Many industries still ignore, or resist, their employees' needs for more flexibility, creating a disenfranchised workforce, warns chief executive of sales platform Universal Avenue Johan Lilja. With competition for skilled staff increasing and digital technologies creating opportunities for more favourable working patterns, businesses need to wake up to the fact the power is shifting.

What happens when you get together two of the world's most high-profile self-made women and ask them to share their business secrets? Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx and model turned entrepreneur Tyra Banks tell us how they've ended up exposing underwear in the bathroom and raiding savings to get ahead.

Expansion plans are already being put on hold by small enterprises following Friday's referendum result, experts have warned. Claire Burrows, founder of shoe maker Air & Grace, has just started exporting to Japan and Germany and had been looking into her 'next steps' for further exports, but she expects to put that on hold now. James Abbott, president of UK200Group, an association of advisory accountants and lawyers, said: 'The legalities of Brexit will take a good two years at least to be put in place, but there are implications in the very short term.

Do you have a business idea but need a small cash injection to get it off the ground? The Start Up Loans company could help you. Businesses that have secured funding include TextDater, a dating app that emphasises communication over looks, speciality restaurant The Yorkshire Meatball Co, healthy lolly company Claudi & Fin and kids hairdresser Shortcuts.

Confidence among small businesses across the UK has fallen to its lowest for four years, new findings reveal. Punished by uncertainty in the build up to the EU referendum, rising costs and falling profits, confidence has slumped to +4.3 per cent, down from +37.9 per cent in the same quarter last year, the Federation of Small Businesses said. With firms curbing investment and shedding staff, the FSB has urged policymakers to improve the ease of doing business post-Brexit.

Four London bicycle couriers have brought an employment tribunal against four companies they believe wrongly categorise them as being self-employed. And it could have widespread ramifications for businesses that regularly use the services of contractors.

Of all the avenues for Gareth's career to go down, this is probably not the one most people would have anticipated. But the former Pop Idol's spotted a gap in the market for a coconut-based hot drink, and now Holland & Barrett have snapped up 21,000 boxes for sale throughout the UK.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur - whether it is setting up a small business or topping up income with part-time endeavours. We speak to people who have changed their lives for the better by becoming their own boss - and look at the crucial ingredients required to help kick-start a new business.

Finding the best account for your business can be a minefield. But Moneyfacts has done the hard work for you by picking its star business and community accounts. While Co-op Bank and RBS come out on top for business banking, HSBC leads the pack for community accounts.

One-time X factor presenter Kate Thornton has had her fair share of career setbacks - but she is passionate about her new role as editor-in-chief of cashback website TBSeen. Not only is she running the site, but plenty of her celebrity friends are pitching in too.

Kenny Ewan co-founded WeFarm, a UK based social enterprise using a simple idea to help farmers protect their livelihoods. It offers a free platform for them to ask questions and share their expertise with others. This is all done via a mobile phone as very few farmers worldwide have internet access.

Famous recruitment entrepreneur James Caan reveals what he looks for in an employee, how he convinces people to join him - and why his business failures have made him who he is today. James, who is worth around £95million, also has plenty to say on what you do - and don't - want to look for in an outside investor.

When you think about starting a small business, chances are it's usually a shop or a way of selling tangible product or service. Very few people decide to open their own school. But Anita Griggs, whose family have run one of the top girls prep schools in London for 60 years, couldn't resist the opportunity to open a boys school - even if they had to raise £10million to do it.

Jacqueline Gold started out as an intern at Ann Summers in the 1970s, when it was a small chain of sex shops owned by her father. Today she's in charge. It turns over £140m a year and she is one of the richest women in the UK. In this week's Start-Up Secrets, she reveals the sexism she encountered, and why Ann Summers will never go the way of BHS.

She had a law degree, a high-flying job at an advertising agency, and a glittering career ahead of her. But Cassandra Stavrou always had a hunger for something else... making popcorn. She was handed the New Generation Award for her 'posh popcorn' brand Propercorn at the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman awards, which celebrate female entrepreneurs in Britain.

Larsson & Jennings is the new watchmaker on the block. Launched by former wealth manager Alex Jennings, it already has a number of celebrity fans, including Suki Waterhouse. The young British watchmaker is now opening a store in New York and selling to the Middle East. We found out how Alex built his business.

Commercial finance is unregulated, meaning that - unlike a personal loan - banks do not have to provide a clear APR figure. But one finance provider is putting pressure on the Government to try to change that, and has created a calculator to help SMEs to work out exactly how much they will pay.