PRIME has released a free and updated guide to Working Tax Credit for the coming financial year. Working Tax Credit is a kind of reverse income tax that you should get if your household income falls below a certain level. It is something you are entitled to as a working taxpayer and it is run - – - read more >

How do you start or grow a business if you don’t have much money? The answer according to US marketing guru Seth Godin is to focus on the advantages that your lack of resources brings. and build a business that consciously makes use of them. This is not a collection of money-saving hints and tips. - – - read more >

Introduction to business grants and loans Grants to ordinary businesses are relatively rare in the UK, and vary from place-to-place and time-to-time. There has to be a reason why a grant-giving body would want to support you – for example to regenerate a particular run-down neighbourhood, to encourage the survival of some craft skill or - – - read more >

Peter Jones, one of the dragons from BBC 2′s Dragon’s Den and the tycoon of ITV 1′s forthcoming Tycoon has an interesting mixture of tips, opinions and business resources on his site. There’s also a forums area you can contribute to (don’t forget to add your web site address if you’ve got one at the - – - read more >

PRIME has issued a revised, shortened and updated guide to franchising that you can download for free from here. Buying a franchise – a brief guide to the over 50s from PRIME 2007 is based on a much longer research report we published in October 2005 which contained results from polling nearly a thousand people - – - read more >

Small firms in the UK are having to wait longer to get paid than in the past. And their customers pay more slowly than those dealing with larger firms, according to a study of company accounts conducted by Siemens Financial Services. In 2006 the small, owner-managed firms in the study had to wait an average - – - read more >

The High Street banks are by far and away the main source of start-up loans in the UK. But they won’t always lend to older people, particularly if you have a poor credit history or no collateral. So here we list some organisations that might be worth approaching if the banks have turned you down. - – - read more >

Let renowned marketing expert Dr Alan Rae talk you through the essentials of doing business – for free. Adapted specially for PRIME from his course One Man Brand, each programme lasts 30 to 40 minutes and consists of Alan talking you through the key business principles accompanied by illustrations and slides. You can access them - – - read more >

Skype allows you to make cheap calls to normal phones worldwide – and free calls to other people with Skype. You install some software on your PC to get it working – or buy a Skype handset from somewhere like Tesco. You need also Internet access – home broadband is ideal. As a result small - – - read more >

Gordon Jones’s excellent Shoestring booklets are practical and brief, and pack a lot of good advice into 24 pages each. Written from a UK perspective, they concentrate on affordable actions small businesses can take. PRIME Business Club users get all three booklets for £15.50 including post and packing, which is £2 off the usual price.

1. Business Link Business Link is a government-funded chain of advice shops located throughout England. Different arrangements apply in other parts of the UK.These government-backed agencies will generally also know about any public-sector grants for business, although these are much less common than many people believe – and often have strings attached.You can find your - – - read more >

All the big High Street banks have small-business information on their web sites, but this set of free factsheets from Lloyds TSB is particularly useful. Highlights include: Is self-employment right for me? Before deciding to start your own business, there are a number of important questions you should ask yourself. Starting up for yourself – - – - read more >