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Posted: Wed 23rd Sep 2026
8 min read
When Nigel Cumberland sold his Hong Kong recruitment firm to FTSE-listed Hays in 2006, he thought he understood what it took to build a successful business.
Then he came back to the UK during COVID, and discovered a very different landscape.
Nigel, author of the newly published 100 Things Successful Startups Do, says:
"I've set up companies in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai.
"In those places, governments never gave the impression they had a problem with revenue. There wasn't this constant pressure on taxation.
"Coming back to the UK, it's suffocating and off-putting."
After two decades coaching entrepreneurs across the globe and building multiple businesses himself (including ventures as diverse as a chiropractic clinic and a broadband-through-powerline startup in Indonesia), Nigel has a unique perspective on what makes start-ups succeed or fail.
His new book distils those lessons into practical advice for the 96% of British businesses that are micro-enterprises employing fewer than 10 people.
But he's increasingly concerned that the very people who should be driving Britain's economic growth are being held back by barriers that simply don't exist elsewhere.
After coaching hundreds of founders and analysing countless start-ups, Nigel has identified the fundamentals that separate success from failure.
"The number of people I meet who say, 'Yeah, I'm thinking of leaving my corporate job, I'm thinking of starting my own business,'" Nigel says.
"I ask how long they've been thinking about it. If people would just find a way of getting started, even in their spare time, we'd have so many more start-ups."
Waiting for perfect conditions means waiting forever. Apple started in a garage; Airbnb started with air mattresses in a flat.
"I've noticed so many entrepreneurs overspending," Nigel observes.
"The number of people who got their tax wrong is astonishing. Someone in Belgium wasn't charging VAT properly across Europe; someone else didn't realise their revenues meant they should be VAT-registered in the UK."
With AI now making expensive marketing materials, websites and prototypes unnecessary, there's even less excuse for burning cash.
This might sound counterintuitive, but Nigel is adamant:
"People think they need to make this big leap, but starting in your spare time, validating your idea first, that's how you reduce risk."
The government's proposed plans to tax side hustles through PAYE from 2029 would make this significantly harder.
Here's where Nigel's international experience becomes telling:
"In Dubai, hiring someone is a no-brainer. Simple 15-17% tax, clear expense rules, no national insurance complications.
"People who came from the UK with jobs became self-employed. Easy."
In the UK?
"When you want to start hiring people, the gulf, the step-up in terms of cost and process, is enormous. I'm paying an accountant over £3,000 to £4,000 a year for things I never needed help with anywhere else in the world," he notes.
"I think we should say up to 25 years old; you should be able to hire them without National Insurance, without the same tax burden," Nigel argues.
"Prove it's a real job, prove you're paying them more than minimum wage so they can actually live, and the government should be happy, because you're stopping that person needing universal credit."
Right now, restaurants that used to train young people are hiring experienced staff instead, because the cost is the same.
"The minimum wage increase backfired. Young people can't compete with experienced workers at the same price point," he continues.
Nigel sees artificial intelligence as a game-changer for small businesses, but not in the way you might think.
He says:
"AI can actually help kickstart businesses, reduce the need for expensive outsourcing.
"I used to outsource design work to the Philippines and India. Now AI tools do it cheaper and faster."
But he's realistic about the risks:
"I've had people produce slide decks using AI that look similar and are full of detail but don't make sense. For a big multinational, inefficiency doesn't matter.
"But when you're a small business, and this is your big pitch of the month? You can't afford to get it wrong."
His advice?
"Be AI-proficient yourself. If you hire anyone, make sure they're AI-proficient too. But don't just rely on it blindly."
100 Things Successful Startups Do, published by John Murray Business, isn't trying to be the next Richard Branson autobiography.
"I wrote it almost as a guide," Nigel explains.
"Skim the book, see what you think you struggle with, what you've got right or wrong, then let's talk. Rather than those emphatic 'here are the five secrets to success' approaches."
Each of the 100 chapters follows the same format: one page on why something matters, one page on how to do it.
Topics range from "Start today, not tomorrow" and "Bootstrap like every penny is your last" to "Don't quit your day job too soon" and "Your startup may fail."
"When you listen to famous entrepreneurs speak, it can be daunting if you're just starting out," Nigel says.
"My book is meant to be practical, down-to-earth, prompting people to think, 'Okay, maybe I should make an effort.'"
After spending years in entrepreneurial hubs like Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore, Nigel returned to the UK convinced that the country is missing a trick.
"The UK could become seen as a hub for start-ups," he says.
"It's achievable. But right now, if you're a young person who wants to set up a company, they're put off by what seems complicated, expensive, and full of tax to deal with."
With 62% of 18-24 year-olds now saying they expect to start a business at some point in their career, perhaps it's time the government listened to people like Nigel who've seen how it works elsewhere.
"The economy can only really grow with lots of SMEs," he says.
"The multinationals are going to hire fewer and fewer people. We need more start-ups. And we need to make it easier, not harder, for them to succeed."
