Happy customers, happy bottom line

Anna Stubbs • May 7, 2025

“Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or price to continue doing business with you” - Simon Sinek.


If customers are unhappy, they’ll leave you for one of your competitors. If they’ve had a poor experience or been treated badly, some will go as far as making a scene on social media or leave a bad business review to warn others.


Customer satisfaction is important to any business, but the earlier you are in the growth of your business, the more critical it is to ensure that your early customers are highly satisfied. When you sign up your first customer, that person represents 100 percent of your customer-base, so their opinion of your business, along with the next handful of customers matters greatly.



Think about your early customers and who these people are. If they’re still known to you, you should be proud that they had faith and were one of your earliest customers who backed you.

Here's 3 ways you can do this

  • Everyone likes to be told they are valued. Start by saying thanks to your loyal customers and be genuine about it.
  • Could you do something to recognise their loyalty? – with a gift, discount or a special offer just for them.
  • If they’re still using your product or services, ask them to be a referral customer, review you on Facebook or your Google business listing, or to be featured in a published customer case study. Send a link to your Facebook or Google business listing so that it's easy for them to add their review.

Tax E-News

By Anna Stubbs • August 11, 2025
LEGISLATION DAY 2025 - WHAT WAS PUBLISHED? On ‘Legislation Day’ (21 July 2025), HM Treasury released a range of draft legislation and tax documents. The key measures to be implemented by the new legislation can be categorised into the following areas: CLOSING THE TAX GAP Several measures are proposed that will target tax avoidance. In addition, tax agents will be required to register with HMRC in order to deal with HMRC on their customers’ behalf. One of HMRC’s main reasons for introducing Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is that it will supposedly reduce errors. MTD is covered in more detail in the article below. PUTTING THE TAX SYSTEM ON A FAIRER, MORE SUSTAINABLE FOOTING Key measures in this category include: The controversial restrictions on the amounts of inheritance tax relief available for agricultural and business property from April 2026 (see below); Proposals to include inherited pension pots in a deceased person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from April 2027; and Proposals to bring Employee Car Ownership Schemes into scope of the benefit in kind rules as company cars. MAINTAINING THE TAX SYSTEM Key measures in this category include: A proposal to introduce an easement that will help to mitigate the significant increase in benefit in kind (BiK) for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) following a potential introduction of the new Euro 6e standard. If the standard is introduced in Great Britain, it would significantly increase the BiK tax due on PHEV company cars, which is linked to CO2 emissions. Technical guidance that aims to provide clarity on the tax implications of PISCES. PISCES stands for “Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System”, which is a new type of stock market that will allow private companies to have their shares traded intermittently.

Reducing the uncertainty: strategic business reviews

By Anna Stubbs • July 24, 2025
In a world where evolving political events can change the market in an instant, and economic instability is still the norm, finding certainty in your business strategy is a rarity. Business plans and your overriding strategy are no longer written in stone. This means being flexible about your next steps and regularly reviewing your business strategy. Let’s see how frequent strategic business reviews can help you reduce the uncertainty.

Selling your business: getting a good deal

By Anna Stubbs • July 24, 2025
You’ve spent years growing your business and adding value to the company. Now it’s time to sell up, get a good deal and liquidise the equity you’ve had locked up in the business. In this series, we’ll give you all the advice you need to plan your exit, add value to the business, negotiate a great deal and define your new pathway once the business is sold. Let’s look at some important ways to achieve the best possible deal for your business sale. Selling your business is generally the end step in a much longer journey. If you’ve put together a detailed exit strategy, you’ll have been planning this sale for some time. The important thing at this point is to make sure you get a great deal and realise the best possible sale price – giving you the return you deserve for all your hard work. To put yourself in the optimum position when looking for a buyer, here are a few tips: