Small Business Assignment 1

Small Businesses Assignment 1 - M1302204

Team 17 Games 

Team 17 is a British Video Game Developer and they are known for the Video Game series "Worms".

They were found back in 1990 and was founded by a guy called Martyn Brown who I believe still owns them. The company headquarters is from Ossett, West Yorkshire.

You can buy their products from their website and also from the Mac App Store. You could probably buy from the Xbox or Playstation Store, As well as Steam

You can tell it is a gaming company because of the background because its game related and the fact that "games" is one of the pages on the site that you can click on. It was all the games they have worked on like Worms on the homepage towards the bottom.

The Creative Director is the key person during the game development process, overseeing any high-level decisions that affect how the game plays, looks or sounds. Not all game companies employ Creative Directors. Some companies prefer to continue to split the duties between a game's Lead Artists, Lead Programmers, Designers and Producers. They are responsible for the overall look and feel of a computer game. The position is a relatively new one within the games industry. It has evolved out of the producer's role, which has shifted towards managing the process of completing a game on time and on budget.

In contrast, the Creative Director's focus is on ensuring the quality and style of the gameplay, artwork, music and audio assets that make up the final product. In many cases, the Creative Director is also the creator of the original game concept and characters, and so makes sure that the finished game fulfils the initial goals.


Sketch Films

Sketch Films is a small film production company that produce film for clients such a Water Aid and Asda. Sketch films does alot of films for charity which they most likely do for free. They would get their profit from their Clients that they work on films for  and also they do a Kit for hire which lets other people or new businesses in film borrow their kit for money.

The Management is straight forward they have:

Jeremy Riggall - Owner of Sketch Films/Director

Jeremy started out as a floor runner on the feature film ‘Waking Ned’. He co-founded the short film network Future Shorts and then moved into documentaries producing for Channel 4 and Current TV. He is the founder of Sketch and is a self-shooting director.

Jason Brooks - Producer/Director

Jason is a highly experienced self-shooting director and editor. He edited the feature doc ‘Addicted in Afghanistan’ and has filmed all the over the world. Recently Jason directed films for NGO Muslim Aid.

Christian Jaroljmek - Digital Producer

Christian is a talented digital producer, overseeing all of Sketch’s design output. Previously he worked as a commercials producer in Africa before heading back to London and starting his own digital web studio serving corporate clients and NGOs.

Jon Hurley - Director of Photography

Jon is a Director of Photography on films, commercials and corporate films working on a wide variety of formats and projects. He assisted and trained under award winning members of the British Society of Cinematographers which has led to a capable, creative and mature way of working. His work appears across a range of media platforms including mainstream BBC television, ITV, online and on the big screen.

All four of them have good experience with popular and bigger companies like Channel 4 and The BBC, ITV to make their own small business like they have and make Sketch Film very successful and profitable which is what you want typically in a business.

Small Business - Legal and Financial Aspects

Small Business - Financial & Legal Aspects

The Legal Status of Small Business


Sole Trader is when one person controls the business but may also employ workers such as convenient stores or individuals that provide special service such as Photography and Hairdressers are counted as Sole traders. Sole traders do not have a separate legal existence from their owner. As a result, the owners are personally liable for the firm's debts, and may have to pay them out of their own pocket.

Partnership - A legal form of business operation between two or more individuals who share management and profits. The federal government recognize several types of partnerships. The two most common are general and limited partnerships.


Legal Aspects of Small Business


Laws - Commercial law, also known as business law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and businesses engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law.

Health & Safety - Health and safety law is a body of law that protects the safety of the general public and certain populations such as employee's. Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Often referred to as HASAW or HSW, this Actof Parliament is the main piece of UK health and safety legislation. It places a duty on all employers "to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work" of all their employees.

The tax liabilities of small businesses

How much tax you need to pay? for standard capital tax you will need to pay 10% to 18% amount of tax and if you have higher capital gains then you will need to pay 20% to 28% to pay for tax according to the government. 

Financial Systems Suitable from Small Business 

Record Keeping - The law does not say how you must keep your records. You need to keep some original documents which show that tax has been deducted.. it is  recommended that you keep all original documents you receive. Most records can be kept electronically (on a computer or any storage device such as disk, CD, memory stick) as long as it is documented.

Credit control 

Credit Control is a strategy employed by manufacturers and retailers to promote good credit. This will both increase sales and decrease bad debts, also improving a company's cash flow. Credit control is an important component in the overall profitability of many firms.


Unwarranted Debt may be a serious strain on the company and could lead to company failure. Many SMEs have failed due to unsatisfactory Debt Collection processes or procedures. During the credit crunch many businesses experienced a serious credit risk and severely curtailed extension of credit to partner firms and businesses. Even though the current situation is much less severe credit extension remains a key, pivotal role in business management.

Debt collectors generally is a person or a company that regularly collects debts owed to others, usually when those debts are past- due. Debt collectors include collection agencies or lawyers
who collect debts as part of their business.

How to make sure you will pay your debt in time:

Clearly set your expectations
2. Make it easy to be paid
3. Credit check new customers
4. Encourage prompt payment
5. Have a clear procedure for credit control
6. Don’t be afraid to take action
7. Treat credit control as an important job every week