Steer Your Business Magazine
Steer Your Business is a bimonthly business magazine for UK SME owners. It's printed, posted to subscribers, and also available digitally. Each issue runs roughly 40–60 pages and covers the kinds of topics that come up in our 1:1 coaching sessions but don't always make it into the daily content stream: long-form how-to articles, owner profiles, sector deep-dives, and practical guides on the boring-but-important parts of running a business.
The magazine is published six times a year (typically February, April, June, August, October, December) with each issue posted to subscribers in the week before publication date.
What's in each issue
Every issue follows a similar shape, with a different mix of feature articles around it.
- Owner profile (4–6 pages) — long-form interview with a real SME owner about their business, the decisions they got right, and the decisions they got wrong. Sectors rotate across issues.
- The practical feature (6–8 pages) — a deep-dive on one operational topic: hiring your first employee, dealing with HMRC, choosing accounting software, managing cash flow, exporting for the first time. Written to be useful, not aspirational.
- The strategy feature (4–6 pages) — bigger-picture thinking: scaling decisions, succession planning, exit strategies, partnership structures. Usually one piece per issue.
- Quick reads (10–15 short pieces) — book recommendations, tool reviews, regulatory updates, networking event roundups, reader letters.
- Directory pages — featured business listings from local SME directories. Listings are paid; we keep them visually distinct from editorial content.
Recent issues
A flavour of what's been in recent issues. These change over time so the page below is updated each cycle.
Hiring your first full-time employee
A practical guide from the legal and HR side: contracts, PAYE setup, pension auto-enrolment, probation periods, and the real-world experience of three SME owners who hired in 2025. Plus: an owner profile of a Kent-based marketing consultancy that scaled from solo to 6 employees in 18 months.
Cash flow through the lean months
For businesses with seasonal revenue, the Q1 cash-flow gap is the most-asked-about subject in coaching. This issue covers practical cash-flow forecasting, the right time to extend an overdraft facility, and three case studies of SMEs that survived a cash crunch.
Selling B2B without a salesperson
Most SME owners can't justify a dedicated salesperson in the first few years. This issue covered the practical alternatives: how to position consultative selling, the asynchronous side of B2B sales (email sequences, content, referrals), and when it actually does make sense to hire.
The one-page strategic plan
A practical framework for a 12-month strategic plan that fits on a single page. Plus owner profile of an East Sussex food producer who used the framework to navigate a major distributor change.
Subscriptions
Three subscription options:
- Print + digital — £42 per year (6 issues). Print copy posted to your UK address; digital PDF emailed when each issue goes to press.
- Digital only — £24 per year. PDF issue emailed every two months. Suits readers outside the UK or those who prefer to read on tablet.
- Print + digital + back catalogue — £68 (one-time). Same as the print option but with immediate access to the last 12 issues digitally. The right pick if you want to dip into past articles.
Subscriptions can be set up by emailing [email protected] with the option you'd like and your delivery address (for print).
Advertising and directory listings
The magazine carries a small amount of paid advertising — typically 4–6 quarter- or half-page ads per issue plus the directory pages at the back. We're selective about what we run; we don't accept ads from businesses we wouldn't recommend to a coaching client.
Rates: quarter page £180, half page £320, full page £580 per issue. Directory listing (50-word description) £45 per issue. Series discount of 15% for 3-issue commitments. Email for the media pack.
Pitching an article or owner profile
We commission roughly half of the feature content; the rest is written by Sally and a small editorial team. If you're an SME owner with a story worth telling (particularly a non-obvious or counterintuitive one) pitches are welcome. Email a short paragraph describing the story and your business; we'll come back if it fits.
We don't pay for pitches but we do compensate authors of commissioned features (£100–£250 depending on length). Owner profiles are interviews rather than written submissions. We do those ourselves.