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Intellectual property health check
Find out how you can use the IPO's free IP Health Check tool to help protect your intellectual property assets.
Use intellectual property to grow your business
Ways you can use intellectual property (such as brands, patents and designs) to support the growth of your business.
Is your business ready for a joint venture?
How to carry out a SWOT analysis for a potential strategic partnership and assess if you are ready to enter a joint venture.
Joint venture advantages and disadvantages
Understand the pros and cons of forming a joint venture to share resources, responsibilities and risks with another business.
Plan your joint venture relationship
How to create a fair joint venture agreement, recognise what each partner will contribute and set the right objectives for your partnership.
Tourist accommodation cancellation, charges and refunds
How to deal with guest cancellations, cancellation charges and refunds if your offer tourist accommodation.
Claiming damages when a guest cancels an accommodation booking
What you should do if a guest cancels their accommodation booking, therefore breaching a contract with you, including how to claim damages.
What if I cancel a guest's accommodation booking?
If you cancel an accommodation booking you’ve already accepted you should find them alternative accommodation or be liable for damages.
When a guest refuses the accommodation they booked
What to do if a customer refuses to accept tourist accommodation they have booked with you.
Tourist accommodation: responsibility for guest's belongings and luggage
Your responsibilities for safekeeping, and your rights to retain, your guest's belongings.
Tourist accommodation: reselling electricity, gas and utilities
The rules for reselling gas and electricity, charging for telephone calls and providing water from private supply.
Keeping a guest register in your tourist accommodation business
Why you must keep a guest register if you run a hotel, bed and breakfast, hostel or any other accommodation business, and what you need to record in it.
Data protection in tourism businesses
All tourist accommodation businesses must keep a guest register – be aware of your responsibilities to keep this data secure.
Review your business plan
What is a business planning cycle, and how often should you review your business plan to update it and set new objectives.
Make your business plan a tool for growth (video)
Video tutorial on how to use a business plan to encourage and drive growth in your business.
Using a business model to improve your business (video)
Advice to help you become more competitive by using a clear business model as part of your business plan.
What are quality management standards?
Introduction to quality management standards, their purpose and examples you can implement in your business.
Advantages of quality management systems
Key benefits of implementing ISO 9001 or another quality management system in your business to increase efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.
ISO 9001 certification
Find out about the ISO 9001 certification process, the associated costs, and what you must do to prepare for ISO 9001 certification assessment.
ISO 9001 certification costs
How to budget for an ISO 9001 project, and what types of costs to consider for QMS implementation and certification.