Back to Blog

6 inspiring lessons to help you build an extraordinary business

Building an extraordinary business starts with the drive to make things better.As business owners, we're here to make a living, but we're also here to make a difference and do meaningful work that fulfils us and gives us a sense of purpose.Whether it's navigating that latest challenge or landing that next big customer, there's always something to strive for.Never losing sight of the change you want to make is what sets the extraordinary businesses apart from the ordinary ones.Here are 6 importan...

Planning for 2022

As we approach a new year, now is the perfect time to step back and reflect on your business. As businesses, we've navigated another year of flux and uncertainty, adapted to change, and made it out the other side. With 2022 fast approaching, now is the time to start planning for the year ahead and envisioning what the future of your business looks like.Here are some key areas of focus to set your business up for success in 2022....

4 easy ways to improve your business credit

A proactive approach to credit management can open up new opportunities for your business. It positions your business in the best possible light to lenders, partners, and suppliers, whilst ensuring you have easy access to funding, whatever comes your way. All businesses need funding at some point in their lives, whether it's to support their next level of growth, get off the ground, or plug an unexpected cash flow gap. Your business's credit score is designed to help lenders evaluate how likely ...

3 divergent thinking techniques to spark innovation

Want to build a business that fosters innovation, improvement, and growth? Divergent thinking is a valuable tool that helps us challenge boundaries and remain open to new ideas. Divergent thinking sparks creativity– it helps us come up with multiple ideas in a rapid, non-linear format. By generating many possible solutions to a problem, divergent thinking allows us to explore many potential avenues of possibility before settling on a final result. When used in business, divergent thinking is a...

Why good credit is so important for a small business

As a business owner, you'll likely wear many different hats: marketer, bookkeeper, sales rep, team leader. Business finances are no exception.Businesses don't come with instruction manuals (although they totally should). It's easy to set up a business, but it's not always easy running one, especially when it comes to the financial side of things. Managing your finances is one of the most important parts of running a business, and your business's credit score forms a key part of that....

A guide to cryptocurrency tax

With the growing popularity of Bitcoin and Ethereum, more and more businesses are using cryptocurrency, including the likes of Microsoft and Expedia. While the cryptocurrency space comes with a lot of opportunities and possibilities, there are certain tax rules to be aware of when trading or selling using crypto so you don't get tripped up.In addition to our previous cryptocurrency blog, we're covering the basic tax rules you should be aware of when using cryptocurrency personally or a...

How innovation can help you grow your business

Great ideas often come from the most unlikely places. This is especially true of Arthur Fry, who stumbled upon his greatest invention at his school choir one Sunday in 1973. Arthur sang in his church choir in the evenings and used sheets of paper to bookmark the hymns in his choir book. Every time he opened his book, the pieces of paper would move around or fall out altogether. As he bent down to retrieve the makeshift bookmarks from the floor that Sunday, he suddenly thought of a seminar he had...

Designing your business to give you more freedom

If you stepped away from your business for two weeks, what would things look like when you came back? Would things be relatively fuss-free with projects and tasks ticking along without you, or would problems have piled up, leaving you with a big mess to fix? It's an important question we could all do with asking ourselves once in a while– are we running our business, or are we letting it run us? And if things start to fall apart in our absence and we begin to lose control, how can we put the s...

Meet Billy

Meet the humans behind the Complete HQ brand! We're shining a spotlight on our team to celebrate their stories and share the journeys that have brought each of them to where they are today. We recently caught up with our accountant Billy to find out what makes him tick....

Meet Tiffany

Meet the humans behind the Complete HQ brand!We're shining a spotlight on our team to celebrate their stories and share the journeys that have brought each of them to where they are today.We recently caught up with our bookkeeper, Tiffany, to pick her brains and find out what makes her tick....

Meet Leila

Meet the humans behind the Complete HQ brand! After a busy year of growth and expansion, and a whirlwind year supporting businesses throughout the pandemic, it's time to take a step back and focus on delivering a great experience for Complete HQ clients. Our business wouldn't be where it is today without the amazing members of the Complete team. Every day they show up to help the businesses we work with move forward with passion, kindness, and plenty of laughs along the way. We're shining a spot...

Meet Rob

Meet the humans behind the Complete HQ brand!We caught up with one of our newest team members, Rob, to pick his brains and find out what makes him tick....

Meet Andy

Meet the humans behind the Complete HQ brand!We caught up with our founder Andy to pick his brains and find out what makes him tick....

Why we should all be rebels

Artwork by Fallen Saint. In December 1955, a woman refuses to give up her seat on the bus because she is tired of giving in to a world that doesn't treat people equally. 61 years earlier, a young man from western India sparks a non-violent resistance that eventually frees India from British rule, and in doing so becomes a national icon. In the 90s, an anonymous street artist witnesses riot policemen attack partygoers in Bristol. He draws a large mural depicting the event, kickstarting a mov...

Here's why you should submit your self assessment tax return early this year

It's 11 pm on 31st January, you're sitting at your kitchen table and you're rushing to get your self assessment tax return submitted before the midnight deadline. You've frantically scrabbled together your paperwork along with what receipts you could find and you're desperately making your way through the submission, hoping you won't have too much tax to pay. You're tired, you've just run out of coffee, and what's worse, you're in such a rush that you're pretty sure you've made some careless mis...

3 simple steps to switching from a sole trader to a limited company

Thinking of switching from a sole trader to a limited company? If your self-employed business is booming and you're looking to take that next step, it could be the right time to switch to a limited company structure to support your business as it grows.You might consider switching to a limited company for tax purposes, to look more professional, or to appeal to potential investors. Whilst owning a limited company comes with more responsibility, it also comes with more freedom. As a limited compa...

The Recovery Loan Scheme: what it is and how to apply

As we move into the warmer months and things start to open up again, now is a key time for small businesses. Now is the start of an important transition period where we start to gear up for business post-Covid, with a focus on moving forward and recovering from the disruptions and drawbacks of the past year. With Covid restrictions easing and the opportunity of scaling up operations post-Covid, now is the time for businesses to be focusing on their cash flow. With this in mind, we're starting to...

What we do

We envision a world where accounting services are simple, supportive, and focused on helping businesses achieve their goals. A world where people understand their finances and feel confident and in control to make the right decisions for their business.We're a team of driven individuals who aren't afraid to go against the current. Rebels at heart, we're on a mission to overturn what isn't working in our industry, because we believe businesses deserve better. You deserve better than an accountant...

Why businesses should invest in R&D

When we think of Research & Development, we tend to think of science and tech businesses, but R&D can be found in any industry. R&D is any work that focuses on experimentation and innovation by creating new products, processes, or services or improving existing ones. Have you changed processes to improve efficiency? Have you adopted technology like apps or platforms which you've built or modified yourself? Your business could qualify for R&D.Software development, engineering design, new construc...

How to manage better teams

In a world where remote working is the new default, how do we keep teams moving forward? How do we keep everyone motivated, engaged, and connected? To build the teams of the future, we need a focus on productivity and innovation. We need more collaborative work cultures rooted in flexibility, agility, and purpose.Empowered teams help businesses thrive. Placing values front and centre creates an environment that nurtures innovation and creativity. Teams are more productive, driven, and motivated,...

The Payroll Year Ahead

A new tax year always tends to bring around changes required to keep your payroll up to date with new tax legislation, along with other employment rights for your teams. Here are some key areas to think about in your business. Directors Basic Salary If you are a Director of your own Limited Company and structure your personal income so that it is paid via small salary and topped up with dividends, we'd advise that you increase your salary to £735 per month from April 2021. This level of salary ...

4 apps to grow your business

Using the best software can make or break the overall efficiency of your business. As the past year has shown, having the right tech can be the difference between thriving and folding as a business; between being able to pay your staff and having to close your doors for good.Over the last twelve months, we've seen a surge in tech-led innovation, as companies have adopted digital tools at an unparalleled scale. Businesses have realised the power that lies in technology, embracing change and innov...

How to grow your business

When it comes to running a business, having a clear growth strategy is key in order to survive and thrive. Around 80% of UK businesses fail within their first year, and the average annual rate of business closures stands at around 10.8%. While these stats seem less than encouraging, they also highlight the need to plan for success from the start. Strategy, foresight, and the ability to foresee future problems are what separates the businesses that thrive from the ones that fail.The big...

Our tips for starting a limited company

Thinking of starting a limited company? Whether you're making the leap from a sole trader or starting up an entirely new venture, we've got your back. Here’s our complete guide to starting a new business....

How to steer your business out of the pandemic

The last eleven months have seen a focus on flexibility, innovation, and immediate action. As lockdown rules chop and change, and different rules apply to different sectors, the pandemic has been a time of crisis response and immediate action. Businesses have had to think on their feet and roll with the punches, continuously adapting to change and constraint, with an emphasis on immediacy and the immediate future. But nearly a year into the pandemic, with a vaccine rollout underway, we're starti...