Crowdfunding has gone beyond the early adopter stage, says John Auckland of TribeFirst, meaning most people have now heard of it. A recent survey by TribeFirst suggests that we are getting close to the stage where more people in the UK have supported a crowdfunding campaign than haven’t. The survey, completed by 250 people, showed that 43.8% of the respondents had backed either a charity, rewards or equity crowdfunding campaign.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that most people back their first campaign due to friends or family being behind it in some way, …

Research by Liberis, a leading small business finance provider, has revealed that 72% of SMEs are spending up to 3 days every month chasing money they’re owed. This is costing each business an average of £5,000 per year in time spent trying to recover these funds.
The survey also found that a quarter of SMEs are chasing ‘aged debt’ of over £20,000. But on average, survey respondents are owed £11,000, so to put this into context using official figures, there are 5.7 million SMEs in the UK, meaning business owners are …

Many people dream of starting their own business but not all people manage to achieve this dream. One of the biggest problems that people face is the lack of funding for their new business, especially when they are unable to spare the money to fund it themselves. In this article, we are going to explore some ways that you can raise money for your new business so keep reading if you’d like to find out more.
Take Out Loans
Our first way that you can raise money for your new business is …

Power to Change, the independent trust supporting community businesses in England, has announced it will award up to £700k in support of new and emerging community businesses through the provision of one to one advice, peer learning and small development grants.
The Bright Ideas Fund, which opens next month, is open to community groups who have an idea for a community run business such as a community run shop, launderette, swimming pool, even neglected parks and playing fields but need help to start setting it up.  The fund opens at a …

Equity crowdfunding can be a tough way to raise money, but it can also bring you so much more than just cash for the business. If you have the right strategy.
Here’s how to get the most from your crowdfunding opportunity:
1)    Build a tribe
The great thing about building a tribe is that they care more. The most effective founders I’ve come across use their first funding round as a means to bring their fledgling tribe together in one place and get them involved in their business journey.
BrewDog – the Aberdeenshire brewers came up …

Bitcoin has captured the imagination of would-be investors everywhere.  Whether or not this cryptocurrency will turn out to be a good investment remains to be seen.  Towards the end of 2017, Bitcoin prices enjoyed a run-up that makes the dotcom bubble look staid in comparison.  This excitement and the promise of overnight riches has a lot of people wondering how investing in Bitcoin actually works.  If that’s you, make sure to take a look at our step-by-step guide on how to trade Bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin had an exceptional year in …

…and British parents taking money from their children’s piggy banks to pay their January debts

Research* released  from CYBG’s digital banking service B reveals finances in general are the biggest cause of concern in 2018, for over a third (36%) of people in Britain. Money management is set to be more worrying than health, the health of loved ones, career prospects or their housing situation.
Following Christmas spending, almost a quarter (23%) of the country are concerned about meeting at least one major debt repayment this month, such as credit card bills …

 Janet Tarasofsky, founder of Speaking Rights, offers insights into her own path to a successful speaking career and tips on how to ask for a pay rise or promotion
 A few years back I swapped the intense corporate world for the struggle that is ‘entrepreneurship’. I had a good job in the beauty industry but I knew my calling was elsewhere the moment I got on stage and started speaking. It was a risk because I was a single mother, but the drive to build Speaking Rights was too strong to ignore.
My transition …

Want to know more about Forex Trading? Read on and check out the handy infographic, below.
Many investors are looking more to binary options as an easy-to-use investment strategy. Binary options are a little like gaming. If you guess on the right side of the strike price at the expiry time, you cash out your option. If you guess wrong, you lose. When trading binary options, you don’t actually buy or sell anything. You simply trade on where you think the price of the asset is heading. One pro of trading …

As the nature of investments and trading various stocks and commodities continues to change, investors big and small must adapt. There are countless methods for investing in a variety of different financial instruments, but the most important part of investing – innate knowledge – remains a challenge for those who aren’t at the top of the food chain.
Finding ways to level the playing field and earn better returns on investment should be a top priority for investors. Thankfully, the advent of social trading has made this possible for anybody seeking …