One of the most daunting challenges as a business owner is building the right team around you. After all, it has been said that your employees are your best asset. (And whoever said that was smart).

Workplace volunteer programs are a great way to get employees engaged with their fellow workers. This builds a community bond within the company that keeps workers happy, motivated and loyal.

Elevator pitches aren’t just for people appearing on Shark Tank. Any business owner should be able to describe their business and its goals in around 30 seconds. After all, you never know when you’ll need to impress a prospective client or investor, convince a new recruit that your business is the one for them or just help someone understand exactly what it is your company offers (and why you’re the best at it.)

Small business owners are often too busy to see the woods through the tress - especially when it comes to measuring their own success. But these 7 signs will give you a quick guide as to how well your business is actually doing and if you're on the much fabled road to success.

For companies battling through tough economic times, effective internal communications may not sound like a top priority. But clear and effective communication within a company, no matter what size, is a big deal. Get it wrong and you’ll soon have a workforce that is unsure, inefficient and struggling with motivation.

Since a good event takes time to pull off, the time to start planning is now. If you’ve not done an event before, it does take some planning, but the rewards – new customers, customer loyalty and great new contacts – can definitely be worth the man hours.

According to James Cameron’s Terminator franchise, 19 years ago to the day (August 29 1997), the computer system Skynet became sentient and triggered the nuclear holocaust known as Judgement Day. Two decades on, we’re thankfully still some way from computers having the technological know-how to wipe out humanity unaided.

So you’ve had the idea that you hope is going to make your fortune - what next? However excited you may be, before you rush into choosing office space and chasing clients you need to put together a business plan – something that sets out your business goals, and helps you assess whether they are actually attainable.

It’s a busy world these days. As a small business owner, it perhaps goes without saying that I’m switched on to work even when I’m at home. But juggling work with all the other things we have to think about - childcare, eldercare and the domestic problems that go hand-in-hand with everyday life – isn’t easy. Even when my business is running smoothly, I feel like I’m failing in other areas of my life and vice versa.

The HR industry’s been telling us for a while that money alone isn’t enough to motivate and engage employees. What works, then? In my experience, it’s about giving your employees a challenge, engaging and empowering them.