uncertainty rules now, there are certain things we do know:

• VAT and import duties will probably change.
• There will undoubtedly be an increase in documentation on imports and customs clearance costs will probably change. It’s also probable that there will be delays on clearing customs.
• If sourcing from an EU country and then selling back into the EU, it’s probable that a reintroduction tax will be introduced. Higher delivery and fulfilment costs to EU countries should be considered, and there is still going to be volatility surrounding currency exchange rates, which will impact sourcing and selling prices.
• It’s possible that EU online shoppers may turn away from the UK.

Read how to plan for the impending Brexit.

Five ways to boost your business productivity

Every successful entrepreneur understands the need for productivity. Most start-up owners take a personal approach, using different techniques to get the most out of their time.

While maximising personal work time is extremely important, the overall productivity of the business needs to be tightly managed too. To get where you want to be, it’s vital to make sure your business is operating to its full potential every day.

Here’s our five tips to help your business work hard and smart.

Five reasons Inheritance Tax should be scrapped

The government has made a few tax cuts, specifically abolishing Stamp Duty on properties worth up to £300,000. With many opponents to the idea, should Inheritance Tax (IHT) be the next target for cuts?

Here are five reasons why we think IHT doesn’t work in its current format.

The best ways for seasonal businesses to manage cash flow

Lots of small businesses face a degree of seasonality, particularly in tourism and retail. A survey by Wells Fargo/Gallup shows that almost 50% of small business owners report certain times of the year that will be predictably busier or slower than others.

Read the article in full on the Turner Little Blog.

How will the Budget affect me? What do business owners need to know?

If this year’s Autumn budget caught you by surprise, then we can help. Here we take a look at some of the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond’s key announcements and explain a bit more about how they will affect you as a business owner.

There are some key themes in there that the Chancellor looked to address – from cushioning the British economy from any negative effects of the looming Brexit deal (in whatever form that takes) through to how the UK Government plans to support innovative businesses, particularly in the tech industry. So, here is our overview of the Autumn Budget, and a few thoughts on what it will mean for you as a business owner.

Inheritance tax crackdown: Families to pay extra £900m by 2022

This year has brought particularly bad news for those families who may need to pay inheritance tax in the near future. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the Government’s non-departmental public body who provide independent economic forecasts and analysis of public finances – have suggested that a number of factors are feeding into rising inheritance tax cost in the coming years.

Read the full article on the Turner Little Blog.

Why would lenders reject your business loan application?

Getting a business loan should be straightforward – it’s usually just a matter of talking the facts and figures through with your lender. But sometimes, things go wrong, and for reasons that often aren’t immediately apparent they say ‘no’. It can be a worrying turn of events, but there are a few reasons why it might have happened.

Before we go into those though, the first thing to do is simply ask the lender why they’ve turned you down. Don’t take this initial explanation on face value – if their explanation doesn’t make sense to you for any reason, ask, and keep on asking, until it does. It’s their responsibility to make their reasoning behind the rejection clear, so don’t be afraid to push them.

Beyond their initial explanation, there could be a number of other possible reasons why the lender has rejected your application.

How to choose a domain name that works internationally

Think of your domain name as a good first impression – a firm, positive digital handshake that could be the start of a long and successful relationship between you and your potential customers.

But how do you choose a name that’s searchable and represents your brand? Choosing the right name requires more thought than simply picking something that sounds impressive – it’s a process that is well worth putting some serious thought into.

With that in mind, here are Turner Little’s 4 steps for choosing the right domain name to help you stand out from the crowd.

Getting the most out of your website

Every start-up must have a website. But all websites are not created equal. By doing it right and making sure it’s working properly from the start, you will be able to communicate with customers, establish your company’s credibility and encourage visitors to become buyers.

The right kind of design, content and strategy can turn a website into a crucial sales and marketing tool, no matter your industry.

Read the article in full on the Turner Little Blog.

Possible business rate increase for small businesses

Research shows that more than 56,000 small business in the UK may have to be content with high tax rises next year.

Rates specialist CVS has announced that business rate rises will reach £152 million in April 2018. This will inevitably place even more of a burden on businesses that are dealing with ever-rising inflation.

Read in full on the Turner Little Blog.

Which sectors are represented by the self-employed in the UK?

Research has shown exactly who has chosen to go it alone – the UK’s self-employed. The research was commissioned by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in conjunction with Employment (CRSE) and aims to show how the self-employed community is formed in the UK.

Read the article in full on the Turner Little Blog. 

10 tips for starting up a small business

People starting a business naturally look online for advice. There are so many tips, tricks and suggestions that it can be overwhelming, so we’ve put together our top ten.

There is no single ideal formula for starting a business, every entrepreneur will find their own way, but there are some common threads that will help you on your way to success.

To view the full article, please visit the Turner Little blog.