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For a successful business, you need a viable business idea, the skills to make it work and the funding. Discover whether your idea has what it takes.

Forming your business correctly is essential to ensure you are protected and you comply with the rules. Learn how to set up your business.

Advice on protecting your wellbeing, self-confidence and mental health from the pressures of starting and running a business.

Learn why business planning is an essential exercise if your business is to start and grow successfully, attract funding or target new markets.

It is likely you will need funding to start your business unless you have your own money. Discover some of the main sources of start up funding.

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Some businesses need a high street location whilst others can be run from home. Understand the key factors from cost to location, size to security.

Your employees can your biggest asset. They can also be your biggest challenge. We explain how to recruitment and manage staff successfully.

It is likely your business could not function without some form of IT. Learn how to specify, buy, maintain and secure your business IT.

Few businesses manage the leap from start up to high-growth business. Learn what it takes to scale up and take your business to the next level.

Small businesses forced to adapt as shoppers reject cash

29 June 2021

Cash-only small firms risk losing customers if they don't offer alternative payment options, a new study finds.

Payment methods have become a key factor during the pandemic as new research reveals that six in ten shoppers (61%) say they now use less cash because of hygiene fears. What's more, one in five people (20%) say they would be put off from using a small business if they could only pay in cash.

These are the findings of a new survey conducted by Opinium on behalf of QR-code based payment and invoicing app, tomato pay. The research also indicates that more than half (53%) of cash-only businesses have lost customers in the past year because they don't offer alternative payment options. Overall, a third (35%) of shoppers say they choose where to shop based on the availability of non-cash payment options.

However, while cash-only small businesses know they are risking losing customers by only accepting cash payments, 42% say they find it difficult to justify the costs of offering contactless card payments while half (50%) say they have concerns about security.

Nicholas Heller, founder and ceo of tomato pay, said: "Community has never been as important as it is today and watching the business and sole trader community struggle throughout the pandemic has spurred many of us to support our local communities and businesses, but people still want to be able to pay how they choose."

There are alternatives to contactless card payments, including QR-code based payments. In fact, the research found that 42% of people said it would be far easier to make a payment if all they had to do was scan a QR code.

"Many small businesses can't justify the costs of offering card payments, but there is clear support for QR-code based payments which are far cheaper for small businesses to implement, with four in ten people saying they'd find it easier to pay a small business using a QR code," said Heller.