Life as a small business in London can be exciting. It can also be eye-wateringly expensive. Between office rent, transport, equipment and the ever-growing list of services needed to keep a business running, it doesn’t take long for the numbers on the bottom line to start looking rather sad.
Yet, businesses still need the right tools, services and infrastructure to operate and grow. The good news is that, with a few smart adjustments, the right tools and a willingness to rethink where your money goes, it’s possible to trim the excess while protecting the things that matter.
Here are a few ways to keep enjoying London life as a small entrepreneur while placing your small business on the path to success.
1. Automate, Automate, Automate
Even if you’re a solopreneur (running your business alone), there’s still a sky-high pile of things that need to be done before you can focus on clients and growing your business. Repetitive and boring tasks like administrative work, finances, invoices, taxes, and so on are part of being an entrepreneur and must be done on time.
Luckily, most of these tasks can be automated. Nowadays, there’s a multitude of digital tools that can take over entire sides of business, such as accounting, invoicing, budgeting, and even receipt management (important for tax purposes).
You can also automate marketing, client acquisition, and sales to some degree. The simple action of a potential customer filling out a contact form can trigger an email/SMS chain designed to turn them into a subscriber or a paying client.
2. Optimise Logistics and Transport
In a city with 5.6+ million small businesses (0 to 49 employees), delivery and transportation services are essential. Whether you need to move around for meetings, receive or send packages, or make service calls, you’ll spend time and money on these two. So find ways to reduce costs and spend less time in traffic.
For instance, if you or your staff drive within Greater London, register every company vehicle for TfL Auto Pay. It waives the annual registration fee per vehicle and prevents costly Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) if a driver forgets to pay the daily Congestion Charge.
To avoid Congestion charges entirely, you can use commercial cargo e-bikes across Zones 1 and 2. It’s also a great method to bypass traffic and skip looking for a parking space in the central area.
3. Get a Smart Phone Answering Service
Yes, some people still like to call whenever they need information or want to book a service. So, if you miss a call, you risk losing an appointment or a possible customer. But you can’t be glued to a phone all day long, and hiring someone may not be within your budget.
This is where a smart phone-answering service such as Quo earns its keep. It picks up calls on your behalf, so customers get an answer rather than a voicemail. Available 24/7, the service can use AI or live agents (working for the phone service company).
The data from the call (what the caller wanted, what information they received, what was discussed, etc.) is transferred to your systems. This way, you can take over whenever you’re ready.
Pricing varies by features and service tier, but it’s generally a far less costly and considerably less complicated option than bringing another employee on board. If you’re weighing up the numbers, Quo’s answering service pricing gives you a useful breakdown of what to expect.
4. Give Up the Fancy Office
Not all small businesses need or can afford a fancy office in the Square Mile. In fact, many small entrepreneurs run operations from a home office. Whether it’s a teacher offering classes via Zoom, a Yoga instructor, or a streamer, they can often do their work with a laptop, a camera, and a mic.
Businesses with several employees (we can’t all be content creators, right?) that don’t require physical presence can easily run in full-remote mode. London is full of co-working spaces you can use for meetings with clients or the team, whenever the need arises.
Extra tip: If you’re running your business out of a space physically connected to residential quarters, or if you sublet/occupy a space with mixed commercial/domestic use, you can claim mixed-use energy & VAT exemptions.
5. Build a Solid Tech Stack
The right tech stack is the fastest way to improve a small business’s internal workflow and efficiency. And this is not just about automation; it’s about creating a fluid system that helps the data move swiftly from one end to the other.
Everything starts with an operational core (or brain, if you want) that centralises documentation, eliminates endless internal emails, and manages company knowledge. Here are three tools that are a must-have for this step:
- Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: the core layer for business operations
- Slack or Microsoft Teams: essential for real-time team messaging
- Notion: to build the company’s single source of truth
Next, you’ll have to build your CRM and sales pipeline. These are the tools that track leads, automate customer follow-ups, and manage account pipelines. A small business can make do with HubSpot CRM (the free tier) and additional tools needed to automate the initial stages of sales.
From here, each small business can choose which tools and platforms to add, based on needs and preferences.
Automate, Outsource, Optimise
It’s not easy to run a small business, but today’s technology does help reduce the strain. The right tech stack paired with the right business partners and a few tips and tricks can help you get things off the ground.
