Exchanging Thoughts

Barclays encourages small businesses to ‘Have Your Say’

I came across an interesting article on Times Online - admittedly dubbed an ‘Advertisement Feature’ – which contained some interesting news for small businesses.

The article highlights the new ‘Have Your Say’ scheme, devised by Barclays, which aims to provide help and support to small businesses during tough times.

The article states:

“Barclays now wants to understand what it’s like to own a small business in 2009 so it can help by providing extra support with the issues of the day.”

To start this programme, Barclays will be issuing a nationwide questionnaire to gauge opinions of those working in small businesses across the UK. The key questions Barclays want answered are

“What is it like to be a small business in 2009? What are the main things on business owners’ minds? What opportunities are there? And what skill gaps do businesses feel they have?”

Although filled with some rather obvious advertising slogans which make me question the credibility of this ‘article’,  the programme does appear to be useful and helpful for any small businesses feeling the strain during the current financial troubles.

As the article states, the programme aims to “tap into the mindset of the small business sector”. I feel this is what makes it stand out against other schemes and programmes which didn’t work so well in the past. Barclays want to create two way conversation in order to fully understand and get into the heads of those working in small businesses, which means messages and advice can be personally tailored to specific problems and therefore much more effective. 

Technorati Tags: banking, business advice, barclays, have your say

Nothing newsworthy in the budget

The budget plans last week certainly caused a stir in the media, but how are small businesses reacting to the news?

Many have been critical of the plans highlighted in the budget and it’s been labelled as far too optimistic. Real Business’ finance and banking section explored the implications the news has on individuals and businesses.

FC Exchange Managing Director Nick Fullerton writes:

"While some of these measures will benefit low-carbon companies and new technology start-ups, they will do little to restore business and consumer confidence and stimulate economic activity.

"Although the long-term unemployed will benefit from investment in job creation and training from 2010, nothing has been done to help businesses retain their existing skilled workforce, which continues to be decimated as a result of the recession.

"While welcoming changes to capital allowances and loss relief, the reality is that these will have only provide limited benefit to smaller businesses.”

Real Business also quote RKP Tax Partner Paul Webb. “It’s disappointing – there’s nothing tangible in there for small businesses but what did we expect?”

However, as part of these new plans came news that will benefit SMEs, as a scheme to help small businesses has been extended to November 2010. Times Online reported that the Loss Carry Back Scheme aims to give small businesses the opportunity to claim back tax paid on previous years’ profit:

“The Treasury said the carry-back scheme would help an expected 140,000 businesses, which will claim an average £4,000. The scheme allows companies to reclaim taxes on profits made in the past three years by “carrying back” losses of up to £50,000.

Small companies will apply through the Government’s Payment Support Service to receive rebates paid in profitable years.”

The feedback to this news has been very positive and will certainly help with smaller business cash flow. However, David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, commented that

"The Chancellor could have considered increasing the £50,000 carry-back limit to really make a difference.”

The truth is, only a magician could have created a budget which stimulated growth and made inroads to clawing back some of our national debt.

I hope Darling’s optimistic view becomes apparent, but I have a feeling we will be seeing tax increases very soon.

Technorati Tags: business advice, small business advice, financial, budget

Pitch your ideas to Richard Branson and Virgin’s Business Class

I’ve written a post before about Dragon’s Den style pitching online, but now Richard Branson has jazzed up this phenomenon Virgin style and is giving budding entrepreneurs the chance to gain good exposure for their business ideas.

To hail Virgin’s 25th anniversary celebrations, entrepreneurs in search of both business and exposure are invited to submit short video pitches to the Virgin team. After a vote from its online community, the favourite pitches will be placed on PitchTV, which is a channel aired onboard Virgin flights and available online.

This seems like a great idea and opportunity to get your own ideas heard by some of the top business professionals who travel with Virgin. And, if any of the passengers are interested, they can personally get in touch to offer any form of help or advice.

Richard Branson writes in a recent blog post:

When I was starting out, I wish I could have had the chance to pitch my business ideas directly to people who could help make my ambitions a reality. We can now make that happen for you.

If you’re interested in this idea then simply film yourself delivering the pitch for no longer than two minutes and upload your video here.

With an increasing amount of people communicating online and sharing their ideas, why not make use of to get ahead in the business world?

I think this is another very clever idea from Mr Branson because if there is a truly brilliant idea shared on this platform, I have no doubt his team will be in direct contact pretty quickly.

Technorati Tags: Virgin, Richard Branson, Business Advice

Eight ways to keep your team engaged

With the current economic situation, and companies struggling to survive, many are looking to make staff redundant as a way of cutting costs. I was interested to read an article in Management Today, that highlights ways in which to keep staff engaged and motivated. With the view to improve staff morale and productivity, and in a bid to keep staff onside within the business.

The article outlined eight ways to keep staff engaged:

1. Show that you have a plan – A way of showing people that you are confident and are prepared to show leadership through the difficult period. By emphasising the things that you can do, and not dwelling on negative aspects.
2. Be open but be realistic –You need to tell staff what is happening and how you plan to resolve any issues that arise. But don’t give them false hope, as this will only lead to disappointment in the end.
3. Do it in person – Communicating to staff face-to-face, will build employee confidence in your ability to survive the situation. Use management that work with the staff on a daily basis, because there tends to be greater trust and confidence in them, rather than more senior managers that are rarely seen.
4. Involve your people – In difficult times, staff like to feel like what they are doing has some meaningful contribution, and that they are actually making a difference to the company.
5. Show your compassion – If the need arises for you to make people redundant, you need to show that you have looked to other alternatives before redundancy, this will also improve the confidence of the remaining staff.
6. Redefine success – Don’t allow staff to be blamed for situations and outcomes that are out of their control. By setting achievable targets and goals, it can lead to greater success for staff.
7. Offer recognition – Show staff that you appreciate the work that they are doing. Whether this is through employee of the month schemes or simply telling an employee that they have done well.
8. Keep on celebrating – Congratulate all success, whether it is a case of gaining new business or a team member winning an award. Staff will perform better if they feel that their achievements are recognised.

The article also highlights things to say and not say to staff, when you are trying to engage and motivate them.

“Do say: 'We will be honest and open with our people, and show them the way forward, but we will also be realistic about our prospects during this downturn.'

Don't say: 'We're all doomed.'”

The suggestions that are made are in regard to the current economic climate, but they can easily be applied to everyday business situations, as a way of keeping employees engaged and motivated, whilst at work.

A further article in Management Today that may be of interest, when addressing the issue of engaging staff is; The Next Steps: Engagement - Views on engagement.

Technorati Tags: Management Today,Staff motivation,engaging staff.

The Nectar Small Business Awards are open

I thought this might be of interest to you if you fancy making a noise about your business. Basically, the Nectar Small Business Awards are officially open. If you are a UK based small-medium sized company you can enter now.

The aim of the awards is to acknowledge great ideas, achievements and the best practise within companies. There are three categories for the awards:

• Small Business of the Year
• Start Up Business of the Year
• Entrepreneur of the Year

The awards will be judged by a panel of business experts, including Karen Hanton, founder and CEO of www.toptable.co.uk.

Winners of each award will win a £2,000 cash prize and 50,000 Nectar points. The winners will get recognition and the opportunity to strengthen their relationships with potential clients.

If you fancy it all you have to do is check the criteria for the awards @ the Nectar website. The deadline for entries is 18th May 2009. 

For anymore business related award opportunities, visit the National Business Awards website. It has regional and national categories – so could be worth giving them a go too.

Can small firms benefit from deflation?

Deflation is not good – I think we all know that but Small Business has recently written an interesting post about how small firms can actually benefit from it because of reduced costs in many areas. Hmm, I think I need convincing on this one.

According to the latest Business Inflation Guide, the cost of running an SME is now cheaper than it has been in years which is a little bit of good news in these dark times.

Small Business writes:

“According to the research, costs for enterprises fell by 2.9 per cent across the UK in the last quarter of 2008, with the northern regions seeing the greatest decrease of 3.8 per cent.

“The inflation guide, which measures the cost of 20 items commonly purchased by small businesses, shows that there has been an 18.3 per cent decline in fuel prices, an 11.5 per cent cut in raw materials and a 2.8 per cent reduction in insurance.”

This is also emphasised by Moneywise writer Rebecca Atkinson who suggests that continued deflation could actually “boost incomes and confidence”.

However, I should stress that there are only certain groups of people who will benefit, in her post Rebecca goes on to comment:

“Falling prices technically mean your money goes further. But this only applies if you don't have any debt and your income is fixed.”

Deflation is not exactly good news because it occurs when demand is low and markets are badly weakened. Only certain groups will benefit from it and it’s important to remember that there will be far more negative consequences for the rest of us in the long run. All we can do is hope it doesn’t last too long and cause too much damage.

My top five importing and exporting tips

As the pound is at a huge low at the moment it has created an opportunity for British businesses and that opportunity is exporting. Helen referred to it last week when she commented:

“The Euro and the Dollar are both giving a golden opportunity to British exporters. At around 1.12 to the pound, the Euro is still some 10% stronger than its 2008 average, making our goods and services attractive to the European market.”

To be honest importing and exporting (IMEX) can be a rather tricky business with many laws in place to protect consumers and promote at home manufacturing. Because of this I have decided to pull together my top five tips for businesses interested in exporting to help make the whole process a little less daunting. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few hints to get you started:

1. Start Small

Amongst their tips about exporting success, morebusiness begin with the great advice to start small.

“Pick a product that you're interested in and the next time you have some vacation time, go to a country that makes that product, buy some of that product and bring it home and shop it around.”

By evaluating which products are popular on a small scale at first, you’re less likely to regret any decisions you make. The idea of testing out the waters before making a big leap seems very logical, particularly when first starting out in exporting.

2. Do your research

You’ll need to contact all the necessary associations to find out if there are any special requirements for your products to be exported. A useful start is the British Exporters Association where you can download some key documents and read up about the regulations.

3. Never underestimate the importance of planning

A tutor once said to me “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and I have to admit this rings true in many situations. Before entering any market you need to find out exactly what’s going on, how you will fit and most importantly, how you will stand out against your competitors.

4. Take advantage of the internet

As a blogger, you’d expect me to point out the importance of creating an online presence when exporting. Try to develop a website, which will not only represent your company and products but can save you time and money.

But, if you’d rather wait before you take that step towards a website, there are numerous free online trade boards, import-export directories, forums, etc which you should become familiar with.

Morebusiness suggests looking particularly at alibaba to help put you in touch with manufacturers and suppliers of the products you want, or find an online directory for the country you're looking at exporting from.

5. Don't try too much at the beginning and don’t grow too fast

Australian export website, Export61 present some interesting export tutorials and end with some useful information to bring you back down to earth:

“It’s important to only concentrate on one market at a time, moving on to the next only after succeeding in the last. Wait until cash flow is good enough to justify your expansion.”

In the current economic climate it makes sense to take advantage of opportunities but also be extremely cautious and take things slowly, especially if you’re new to the industry.

**Warning – blatant client promotion** And finally, for my sixth tip, 4X provides a great service for those of you starting out in importing and exporting, as its service is an easy, instant and price transparent way to convert your currency and pay any foreign suppliers. I did warn you.

Technorati Tags: 4X Currency,Exporting tips,export61

An online Dragon’s Den is launched for business ideas

When having a read through my feeds earlier on today, I came across a post on a US blog College Start up, which discussed the latest venture of billionaire Mark Cuban. He has come up with his own answer to President Obama’s Stimulus plan: create his own.

Taking not only his, but other people’s future in to his own hands, Cuban is offering people the opportunity to upload their business plans and get feedback and advice. It’s a kind of online Dragon’s Den. He has some rules users must follow, but it looks like a great way to open the door for investment and advice:

1. It can be an existing business or a start up

2. It cannot be a business that generates any revenue from advertising because he wants this to be a business where you sell something and get paid for it. That’s the only way to get and stay profitable in such a short period of time

3. It must be profitable within 90 days

5. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you don’t make your numbers, the funding stops

6. You must demonstrate as part of your plan that you sell your product or service for more than what it costs you to produce, fully encumbered

7. Everyone must work. The organisation is completely flat. There are no employees reporting to managers. There is the founder/owners and everyone else

8. You must post your business plan on his blog, or you can post it on slideshare.com , scribd.com or google docs, all completely public for anyone to see and/or download

9. He makes no promises that if your business is profitable, that he will invest more money. Once you get the initial funding you are on your own

10. He will make no promises that he will be available to offer help. If he wants to, he will. If not, he won’t

11. If you do get money, it goes into a bank that he specifies, and he has the ability to watch the funds flow

12. In your business plan make sure to specify how much equity he will receive or how he will get a return on his money

13. No multi-level marketing programs

Once the company ideas are uploaded, Cuban considers which he is willing to fund and publicises the lucky business plans through his blog. He believes that the generation of new ideas and “the next big thing” is the only way in which the economy and business in general can look to improve.

It is great to see an entrepreneur using the current situation as a route to encourage other individuals with ideas to step forward and create their own business ventures that would boost employment and profitability. I also think it’s a clever way to invest in good strong business ideas.

Technorati Tags: Mark Cuban,College Start Up

Making your small business website more effective

The guys over at Blogtrepreneur recently wrote a post about how vital it is that your business website stands out against all the millions of others out there, ensuring it can easily be found in searches and hopefully guaranteeing future success. The days of ‘build it and they will come’ have now well and truly gone.

It is critical to remember that your website is often the first point of contact between yourself and a potential client. Therefore, it’s essential that it is professional, consistent and tells the customer everything they would want to know about your company. If you  write the content in a certain manner it can also sometimes help to give your company or brand a personality.

Martin Zwilling, author of Startup Professional, emphasised this in a recent post:

“These days, if your startup does not have an Internet web site up and running, you are not ready for business or potential investors. Customers go there to check on the details of your offerings, investors look there to check out your management and sales approach, partners go there to see how they might fit, and suppliers expect to find contact information.”

In the Blogtrepreneur post, a few key points were highlighted and one of these was a strong design. Although content is extremely important the way a website looks is obviously bound to have a massive impact on potential clients. For instance, if a website looks poor I often decide not to use that particular supplier because if they can’t get their own ship in order – how are they going to help me?

I also think that the key to good website design is consistency. It is critical that the content and overall tone of the website are mirrored by its design, something which is often overlooked.

However, my key tip for establishing a strong online presence and future success is to illicit two-way conversation, which also needs to reflect this consistency and the business’ key values.

A dialogue with your customers creates and often maintains stronger relationships with current and potential clients. Therefore, a blog (like this one), forum or even just a comments section on your pages is important to begin this engagement process.

Dave Starr, author of Retired Pay World, adds his own opinion on small business blogs:

“The number one thing I observe with most small business blogs is, they talk too much about who they are and far too little about what problems they can solve for the customer”

I agree with this, the extra focus on your customers is imperative, as it adds a new dimension to your relationships with them which can often be lost when it comes to just writing your website copy. A blog gives you the opportunity to humanise your company and give your brand a personality. You only have to read Helen’s posts to realise that.

I hope to follow this topic up with a future post about the specifics of integrating social media and how it can help your business online in the not too distant future.

My five top internet tips to improve your business

The internet is awash with information and it’s a great place for you to improve your business efficiency for nothing.

Everyone knows Google holds the key to most information finding, but it can be top heavy with sponsored links and cleverly SEO’d eBook sellers – so I thought it might be useful to save you a bit of time by sharing my top five tips for using the internet to improve your business.

1. Sign up to LinkedIn – it’s like Facebook, but for businesses. It’s a great place to recruit (saving you the huge recruitment fees you’d usually face) and you can use it as a business support network. It’s a community of likeminded people, so you’ll get out of it exactly what you put into it. Network with other new business leaders, the huge corporate leaders and potential partners and customers
2. Skype – I love this tool, it provides one-2-one video calling completely free. This means if you have employees on the road working from home you can stay in touch for next to nothing. Many of our calls at work are long distance as we have clients all around the world. Skype calls can be free if the calls are done completely over the internet or much cheaper and it allows users to roam around and not be tied to a land-line. You just need a headset plugged into your computer and away you go
3. Get into Google. Google is the fastest single way to find where your customers are, what they’re talking about and what they think of your product. The most useful advice I can give you as a professional communicator is to listen. If you have a web presence you can do this using a free analytics service such as Google Analytics as you can track your sites most popular pages and see how people get to your site which can help you tailor it to be more effective for selling your product or service.
4. Yammer - Yammer is a private social network for companies that want to stay in touch with each other. If you have team members working in different rooms or on different sites it’s a great way to stay in touch easily. Each user is given a profile displaying their photo, title, expertise and background. Yammer then asks a question: “What are you working on?”. It basically acts like a discussion board for your company. You can post a status update; ask a question; shares news, links, opinions, and information.
5. Speed up your news - Download and install an RSS (really simple syndication) reader like FeedDemon (download here) or Google Reader (sign-up here). It acts like a personalised newspaper – when you’re on a website, if you see the image on the right then you can add the websites news updates to your newspaper. The best things to sign up for are news websites (the BBC, FT, The Guardian etc), corporate blogs (with the top ten here, and listed below) and obviously our blog, here
• These blogs should give you the inside view on some of the world’s larger corporations:
  1. The Google blog
  2. The LinkedIn blog
  3. The whole foods blog
  4. The eBay blog
  5. The Wal-Mart blog
  6. General Motors blog
  7. Future Banking blog
  8. The McDonalds blog
  9. Amazon Daily
  10. The Cisco blog