Small business Budget unpacked 💰

Budget buffet

Good afternoon {{crm___first_name}}

It was a tense start to the Budget, with the OBR publishing its contents by mistake half an hour before it was supposed to.

We’re ignoring that – but the Budget’s full implications for small businesses are still sinking in. After weeks of speculation about a fiscal fandango, the finer details are finally emerging, and the Enterprise Nation team has been working hard to put together a very full piece of reaction and analysis.

There’s good news for high street retailers – confirmation of permanent business rates relief should be welcomed as they were by Enterprise Nation member Mandy Brown, founder of furniture shop Harrison and Brown in Sunderland and a much tougher stance on cheap overseas imports has been noted by Olly Tyler, CEO of gifts business Shroot.

But mainly it was about taxes and filling the big black hole. Frozen income tax thresholds, higher taxes on dividends, property and savings, and new NIC on salary-sacrifice pensions all raising the effective burden on small business owners.

Apprenticeship funding and energy efficiency support are all good news. But as with everything – the devil will be in the detail and there is plenty of it.

What it'll take to get more SMEs adopting technology in 2026, by Daniel Woolf

Inside the launch of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce report, by Daniel Woolf

Ministerial letter warns small businesses must increase their cyber security efforts, by Daniel Woolf 

Five steps to building a more productive freelance routine, by Chris Goodfellow 

Your second brain for work: How to stay focused with AI – a guide from Enterprise Nation and Dropbox

How to start a photography business, by Marc Gardner

The life changing moment that lead to a bold new spice brand, by Liz Slee 

Turning plateaus into progress, by Mark Elliott 

How to tell Google you exist (and why it's not as complicated as you think), by Maddy Shine

Support small businesses this Black Friday

🎧 Tune in to the latest episode of Founder Fails with Daisy Morris on finding joy in the messy middle

💰 Win £1,000 for your business by signing up to a free email course on scaling your business

🎙️ Ryan Panchoo: From making doughnuts for his kids to being stocked in Selfridges

📖 Download a free guide to selling successfully on the high street

📧 Join a free email course to learn how the latest digital tools can grow your business