Learning from the impacts of the pandemic has been an important growth strategy for Chamber member You Do Better PR.
Business recovery has led to new ways of working and new opportunities for work. Ruby says: “Each of us can describe a successful year of business so differently. For us it’s maintaining our current reputation and client-base while building upon our interim work. It’s working hard to secure new work on top of this and keep moving forward to renew contracts, gain further recommendations and subsequent growth.”
To meet demand, You Do Better is maintaining its pay-as-you-go approach to allow SMEs the opportunity to tap into Public Relations. Ruby continues: “Traditionally, Agency’s require a retainer and this can be a barrier to utilising the power of PR for smaller organisations, so our model removes that barrier and provides access to outsourced marketing for local businesses on an ad hoc or ongoing basis. Whatever suits them best.”
Working with marquee names like Panasonic and the Royal Mint Museum, to manage interim campaigns, allows the team to gain further experience and knowledge which is then used to grow the breadth of the business as well as shared to support other organisations within the two counties.
Building resilience within this growth period can be difficult, so working alongside Ruby to ensure the PR Agency’s growth and stability is local Accountant George Powell from Powell and Associates. Together they evaluate how a Company’s legal status might support a business’ growth. George suggests that: “the decision to change from sole trader to limited company legal status can be tricky to call as there are various factors to consider.”
What’s the difference?
The sole trader legal structure differs from that of limited companies in that a sole trader is self-employed and owns and runs a business as themselves, whereas a limited company operates as its own separate legal entity.
Reasons for changing to a limited company
Despite increased administration, becoming a limited company can bring a number of benefits including:
- Increased tax efficiency – Your personal tax is based on the salary and dividends you extract from the company, as opposed to a sole trader where you pay tax personally on all the profit generated. As a general rule of thumb, if you earn up to £35,000 you’re better off staying as a sole trader. When you start to take in more than that annually, it’s probably time to think about whether to incorporate.
- Limited liability – You’re not personally liable if your business makes a loss or if someone makes a claim against it, therefore reducing the level of risk that you are exposing yourself to.
- Improved reputation and credibility among clients and customers – Incorporation may give you more of a professional edge by showing the world that you’re a legitimate setup.
Reasons for staying a sole trader
Despite the benefits of becoming a limited company, there are reasons why you may wish to remain a sole trader including:
- Administration and cost – If your earnings stay relatively low, you’ll probably want to keep your tax and accounting as simple as possible to reduce the administrative burden and keep the accountancy costs down.
- Low risk – you may not need the limited liability aspect of incorporation due to the nature of your business.
- Vehicles – it’s often easier to deal with the tax implications on vehicles as a sole trader as opposed to falling into benefit in kind traps under a limited company.
With a solid strategy, a sound reputation and referrals at an all-time high, now is a good time to turn to PR to help your business grow.