Whether or not you believe we’re in a recession or just headed towards one, there’s no getting around the fact that we’re experiencing an economic downturn. Declines in consumer confidence and decreased sales threaten all businesses, but small businesses are particularly vulnerable as they often don’t have the reserves to help them weather difficult times.

How, then, can you recession-proof your business? Implementing these practices will help ensure your small business’s survival and even allow it to thrive during tough economic times.

1. Protect your cash flow.

Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business; to keep your small business healthy, cash needs to continue flowing through.

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Forty global businesses have held talks with Manchester University about the possibility of locating at the city’s new graphene hub.

IBM, BAE Systems, Samsung and Siemens are among those to have expressed an interest.

The £50m research and development hub will be on Booth Street East, opposite the Aquatics Centre.

Its purpose will be to find ways of commercialising graphene, the super-strong material discovered by Nobel Prize-winning scientists at the University of Manchester.

It will be funded by £38m of government cash, awarded last month, as well as money from the university and public funds the city is seeking to secure, costing a total of around £50m.

The hub, which will be operational by 2015, will also include space for start-up businesses launched by university graduates looking to exploit the potential uses of graphene.

Mike Emmerich, chief executive of think tank New Economy,  told delegates at the MIPIM property convention in Cannes it was hoped the hub could be the first step towards creating something for Manchester on a par with Silicon Valley in California.

He said: “The challenge is to create a hub, part of which will provide space for major global companies, who will hopefully put large numbers of staff on the ground.

“But it is also about enterprise and, at the request of Andre Geim, one of the scientists who discovered graphene, all  of his doctoral students will study enterprise, because he profoundly and passionately believes it is not just about big companies but about entrepreneurship and innovation.”

Chancellor George Osborne announced last year that £50m would be invested in commercialising graphene, the lion’s share of which was given to Manchester.

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As the nation is still recovering from the ill-effects of the global economic recession, the small business organizations are the worst-hit. They have already incurred huge amount of commercial debt and many more are desperately trying to get back on the right financial track. A huge balloon of business debt has been created in the US and the most common reasons why the businesses incur huge amount of debt is poor financial management, sudden unexpected expenses and not enough generation of revenue. What would you do in order to reduce the level of business debt when you’re the business owner? Would you take help of a debt consolidation program or would you take out a business debt consolidation loan in order to make ends meet? Read more…

– The economy grew slightly faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter and a gauge of factory activity in the Midwest hit a 10 month-high in February, pointing to underlying strength in the economy.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 3 percent annual rate, the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday in its second estimate.

The reading, which was up from the 2.8 percent pace the government reported last month and reflected modest upward revisions to almost all components of GDP, added to the recent run of fairly upbeat economic reports.

The tone of the GDP report was further bolstered by upward revisions to income and savings data, which should help support consumer spending in the face of rising gasoline prices.

“Growth is still on the right path, but we are not going to see any acceleration.

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Financial planners and money managers coming under the watch of New Jersey this year can view state oversight and examinations as something of a seal of approval, according to the head of New Jerseys Bureau of Securities.

To the extent that the investing public knows that we are on the job, then they can feel some comfort dealing with folks who have been through our registration process and are subject to our authority, Abbe Tiger, chief of the bureau, told a gathering of investment advisers today.

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How long does a tax refund take after you file Canadian income tax?

When you get your Canadian tax refund depends on when and how you filed your Canadian income tax return.

The Canada Revenue Agency advises that they usually process paper tax returns in four to six weeks. Canadian income tax returns that are filed electronically are processed faster, within two weeks.

However, realistically, you can’t expect a Canadian tax refund before March at the earliest, even if you filed your tax return in January, because the Canada Revenue Agency doesn’t start processing income tax returns until mid-February.

Having your Canadian income tax return chosen for review can slow down the Canadian tax refund process.

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