In order to benefit from this scheme, businesses must have a turnover of not more than £50 million and can only apply for loans at a participating bank (not all banks are in the scheme).

The discounted loans are being made available because the government is guaranteeing £20bn of the banks’  borrowing, allowing them to borrow more cheaply than they do normally, with the banks then passing on this cheaper funding to SMEs in the form of lower interest rates

You can find more details on the Treasury website

These changes will include:

• The Business Link website will be updated with new, easy-to-use services to help people start, improve and grow their businesses.
• There will be more accessible business mentors through mentorsme.co.uk.
• Targeted business coaching will come online for small businesses with high growth potential.

So keep an eye on the new Business Link site and check out the new mentoring service. We’d love to hear about your experiences with the new provision via the comments on this blog!

If you’re starting out in business then one of the main things to think about is where you’re going to be based. While working from home used to be a handy way of keeping costs low and avoiding a tedious daily commute into the bargain, people are increasingly seeing the benefits of renting desk or office space.

Thanks to comparison websites that work along the same lines as those you use to find the best broadband or mobile phone deals, it’s now quick and easy to locate this sort of rental work space within mere minutes. The recession may still rumble on, but it has also been to the benefit of people seeking space, as prices are better than ever.

Why do it?

Small businesses are always keen to cut their overheads and going down the route of a rented desk or office can actually be a great way to do this. For starters, you simply rent the desk or a whole office from a landlord, who has to take care of the building and its upkeep. That also means he’ll have to look after things like cleaners and also provide amenities that you’d otherwise have to spend time thinking about.

And those costs will be much lower than you might think, because renting out a desk in a shared office is a tactic being employed by landlords who are anxious to get more of a return from their office dead space. Therefore, you’ll generally find that contracts are cheaper, short-term and on a rolling basis.

Renting a single desk can be a real boon to someone, such as a freelancer for example, who doesn’t want to work from home anymore or has outgrown the space in a spare bedroom, study or even the garage. A desk in an office complex also makes for a great shop window for your business activities and will almost certainly increase your chances for networking.

Location, location, location

With a glut of ready to go office space currently available it also means that you’ll be able to pick pretty much exactly where you want to be based, without breaking the bank. Many rented desk and office schemes are available either in prime inner city real estate locations or on plush purpose built business parks.

Either way, because there is so much of it around, this means you can pick a location that’s easy to get to and also features all of the things you need. Although single desk rental schemes come with little in the way of frills, you’ll find that renting a shared office could bring with it receptionists, post and IT support facilitates.

With flexibility and convenience being the mainstays of desk and office rental options, there is also plenty of provision for expansion too. Thanks to those short-term contracts, it should be easy to either add extra desk space if you need it or move on up to a fully-fledged rented office if the time ever comes that you want to employ other people.

The next move

It may seem like a needless outlay if you’re currently working on your own at home, but the appeal of renting a desk or office space is easy to see. After all, it lends an instant credibility to your venture and will prove to be an attractive meeting place for protective new clients too. What’s more, many of us tend to feel a little stifled working from home, either from the space restraints or endless interruptions from our loved ones.

So, making the move to a desk or office in a properly organised complex could end up being the best thing you ever do. Better still, thanks to those easy-come easy-go contracts and hugely competitive prices, it won’t cost as much as you’d expect either.

About the author: Rob Clymo writes on behalf of www.officegenie.co.uk, the UK’s first proper online marketplace for desk space and shared office space.

With a number of experts in the field they will be covering:

• Getting Started with Social Media Marketing
• Time Saving and Management Tools
• Using Twitter for Marketing
• Using LinkedIn and Facebook for Marketing
• How to Integrate Social Media and Email
• Social Media Monitoring and Lead Generation

The event takes place on 28 April at 6pm.

To register for a free place, pop over to their website and sign up.

At VentureNavigator we’ve been doing some work with Futuregov around our Local Business Communities service for Local Authorities. They are full of great ideas and this innovation network is a result of their realisation that people in local government often don’t get to hear about the social innovations happening across the globe or even their backyard.

The service is bit like Ebay for ideas, the site lets users post and bid on innovative solutions, but the focus is on in-kind resources rather than money.  In these cash-strapped times some non-financial support can go a long way in getting ideas off the ground and innovators are crying out to work with forward-thinking organisations to prototype and develop their ideas.  

Check Simpl out here: http://simpl.co and read more about what they are up to on their blog.

• a reduction in the main rate of corporation tax by a further one per cent. From April 2011, the rate will be reduced to 26 per cent with further yearly reductions of one per cent until 2014 when it will reach 23 per cent;
• new Controlled Foreign Company rules to allow groups based in the UK to compete more effectively with those based overseas;
• the abolition of 43 tax reliefs whose rationale is no longer valid – following recommendations from the Office of Tax Simplification;
• dropping existing proposals for specific regulations which would have cost business over £350m a year;
• £100m for local authorities to repair potholes caused by the cold winter weather;
• increase the rate of R&D tax credits for small and medium-sized enterprises from 175 per cent to 225 per cent by April 2012;
• 21 new Enterprise Zones, to focus growth in specific parts of the UK;
• fuel duty will be cut by one penny per litre from 6pm on March 23. The April 2011 inflation-only increase in fuel duty will be deferred to 1 January 2012; the April 2012 increase will be implemented on 1 August 2012;
• a further increase to the income tax personal allowance for under 65s of £630 to £8,105 in April 2012;
• additional work experience placements and additional apprenticeships for young people;

The Budget also launches the Government’s Plan for Growth, a package of measures aimed at supporting private sector investment, enterprise and innovation. This includes measures to increase the competitiveness of the UK tax system; reduce the burden of regulation; and increase incentives for business investment.  More details on the Treasury Web site

• Barclays – a business bank account with ££25 in the account
• O2 & BlackBerry – a free month’s line rental
• Google – £30 of free AdWords advertising
• Free pack of 50 MOO business cards
• HP – 10% discount on any HP products
• Experian – 200 free sales contacts
• Powa – save up to ££270 on a website for your new business
• PayPal – no fees for 3 months on your Powa site
• Regus – 1 month’s free businessworld membership
• iStockphoto – 20% discount on stock imagery plus 25 free images
• GoToMeeting – 60 day free trial
• Bitsy – 2 months’ free subscription

Worth far more than the £25 asking price, we think it’s a good investment for an aspiring ultralight start-up.

You can get a copy of the Start-Up Kit here.

Social shopping

Social networking has morphed into social shopping.  Already popular in the US , pundits predict it will hit the UK big time in 2011.

Consumer behaviour is increasingly being influenced by following brands or products on social networks, ‘liking’ content, and recommending purchases to friends. So the challenge now for online retailers is to take their online PR strategy to the next level by creating engaging content which customers will want to share.

A good example is US site Swipely.com which “turns purchases into conversations” by showing other users what you’re buying and where, every time you swipe your credit or debit card. Users give and get personal recommendations for products and places, and save money, whilst businesses can reach out directly to consumers and reward loyal customers.

China in your hand?

You may be sitting on a potential export gold mine if your product or service can be tailored for the world’s emerging markets. Despite the recession, 2010 was a record year for UK exports to China as consumer buying power shifted towards countries such as China, India and Brazil.

Surprisingly,‘Western’ brands and products are still favoured over local ones, especially those quality  products or services which  meet affluent Chinese consumers’ practical and cultural wants and desires. For instance Levis’ have targeted their dENIZEN Jeans brand towards Asian/Chinese consumers with slimmer fits. Find some tips on digital marketing to Chinese consumers here

 Owner-less

This could be the year when sharing and renting really tips into mainstream consumer consciousness. Fractional ownership and leasing lifestyle businesses offer customers perpetual upgrades to the latest and greatest, and access to usually unobtainable luxuries such as designer handbags.

Sharing and renting expensive, infrequently used items makes monetary and environmental sense, especially in dense urban environments where space is at a premium.  From startups such as http://www.whipcar.com/ which encourages consumers to put their own vehicle up for rental, to regularly hiring smaller luxury items on www.lovefilm.com for example, this is a huge new area for growth.

Sustainability sells

2010 saw a turn around by some leading brands actively promoting their sustainability and eco-superiority as key selling points.  Ariel’s highly profitable ‘Turn to 30′ campaign  told people about how one tiny change to their weekly washing routine, could save them money, feel informed, and it gave them the warm glow of getting something right.

Sainsbury’s ‘Love your leftovers’   waste-cutting initiative gave shoppers a Tupperware box and recipe card with ideas on how to serve up food that they might otherwise have thrown away.

2011 will see further emphasis on superior quality and design, increased durability and/or lower running costs of products in ways that will appeal to even the most eco-sceptic, financially-challenged consumer.

Do you think we have missed something here? Let us know via the comment box.

Do something positive to start your New Year and complete your application (via VentureNavigator) by the 10th January to be in with a chance of winning. APPLY NOW!

This news was out back in June but was confirmed in the Local Growth White Paper published last week. In the paper the government said the £154m annual cost of running the support scheme for small businesses in England was too high, overly generalist and was the poorly targeted.  The White Paper said a “greater prioritisation of government support is required, focusing only on those areas where it can really add value”. 

From April 2012, businesses will access advice through an improved www.businesslink.gov.uk website backed up by a new national call centre. This is very close to the structure suggested by the Richard Report (2008) commissioned by the Conservative Party in opposition.  

The Business Link regional service is currently funded by the Regional Development Agencies which, it has already been announced, are also to be scrapped. They are to be replaced by new the Local Enterprise Partnerships between local authorities and business groups.  The white paper suggests that these will deliver more localised business support focussed on specific needs.

Do yo have an opinion on the loss of regional Business Links? Is this bad news for businesses or a shrewd move for greater efficiency? Let us know via the comments box!