If you have heard the term Digital Ethics lately and have been unsure about what exactly it means, you are not alone. There is a lot of debate, and many conflicting definitions out there on the web.

Read ahead to learn more about Digital Ethics when it comes to data breaches, your online persona and social media moderation.

 What are Digital Ethics?

Simply put, the term Digital Ethics refers to the way that one manages oneself online. This is especially important for people who handle sensitive information about clients online – in particular: doctors, therapists, lawyers and surgeons.

In order to be an ethical internet user, you must ensure that you are safely securing all information that you keep about others on your hard drives or software programs. Not only do you have to think about the ways that you store others’ information, you also must pay careful attention to the public persona that your online data trail is creating.

Finally, you must also ensure that any social media platforms that you manage or moderate are maintained in an ethical and sensitive way that is appropriate to your audience.

Digital Ethics – How do you manage your online persona?

In addition to the need to keep sensitive information secure, many people believe that the term digital ethics also refers to the public persona that one keeps online. That is, how do you appear to others when they search for you on the web?

For many people, that ill advised snapshot with a giant margarita taken on holiday is not the end of the world, but for certain professions (social workers, doctors, court judges and politicians) this type of photo would seem a tad unethical. The same could be said for certain bits of past biographies and personal details – it is worth paying attention to how you appear online.

Similarly, if you are scrolling through Facebook and you happen upon photos of your doctor or surgeon partying like mad the night before an important appointment, you might be frustrated and angry. The same could be said if you encountered a vitriolic diatribe written by a professional about your race, gender or ethnicity.

Professionals have an ethical duty to not only protect your data, but also to ensure that their own public information is presented in a positive and sensitive manner. No matter who you are and what your line of work, pay special attention to the things that you post online – even if you think that they are private, one of your many followers could be hacked and your photos, statuses and other links could become public business very easily.

Is your stored information safe online?

Increasingly, we live our lives online. From our banking details to booking a hotel, from planning a surprise party for our spouse to investing in the stock market – we regularly enter our sensitive, personal information into online forms and websites. Not only do you need to think about how you appear online, you also must take careful measures to protect both your own and others’ sensitive information.
On an increasingly regular basis, we see stories in the media about the devastation that occurs when supposedly secure websites are hacked and individuals’ sensitive information is leaked online. This can encompass personal banking details, home addresses and other data, but it can also include photographs and private medical information.

Just imagine if your doctor’s surgery did not have a policy in place to protect your medical history? Nefarious individuals could gain access to knowledge about personal mental health information, potentially embarrassing diagnoses and family backgrounds, and this would be unethical.

Who is to blame when information is hacked?

What if your talk therapist had his or her digital notes hacked, or if your financial advisor had their website breached – who would be to blame? While the criminal doing the hacking is certainly in the wrong, the individual or organisation that has been storing your information certainly has some responsibility for the matter.

Lawsuits and court cases have emerged in recent years debating this exact issue –when valuable details are released into the public sphere, who should be the one held accountable? This question has led to an entirely new field of inquiry – academics and practitioners alike are investigating the need for Digital Ethics when it comes to data hacks.

Digital Ethics and Social Media – Netiquette

Social media is another very important consideration in the conversation about Digital Ethics. As more and more corporations are expanding their online media presence, it is important for them to have a firm policy on how to handle certain social media problems that can arise.

For instance, if an abusive or bullying ‘flamewar’ breaks out between two (or more) of your customers on your Facebook page, how do you handle this? What does your organisation define as an appropriate image or message to tweet, and do these standards apply to retweets? What kind of personal information do you want your employees to share if your organisation’s name is a displayed on their Facebook page?

All of these things are important to consider when planning your online media profiles. You can create guidelines that apply across all of your platforms, and ensure that the staff members in charge of updating them follow these carefully.

Similarly, when clients message you on social media via a private message, they are owed a reasonable expectation of privacy and care. Ensure that these inboxes are regularly checked, dealt with and then deleted in a timely fashion.

No matter who you are or what business you are in, your online digital ethics are important, and something that you should be mindful of when using the internet.

 

If you are in the process of recruiting new team members, you probably have a lot on your plate – determining exactly what you are looking for in an employee, crafting a great job posting, meeting with prospective new hires and most importantly – drafting an appropriate and thorough employee contract.

As an employer, it’s very important that you understand the minefield of legal requirements that come along with hiring staff. If you are a small to medium sized enterprise (SME), you’ll find that hiring at this stage is quite a bit different than asking a pal to come along and help you out for the day – things get a lot more complex when you are hiring staff on a legal basis. There are many legal requirements and protocols that you must follow in order to stay on the right side of the law.

Read ahead for a simple explanation of some of the legal requirements you must fulfill when hiring staff, followed by a few easy tips that will help you to write a winning employee contract, no matter what industry you are in. This information will help you navigate the hiring process and make finding your dream candidate a lot easier when the time comes.

Legal requirements when hiring employees

Here are some of the legal requirements that you must keep in mind when embarking on any hiring process for your first time – or your fiftieth time.

• You must be willing to pay at least minimum wage – The UK has an established National Minimum Wage, and no matter how small your enterprise, you must pay all employees this sum. Always ensure that the minimum wage requirements have been met; failure to do so can result in huge penalties for your business.
• You must find out whether you need to conduct DBS checks – DBS (disclosure barring security) checks are necessary if you work in any field involving vulnerable groups (such as children, mentally disabled people or incarcerated populations). Do not neglect this important step.
• Get insured: you need employer liability insurance – The minute that you begin to hire staff, you must ensure that you are fully covered by employer liability insurance. “EL insurance will help you pay compensation if an employee is injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you” – and you must be insured by an authorised provider for up to 5 million pounds.
• Alert HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that you are a new employer – You need to let HMRC know about your status as a new employer within four weeks of your intention to begin paying new staff members. Doing this within a timely fashion will ensure that everyone is paid on time and that you are correctly registered.
• Check that your staff is allowed to work in the UK – You must check to see that everyone you hire has the legal right to work in the UK; this usually requires that you view their legal documents before you allow them to begin working for you in any capacity.
• Job details must be submitted to the employee in writing – You must ensure that your employees receive details of the job (including all terms and conditions) in writing before they begin work if you plan to employ them for more than one month.
• Assess whether you need to enroll your staff in a pension scheme – Check this link to determine if you need to automatically enroll your staff members in a pension plan.

Tips for writing your employee contract

Now that you have navigated the above legal requirements when hiring new staff members, you are ready to get started writing your employee contract. Don’t let this task daunt you – follow this handy outline to make the process a lot simpler than you are expecting.

Things to include:

• Date – This may seem like a no brainer, but for your contract to be legal, it must include the date the offer is being made.
• Name of position – You need to ensure that the position you are hiring for has a name; even if you don’t really have one for the role, you need to come up with something simple and descriptive.
• Start date – Include the actual date that the employee will begin their role within your company.
• Compensation plan – This is key: you must include whether the new hire will be compensated with an annual salary, an hourly wage, a commission structure and/ or a bonus scheme.

• Base Salary – Once you have determined the employee compensation package that you are offering your new hire, you will need to include the actual monetary value of the base salary or hourly wage.
• Commission – If your employee will be paid on a commission structure, you will need to carefully elaborate how this will be calculated on your employee contract. Failure to do so can lead to misunderstanding and even legal troubles down the road.
• Benefits – Your employee contract must include details about benefits (such as pension and health care). Some of these details include: when the employee becomes eligible for company benefits, what benefits exist within your SME and directions to point them to any accompanying benefits package or literature.
• The dotted line – Another seemingly obvious component of an employee contract is the place for both the employer and the employee to sign! While you may think this is self- evident, you would be surprised how many people forget this vital component – a signature will make the document legally binding.

 

 

The above information about your legal requirements and tips for writing a successful employer contract should help you get started on this important task today. While these points may seem like things you can put on the back burner, you are strongly advised to deal with them before you even begin your search for your new employee(s). Good luck on your search!

If you are planning to start a small business, you already know about the trials and tribulations involved when searching for seed money and investment funds to help you get off the ground. Much like a child, your start up requires a huge amount of cash, time and energy, almost to the point that everything else in your life becomes secondary.

Finding cash to keep the business going – not to mention your personal life – can be a real challenge, and every little bit of funding can help keep you afloat for one more week. Thankfully, many different grant schemes exist across the United Kingdom that can help your start-up transition into its next important phases.

Read ahead to learn about some valuable information that will help you find, plan, apply and hopefully win the grants necessary for your start-up’s success, both in the short-term and across the long haul.

What is a grant?

Think of a grant like a loan that you do not have to repay. Don’t worry if this sounds too good to be true – they aren’t really handed out like sweets! In order to qualify for a grant, you usually must satisfy a series of requirements, fill out extensive (and often complex) application forms (known as grant writing) and ultimately be chosen as the recipient.

Grants are usually made available for students, not for profit organisations and yes – for small start-up businesses. A government department, corporation, foundation or trust usually disburses the funds, and as mentioned above, they do not have to be repaid. In some cases, you must also fulfill requirements after the grant money has been awarded and produce proof that your proposal was carried out with help of the monies.

How to qualify for a UK start up grant

• Create a detailed business plan – In order to qualify for any grant, you must be able to prove that you have a detailed, professional business plan that shows just how you plan to make your start-up business a success worth funding.
• Innovate – Innovative businesses are far more likely to attract the attention of seed funders and grant givers – if your start-up can prove that you are truly doing something outside the box (within common sense, of course), you will have a better chance of being awarded the funding that you seek.
• Reach out to the administrators – It is always a good idea to reach out and make contact with the admin support of the grants in which you are most interested. Ask them a few questions pertinent to your application, and ensure that you clear up any grey areas. Doing this will help you to gain an understanding of exactly what the deciding forces are looking for in a successful application.
• If necessary, reach out to a professional – If you are struggling to fill out your grant application, it is a good idea to hire a professional grant writer. A professional will be able to ensure that your proposal is filled out correctly and up to standards, thus increasing your chances of success.
• You must not already have started the project – Grant funding is usually contingent on the project (or even the business itself) not already having commenced. If you are applying for a grant to fund a specific project, you need to be able to demonstrate that the project has not already started.

You will need to put up some of your own funds

Remember, if you are looking for a small business grant in the UK, it is very rare for an organisation to provide you with 100% of the funding that you will need to build a successful company. You will still need to put up some of the money yourself, so it is a good idea to get started with saving and amassing capital any way that you can.

Where to look for UK Start-Up Grants

Even the most learned experts can have trouble keeping track of the myriad grant and funding opportunities that come and go across the UK.

Your first point of research should always be the Gov.uk website – their ‘Finance and Support For Your Business’ page currently lists over 531 grants and sources of funding available across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (this number is subject to vary).

Remember to read the fine print carefully – some of these funding awards are only available to you if you live in a certain region or satisfy other requirements based on age, gender, ability level and of course, the type of business in which you plan to engage.

Once you do this, another great source of information is your local business association. They will have had experience with similar businesses attempting to get started, and they might know of grants that are not widely publicised. In some cases, they may even offer grant opportunities themselves.

Some other great places to start your search include websites such as www.j4bgrants.co.uk, www.grantnet.com, www.grantfinder.co.uk or www.grantsonline.org.uk. These sites aggregate all of the available grants across the country and help you search easily for one you may qualify for.

How easy is it to get a start up grant?

Sadly, getting a grant for small business in the UK can actually be quite difficult – there is only a little bit of funding to go around, and the competition is fierce. Your best chance of being selected for this lucrative funding is to write an excellent grant application, do your research and be persistent. Good luck!

If you are eager to get involved in the world of entrepreneurship, you have a few main choices. Of course, you can use your own brilliant ideas and creative force to launch your own completely unique business idea, you could buy an existing business or you could join an existing family business and work your way up to the top.

If these options do not sound attractive or doable, there is another option – franchising an existing successful business and opening a new location in a (hopefully) lucrative locale. Franchising can be a great option for newbies to the business world or for people who want to make a dynamic investment.

What is Franchising?

Simply put, a franchise is a business model in which a business brand owner (the franchisor) allows an investor (the franchisee) to purchase a license or trademark that enables them to open another branch of the original business. The franchisee will also pay the franchisor a monthly or annual fee for the privilege of the ongoing trademark and brand use.

In the vast majority of cases, the franchisee will then open a new location that is indistinguishable from the original; branding, products, available services, and décor are usually completely identical to the flagship location. Franchisees usually also agree to purchase their supplies and raw materials from an affiliated dealer or from the franchisor themselves.

Why Should You Buy a Franchise?

Pros

• You will tap into an existing customer base – As a franchisee, you probably chose the brand because you believe in the product or service and enjoy utilising it on a regular basis. Just like you, there are probably many other clients out there who believe in and enjoy patronising your business already, giving you an existing customer base.
• You can gain support and mentorship from your franchisor – Starting any business can be an intimidating and stressful time as you attempt to gain your footing in the market and juggle hundreds of tasks at once. As a franchisee, you have an existing resource that you can tap into – your corporate owner. They have been through all of this before, and it is in their best interest to help you succeed. A large, successful fleet of franchises will make their company stronger.
• You’ll be buying into an existing and successful business model – Further to the point above, when you purchase the license for a franchise, you are banking on the fact that an established and proven system of operation and training already exists. The normal trial and error (that can cost you a lot of money) has already been conducted, and so you can focus on the daily tasks that will make your location a success.
• You will enjoy strength in numbers – When you buy into a franchise, you are buying into an established supply chain – materials, supplies and services can all be purchased in bulk between you and your fellow franchisees. This means that you get the best prices possible.

Cons.

• You lose creative control – If you buy into a franchise, you must be prepared to engage in every promotion, activity and creative decision that the head office makes on your behalf. While you might get some input, the decision will ultimately be out of your hands, and you might find yourself participating in launches and products that you simply don’t believe in – and you must grin and bear it.
• You’ll pay both initial and ongoing fees – Remember, once you have paid your initial start up fee, there will be ongoing fees on a weekly, monthly or annual basis (or even all three!). In most cases, franchisors take a cut of your takings, in addition to other fees. These royalties will usually be deducted from your turnover, not from your profits – so if you are operating on a tight profit margin, you might feel taken.
• You are at the mercy of other people’s decisions – Finally, the grim truth is that any change at a head office level can affect your business in a negative way. If your franchise decides to try a bold new strategy, you will be compelled to go along with it, even if this drives your business – and theirs – into the ground.

Interesting Franchise Opportunities Across the UK

If you are considering purchasing a franchise, you need to do some research and decide what business model is the best for you. Do you want to invest in a casual dining restaurant? A fast food location? A health food shop? Even a handyman business – there are franchise opportunities across many sectors in the United Kingdom. Here are just a few of our favourites.

• Papa John’s Pizza – If you enjoy Italian American pizza, good news: Papa John’s is available to franchise across the UK. They have over 4800 locations across 40 countries, and they have proven success.
• Marston’s Pubs – Every dream of opening your own little pub? Marston’s Pubs have a tried and tested business model, and with an initial investment of only 20,000 pounds you can help to make your dream a reality.
• RUSH Hair Salons – You don’t need to be a stylist to own a salon! RUSH Hair Salons is an expanding UK brand with an existing client base and a large profit margin.
• eTyres – Businesses that deliver goods and services to people in their homes are ever increasing in popularity – eTyres is a unique service that will change your tyres and replace your car battery in the convenience of your own home. A truly forward thinking franchise to consider.

No matter what you decide, there is no denying that franchising is increasing in popularity, as more and more people want to get in on tried and tested businesses.