Lyn and Lynne,

Buying an existing business can of course be a quicker way to “get going” rather than going down the organic route. However, if you have already been through the process once, many of the pitfalls and hurdles along the way will be well known to you second time around and the “roll out” should arguably get easier the more times you go through it.

Your blog from 18 February, Mike, 'overwhelmed with work' resonates because I hear the same thoughts and dilemmas from many other business owners in a similar position to you.

Its been hard to keep track of all the VAT rate changes over the last few years. First a reduction to 15% followed by the return to 17.5% and now the increase to the highest UK VAT rate ever on 4 January 2011 to 20%....Happy new year!

Choosing the correct timing and the source of investment never has an easy answer, but there are some key issues that you need to consider before you invest your time in the process.

Know what you need investment for!

An area you already seem to have considered, which is a great start! You must be clear on what you need it for and will it be enough?  A first round of funding is difficult to obtain, you don't want to be doing it again in 6 months time because you did not prepare your budgets properly. Investing in new personnel, a revamped web site and search engine optimisation are long term costs that will be committed to, therefore the money needs to be spent wisely.

Dealing with bereavement in business and knowing what to say or do is a concern for many employers. However, firstly it’s important to understand the employment legislation that covers bereavement.

As your colleague required time off from work I can assume that he or she lost a close family member. Time off for bereavement is covered under legislation for Time Off For Dependants. An employee has a right to take time off (unpaid) to deal with the emergency situation that can arise through bereavement of a close family member. The legislation does not state how many days, but refers to it being long enough to make emergency arrangements, the inference being 2-3 days.

Many organisations, however, provide the benefit to their employees for a certain amount of paid time off to cover such circumstances - some determine a precise number of days and others leave this open to determine on a case by case basis. To avoid doubt and possibly later disenchantment by your employee, you ideally agree with your employee on how much time off you will pay them for.  Up to 5 days paid compassionate leave is common for close relatives.

Generating leads and opportunities in a small business without an army of focused sales people can feel like finding your way in the dark. There is no right or wrong answer to how to do it, but as a small business owner you will need to try a mixture of approaches until you can assess what is the most effective for your business and, unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” answer.

As a business advisor, I would always emphasise the importance of high quality forecasting for your business, as it will help you to achieve good management control.

In the absence of a crystal ball, it is essential to take steps to ensure you have an effective forecasting model which looks into the foreseeable future. How far the foreseeable future is will largely depend on the type of business and the individual nature of its income, expenditure and cash flow - all of which must be factored in to the model.

Legal requirements for your first employee must be adhered to from the moment you take on that member of staff. Employees in the UK are entitled to various employment benefits, most of which have been stipulated by employment legislation such as:

• payment for their work which meets the national minimum wage or higher
• paid annual leave during the year
• rest periods during working hours.

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is designed to provide a targeted incentive via giving tax breaks for new equity investment in unquoted trading companies. The rules are possibly some of the most complex in the tax world and there are three differing types of tax relief available under the EIS scheme, one for income tax and two relating to capital gains tax. So three relief schemes in one! Clear as mud!

Business angels should be attracted to a company which offers the potential of an EIS claim as there are decent income tax breaks available and potentially capital gains tax advantages.