With just 100 days to go until the 2012 Olympic Games, are UK businesses ready for the effect the games will have? Staff clearly are not in the know with almost 9 out of 10 UK workers feeling in the dark about their company’s Olympic working policies. It seems business owners, on the other hand, are more prepared with 8 out of 10 believing they have prepared themselves for any potential working disruption and, in contrast to the feelings of employees, just over half say they have shared these plans with their staff.

There is no way of knowing the impact the Olympics will have - both in terms of lower workforces and supply disruptions - but it's clear that businesses beyond London will feel the effects too. The advice is that if you don't yet have a plan in place, even if you don't feel you need one, it's a good idea to think about the possible consequences for your business and set up an action plan and preventative measures.

So you think you have what it takes to launch your own business? You have the idea, the business plan and the funding to get it up and running, but that's only half the story. Do you also have what it takes to run a successful business?

The range of skills is huge, and nobody expects you to have them all, but you will need to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie so that you can utilise the help of others, whether through outsourcing or staff, to ensure the smooth running of your business.

It's going to be hard work, which means a huge commitment from you that will entail long hours away from home, stress and a willingness to keep going however tough it gets. You need to have your family on board to support you as they will be a part of it, even if just giving you support and understanding at home. The long hours will be tiring and there may even be no holidays for a while, but you've got to keep your eyes on the prize. It won't always be like that and, hopefully, ultimate business success will make it all worthwhile.

Although you know that you're running a successful company do you sometimes feel that the size of your business is holding you back? The truth is that some customers will have less confidence in your ability than your larger competitors, but the good news is that there are lots of simple and cost effective ways you can create the impression that you are a much bigger business than you really are.

Do you have staff?

Obviously businesses with staff give the impression of being larger, but you can make customers believe you have employees simply by setting up email addresses for, say, sales and marketing. All these emails can be directed to your inbox, but your customers will have no idea.

I read an interesting news story today about an employee who is spending the morning working suspended above a London street to show how today's technology is enabling entrepreneurs to work wherever they like. The entrepid volunteer is Caspar Mason, who works as a creative strategist at a project design agency called PD3.

While I have no desire to work hanging around in London, I totally agree with the idea that for many of us it is possible to work effectively in all manner of locations. It is, however, important to have Internet access and the right technology, but these are rarely a problem these days. I used to work in an office and now work from home and without a doubt I am far more productive now. It will be interesting, though, to hear how Caspar gets on in his 'extreme' work environment. Let's hope he wasn't faced with anything too taxing!

Many small businesses will reach the point where they need to think about recruitment. This might be, for example, due to increased workload or a lack of knowledge requiring outside expertise. The problem, though, is that the business is often not bringing in the income required to pay for that additional staff member.

Knowing when is the right time to recruit is, therefore, very difficult, especially in these uncertain economic times when revenues are changing dramatically for many businesses. I know a company who was due to interview for their first member of staff and the day before the interview lost one of their major contracts. In a way they were lucky it happened before they had taken on the employee, but it does show how decisions made one day can be forced to change another. Employing staff is a huge commitment, and businesses need to understand all aspects of the contract between themselves and the employee, and that includes how they can potentially dismiss them.

One of the most popular posts on StartUp Revolution's forum at the moment is all about outsourcing, and so it seems like the perfect time to revisit some of the key points about outsourcing. Paper Mountain Solutions has successfully been providing outsourcing support for many years, and you can find out more about our services here.

So why outsource? Well, in the words of Paul Smalley, Paper Mountain Solution's MD, "It gives you access to a team of specialists that ordinarily a small business could not afford."

So not only do you get an expert, from finance and admin to graphic designers and content writers, looking after your business, but the outsourcing company will also be employing that member of staff, meaning you don't have to. In effect your business gains expert knowledge and saves money at the same time. An essential combination for any small business.

Work Christmas Party - It might sound quite a light-hearted topic, but the reality for small businesses can be very different. Not only is there the cost of the evening to think about, but, assuming a good night was had by all, there's the potential lost work hours the following day (unless you can afford a Friday night party of course). For small businesses already struggling the party can be a real burden, although bosses are only too aware that not having a party can equally create problems through negativity in the office and employees not feeling valued.

I've been involved in large and small parties, and helped organise one at a Birmingham hotel some years ago. With a casino, disco and meal it was definitely the top end of parties, and there's no denying it was a good night, but that was because of who I was with as much as the setting. I've also been to parties that are basically a night at the pub, which have been loads of fun too.

As if times aren't hard enough for start up businesses, we now hear that the UK's small businesses are paying up to three times as much for goods and services than big businesses who enjoy large savings from their favoured suppliers. Research by Huddlebuy.co.uk has shown that small businesses are paying £3.6 billion more which, for start ups, equates to £1,200 per employee. With so many SMEs struggling this is clearly an unfair cost that actually threatens the idea of an enterprise led economic recovery.

This is one sure to rouse strong opinions - following maternity leave nearly two-thirds of employers don't expect female employees to return to their job with many citing previous experience as the reason for their viewpoint. While this is clearly the case in some circumstances, from my experience most women do return to work within eighteen months of giving birth and many return far earlier than that.

Business need to be careful about making assumptions otherwise they could end up facing claims for discrimination. Employers also need to think about their return to work policy - or lack there of. Important issues such as working hours will need to be discussed and company policy made clear from the outset to avoid issues between employer and employee when it comes to returning to work.

If your answer is yes then you are not alone as a recent British Chamber of Commerce survey highlighted the various concerns raised by sole traders when it comes to employing staff. Issues raised that have been putting sole traders off hiring included dismissal processes, sickness absences, equality legislation, statutory payments and flexible working. Some were worried about National Insurance Contributions, while unaware of the National Insurance 'holiday' for startups, highlighting the need by businesses to fully investigate the assistance that is on offer from the government. For example, did you know about the exemption to micro businesses to new domestic legislation for three years from April of this year?

Clearly the issues revolve not just around the actual hiring, but also the long-term costs and management of the staff and not surprisingly many sole traders have been turning to freelancers to fill the gap. It seems yet again the burden of red tape is preventing many small businesses from taking the next step to growing their businesses. Will the Red Tape Challenge bring any benefit to this area of legislation we wonder?

Image courtesy: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Do you really know what your employees are doing when they should be working? Surfing the net, up-dating their social networking status or perhaps, worst of all, looking for another job - while you are paying them to do their current job! Job recruitment site, Monster, reports that over 25% of employees spend three hours of their working week actually looking for a new job. Worse still, 50% of those surveyed said they had up-dated their CV and applied for jobs during work time. Spread across the entire UK workforce this means over 14 million lost hours equalling over £250 million a week. So, a contented workforce means saving money, and you can't argue with the business sense of that.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net