The Business Finance Guide – ICAEW
Access to the latest ‘Business finance guide’ that was compiled by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Can Crowdfunding beat annuities?
Driven by increasing life expectancy rates and record low interest rates, levels of income provided by annuities have plunged over the past couple of decades. Back in the 1990s a 65 year old man with a pension fund of £100,000 could quite easily secure an income of c.£15,000 a year until death via a life annuity. However in 2016 an equally large pension pot is unlikely to pay our retiree more than £5,000 per annum. Could crowdfunding be the answer?
Preparing your pitch – key things you need to include
When pitching for funds on a crowdfunding platform there are a number of key points which businesses need to make to investors in order to sell their story. In this article Andrew Adcock of Crowd for Angels looks at six major topics which all good funding pitches should cover.
6 benefits of crowdfunding for investors
With few other financial instruments offering the potential to increase wealth as much as equity in an early stage or start-up business does, what other benefits can crowdfunding offer the investor? We ask Tony De Nazareth for his opinion on the
How to value your company
One of the most overlooked elements of a crowdfunding campaign, but one of the most critical for entrepreneurs, is what valuation to put on your company.
While setting a valuation involves many considerations, and can often be more of an art than a science, there are a few basic guidelines you can follow.
Has the cash ISA become redundant?
George Osborne’s sixth Budget as Chancellor was relatively light on incentives for savers and investors, but there were some highlights worth mentioning. These include a new “Lifetime” ISA for the under-40s, with the government paying an effective 25% interest on a maximum of £4,000 a year, and a rise in the annual standard ISA allowance to £20,000 from 2017.
Despite the increase in the cash ISA allowance there is a strong argument that as a savings vehicle they are almost redundant. Here are 2 reasons why:
Crowdfunding to save lives
There are nine million bicycles in Beijing, so the popular song goes. But did you know that there are estimated to be more than one billion bikes in the world? Often lauded as one of man’s greatest inventions, the bike is a cheap and effective form of transport, provides recreation and gives users considerable health benefits.
The death of crowdfunding?
The first few weeks of 2016 have seen several pieces of bad press for the crowdfunding industry. We saw some scathing commentary from Lord Turner. Early stage companies go bust every day and they will continue to do so. So only a few years after springing into life are we about to see the crowdfunding industry slowly die?
Luxury brands turn to crowdfunding
As we enter 2016 the prospects for the crowdfunding sector have never looked so good, with the money being raised by the wider industry continuing to grow strongly. One particular trend which we have noticed within equity crowdfunding is the increase in the number of luxury brands launching crowdfunding campaigns.
