The outlook for small manufacturing businesses is brighter than it's been for a long time, but firms need to prepare now to benefit from increased output in the coming months and years.

As the British recovery picks up speed, the businesses that hire staff and invest in their production process first will be the ones who can meet the growing requirements of clients. That's what is leading almost half of manufacturers to invest in new machinery, premises or technologies now rather than waiting for the demand to come to them.

These figures, found by the Government's Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), are announced alongside news that hiring and sales within small businesses are set to rise.

Invest to remain competitive

"There appeared to be a greater appetite from SMEs for investment in order to remain competitive." Lorraine Holmes, area director for MAS, said, "I think we are also seeing a desire to create jobs to meet expected demand."

This paints a great picture for the coming months, but also a warning to small businesses across the country. If an energetic economic recovery is coming, it will cause huge strain on firms' cash flow, staff and stock. It will be the business' that prepare quickest who are ready to profit from the growth.

We definitely recommend taking a look at your cashflow, your resources and your employees to figure out how ready your business is for increased demand.

For more help with planning for the future, catch up with the King of Cashflow.

2006 - Inspiration

David Karp was surprised that none of the big names in blogging had produced a platform for "tumblelogs", short blogs, so began work on his own site with developer Marco Arment. Spotting a gap in the market may be one of the biggest buzz phrases in entrepreneurship, but David Karp did exactly that and was determined enough to run with it.

February 2007 - 75,000 users in two weeks

The demand for Tumblr's easy to use and clean blogging space was proven by the reaction of bloggers to its beta release. Using this small release as testing ground, but waiting to release a final product, mean Karp was able to enter his first funding round with proof of the potential of Tumblr.

October 2007 - Tumblr raises $750,000

In the first round of funding, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures invested £750,000 in Tumblr, giving it the capital to launch and market itself globally. After a full release, the second round of funding in December 2008 went on to raise a further $4.5m.

February 2009 - First official app

Developers Jeff Rock and Garrett Ross actually created the first Tumblr app, Tumblerette, but Karp bought it and went on to release an official iPhone app for Tumblr later that year. The official app was crucial in Tumblr's struggle to surpass competitors including WordPress in the number of blogs posted on their sites.

June 2012 -First large scale advertising campaign

Five years after starting up, Tumblr was finally monetised and started allowing advertising on the site, with a huge campaign from Adidas. Having not generated money before, 2012 saw Tumblr receive £13m in advertising revenue. While still not enough to break a profit, it created interest in the potential of the business.

May 2013 - Yahoo buys Tumblr for $1.1bn

That interest led to Yahoo's huge purchase Tumblr. While the possibility of much larger advertising revenues will be a big drawing point, the move is also a signal of intent from Yahoo itself. If it is ever going compete against its rivals at Google and Facebook, Yahoo needs a presence in social media, and Tumblr is now that presence.

New research by freelancer website PeoplePerHour has found that the initial price of starting a business has fallen dramatically thanks to the opportunities of social media and widely available business advice.

With this in mind, it's no surprise David Cameron's enterprise adviser Lord Young recently said "this is a very good time to start a business."

Of course, this doesn't mean all entrepreneurs should be abandoning their incomes after one week to commit to starting up their own businesses, but it does mean the barriers to starting-up are falling and there's less to stop you from getting your business going than ever before.

Anyone can start-up

More than three quarters of micro-businesses are started with less than £2,000 in funding. The world of start-ups has changed so dramatically that the doors are open to everyone to see what they can achieve on their own.

"Starting a business is now most definitely open to anyone," says Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder and CEO of PeoplePerHour. "You don't have to be from a wealthy family, have a background in finance or have started on your entrepreneurial journey while in your teens."

PeoplePerHour's report also found that more than a third of micro-business owners started their business while still working and that 28% of micro businesses were started by entrepreneurs over 40.

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An experiment I've often done in live talks and trainings is to ask the audience to consider each of the following scenarios: 

- You have an hour to get somewhere that's 30 minutes away - do you feel pressure? 

- You have 30 minutes to get somewhere that's 30 minutes away - do you feel pressure? 

- You have 15 minutes to get somewhere that's 30 minutes away - do you feel pressure? 

Only about 15% of people would feel pressure in the first scenario; about 50% feel it in the second scenario; and about 50% say they would feel it in scenario three.

Most people are surprised by those figures. After all, our instinctive prediction is that the amount of pressure people experience should go up the more time sensitive a task becomes, which suggests the stats should be more like 0% for the first situation, 50% for the second, and 100% for the third.

When asked, people who say they'd feel pressure in the first and second situation generally explain it as being to do with concerns about traffic, flat tires, and other unexpected or unpredictable delays. People who don't feel pressure in those same circumstances generally can't understand why somebody would feel pressure when there's enough or more than enough time for the task at hand.

In the third scenario, people who would feel pressure think it's obvious why you would feel pressure when there isn't enough time for the task at hand, while those that don't explain it as recognizing the futility of struggling to do something that can't be done. They actually find the impossibility of the task at hand 'takes the pressure off'.

Are some of these people rational and the others irrational? If pressure is a function of our circumstances, shouldn't we all feel roughly the same amount of pressure in the same circumstances?

The reason we don't is because like all of our experience, pressure is 100% created from the inside-out. It's not created by your deadline. It's not created by your boss. It's not a 'virus' you catch from your environment. It is entirely a product of Thought.

If we think our well-being is on the line in some way, we will feel pressure. If we don't think those thoughts, we won't feel that pressure. And because well-being is innate, it can never be 'on the line'.

Well-being is our nature. That doesn't mean we always feel good - any one of us can get caught up in thought at any time, and in so doing we become instantly subject to every emotional colour in the spectrum. But to say that means that well-being comes and goes would be like saying that because there are clouds, the sun is not always present. Even in the darkest hour, the sun is still there, right where it's always been - it's just that in some moments, there is something between us and our clear seeing.

Here's how I talk about it in my new book, The Inside-Out Revolution:

What would that actually be like? Chances are if you were able to quadruple your money you would be excited in the moment, but at the end of the night after turning in your chips you would forget all about it. Similarly, if you lost it all, you would likely be disappointed - until you remembered that it was all just a game and the real payoff was already in your pocket.

What would it be like to play the game of life knowing that everything that really counts - your well-being, happiness, love, and self-worth - are already yours to keep? After all, you were born with them, and the only thing that can ever take you away from them is a thought. There is nothing of true and lasting value you can get from playing the game of life that wasn't already yours before you started playing and won't continue to be yours after the game is done.

You are playing with the house's money. There is nothing real at stake. The pressure is completely off…

Are you ready to begin?

Click the link for more information about the Michael Neill and the Inside-Out Revolution

1. Proposition - One sentence explanation of what your business is

We provide a highly functional loyalty and offers platform for businesses that want to run their own schemes.

2. Why are you a smart business?

Because we do smart things. We offer our clients an easy to use tool that increases their customer engagement, driving a greater footfall which naturally leads to higher revenues.

3. What's the smartest thing you've done to help your business grow?

Learning to say "no" to the bad customers- so we can make sure we only work with clients that will get really exceptional value from our products.

4. What smart things do you do for your customer's?

We give the best of the best technology in a way that any size of business can benefit from. The World of marketing is one that can often be daunting, particularly to smaller business, but it is often the difference between success and failure. We therefore offer a product and support to make this key area of any business easy to manage.

5. What smart technologies do you use to run your business?

We take commodity Android smartphones and turn them into highly specialised marketing tools. Our smartphones are customised to run our scanning application, which is also available on all personal smartphones by downloading our app (http://bit.ly/18QqeJQ), so that each offer that is redeemed is secure and can be fully tracked down to the customer, location, time, date and spend amount.

6. What's your smartest tip for other entrepreneurs?

Know very clearly what you are selling, and then get really good at delivering it.

For more information about Footfall123, click here and "Like" their Facebook page here.

Get more details on how to be this week's #O2SmartaBiz here.

Follow @O2BusinessUK and @SmartaHQ on Twitter and tweet us using the #O2Smartabiz hashtag

As Petrov wore the number 19 shirt, during the 19^th minute of the match, fans will don the masks to celebrate the midfielder who has had to retire due to an ongoing battle with Leukaemia. Mask-arade have organised the event, as well as selling more of the masks to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia.

"We've done this sort of thing before, particularly for West Brom supporters, as that's our team," Chris explained the company's ongoing efforts with multiple charities. "But this is much bigger than football rivalry. It's about supporting charity and a high profile player."

 "The press are all over it. There'll be plenty of photos in the local and national press. Match of the Day and Sky Sports should cover it. It's been like wildfire," he told us. "The company started by trailing this at a West Brom game and the press picked up on it, which gave us inspiration to launch the business."

What good can your business do

"More businesses should get involved with charity work. It raises your profile, especially if it's a visual product," says Chris. "Take a look around. There are plenty of charities out there that need supporting. They're very keen for businesses to get involved. If you can choose a charity that's related to your product, get involved because it's not all about giving away your profits, it's about raising your profile as well."

Due to this stunt, come this Sunday, Mask-arade will sit alongside the race for the Champion's League as the most exciting story on the last weekend of Premiership action. A true example of doing well by doing good.

0-5 seconds: Sum your business up in a sentence

A luxury interior design firm which works with a wide range of clients from high profile individuals to businesses in both the UK and abroad.

5-10 seconds: What's the business model?

Working with residential and corporate clients across Britain, Europe, Africa, America and the Middle East, to provide bespoke interior designs for a range of budgets.

10-15 seconds: Who are your competitors?

High end developers and investment banks (we also help foreign clients seek our properties in the UK). However, what gives us a clear advantage however is being able to advise on property investment as well as on how to make the property look great too.

15-20 seconds: What's your USP?

Tailor-made designs - it might sound simple but I listen to what the client wants and make my recommendations based on this, not what I want to do. I've heard many reports of people who have ended up with something to cater to their designer's ego rather than their vision - which to me is unacceptable.

I also personally oversee every project.

20-25 seconds: How have you funded it so far?

We had a small private investment to get things off the ground but other than that the firm has been funded by myself.

25-30 seconds: What were you doing before?

Studying interior design at university and raising my young son.

30-35 seconds: Where did the idea come from?

I'd always been passionate about interior design and extensively studied the subject both in the UK and my native Egypt. After completing a few projects for friends and family, I decided I wanted to make a career out of it, launching the firm shortly after.

35-40 seconds: What's the smartest thing you've done so far?

Deciding I wanted to launch a business and making it happen. I think too many people deliberate and scare themselves into doing nothing. I decided I wanted to launch the business and just went for it.

40-45 seconds: What's the stupidest?

To wait until now to open an office in Los Angeles. I have some really good US connections and there is so much opportunity for the business over there and I regret not doing this sooner, hopefully now we can get a foothold in the American market.

45-50 seconds: If your business was a biscuit, what would it be?

My business is named after my childhood love for galaxy chocolate so it'd have to be something like a chocolate digestive. Exciting and stylish but with a solid base.

50-55 seconds: Which idea are you a bit jealous of?

There isn't one business idea in particular that I'm jealous of but I do get envious if a competitor has a similar idea to mine and manages to get it to market first. People can have similar ideas but in this industry it's essential to get it to the customer first.

55-60 seconds: Where are you going to be in 12 months' time?

I plan to double Galaxy Stars existing client base. We've got a lot of interesting projects in the pipeline including working in partnership with housing developers to design show homes for high-end housing developments - which is a really exciting opportunity for the business as well as working with high end hotels.

For more information check out - www.galaxystars.co.uk

What are the Conservatives looking for in a winner?

Someone who has spotted a new opportunity with a product or service which meets a need that isn't being met and has an original idea that is really exciting. That's more important than the size of the business. It's the quality of the idea, the business plan and the potential that we're looking for.

The business can't be more than three years old, but it could be at any stage before that. We're looking for anything that isn't being done somewhere else. Last year we choose winners who had designed a new concept for high heeled shoes that was revolutionary; it was only a year old but was already exporting international.

Why should start-ups enter the competition?

Past winners have been given exposure to people at the conference, which included a lot of media and a lot of investors. One of the sponsors of the conference is the British Venture Capital Association and their representatives will be there to meet the winners.

The long term benefits come from the contacts people have made at the conference.

What do you think makes a successful business?

 It's a combination of a well thought through business plan, a real passion for what you're going to do and a belief that it is going to work. All that, and a well researched idea that's meeting a need others aren't is vital.

What businesses does Britain need to see more of?

The interesting thing about the period since the recession is the role start ups are playing. There are more businesses trading than ever before. There are a lot of people who, because of the recession, have decided to go it alone with their business.

There are sectors in the economy that are going to be important for the country in the future, particularly tech, creative and digital, pharmaceuticals and engineering, these are all important for the economy.

But any business that can succeed in a difficult market and can create jobs is something we need. We want to see more business creating jobs and succeeding. That's what this competition is about. We're helping businesses get to the next level.

What else are the conservatives doing to help start-ups reach the next level?

One initiative for smaller businesses is the seed enterprise investment scheme. That's a great way to attract investment from an individual. It's often hard for start-ups to convince people with money to believe in them and this really helps them.

Regional growth funds are also there to help established and new businesses by given them grants and loans to support their business. In my constituency, the growth fund is giving out a lot of money to help businesses expand and create jobs.

To apply to join the Conservative Party Start-Up Hub and get the chance to present at the conference, click here.

The opening of this week's episode of The Apprentice appeared more like an eviction night on Big Brother 7 than a BBC programme about Britain's business elite. With Luisa playfully painting Jordan's toenails, Natalie and Alex racing to answer the phone (it's a recorded message and really not that exciting - not that I was ever up early enough to answer it). And last but not least, Myles in a thong (yes… really).

An eyebrow raising opener then before the teams were whizzed off to the Angel Building, which is a fantastic office space I have had the pleasure of visiting myself. The task this week was to design a storage space solution but in the field of flat-pick furniture. Nice work from the producers.

So the candidates are whisked away from the pleasure of peering into Lord Sugar's nostrils, the last time they will do that until faced with him once more in a plumped up chair across the boardroom table.

Brainstorming

Thus begins the team's brainstorming session, to give you some sort of perspective on this, we had exactly 45 minutes on our product design task last year to conjure some ideas. Anyone who has partaken in brainstorming sessions, which is almost everyone, will know how difficult it is to agree on a good idea in such a short amount of time. I know some solutions are inexcusably ridiculous but this is why on The Apprentice you always end up with products that are either 'multi-functional' or solve problems that don't exist.

Take last year's multi-purpose composter for this year's multi-purpose plastic cube. The ingenuity of last year's bath shield that solved the problem of water getting splashed in the bath, was only matched in originality by this year's chair which solves the problem of not having a chair.

The boys team, lead by Jordan, smelled half a good idea from Alex and decide to run with it. In these tasks essentially you have two fall guys, typically the ideas man and the salesman. So when someone enthusiastically wants to run with something it's best to let them do so and if it's half sellable, make sure you're part of the sales team. Don't do what Sophie does and do nothing (more on this later).

Over on the girl's team, led by Natalie, the creative juices overflow and the concept of the plastic container on wheels is born. To be honest with the hair, styling and makeup from the girls this year I wasn't exactly surprised to see that the aesthetics of their product was somewhat overlooked. Kudos to Rebecca though who was the only one on the girl's team who noticed their product wasn't very good.

So onto the sales, and the girls were up against it trying to shift any of their grey plastic wheelie-box debacle. And in what must be an Apprentice first, it seems that the product was so hopeless that the design team who built the prototype (and are blooming marvellous) left a note saying they weren't able to finish it off…or couldn't be bothered, you make your minds up. 

Jordan, as PM makes the risky decision to not be in the big pitches with the companies that will inevitably make or break winning the task. Not the best strategy and especially dangerous if they lose, but their superior product made this one all a bit inevitable despite some valiant selling from the girl's sub-team by Leah and Francesca.

I don't think this task was won or lost on superior pitches or salespeople, I think this was simply down to a poor product. Unfortunately the girl's had the thankless task trying to sell large quantities of their product into department or catalogue stores.

The board room

The boys, having been tantalised X-Factor style by Karen's boardroom delivery of the results, won by a huge margin and were understandably ecstatic. In a hugely dissimilar vein Karen did the opposite to our team last year in the gym class episode, teased us by telling us that Virgin Active 'hated' our idea but saw sales potential resulting in a victory.

The relief after countless hours of worrying, sitting and waiting in reception is phenomenal when you've won and you just can't get out of the boardroom quick enough.

Back to the girls and regardless of the sales ability this was lost because of design and product development. Rightly, Uzma and Sophie are brought back in by Project Manager Natalie.

Uzma, firstly for claiming she can design, knows about trends and has an eye for aesthetics - when she clearly doesn't. And Sophie for not doing much at all really. Once in the firing line however Uzma does what all good Apprentice candidates do in this situation and rolls up her sleeves and fights - which is the opposite to what Sophie does.

Ultimately, Sophie pays the wallpaper price for sitting in the background and not really doing a lot. This mirrored the third firing of our series last year when Michael Cobb saw the chop after three anonymous task performances. 

You could argue that actually in this task Uzma deserved to go for her failings more than Sophie. However at this stage in the competition Lord Sugar wants to see more from the candidates even if it is misplaced, rather than seeing nothing at all. 

Hero of the week:

Francesca MacDuff-Varley - bouncing back from a calamitous performance last week by actually selling some plastic cubes on wheels.

Villain of the week:

Zeeshan Shah - has 'next to go' scribbled all over his forehead. His edit has been far from kind, only highlighting his inability to back up his big claims.

Tom's been busy since the show finished last year. He's founder of Cult Wines, check out his business here.

As a small business owner, you can make as many plans as you like and set as many deadlines as possible, but there'll always be times when your cashflow just isn't as free as you want it to be. It's at those times when you can get hit by huge late payment charges and, at worst, have to dive out of a business that could have gone on to be incredible.

But what's the answer if unexpected costs or uncooperative customers can't be predicted? You need a safety net, people there to offer additional defence when all your own efforts are exhausted. Luckily, you have a readymade team for the cashflow battle, and it's made up of your mentor, your accountant and your bank. They can probably offer much more than you expect.

Your Mentor

Every member of your team is important and has something unique to offer, but no one will have more knowledge to pass on about your cashflow than your mentor. If you don't have a mentor yet, the King definitely recommends getting one. After all, who'll give you advice when I'm not around?

Find out how to get a business mentor here.

A mentor is a powerful ally because they've probably faced every problem you're scared of before. They'll be able to tell you about the challenges you never even thought of and be on hand to warn you of any cashflow mistakes you could be making day by day.

Your mentor is the front line of your team, helping you dodge the trappings of restricted cashflow with their own experience. Make sure you learn every lesson well because when you become a cash flow master, it'll be your turn to mentor an entrepreneur down the path of secure cashflow.

Your Accountant

An accountant is a wise sage. While your mentor will be able to offer their experience and advice, even they will be oblivious to the nuances and particular details of cashflow that accountants are well versed in.

When you have an accountant you can trust, they'll be able to reassure you the decisions you make with your money won't pull the plug on your cashflow reserves. Can you afford to hire that new employee? Is now the right time to stock up on your resources? Your accountant will have the answers.

Your Bank

Your bank is the last line of defence that needs to understand your cashflow before its in trouble. Don't wait until you're desperate to sit talk to them, do it now so they know you're reliable. Tell them your current position, what you're doing to ensure your business' safety.

Once you've done this, the bank will be far more likely to help if you come knocking. Most banks will offer very low cost loans for when your cashflow needs propping up, as long as they know it is a safe bet and the terms have been agreed in advance.

Your bank is your goalkeeper, the one who, if all goes to plan, shouldn't have to do much at all. But it's always worth finding out the costs of a pre-agreed loan and comparing that to the huge late payment fines some companies force on their customers. You'll soon see what the smart last resort is.