Gathering funding is a challenge that almost all business owners face at some point. Financing can come in two forms – debt financing and equity financing.

Debt financing is money that you borrow and plan to pay back within an agreed time frame and interest rate. Common forms of debt financing include bank loans, mortgages and credit cards. This may appeal to business owners that wish to maintain complete control and ownership over their business, without having to manage the expectations of investors. Debt financing also means that business owners do not have to share any profits made by the business, as their only obligation to their lender is making payments on time. As well as this, debt financing methods are usually tax-deductible, unlike private loans.

However, debt financing also has its downsides as the cost of capital is higher. Loans from official lenders such as banks typically come with interest rates that also need to be paid in addition to regular repayments.This means that your business must generate enough income to meet the requirements of the debt, which can affect cash flow and could even result in bankruptcy if the business fails and is not able to repay the debt. As well as this, new businesses may struggle to secure a bank loan, as banks often have a strict protocol regarding who can receive a loan.

Equity financing, on the other hand, is when you invest your own money or someone else’s money (usually family and friends, venture capitalists, business angels, or public floats) in your business. As a result of this, the investor of your business partially owns your business and shares the profits you make. This method of financing may be more suitable for business owners who can accept sharing their profits and not having complete ownership and control over their business.

One advantage of equity financing is having freedom of debt as repayments do not have to be made on investments. As well as this, equity financing methods can potentially expose business owners to additional funding opportunities if investors decide to provide more support for the business as it develops. However, business owners considering equity funding should also keep in mind that these methods can often put a strain on personal relationships if the financing was sourced from family and friends, depending on if the business succeeds or fails.

Studies have shown that while only 9% of individuals have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, 40% experience ongoing stress or anxiety in their daily lives. For many, work can be the source of constant stress.

Signs that you may be feeling anxious at work include excessive or irrational worrying, sweating, increased heart rate, feeling jittery, or tiredness and fatigue.These symptoms can not only make it difficult to focus and excel at work, but can also reduce job satisfaction, affect your relationship with coworkers and managers, and lead you to turn down work opportunities. This is why it is important to make the effort to manage work-based anxiety so that you can get the most out of your experience at work.

The first step is to acknowledge your work-based anxiety. If you have been feeling anxious at work for months or years, it may almost seem like it is a part of the job. However, this is often not the case. Talking to your coworkers or supervisors about how you’re feeling can be helpful to clarify how others in similar roles are managing their stresses and to identify whether you might be putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. Being mindful of your work anxiety instead of ignoring it can also help you identify what is causing it. From there, you can prioritise tasks or situations that might reduce your anxiety.

Overworking and overthinking is a common source of work-based anxiety. Taking breaks when you feel too busy can seem counterintuitive, however, working for long stretches of time without a break can decrease your ability to properly focus. Allowing yourself to take a break and eat adequate meals throughout the day can refresh your mind and make it easier to concentrate when you return to work.

Another factor that can worsen work anxiety is feeling tired and fatigued. Poor quality sleep can also significantly impact your ability to perform well and make you more susceptible to stress and moodiness, which can contribute to feelings of anxiousness at work.

Individuals who feel like their work stress is no longer manageable should consider working together with coworkers and managers to develop strategies to tackle this stress.

An interview can be intimidating even if you are the perfect person for the job. Improving your performance during an interview can be a matter of learning to alleviate your anxiety.

Preparing for your interview can be extremely helpful.

• Read about the company and what they do
• Prepare your responses to common interview questions (strengths, weaknesses, plans for the future, etc.)
• Remind yourself of the achievements that make you worthy of the job

Change your mind-set about the interview

• Remember that the interview is the best time to understand whether the company culture aligns with your values
• Think about it as an opportunity to learn more about the organisation, and not just an opportunity for them to interview you

Small details

• Get a good night’s sleep
• Avoid caffeine
• Set aside the clothes you’ll be wearing (Dress for success!)
• Plan to get to the interview 15 minutes ahead of time

During the interview

• Focus on your breathing to calm yourself
• If you need, ask for a second to gather yourself
• Take water with you and take small sips between questions

Bad days can happen to the best of us, but that doesn’t stop work from needing to get done. Whilst working when you’re feeling down is the last thing you want to do, here are a few ways to pick yourself up and carry on with tasks you need to do.

Take a break:
Stepping away from the office to think can drastically improve your mood and help you look at the day more clearly. Going for a walk or sitting in the park on your lunch break can help you feel relaxed and better energised to go back to work. Even stepping out of the office for a moment to the bathroom can help remove yourself from a stressful situation. Don’t let yourself think about what has gotten you into a slump, think instead of what you can proactively do once you return to the office.

Express emotions appropriately:
Expressing your emotions is ok and necessary to feel better. It can be very easy to rant to colleagues or friends when you are feeling rough but there is a line between venting and gossip. Strong emotions such as anger can see you act out instead of thinking a problem through. Try to observe the problem through an objective lens before discussing it with colleagues or management and keep it strictly professional. This can help you to communicate better and avoid getting caught up in office politics. If you feel the need to express what you are feeling, write down how you are feeling just for yourself and throw it away when you are done.

Practise gratitude:
Regardless of the reason behind your bad workday, there is always something you can be grateful for. Switching to a gratitude mindset helps you to focus less on the bad things that occurred and accept the situation for what is, one bad day at work. Try to leave your negative feelings at work, and spend your evening doing something you enjoy.

Learn from the day:
Problems or unforeseen circumstances are opportunities to learn and grow. After a particularly trying day, take a moment to reflect on what didn’t go so great and possible reasons why. Evaluating what went wrong can help you to better understand how to avoid doing the same thing in the future, teaching you to be proactive, rather than reactive.

COVID has prompted businesses to go digital, making cyberattacks an easy job for scammers. Small businesses are especially at risk because of the lack of resources to purchase high security tools and software. Consider using the following strategies to avoid each type of risk to give your business the extra protection it needs.

Avoiding Phishing

Employees may receive emails that invite users to click on links attached to them. These emails can often mimic a casual interaction with a client or business partner, or even your electricity or telephone company. The most effective way to prevent phishing is to be more vigilant with responding to emails. Most organisations do not require personal information like bank details or date of birth over an email, and requests for these should raise a red flag. Checking email addresses for subtle misspells, pop-up messages and invoices for products you never purchased are common tactics to get you to interact with the link.

Anti-virus software

A traditional antivirus software can fail to pick up on newer forms of malicious codes that are used to steal passwords and your personal account information. Consider regularly updating your antivirus software to ensure that all firewalls are up (across all the computers used in your business). It can also be crucial to update your operating system and continually back up your folders and drives to make sure that you are able to access your information in case of data loss.

Securing your network

An unsecure network can cause a variety of security issues, including essentially granting access to anyone who wishes to join your network. Setting up a wireless network usually comes with a default password, and it is important to ensure that this password is changed. For heightened security, consider using multiple networks that separate guests, staff and contractors, for example, to complicate security breaches for hackers. It can be a great idea to use tools that generate random passwords to improve encryption across all your networks.

Multi/two-factor authentication

A growingly popular method of improving security is to use two different sources to identify the user trying to log into their accounts. This typically involves a combination of two types of verification like pins, passwords, fingerprints or a card. While criminals may have stolen one of these proofs, it can be harder to obtain your second proof of identity when being prompted to verify.