Enterprise Podcast Network

Agility is crucial for any start-up venture, as it must be able to adapt to changing regulations, market conditions and the behaviour of customers.

Agility was certainly beneficial in helping start-ups when the government unveiled auto-enrolment, which was part of a pension reform plan that required employers to automatically enrol staff members in workplace schemes. Similarly, registered businesses were also required to contribute a minimum of 1% gross pay to their employees pensions, with this figure set to rise to 3% by the end of 2018.

With this in mind, it’s imperative that you set up pension schemes early as part of your start-up, while employees also need to play a pivotal role in ensuring that this is done successfully.

The Importance of Setting up Auto-enrollment

The regulations relating to auto-enrollment are pretty clear, and failing to comply with these can lead to significant financial sanctions. So, while auto-enrolment may be an administrative task by itself, it’s crucial that entrepreneurs play a leading role in enforcing this throughout their business.

The sheer cost of implementing auto-enrolment also makes a compelling argument for tackling this issue as early as possible. After all, a study released at the end of the first quarter of 2016 revealed that it costs start-ups and small businesses around £317 million cumulatively to achieve this objective, with much of this capital required to support back-end development. Such an expensive outlay will need to be factored into your start-up costs, otherwise you’ll be unable to offer auto-enrolment to your employees.

Addressing the Role of Employees – Why They Must Force Employers to Comply

Of course, the cost and time-consuming nature of implementing auto-enrolment may encourage some entrepreneurs to ignore this legislation, irrespective of the potential consequences of non-compliance. In this instance, there’s an onus on employees to understand their rights in the workplace and challenge their managers at all times, so that they highlight the problem and drive change within the business.

Employees are increasingly aware of their rights and pension options in the modern age, from traditional workplace schemes to the type of advanced, self-invested pension plans (SIPPs) offered by firms like Bestinvest. You’ll therefore be expecting to be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme when you start work at a new company, while you’ll also know that the firm should provide contributions of at least 1% gross pay.

If these features are not included as part of your benefits package, you should raise this with recruiters as a matter of urgency. Not only will this help you to safeguard your own interests, but it will also ensure that your prospective employers remain compliant when looking to recruit the top talent.

The vehicle occupies a special place in America’s past, present, and future. In the last century, the automobile has radically changed the ways we live and work. Only now are some cities feeling the negative effects of all that urban sprawl, namely in the way it pretty much requires citizens to have a car to function properly. More cars also means more pollution, which has led to car companies and regular people alike trying to find ways to reduce the carbon footprint that comes with driving an automobile. Like a lot of American institutions, the car will have to change in the future to survive, even if the extent of those changes remains unclear.

Cars vs. public transit

There’s a lot to like about cars. People like to drive them, and others like to look at them or even collect them. Cities have even built successful tourism campaigns around the automobile. But they’re not always the most efficient transportation option. That means there’s been a push in some cities to improve and expand public transit options. That has worked better in some locales than others, but the fact remains that you have to live in at least a mid-sized city to have any sort of halfway decent public transit options. It doesn’t help public transit’s case that expanding routes often requires a small tax hike for residents, and there are plenty of drivers who think “If I don’t need a bus or train, why should anyone else?”

A lot of motorists also really like to drive by themselves. It’s a way to collect their thoughts on the way to or from another busy day at work. To combat that, most large cities have Heavily Occupied Vehicle lanes that are only usable if your car has at least two people inside it. You can drive alone, but if you do, you’ll have to deal with more traffic and a slower commute. In the future, the way we tax gasoline could also change, as some states have considered taxing drivers for use rather than imposing a flat fee at the pump.

Gas prices

Gas is pretty darn cheap right now. It’s definitely cheaper than it was just five years ago, and while that’s good for Americans’ bank accounts, it may not be so great for the environment. There’s more desire to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels when the average gas price is over $3 and approaching $4. People will buy cars with bad gas mileage now because they think gas prices are going to be low for the immediate future. However, that ignores the fact that the amount we pay for gas is expected to rise in 2018. It’s better to prepare for higher fuel prices now rather than be caught flat-footed when you pull into the gas station one day and see the price has topped $3 again.

To that end, there’s a small but growing amount of people who have converted their diesel-powered cars to run on biodiesel made by using cooking grease collected from restaurants and other places. Biodiesel is easier to get in some parts of the country than others, but if you can make the switch, you’ll be able to stop worrying about the inevitable price increase at the pump.