88% of Small Business owners overwhelmed by regulation when starting up

New research from accounting software company Xero reveals 88% of small businesses felt “overwhelmed” by business rules at the start of opening their business with two thirds of Brits (75%) admitting their lack of financial acumen led to their company’s growth stalling. 

Further findings found 78% of Brits have never submitted a tax return before starting their business with 66% making tax filling errors costing them between £300 and £400 and fines of up to £500.

Common mistakes include submitting the wrong amount of taxable income (43%), losing paperwork (22%), and filing incorrect expenses in a notepad and bagging receipts.  

These common mistakes can have consequences, with 50,000 small businesses failing each year due to cash flow issues.

No wonder 83% of the business owners surveyed suffer from stress with 40% of bosses losing sleep. 

In April of this year HMRC will introduce its Making Tax Digital legislation where it will be compulsory for every VAT registered business above the £85k threshold to go digital.

Shockingly, a third of small business owners (32%) still do their expenses with a pen and notepad rather than using business technology that would make their lives so much easier. 

View the full case study here to find out how we carried out this research and the coverage it generated.