Launching a company can be very intimidating, no matter how old you are or how worldly-wise. You might be a young person striking out on your own after little or no experience as an employee, or you might be someone who’s worked for others for several decades and finally decided to do your own thing. Either way, you can be successful if you take the right steps.

You can just experiment on your own, if you like… but taking advice from people in the know can give you a huge boost and speed up your development. When setting up a company, small business advice about matters such as administration and finances can really reassure you that you’re on the right track – and once you have systems set up, it leaves you extra time to focus on the more creative aspects of your daily work.

Sometimes the most useful advice can apply to areas you wouldn’t even think need careful planning, such as organising your daily work and communication with clients. If you set up guidelines and standard documents for these purposes, as well as a calendar system, it can keep your time management on track and ensure you work in the most efficient way possible.

There are many resources available from government departments, as well as local business networks and mentoring schemes. Take a look today and you might be astonished by how much support is out there.

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There are definitely some cases where strict health and safety laws are essential; for example, factory workers need to be kept safe when working with dangerous machinery. People can learn more about health and safety within workplaces at health and safety seminars Birmingham and in many other UK cities.

However, when it comes to calling the police because a three-year-old child’s birthday candles have been lit at a play centre – as happened in Stoke-on-Trent recently – most people would argue that the issue starts to get a bit silly.

There are some areas where the boundaries are less clear, leading to controversy. One such case would be the smoking ban in UK pubs, which began in summer 2007. Though pubs are thought of as leisure venues, they are also workplaces – and this was the key concern of the law, which also affected many other different types of working environment. As part of the Health Act 2006, it was ruled that no employee should be unavoidably exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke.

This is a fair argument. However, many pub owners and regulars have felt that it is ridiculous, as smoking in drinking venues was part of life for centuries and there were major concerns that it would hit the trade hard. Numerous landlords and breweries have gone on to blame the smoking ban for closures.

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My impression is that it would be very stressful to be carrying out tasks that you were doing badly – either because you wanted to save time or money, or because you were out of your depth. Faking something or not following a process properly can be just as complicated and time consuming as putting real effort in… and it definitely wouldn’t give you the same sense of achievement afterwards.

I suppose I can understand it to some degree in people who have very low-paid jobs, or whose bosses are unfair to them, as they just want to scrape by with minimal emotional or intellectual investment.

However, there are some jobs in particular where substandard work can have huge ramifications. If a doctor carries out an inadequate task, not only can it result in a medical negligence claim, but could also mean that someone suffers a negative physical or mental impact – or, in the worst cases, dies. Incredibly, however, it still happens. A week rarely goes by without the news of a dodgy plastic surgeon messing up someone’s body instead of improving it.

In some professions it is very difficult to hide negligence – such as my own; law. It is also extremely unwise to scrimp, bearing in mind that scrutiny of mistakes is often the name of the game. I’m not silly enough to say I’ve never made a mistake in my professional life, as of course I have – but I simply don’t understand people who wilfully avoid doing things properly.

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I’m comfortable in my job and I’m lucky to be able to say that I really enjoy it. It’s a traditional framework and it suits me. But if I’d chosen a profession that lost its shine for me, I’d definitely consider starting my own line of business.

For some people, it becomes a natural step because the industry they work in has changed in a way that means their skills aren’t used the way they would like. For example, in communications-based trades such as journalism, marketing and public relations, there have been dramatic shifts in the way the industry operates and the way its revenues relate to output. In recent years this has motivated many journalists and marketers to go it alone, as communication services are a commodity that can be purveyed without huge overheads.

It is daunting to think about starting your own business, but it’s something that many people initially look into during their spare time. It doesn’t have to mean a huge upheaval in your life or a massive investment, particularly if it’s in a profession that doesn’t require special equipment or arrangements, as described above.

If you want to work out how much income you may have, you could use a contractor calculator to assess your potential annual earnings, based on an hourly, daily or weekly rate. Money is a great motivator, so that’s a good place to start.

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If you’ve just sold a few personal items now and again, don’t panic, as the crackdown doesn’t apply to you. However, some people run highly lucrative businesses by regularly selling items via the auction website and are therefore considered to be traders.

HMRC has written to 32,500 eBay sellers to warn them that they may owe income tax. If they pay within the next six weeks, they’ll just owe their tax and some minor penalties – while those who ignore it will be faced with major penalties and possibly also criminal proceedings.

A statement from HMRC said: “Most e-traders pay what they owe. However, there is a significant minority not paying all that they should, and we are encouraging those people to come forward now, get their tax affairs straight, and benefit from the best possible terms.

“We want to make sure that in the future all e-marketplace sellers will know what they need to do to keep their tax affairs in order.”

Tax evasion is a big headache for HMRC, which has announced the launch of 30 taskforces to combat it during 2012 and 2013.

In some cases, people don’t realise they should be paying tax or are unsure where to start. If this is the case, you should visit the HMRC Self Assessment website, which explains how the system works and lists all the deadlines and forms that you need.

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You should also remember that having a contract isn’t enough – it also has to be appropriately composed and in accordance with the law, particularly with regard to the treatment and status of workers.

For example, if you take on a freelance worker who is self-employed, your contract with them is unlikely to include commitments such as holiday pay. However, if they work on a regular basis for a long period of time and you begin to treat them like normal staff – dictating their times and days of work rather than mutually agreeing on them – the law will perceive the freelancer as an employee. This means that regardless of what the contract says, they will be entitled to the same benefits as employees, such as holiday pay, redundancy pay and national insurance contributions.

Equally, if there is something in your contract of employment for permanent staff that is not acceptable within the law, it will not protect you if a problem occurs further down the line.

It is therefore important to consult experts when you draw up your employment contracts. This will ensure that they are well written and cover all eventualities, providing reassurance for both you and your staff.

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However, even outside the office – and in our social lives – there are things which some fear are damaging our health, both mentally and physically. Mobile phone use is one of them… but how much of a worry should it be?

A major review into the possible links between mobile phones and cancer has just been carried out by the Healthy Protection Agency, with experts and publications alike interpreting its results very differently.

National newspapers the Guardian and the Independent both agree that there is no clear evidence that mobile phone radiation is damaging to human health. The Telegraph and the Times, on the other hand, say respectively that mobiles ‘may’ cause cancer and that children’s use of phones should be restricted.

The results of numerous studies carried out have not definitively shown that using a mobile phone can contribute to brain tumours or other types of cancer. However, there is a limited period from which experts can draw conclusions – around 15 years – as mobile phones have only been used widely in the mainstream in a recent period of medical history.

The bottom line appears to be that there is no current evidence to suggest a link, but neither can it be proven that phones do NOT cause cancer – and it will probably be many more years before scientists can draw proper conclusions.

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This model gradually shifted, becoming more and more streamlined – and, in most cases, much smaller. In the 1980s, there was a renewed sense of grandeur in office design, due to the booming financial climate and fashionable office culture following the gloom of the 1970s – but today it is rare to see offices which are more focused on flamboyancy than efficiency.

Law firm partners and chief executive officers of large corporations, particularly in industries with long-standing hierarchies, may still inhabit corner offices, but these are usually walled with glass and minimalist in character.

Facilities are now more of a focus point, whether visible or not. For example, if a company in the north west has money to spend, it is more likely to opt for the best IT services Manchester can offer, rather than an expensive piece of artwork or an antique oak desk to present in the office of its managing director.

Some people think it is sad that such times are past, but when senior management work alongside other staff it can bring a greater sense of cohesion to proceedings and ensure that top-level executives remain in touch with the grass roots of a business.

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Some prefer an elegant style to their meal and are attracted by plates resembling works of art. Others, meanwhile, run a mile from this high-end approach and prefer more rustic, heavy dishes.

Many contemporary restaurants are now combining the two by presenting deconstructed versions of classic dishes. For example, a contemporary Lancashire hot pot could mean using a couple of French-trimmed cuts of lamb, cooked pink and balanced atop a carefully-arranged mound of carrot, onion and potato, served with a red cabbage jus – as opposed to the traditional stew in which large chunks of each ingredient are served mixed together.

The modern approach may impress in flavour terms, but rarely satisfies those for whom quantity is paramount.

The emergence of nouvelle cuisine in the 1980s led to extreme impressions of what fine dining truly represented, with many people even today expecting to need a second meal after visiting an expensive restaurant, due to the minimalist approach employed.

However, fine dining often uses very rich ingredients, so can be a more filling experience than one might expect – and often served across five or more courses, rather than the traditional three, meaning that room has to be saved for each one.

I think it’s great to be experimental, even if you do need to buy some cheap chips on the way home.

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Unusually, this year’s changes include some positive steps for employers, such as the extension of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims. It means that workers will need to complete two years of employment with a company before they are entitled to claim unfair dismissal, if they feel they have been fired unfairly. It is not retrospective, however, so current employees are still governed by the previous period of one year.

It is thought that the move will give businesses more confidence to invest in workforce growth, as many live in fear that after a year they will be subject to costly legal cases if they decide to let staff go after 12 months. This is a particular concern for small businesses, which are often without the resources of their larger counterparts. The Forum Of Private Business has estimated that employment law issues cost small businesses at a total of £4.2bn every year.

It may take a while for the changes to have an impact, however, with Barclays Corporate announcing the results of a survey showing that four in every 10 businesses had no plan to create jobs over the last year, despite previous innovations.

Other changes include an increase in pay for maternity and paternity leave, as well as adoption and statutory sick pay; while income tax rates have been modified in favour of employees.

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