If you run a small business and you are looking to maximise your exposure to the public, you may be considering doing your own SEO using the internet and online marketing. With all the different methods of advertising, as well as the new audiences you could potentially reach with your product, it would be a waste to completely ignore this stream of potential customers and revenue. Here are 5 tips to help you get started on this.

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords!

A good and affordable way to start off your online marketing journey is through SEO. And one of the best places to start with SEO is keywords. Keywords are one of the most important parts of SEO. You need to know what keywords and key phrases you are ranking for in google, as this is what people type in to find you. Making sure you know what keywords you are already ranking for, as well as a list of relevant new keywords that you may want to rank for in the future is very important. It can help focus your work, as well as help you with things like rankings, since you can monitor your progress month on month with these keywords, as well as see which SERPs you can rank you.

It is important to understand how keywords work and what types there are, as well as understanding the marketing consumer funnel, as this can impact what keywords you use. Consumers at the beginning of the funnel will use different keywords than those at the end of the funnel, and this should guide you in what to show these people and where you should use the keywords. There are some tools that let you know what stage in the funnel the keywords are most likely to be, like SEMRush, and others can warn you of issues like cannibalization (when one keyword is dragging down the ranking of another).

Make Sure You Focus on Your Meta Tags

Meta tags can seem like a waste of time, or can often be easy to forget. If you don’t already know that they are something you need to do, it can be easy to forget to make them, especially considering Google will draw something out of your website, so they won’t seem empty. But they are empty, and they’re a huge waste of potential if do your own SEO and you ignore them. The meta title and description are very important tags to include on all pages of your website, and they often come included as part of any SEO plugin if you are on WordPress (YoastSEO or RankMath are 2 good plugin options if you don’t know where to start). You shouldn’t leave them empty. It is important to remember, when writing for these tags, that the title tag shouldn’t exceed 60 characters and the meta description shouldn’t exceed 160 characters. Other than that, go crazy! Try and ensure that your main keyword is mentioned in the title and description tags (because keywords are king!) and make sure the title is short enough that you can put your company’s name at the end of it. A title might look like this:

Shop – MyCompany

Blog | MyCompany

5 Tips to Start Doing Your Own SEO | Property Square

Your meta description can contain a number of things, but it should entice people to come and look at your website. Here are a couple examples:

At MyCompany, we offer a wide range of products that will capture your interest for very cheap prices! Find out more on our website or call us on 0345 000 0000.

The blog on MyCompany’s website is a great place to get more information about our products and the wider topic around it. Learn more about the industry here.

These tags are very important because, when you Google the keyword, the title and meta description will appear. They are the text section of the Google search results pages. This is why they are so important. They are the first thing that people will see about your website, so it is very important to make sure your title and description are eye-catching and enticing. Consider using things like dates and numbers to make your titles more exciting.

Optimise Your Headings

Your H1-H6 Headings are a great focus when you do your own SEO. They are very important for optimising your website and increasing the chances that your page appears for the keywords you want to rank for. The H1 tag is the most important tag and should only be used once on any page. It is the title of the page so it shouldn’t be repeated and should go at the top of the body tag. The H2-H6 tags can be repeated as many times as you like, but look at them as defining different sections, rather than simply for the size and appearance. The appearance can always be changed, and you want to make sure that Google reads the page correctly. You should try and include your keywords in the h1-h6 headings (because keywords are king!) to make sure that Google sees it and understands that your content is relevant to the keywords. 

Research Your Competitors

When doing your own SEO, if you’re stuck for content and don’t know how to improve your website’s ranking, look at your competitors to see what they are doing. Figuring out who your online competitors are is a very useful tool to try and help you reach the first page on search pages. To find out who your main competitors are, make sure you have a list of the main keywords you rank for/wish to rank for and check who comes up on Google search. Record all the urls for these results. Some of these won’t be competitors, but many of them will. This process can be slightly tedious and can take some time, but it is definitely worth it to make sure you can compare your progress to others, and see what new tricks they may be implementing that you too can implement.

Competitor analysis can take a long time, but it is definitely worth it when working on your own SEO. You can use this to see what content Google values and promotes higher, as well as find ideas of topics you could possibly cover (if relevant) on your website, as well as looking to see how their websites look visually, and see what your own website is lacking. Of course, you must be careful not to copy things directly, but taking inspiration from your competitors is a good way to improve your own website.

Industry Information Helps!

Whether you are attending a seminar, or following a blog or YouTube channel, it is always a good idea to keep up-to-date with industry relevant information. The same applies with information on SEO. Following a number of SEO related blogs and pages is a good way to make sure your website doesn’t become outdated or slip in the rankings if you are learning to do your own SEO. Following websites like Google Search Central Blog (The main blog where Google releases information on its updates) are very useful because you are getting information about updates to Google’s practice and algorithm straight from Google. Sites like Search Engine Journal are useful for explaining what the Google updates mean, and are also good if you need tips and advice on things to do to improve your website or marketing strategy. Keeping up to date with the latest information and updates on SEO can help you to make sure you aren’t wasting your time (and money if you eventually step into something like PPC) on marketing that doesn’t produce results.

Hopefully these tips help you to start making your way into the world of SEO. Beginning your own digital marketing can help you establish your online presence and potentially bring in a new stream of revenue. If you are having struggles with this, and you are willing to spend money on your marketing, a digital marketing agency may help. There are good companies that will support you in your digital marketing strategy, like Q-Online, for example. Whether or not you choose to pay for online marketing services, hopefully these tips will help you know where to start.

To learn more about digital marketing, read more of our articles.

When starting out in your search engine optimisation journey, it can often be daunting to know where to start. There are so many tools, charts and different types of data you have to track, collect and know what to do with, as well as link building and technical SEO, as well as on-page optimisation. Should you learn to code? And if so, which languages? It can quickly become overwhelming.

Well, in this article you can get advice on one topic at least – some of the data. And specifically, which data you should be paying attention to. There are some things you should start to track from early on because they are vitally important to measuring the success of your campaigns.

Conversions

Conversions are one of the most important things to track from your website. They tell you how much of the traffic you are getting is being converted into a goal. In Google Analytics (GA), you can set goals according to what you want your audience to do. So if you want people to subscribe, sign up to your newsletter or fill out a contact form, these things will be tracked on GA as goals and if someone completes that task, it will be registered as a goal completion. The conversion is important because you need to know how many people are doing what you want them to do. If this number is low then you know that there might be an issue with the website, or what you’re saying in your ads to get people to come to your website.

Traffic

Traffic is also a pretty important thing to track. It lets you know how many people your campaign and digital marketing efforts are reaching and persuading to look at your website. It is vital to know how wide of a reach your website has, but the reasons for this can differ depending on the focus of your campaign. If the focus of your campaign is disseminating knowledge or just brand awareness, then you want to track traffic so that you can figure out who is receiving your message and through which channels. It can help you determine your audience, which in turn allows you to customise your information to suit the audience. If the focus of your brand is selling a product then you want to track traffic to see how many of the people who see your ad are going to your website to make sure you are targeting the correct people. You also want to track traffic to see how many people end up completing a goal.

Bounce Rate

The bounce rate is one of the more negative things to track, but still necessary. It is the number of people who visit your website but leave without moving off of the first page they see. This number shouldn’t be 0, but it shouldn’t be too high either. A number between 26% and 70% is average for most websites. Too much or too little can mean that there is something wrong with your site. Nevertheless you want to know this number and figure out ways to keep it as low as possible. You also want to keep track to make sure that and strategies that you implement are working.

Calls and Forms

Calls and Forms are very useful things to track because sometimes your customer’s final action has nothing to do with the actual website. Sometimes you may be offering a service to your customer, like fixing a roof, creating a website or booking an appointment. In these cases, tracking calls and forms is useful because it can show you how many people showed enough interest in your website to take an action to either find out more about your service or actually request the service from you.

Keyword Rankings

For someone who works in SEO, keywords are your bread and butter. It is one of the most important aspects of SEO and are vital things to track, because keywords relate to almost everything. You need to know the correct keywords to target for a particular article. You need to know which keywords you want your website to perform well for. You need to know whether your website is on Google SERPs for any specific keywords. You need to know the financial value of keywords if you are considering using Google ads to promote your business. Keywords are vital. So it is necessary to have a list of the main keywords you will be trying to rank for and track them year on year.

Keeping track of the monthly position changes on Google Search as well as any appearances on Google SERPs will give you a good indication of whether your SEO strategy is working month on month.

There are many things to track, and you will you will learn to keep track of them over the years, but these are good starting points for the beginning of your SEO journey.

You might be forgiven for thinking that a student wardrobe consists of t-shirts and jeans or joggers, perhaps in a raft of different colours, and nothing else. However, with a little imagination and forward thinking, fashion-savvy students can branch out into other looks to help them stand out on campus. There is a huge range of styles, designs, colours and fabrics available when it comes for choosing shirts for students in time for when the new term starts in a few weeks.

So, why should you pack some button-up shirts in your college or university bags, when you can just pull on a t-shirt and be ready to go? Here are a few reasons.

Why shirts for students are a must-wear

A shirt with buttons will always come in handy on campus. There will be formal events, such as welcome receptions, student balls and dances, mock interviews and more that will require a more sophisticated s. You may also receive visits from external speakers representing companies that you may be interested in approaching for work one day. Dressing smartly for this type of networking always helps you to stand out and make the right impression from the word ‘go’.

Speaking of which, you may also want to consider making more of an effort if you are keen to impress any fellow students who have caught your eye with your sartorial knowledge and prowess. Either way, you may love your collection of faded band t-shirts, but there is no harm in ringing the changes from time to time with a button-up shirt. Worn over a t-shirt and jeans, it also adds a welcome later of warmth as late summer gives way to autumn and then winter. Saves you having to take a jumper or coat with you, too.

Choosing the right student shirts

The good news is that there is a huge range of shirts our there for students wanting to include a few in their term-time wardrobe. The main decisions that you need to take when considering which shirt is right for you centre around the material, style/fit, colour and design. Different materials offer different benefits. Cottons and natural fabrics tend to be more breathable and moisture-wicking, which make them very comfortable and easy to wear. They are also more sustainable than synthetics, often being biodegradable and more durable. On the other hand, synthetics materials are easier to care for and wash as they don’t shrink or wrinkle as much as organic alternatives.

Next, the style is important to consider. Do you prefer a formal style or keeping things more casual? Do you look better in a shirt with or without a collar? Buttoned cuffs or cuff links? Will you suit a fitted, tailored style or a more regular fit? Ask your friends and family for their honest opinion about the style of student shirt that suits you best. Finally, think about the colours and patterns or designs that you prefer and that will work well., Neutral colours will allow you to wear your shirts with more accessories and types of jeans, joggers or trousers. Patterns can help you make a statement and could work in your favour during the first few weeks of term when people are trying to remember each other’s names and decipher their personalities.

Caring for your student shirts

Whatever you choose to wear as a student, it is never too early to learn how to care for your clothes properly. Not only will this make them look better on your body, it will keep them looking new and looked after for longer. Look for easy-care fabrics to start with, including non-iron options. Always follow washing instructions carefully and never wash natural fabrics on too hot a setting or you risk them shrinking, fading or becoming damaged in another way.

Pack some coat hangers to hang your shirts up properly in your wardrobe. This stops them creasing up, which can be really annoying, especially if you have actually made the effort to iron them and want them to stay looking good. You can also use them to hang your shirts in the bathroom while you shower or wash, as the steam from the hot water can help natural-fibre shirts stay smart and smooth for longer.

Is your garden ready for Autumn? Autumn is here and with it comes the cooler weather, increased rainfall and first signs of the leaves changing in the trees and shrubs from greens to reds, browns and golds. After such a warm summer, the change in temperatures and weather will be welcomed by many. However, this also means changes in the types of tasks that creep onto the domestic to-do-list.

Autumn in the garden

In the garden, the jobs certainly change at this time of year. September and October are the ideal months to update planting plans, tidy borders and clear debris from the lawn. Also, to make sure that gardening tools are all in good working order. After all, you will thank yourself in the spring if you pay the garden some attention now. Here are some more autumn gardening tips to help you make the most of the colourful season.

Garden ready for autumn: Look after the lawn

Grass growth does slow in the autumn and winter. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should place your mower in mothballs just yet. Now is a good time to give the grass a final going over. This prevents it from remaining too long and straggly when the autumn rain comes to waterlog the ground, followed by winter frosts. Shorter grass is also easier when it comes to raking fallen leaves away later on in the season. Rake out any moss and thatch to improve drainage further. Finally, feed your lawn afterwards with a specialist autumn lawn food for healthier grass next spring.

Garden ready for autumn: Check your tools

Now is also the time to cast an eye over your gardening tools and appliances. The frantic gardening activity of summer has passed, and the weather is not at its coldest yet. Clean your tools and dry them carefully. Check for damage and replace anything that is beyond repair. If your hosepipes are knotted up or contain annoying kinks, buy a set of Kinkouts now too. That way, you will be ready for watering the garden again when spring returns. You can prolong the life of your hosepipe this way, rather than having to buy a new one.

Garden ready for autumn: Plant for spring

September is the ideal month to plant many spring-flowering bulbs, although some can also be planted later on in the autumn too. Check planting instructions and choose the right spot for them to thrive. Water them well – again, checking the hosepipe for kinks and knots first. Tidy the borders around the bulbs too, clearing fallen leaves and fruit and clearing old foliage. This allows what sunshine there is to hit to soil and keep it warmer for the bulbs underneath.

Garden ready for autumn: Maintenance matters

Check all around the garden for other signs of damage or disrepair. Check fences, drainpipes, gutters, paths, gates and bird feeders. Clean the greenhouse glass panels so that as much light as possible can filter inside. Bring furniture indoors if you can, as well as terracotta pots and other delicate items or plants. Do this now, before the really cold weather sets in and you no longer fancy working outside.

Garden ready for autumn: Reuse and recycle in the garden

Add fallen leaves to a mesh bin, sprinkle with water occasionally and leave them turn into a mulch. The process takes around two years to complete, but you will be left with a nutrient rich mulch for spreading around the soil to feed the roots of plants and shrubs. Keep an eye on the compost bin. If the contents are ready to use, spread onto the vegetable garden or around the garden. Autumn is a great time to start a compost patch. This is due to the increased organic matter produced from vegetable peelings, deadheaded flowers and fallen leaves etc.. Finally, use broken pieces of terracotta plant pots as drainage aids in the bottom of whole ones, rather than throwing them away.

Garden ready for autumn: Add interest

Plant hardy evergreens to fill in any gaps caused by deciduous species losing their leaves, or annual plants dying away. Ornamental grasses can look stunning too placed in an autumn garden. Clean up any old, dirty garden ornaments, or invest in some new ones, again to add interest and provide focal points around the garden. Keep the bird feeder topped up to attract winged visitors to your garden ready for Autumn in the month of September and October. This will not only add interest for you, but valuable food for the birds in more challenging weather conditions. Do some research into autumn and winter flowering plants too. Some plants re known for their vibrant autumnal leaves and interesting shapes just as much, if not, more, than their summertime blooms.

There are many benefits to external IT support. For starters, you won’t have to worry about hiring and training permanent employees, saving you time and money. Moreover, you won’t have to commit to a long-term contract, as you can terminate the service at any time. Also, you won’t have to worry about working hours, holidays, or employee sickness.

Outsourcing your IT support to an external team will help you focus on growing your business. You can outsource some of your IT requirements, such as IT infrastructure, and choose the level of support that you need. You can even customize the level of support from an external team, depending on the needs of your business. Managed IT services are another great option, since they reduce your internal IT team’s time spent on common issues. Outsourced teams can also help your business adapt to the constant changes in technology.

External IT support services also ensure full IT systems and data compliance. This ensures that your company meets all regulations. For example, the new GDPR guidelines determine how you store data. Failing to meet the guidelines could result in fines of 2% of your annual revenue. If you’re not sure whether you’re compliant with GDPR, a team of external IT experts will help you comply. Moreover, they’ll be able to advise you on any changes and updates that may affect your business.

Outsourcing IT support is an excellent option if your business needs an IT help desk. Instead of hiring one person to monitor your company’s network, you can hire an IT team that has a team of help desk agents. These professionals will triage tickets in a priority order. By outsourcing your IT support, you won’t have to worry about hiring someone with limited resources. Then, you’ll be able to focus on more pressing issues.

What’s the Best Way to Outsource IT Services? Ultimately, the decision will depend on your unique needs. There are several factors to consider when choosing an external IT support service provider. The first factor is cost. The external IT support provider’s fees include “cost of sale” costs that may be substantial. These costs include responding to RFPs and subsequent contract negotiations. These fees are disproportionately higher for small organizations, and they will likely affect your overall bottom line.

Smaller businesses with fewer employees may find it difficult to hire an in-house IT staff. These businesses often lack the expertise or resources to support the applications and infrastructure that are critical to the operations of their company. While they can’t justify hiring an internal IT staff, they can benefit from the expertise of an outside provider. Further, managed IT support is the best option for small businesses because it doesn’t cost much, and the provider’s costs are shared among many customers.

Managed IT services provide you with complete peace of mind. Outsourced IT service providers provide a comprehensive range of services for business customers. For example, managed service providers can remotely manage their customers’ end-user systems and IT infrastructure. Such a service is often used by government agencies, nonprofits, and small businesses. Among their services are network, infrastructure, and security and monitoring. Outsourcing such services frees up resources to focus on improving the quality of their services.

Since the genesis of the online web, companies have had to amp up their online reputation management (ORM). Most companies these days are run entirely online and so a good online reputation is becoming increasingly important.

Online reputation management is the practice of tracking and influencing your stakeholder perceptions through your online presence. It is essentially a marketing tactic that is used to drive leads, monitor user interactions and establish a strong brand foundation. It is vital to protect the future of your business.

Importance of Online Reviews

Several reasons are at hand for why businesses opt into ORM, but a top ranker is to attract more clients and grow the business. Online reviews are a common way to do that.

Positive reviews can boost business in numerous ways. The most obvious being that it uplifts the brand’s reputation. Another is that a satisfied customer feels valued when they receive sincere company responses to their positive review and, in turn, may convert to loyal customers. Review ratings are also a deciding factor as to how your business ranks in search engines. Good ratings will increase the likelihood of a higher rank, and vice versa.

Along with managing positive reviews, you need to know how to manage negative reviews too. A one-off bad review won’t dent the brand reputation but a flurry of them can discard your company very quickly. Unhappy customers are statistically more likely to share a bad experience, so businesses should act fast to protect the future of their company. It’s also important not to be discouraged and see negative reviews as opportunities for improvement.

The problem arises when companies either don’t respond to customer reviews and/or they respond tactlessly. The quality of the company’s response is a major element of Google’s ranking decision. If your company doesn’t fare well in responding to reviews, then you run the risk of dampening your rank.

Let’s talk numbers. 3 out of 4 consumers trust a company more if it has positive reviews and 85% of people trust online reputation as much as recommendations from friends. This clearly shows the impact online reviews have on customer acquisition.

Customer Relationship Strategy (CRM)

CRM is an important part of online reputation management as it helps maintain and develop a relationship with existing and future customers.

A good CRM strategy involves someone promptly responding to all good and bad reviews. If other users can see that the company has a mountain of unanswered complaints, it could put them off doing business with you.

By tracking the negative reviews and resolving them quickly, you can restore any lost confidence in your business and build good rapport. Poor online reputation is costly to your brand and a few naysayers can tear your company down quickly.

When responding to reviews, originality is key. The response shouldn’t seem like a copied and pasted reply that undervalues your customers. It is best to repeat something that the customer mentioned in their review to prove that you read the review. Make sure to use the customer’s first name is included, along with the rating and your brand name – this is to make the review more searchable.

In a response to a negative review, you should apologise and leave a hotlink for the user to email you. However, some negative reviews can be challenged under certain circumstances. For example, if the comment is racist or there is profanity, it can be challenged and taken away. Reviews can also be removed or altered by the customer themselves if you offer them something.

Tips for Online Reputation Management

Publish Valuable Content

It’s up to you to test different style of content and let the data guide you to make changes accordingly. What you have to say as a business is just as eye-opening as what others say about your company, so make sure the content is relevant and thoughtful. A strong content strategy can reap sales opportunities and build buyer awareness.

Make Use of Your Online Reviews

Employee-based review platforms, e.g. Glassdoor, can affect your recruitment efforts while customer-based platforms, e.g. Yelp, can impact sales. Taking charge of your online listings is a good strategy for online reputation management. It shows authority and proper representation of your business.

Utilise Social Media Channels

A well-organised stream of social media channels can help establish your brand culture and personality, as well as announce industry news and company updates.

Deep Audit Your Online Presence

Conducting deep audits of your digital footprint can minimise inconsistencies and discrepancies that may cause consumers to prejudge you. Is there up-to-date content on all of your platforms? Do you have tweets or jokes that now seem misinformed and inappropriate? Updating and refreshing your brand image can save you from the adverse effects of uncovering a bad reputation.

CEO Representation

CEO reputation is a large contributor to the company’s market value. Having the correct representation is vital to the success of your business.

What Is Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management is the process of delivering a product from raw materials to the consumer. It includes supply planning, product planning, demand planning, sales, and other operations of planning and supply management.

Why Supply Chain Management is Important

The positive or negative impact on the supply chain is felt throughout the business. There are two main areas of impact: customer satisfaction and return on investment.

A satisfied customer is equal to a profitable business and also means higher productivity.

If a customer is happy with the way the return was handled, they are 70 percent more likely to be a repeat customer.

A smooth return process means an efficient supply chain that is well-connected and involves interaction throughout the entire supply chain. When the supply chain meets or exceeds customer expectations, it is due to efficiency. The entire business benefits from higher rates, positive customer sentiment, and lower service costs for the business.

Higher Productivity in The Supply Chain

Higher productivity is measured in terms of the efficiency of all processes of delivering goods and services along the supply chain.

Improving supply chain efficiency can put pressure on the team and its capabilities, as costs and budgets remain flat or cut when they are expected to move the same or more products at the same or higher quality levels.

The increase in profit for the business is measured using indicators such as working capital turnover or cash conversion. As the business improves, the result is profitable cash management and income transformation. Flattening the cost curve is often a challenge if two factors are not considered: new capabilities (process and data) that enable faster, better decision-making; and the use of a tool that scales profitably based on the value it brings to the business.

What is the Supply Chain Management Process?

The supply chain management process consists of four main parts: demand management, supply chain management, S&OP, and product portfolio management.

1. Demand management

Demand management has three parts: demand planning, product planning, and trade promotion planning.

Demand planning is the process of forecasting demand to ensure reliable delivery of products. Effective demand planning can clear the accuracy of revenue forecasts, align inventory levels with demand peaks and troughs, and increase profitability for a particular channel or product.

Item scheduling is a systematic approach to planning, buying and selling items with the goal of maximizing your return on investment (ROI) while making items available at the locations, times, prices and quantities required by the market.

Promotional planning is a marketing method for increasing the demand for products in retail stores based on special prices, display fixtures, demonstrations, value-added bonuses, gifts, and other promotions. Promotions help stimulate short-term consumer demand for products typically sold in retail.

2. Supply management

Supply management is generally divided into supply planning, production planning, inventory planning, capacity planning, and distribution planning.

Supply planning determines how best to meet the requirements generated from the sales plan. The goal is to balance supply and demand in such a way as to achieve the financial and service objectives of the enterprise.

Production planning refers to production and production modules within a company. It takes into account the allocation of employee resources, materials and production capacity.

Production Planning

Inventory scheduling determines the optimal quantity and timing of inventory to align with sales and manufacturing needs.

Capacity planning identifies the production personnel and equipment needed to meet product demand.

Distribution planning and network planning control the movement of goods from a supplier or manufacturer to the point of sale. Distribution management is a catch-all term that refers to processes such as packaging, inventory, warehousing, supply chain, and logistics.

Sales and Operations Planning 

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a periodically integrated management process that allows focusing on key supply chain factors like sales, marketing, demand management, manufacturing, inventory management, and new product features.

With a focus on financial and business impact, S&OP’s goal is to empower leaders to make better decisions by dynamically linking plans and strategies across the business. The S&OP, which is repeated frequently on a monthly basis, enables efficient supply chain management and focuses the organization’s resources on delivering what their customers need while remaining profitable.

Product and General Portfolio Management

Product portfolio management is the process of creating a product idea to bring to the market. A company must have an exit strategy for its product when it reaches the end of its profitable life or if the product does not sell well.

Product Portfolio Management Includes:

• New product introduction
• End-of-life planning
• Cannibalization planning
• Commercialization and ramp planning
• Contribution margin analysis
• Portfolio management
• Brand, portfolio and platform planning

Best Practices in Supply Chain Management.

To succeed in a growing global marketplace, you need a connected end-to-end supply chain inside and outside your enterprise. 

When using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and spreadsheets for planning, companies typically rely only on historical data, which leaves little room for change in the event of any disruption in supply or demand. For example, based on the previous year’s performance, a company can estimate the number of products it will sell in the next quarter. But what if a major hurricane destroys a key distribution centre, resulting in too little inventory on the shelves? With a mindful, real-time, supply chain planning solution, you can create “what-if” scenarios and plan more efficiently.

Would Your Business Benefit From Business Interruption Insurance?

When the disruption of your business happens through fire, theft, a pandemic, or other circumstances of property damage, and escalates beyond immediate damage, it enters the sphere of “business interruption insurance”.

So, what to do if your business could be hurt? What should happen if you can’t trade until the issues are fixed? Business interruption insurance is designed to answer this question and protect your income and ensure that you can pay bills and maintain relationships with your customers and suppliers.

What Business Interruption Insurance Covers:

• Lost profit. Based on the results of the previous months, a refund of profits would have been generated if the event did not happen.
• Fixed costs. The policy covers operating expenses and other incurred costs of doing business.
• Temporary location. Some policies cover the cost of moving to and working from a temporary business location.
• Commissions and training costs. After an interruption, it is often necessary to replace equipment and retrain staff. Business interruption insurance can cover these costs.
• Additional funds. Business interruption insurance can return reasonable funds over and above the fixed costs to enable the business to continue operating while it gets back on solid footing.
• Government-mandated closure. A business interruption event could cause the closure of businesses by government order, leading to direct financial loss. For instance, forced closures due to government curfews or street closings due to a closed event.
• Employee payroll. Payroll coverage is essential if you do not want to lose employees. This coverage can help the business owner with payroll when he is unable to do so.
• Covering taxes. You are still required to pay taxes even in the event of natural disasters. Tax coverage will help to pay taxes on time and avoid fines.
• Loan payments. Such payments are often made on a monthly basis. Business interruption insurance can help you make these payments, even if you are not generating income.

What Business Interruption Insurance Usually Does Not Cover:

• Items that are broken as a result of an insured event or loss (for example, glass).
• Flood or earthquake damages as these are usually covered by a separate policy.
• If you had undocumented income, not listed on your company’s financial statements it wouldn’t be returned by this policy.
• General effects of pandemics, viruses, or infectious diseases (e.g. COVID-19).

The insurer is only required to pay if the recipient has actually suffered losses as a result of the listed interruptions. The sum of funds that could be reimbursed for business can’t be bigger than the limit stated in the policy.

Insurance Changes During Pandemic

Usually, in the case of pandemics, insurance is not expected to be covered. Fortunately, the U.K. Supreme Court has handed down a judgment that will change the insurance coverage for Covid outbreaks.

Until the Supreme Court’s judgment, viruses didn’t actually break anything. But after the successful case, we hope, things will change.

What’s more is that there were some law exceptions in all-risk insurances.  They started in the 2003 SARS outbreak and those exceptions tend to include damage from viruses and infectious diseases.

Business interruption insurance reimburses policyholders for costs associated with events that result in a serious disruption of operations. The coronavirus pandemic has generated many claims, as well as controversy, over the extent to which the policy covers (or is expected to cover) losses.

Requirements for Government Action

Many businesses expected the new coronavirus to be declared as a notifiable disease due to the order for businesses to close. They expected this to enable them to file claims under the business interruption policy. And, as we remember, the government declared Covid-19 a notifiable disease on 5 March 2020 and advised most of the businesses to close from 16 March.

The Importance of Policy Statements

However, the insurance industry claims that only a few policies can provide coverage even if the government forces businesses to close. Over the past decade or so, insurers have changed the formulation of policies to rule out diseases not explicitly named.

The government and industry encourage you to refer to specific policy statements. 

Disputes and Lawsuits

Many insurers say that the language in their policies is unclear or appears to be open to claims, even though their insurers have argued otherwise. Small businesses can complain about this to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that few policyholders are likely to be covered. As we mentioned earlier, the Supreme Court ruled in September 2020 mostly in favour of the policyholders. This happened again following an appeal in January 2021.

Summary: What Should We Expect for the Future of Business Interruption Insurance?

While exploring the interruption policy disputes, we noted that the scale of the violation is that the insurance industry will not be able to cover the losses anyway. Different experts argue that this may be the case where the state should take responsibility. Otherwise, at least, we should strive for public-private partnerships.

Business interruption insurance is not sold as a separate policy but is an addition to your existing insurance policy. So, be careful and take the solicitor’s advice before signing such a statement.

The Covid-19 pandemic has really hurt our nation in some of the worst ways imaginable. Endless lockdowns mean a number of businesses have had to reluctantly close shop, which inevitably means huge losses, and some have even had to close their business altogether. When national restrictions forced many businesses to go under, the government decided to implement LNG Supplemental Agreement schemes (closed).

The Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) supports small and rural businesses in England with their business costs during the pandemic. It was imposed by the government so small businesses may be eligible to participate in LNG Supplementary Agreement schemes to stay afloat and be able to return to pre-pandemic levels of work when the time came.

Grant Application Deadlines

Deadlines for applying to the Supplementary Agreement (closed) schemes are published on the UK government website, but just to reiterate them:

1. Scheme and date:

National isolation from 5 November 2020 to 31 March 2021 had two billing cycles.

The national isolation period started in January.  The first billing cycle was from January 5 to February 15, and then again from March 31, 2021.

If your business cash flow was unsettled between national isolation, January 5, 2021, and the second billing cycle from February 16 to March 31, 2021, you might have a chance to obtain the small business grant.

Defining Eligibility

You may be eligible for the small business grant for coronavirus if:

• you are based in England
• it occupies the property and pays commercial rates (and is the payer of the rate)
• it was forced to close due to a national lock from January 5, 2021, or from November 5 to December 2, 2020.
• during that time or longer, it cannot provide normal personal customer service from its premises

For example, a list of eligible businesses can include non-essential trade, leisure, personal care, sports facilities, tourism, and hospitality. This may also include companies that operate face-to-face, but for that time have been forced to provide an online or take-out-only service.

If you’ve found yourself on the eligible businesses list, you can receive one grant for each property outside the home.

However, you cannot get funding if:

• you can continue to work during the lockdown because you are not dependent on direct personal services from your premises (e.g. accountants)
• you chose to close but it was not necessary to close due to national restrictions
• your business is run by the administration, is insolvent, or has been deleted from the register of Companies House
• you have reached the allowed subsidy limit

You must notify the local council if the business situation changes and you no longer meet the selection criteria.

Subsidy for COVID-19

New domestic subsidies for COVID-19 business support will start working on March 4, 2021.  Be careful, because the applications submitted before this date are subject to the previous rules.

The scheme is covered by three subsidies:

1. Small amounts of financial assistance – receive up to £335,000 (depending on the exchange rate) over any three years
2. Business Grant for COVID-19 – businesses can get up to £1,600,000
3. Special COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance – if you have reached your limits under the previous two grants, you may access the ‘Additional Funding Allowance’ under the rules of this scheme up to £9,000,000

Grants under these three benefits can be combined to generate a potential total benefit of up to £10,935,000 (depending on the exchange rates).

Outcome

The general amount of the subsidy will depend on the billed value of the property on the first full day of isolation. 

Small business grants for the period from January 5 to March 31, 2021, will be based on the property’s estimated value on January 5, 2021. The first billing cycle covers January 5 – February 15, 2021.

If your business has a property with an assessed value of £15,000 or less, you may get a cash grant of £2,001 during the mentioned 42-day qualifying period of restrictions.

If your business has a property value of between £15,000 and £51,000, you may get a cash grant of £3,000 during the 42-day qualifying period of restrictions.

Finally, if your business properties appraised value is £51,000 or higher, you may claim a cash grant of £4,500 during this 42-day qualifying period of restrictions.

You will also be eligible to receive a one-time lockdown payment, which your local council must pay together with the first billing cycle grant under this scheme.

The second billing cycle covers February 16 – March 31, 2021. For this, if your business has property worth £15,000 or less, you may be eligible for a cash grant of £1,334 during the 28-day restriction period.

If your company owns property with a value of more than £15,000 and less than £51,000, you may get a cash grant of £2,000 for a 28-day restriction period.

Finally, for business real estate valued at £51,000 or higher, you may claim a cash grant of £3,000 during the 28-day restriction period.

Application and Conclusion

Details of grant applications differ from community to community, so you should visit your local council website to find out how to apply. These small business grant schemes can help your business stay onboard during a crisis like a lockdown. If you want to get your cash – don’t wait, head to the government website and apply.