Client/Customer Interaction

Interacting with your clients and customers face to face can be tricky when working from home, as inviting them into your living room for a cup of tea while trying to conduct business may well be personable but itâ€s unlikely to be seen as professional. There are ways around this issue however, including hiring meeting space as and when needed, renting a ‘flexi†office or premises, or simply going to them instead of them coming to you. If you are likely to need a lot of face to face interaction in your line of work or business though, working from home is unlikely to work for you.

If you decide to work from home selling items online, taking clear photographs, writing accurate descriptions, building (and advertising) great feedback and responding quickly to customer enquiries can all help to build trust between you and your target market.

Financial Matters

All self-employed workers, whether working from home or elsewhere, need to register as self-employed with HMRC and will be liable to pay tax and National Insurance contributions (above the earning threshold of £9440 for 2013/14). Whether you choose to employ an accountant or self-assess online or using the SA100 form will depend on the complexity of your business balance sheets and how strong a head you have for figures.

When it comes to borrowing for your business, whether thatâ€s to invest in home office/computer equipment, stock, advertising, growing your business or something else, whether you work from home or from an office shouldnâ€t make a difference to your applications – although there is a school of thought that having a business address presents a more professional image to lenders and investors. Different types of finance available to you could include business loans from the bank, business overdrafts, credit cards or other forms of investment. Research the right type of borrowing to meet your needs carefully then check your credit score at CreditExpert.co.uk to identify any potential issues with your credit history that could affect your borrowing prospects.

Remember that there are different implications depending on whether you are a sole trader or have registered as a limited company. The main difference when it comes to financial matters is that the finances of a limited company remain separate to those of the company director (including liability for debts), whereas a sole trader is held personally responsible for all financial aspects of their business. Gov.uk has useful information on forming a LTD company, which is perfectly possible when working from home, if this option appeals to you.

Going Solo

When you work from home, as opposed to in a shop or office, your interaction with clients, customers and colleagues is likely to be much less. In fact, many people who work from home donâ€t usually have any face to face contact and may instead connect with their target market or their clients on the phone or online. While this may suit some, others can find it a challenge. Ways to combat ‘cabin fever†include taking time out of your day to get out of the house – perhaps go for a walk on your lunch break (make sure you take a lunch break!) or meet a friend – or making a deliberate effort to meet clients, customers or colleagues in person occasionally. Even taking your laptop to a coffee shop for a morning of replying to emails can provide a welcome change of scene.

Insurance Issues

Just like when working elsewhere, there are insurance issues when working from home. Depending on your area of work you may need some or all of the following liability insurances: public, professional and employee, as well as making sure that the tools of your business are insured separately to the domestic items on your home insurance. You might also want to consider taking out an earnings insurance policy, to protect against illness or injury.

Work/Life Balance

While the benefits of working from your home are clear (a 2 second commute for starters!), working where you live can cause the work/home life boundaries to become blurred – for both you and any family members in the household. While the temptation may be to never really switch off from work (weâ€ve all been guilty of checking emails from the sofa), setting clearly defined times to be ‘at work†and ‘at home†is key.

Having a routine which signals the end of the working day can be useful. For example, taking a shower, changing clothes or going for a walk can help to clear your head and ease the transition from work mode to home mode.

If youâ€re considering joining the estimated 4.2 million self-employed people who work from home in the UK, itâ€s important to take into account the common pitfalls as well as the perks, to make sure that itâ€s the right choice for you.

There is no one answer to this. Every business is different and will grow into its individual departments naturally throughout its development. But what are the factors you need to consider when growing your business into a larger, more professional company? Which departments should be on your list and why should you consider one before another?

Digital Marketing

Everyoneâ€s favourite topic at the moment, it seems that the start-up world is intrinsically linked with marketing. Traditional advertising methods such as TV advertising are typically out of the question for new business owners but you need to get the message out there in order to generate paying customers.

After all, whatâ€s business without customers? Marketing is business.

Social media marketing is a particularly popular approach for small- and medium-sized businesses. Business profiles can be set up for free and managed from your PC or smartphone. Itâ€s a great way to generate traffic to your site and build brand recognition.

Social media can be manned by you as the business owner. Do you need to hand over control to a new employee? What about focusing on more hard core marketing tactics?

How much time do you have on your hands to dedicate to an in-depth SEO strategy, PPC, the leads to your site and the number of conversions from your social media activities?

If you opt to hire a team or employee dedicated specifically to your digital marketing strategy, you can focus on running your business, while they focus on expanding its reach.

Sales

Whatâ€s the use of marketing your product, building your brand and showcasing your wares if thereâ€s no one there to pick up the phone when it rings and make the sale?

If you opt for sales over marketing, of course, you make the decision to go with an outbound sales team. You will rely on cold calling potential customers and ringing up leads from six months ago to see if theyâ€re still interested in what youâ€re selling.

Outbound sales representatives offer the advantage of being able to build up real relationships with potential clients (who then go on to become clients). They get to know your demographic, what works and what doesnâ€t and they understand the clients already using your products or services.

This provides you with valuable insights into what makes your existing customers tick, what they like and what they want to see. When you invest in sales department, you can adjust your business to meet the direct demands of clients you already have and future customers as well, while relinquishing the burden of hard-selling.

Customer service

Bringing in a customer service team is a great idea if you are a client-based business offering services that often entail follow-up questions and additional requests.

As a start-up looking to expand, you might want to ask yourself whether you really need a customer service team. This depends on the number of clients or customers you deal with and the nature of your business. For instance, if you work in retail then having a separate, dedicated team to focus on customer service is probably a good idea.

Great service helps sets good firms apart from great ones: it demonstrates an attention to detail and a dedication to customer experience. But part of the small business charm is the personalised service that can often come from dealing directly with business owners, for many customers. Ask yourself whether customer service is the best place to invest the first time you hire new staff.

Accounts and billing

Play to your strengths. If you have a good head for figures and can keep on top of spending and income, then there is no need to delegate this role to someone else. Though as your business expands, your workload will also increase. Do you have the time to dedicate to something this important?

Perhaps you can handle the commitment but only at the expense of your personal life. If you find that you are either spending too much time crunching numbers and not enough working on your business, maybe itâ€s time to get someone else for the job.

Outsourcing your accounting is a great way to handle a heavy work load or know that youâ€re getting a difficult job well done. Alternatively, you could hire an in-house employee to do the work for you. This way, you do not have to divulge company information to a third party.

Fill in the gaps

Every business is different. When you are in the early stages, your company is full of potential for growth and the hiring decisions you make will impact your companyâ€s focus and philosophy for years to come.

Whether you decide to emphasise customer care or understand the need for a marketing strategy that you canâ€t design yourself, the reasons behind your decisions will be very personal to your companyâ€s image and vision.

Your new departments should fill in the gaps in your knowledge and experience. We canâ€t all be marketers, sales people and accountants. Play to your weaknesses in this scenario and hire a person who can bring expertise and innovation to an area of business you are not necessarily familiar with.

It is definitely worth thinking about which departments are most crucial for watching your business grow.

This article is written by Sue Ratcliffe, Head of Client Services at alldayPA, award winning telephone answering services.

As 2013 comes to an end, is there a spring in the step of small business owners, or are they struggling to find their feet in this cautious economic climate?

According to several recent surveys monitoring business activity, the UK seems to be pointing in the right direction and showing encouraging signs of economic growth. The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Business Survey reports that £11.3 billion of extra income was generated by UK businesses between 2011 and 2012, indicating that commercial activity is improving. Added to this is some welcoming news from the Labour Market Statistics show that the latest employment figures is up 177,000 on the quarter from April to June 2013, to reach 29.95 million.

To get a better picture of what is happening on the ground with SMEs, the Bibby Financial Services report makes for some interesting reading. Three consecutive quarterly surveys this year of 1,450 SMEs by Bibby found that nearly a third of business owners have seen an increase in orders in Q2 which was up from 24% from Q1 whilst 40% of respondents said they have seen an increase in new customers in Q2 again up from 38% in Q1. The figures have just been released for Q3, which again shows an increase in new customers, up to 42%, and an increase in orders, up to 30%.

Against this positive outlook, small businesses are finding the lack of capital and access to credit to expand their business still remain an overriding issue. There has been alot of the political and media focus on the poor record of bank lending to SMEs and how the system is failing. Itâ€s probably still early days to evaluate the success of Government initiatives, such as the Funding for Lending Scheme (FSL) and the creation of a Government-backed business bank, announced last September by the Business Secretary Vince Cable. The new bank aims to attract private sector funding so that when fully operational, it could support up to £10 billion of new and additional business lending.

So it comes of no surprise to learn from the Bibbyâ€s research that three out of four small businesses have been rejected for funding by banks. Generally, confidence in the government and its policies remain low among SMEs, with only six per cent out of managers and Directors surveyed saying the Government-backed business bank would benefit their company.

However, there are a number of alternative finance sources and solutions that are starting to fill the gap for the supply of capital and are attracting a growing number of SMEs to move away from the traditional routes.

SMEs have a diverse range of funding requirements whether it is for short- or long-term needs, which include product development, export, distribution, marketing and sales, capital expenditure for manufacturing and equipment and site roll-outs.

Commercial brokers can play a vital role in helping small businesses find the most appropriate source of funding, such as for bridging finance, vehicle finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages or equipment finance.  

There are a range of other finance and seed funding options, such as crowdfunding, government grants and loans, private equity, asset-based lending and business angels.

Already mentioned is invoice finance, which may offer a smart and popular way of improving cashflow problems. As so many small businesses and startups know only too well, it is a big challenge to access finance when cashflow is being squeezed, often as a result from late payments. Invoice finance is one way of freeing up cash flow by releasing existing funds, which are tied up in invoices and is able to provide a steady flow of cash without a small business having to take on more debt, and could be a business lifeline.

The environment in which SMEs operate seems more encouraging as more support networks are created and a greater choice of funding sources are being made available. This should make it easier for business owners to take a more strategic approach in growing the company.

For small businesses and startups getting the balance between the right support and the right type of financing at the right time is not easy. Yet, it is crucial that they make the right decisions and take the right steps towards building and growing a successful business.

Frillo has launched its business model in the stationery sector and is planning to roll out mark-up free kitchens, bathrooms and car divisions in the very near future. The company has already attracted a lot of interest from private equity investors and is excited to continue with their business plan to change the way people buy.

Led by Managing Director, Mike Drewery, Frillo genuinely believes that its business model of cutting out the middleman is the future of retailing, as he explains:

“Times are hard for the consumer, so, when we developed the idea for Frillo, we knew it would be a hit. The fact that we have upset the competition in such a short amount of time since launching our website at the start of the year speaks volumes to us. Our aim isnâ€t to put people out of business, itâ€s to simply open consumers†eyes to a better way of buying that will ultimately save them money.

“Businesses spend hundreds of pounds each year on office supplies and a high percentage of that cost is paid in hidden, indeterminable mark-ups. We believe Frillo is a clearer, easier way to buy. Our ambition is that during the next two years we will have reached truly national status and we are already planning to diversify by introducing the Frillo concept into a wide range of new markets – watch this space!”

This unique online business has low overheads, which allows it to supply products at cost. Customers simply pay a small fee per transaction to cover card, handling and delivery costs. With a price comparison updated frequently and clearly visible at www.frillo.co.uk, the retailer backs up its claim that it is up to 30% cheaper each and every time. The small handling fee is only applicable per transaction, not for each product. For example, if a buyer purchased a basket of goods up to £50, the handling fee would be just £5.

Frillo supplies a wide range of office products ranging from stationery and paper to furniture and computing equipment. The transparency of the business model and honesty in the pricing structure hands power back to the consumer who, before now, found it difficult to really work out whether something was ‘good†value. Now itâ€s simple. If customers buy something from Frillo, they buy it at cost price.

Which Approach is Right?

There are 3 main schools of thought in pricing:

• Customer-based – charge what the customers are likely to pay
• Competitor-based – charge at or below what the competition is charging
• Cost-based – charge what it costs to produce plus X% for profit

In most instances, lowering prices often increases demand. Lowering prices is rarely effective in building a strong enough brand preference so that people return shop, particularly with small businesses because of the nature of buyers minds – a price sticker on the shelf is just not that memorable.

A Small-Business Cannot Undercut Everyone Else Forever

The strategy of most businesses is of course an obvious one – to make money. So along with price sensitivity from the consumer comes the pricing strategy of the business. The majority of small business owners aim to offer products and services at a copmetitively low cost, marking down their products so as to beat, or at least compete, with others in the same niche. In reality, it is often a bad idea to run so lean, and try to compete on price alone. Competitive pricing is not always sustainable.

Bigger companies have the chequebook to cut their costs lower than a small business do and keep their prices low for a longer period of time. By selling only on price, companies can be undercut and put out of business, simply on the whim of a larger competitor.

Faster, better, cheaper – the old adage is that customers can have any two of the three, but not all at once. Competition is not a matter of pricing alone, however making sound pricing decisions is a fundamental part of every business strategy.

Making the Right Choices

For small businesses to survive and thrive, owners often may need to adapt and change their tactics in order to remain competitive in an ever-changing market. Instead of focusing on being the cheapest on the market:

1) look at the marketplace and the demographic of buyers
2) cater the sales pitch to the most common segments, or groups, of buyers
3) examine the demand structure in the niche and adjust pricing accordingly
4) avoid price wars

In the short term, itâ€s possible to win over customers by lowering prices (penetration pricing strategy), but inevitably loss-leaders are not sustainable for long periods. For long term success, it’s important to carefully consider pricing and service levels with a holistic view, rather than a reactionary pricing change to rival a competitor.

Good Service = Success

Increasingly, quality of service should play a huge part in every small businesses overall strategy. A decade ago, many customers bought products and services based on price alone, but nowadays consumers are developing brand affinity based on the personality and behaviours of the person selling or pitching to them.

Rock legend Gene Simmons once said “If someone likes you, theyâ€ll buy what youâ€re selling, whether or not they need it”. As 2013 draws to a close, itâ€s more important than ever for businesses to attract consumers by being likeable, memorable and generally remarkable, as well as offering competitive prices.

Act Today Profit Tomorrow

Every business is different in terms of the type of customer to attract or the competition in the respective niche or sector.

What we can learn going into 2014 is that all bets are off. There is no longer one tried and tested method of pricing.

Use the tools on hand to gain the advantage:

• talk to your customers and prospects – to know them is to love them
• keep track of the competition – prices, strengths and weaknesses
• common sense enough to remember – donâ€t fix it if it isnâ€t broken

Now is the time to use the tools available – not to just become competitive, but gain the advantage. Manage your accounts and business strategically, using services like Kashflow, and take stock of the rest before putting that knowledge to work for the best – of your own business!

10 times faster than todayâ€s networks, 4G technology allows us to download content at superfast speeds and enjoy a fast and smooth online browsing experience on mobile devices.

All of which fuels demand for yet more ‘on the go†services from Brits. According to OFCOM, 94 per cent of UK adults now have a mobile device and are using their smartphones to get online and find what theyâ€re looking for fast.

A missed opportunity

The message for UK PLC is if youâ€re not visible online, you run the risk of missing out on a wealth of potential business opportunities.

Yet a recent survey by Barclays Bank found that 89 per cent of UK businesses still donâ€t have a website optimised for mobile devices and are ill prepared to take advantage of the 4G mobile boom.

Thatâ€s despite the fact that 49 per cent of mobile phone users say they personally use their mobile phone to access the internet – up from 36 per cent in 2012.

With 3.8 million subscriptions to super-fast mobile broadband services in existence today, the number of super-fast connections is set to explode once 4G covers all UK networks.

Digital presence

In todayâ€s competitive business landscape, it pays to present your business well online and to make it easy and quick for customers and prospective customers to make contact with you. Thatâ€s especially true of customers operating in the mobile world, and meeting their needs is really quite straightforward.

Any small business these days can create a mobile optimised website thatâ€s perfectly designed to boost their visibility in online mobile searches.

For example, a single page .tel website from Telnames doesnâ€t cost a fortune and gives you a comprehensive and effective business profile that displays perfectly across all devices and has been specially designed with the needs of smartphone and other mobile users in mind, with essential features like click-to-call phone numbers, email links, a location map plus hyperlinks to all your social media and full .com or .co. uk website.

Accept online and mobile payments

Whatever your business, being able to offer customers a fast and safe way to instantly pay for goods and services looks professional and efficient.

The preferred online payment method for 35 per cent of UK shoppers, PayPalâ€s safe and convenient payment service gives customers the confidence of knowing their credit card or bank account details will never be directly visible to you.

Capture the 4G opportunity

With the number of mobile consumers set to rise in 2013 thanks to super-fast 4G, making a very small investment in a mobile-friendly online presence with Telnames is the first key step to ensuring your business is prepared to maximise every online opportunity.

If your office is situated some distance from the clientâ€s workplace, they may not be amenable to traveling long distances – particularly if they are based in central London (or another city), while you are located in a small provincial town.

Even if your office is located conveniently, it may be the case that your complex is too small, or too scruffy, to hold corporate meetings or functions in. A lot of business owners deal with situations such as these by renting meeting rooms in central London. Usually based within a hotel like the Holiday Inn in Kensington, these are smart and convenient, with a host of facilities to ensure comfort and promote an image of professionalism.

Hosting a larger meeting – like a business conference or corporate function – can be particularly challenging for a business. Although there are a range of business conference venues and exhibition centres for hire in London, they are not all of the same quality; nor do they offer the same services or degree of support. Knowing that a meeting venue will take care of the diverse tiny details of an event can be massively reassuring.

Holiday Inn has launched The Academy, to give businesses looking to rent a meeting room or function venue a standardised product that could deliver a consistent level of service, plus support in managing an event. They work across self-contained sites, with their own reception area and rooms for smaller, break-out meetings.

The staff are there to facilitate a meeting from first contact to delivery and will assist with selecting an appropriate size, extent of catering and sufficient seating, as well as setting up technical support and ensuring that things like microphones, speakers and air conditioning functions properly and is managed throughout.

The aim of The Academy network of facilities is to provide meeting rooms of varying sizes and capacities, in which business owners may have confidence that their choice of venue will deliver and not be the cause of any potential embarrassment.

Holiday Inn offer London meeting rooms and halls for hire in a range of locations across the city, including Kensington and Mayfair.

Itâ€s time for your business to evolve. You may already use web conferencing with video to speak to clients overseas, but are you getting enough out of your online options? A couple of years ago if one of your suppliers asked you to try a video conferencing call, it may have seemed like stepping out of your comfort zone. But itâ€s necessary for your business to evolve. The small business landscape is competitive, you need to continually grow and change. If you ignore social, it could be to your peril; itâ€s time to go social.

People are there already
The most popular social media sites have millions of users, with some of them being amongst the most visited sites online. If there is a huge volume of people using them day in day out, there is massive potential to make them aware of your brand and drive customers to your business.

Easy promotion
Driving promotions through social media channels is the easiest way to make people aware of your brand. The beauty of social media is that it is free, making it the cheapest medium of reaching a wide audience who may be interested in your promotions. While a TV ad is a significant expense, social isnâ€t.

The personal touch
Your social activity shouldnâ€t just be limited to promoting your products, itâ€s also the perfect platform to interact with your customers and offer more of a personal touch. If customers feel like they can identify with brands, theyâ€ll keep coming back.

SEO benefits
Social is having more and more of an impact on SEO, so while you may think tweeting and shouting about your product through social mediums doesnâ€t impact on your search rankings; in actual fact it does. Setting up a Google+ account and actively using it, can potentially have an immediate impact on your Google rankings. Itâ€s worthwhile doing it as soon as possible.

Lead generation
You can use social to get more customers. Offering exclusive offers to your Facebook fans and Twitter followers can potentially boost sales as well as create brand awareness.

Market research
Rather than spending capital on market research, you can do it for free on social media sites. Engage your customers and ask them to comment, reply to them and get a conversation going. It all comes back to the personal touch.

Itâ€s time to get social.

But it looks as though things may be on the up for small businesses as more assistance is being provided. Despite things appearing better, it doesnâ€t mean businesses shouldnâ€t try and cut costs where they can, however. For example, whether looking for business bank accounts, professional business insurance or hiring staff, the pennies still need to be counted.

Here are a few ways small businesses are getting a bit of assistance.

The Budget
The recent budget explained how up to 450,000 small businesses will not have to pay tax contributions from 2014, and introduced employment allowance that removed the first £2,000 from an employers†national insurance contributions.(i) Hopefully cutting back for smaller businesses will soon be a distant memory.

Apprentices
But there is another shining light for small businesses at the moment; and thatâ€s apprentices. In a recent study it was found that employers in England rated apprentices 15% more employable than those with other qualifications. The rise in apprentices has benefited both businesses and young people, who have also been affected substantially since the economic downturn, as they provide jobs, training and qualifications.(ii)

Last year alone the Government helped fund 4,230 placements during the second part of an apprenticeship scheme worth £25 million, which was an attempt to boost employment and help out businesses. This year the scheme will see apprenticeships available in 41 subjects, which will help businesses in a variety of sectors such as legal services, interactive media and space engineering to mention a few.(iii)

Help on a Saturday?
Aside from these schemes, a little thing called Small Business Saturday is set to make its way over here from the States towards the end of 2013. Small Business Saturday is an extremely popular event in the US, and last year it resulted in $5 billion in sales for small businesses. The event, which is backed by Shadow Business Secretary Chukka Umunna and several influential business groups such as the British Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Business, became noticed in America during 2010 after it was backed by American Express.(iv)

With all this happening, it looks as though thereâ€s plenty of hope for small businesses in the future and hopefully there will be more incentives to follow.

(i) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/20/budget-2013-small-firms-exempt-national-insurance

(ii) http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/news/opportunities/2295088/small-business-employers-enthusiastic-about-apprenticeships.thtml

(iii) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22058648

(iv) http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/04/small-business-saturday-uk.html

Mobile printers
Mobile printing solutions are invaluable for people who work while on the move or travel around a lot. Mobile printing is also invaluable for a more flexible and fluid workspace in the office, enabling employees to bring in their own devices, printing directly from those.

Tablets
When tablet computers were first introduced technology experts were unsure about whether there would be a market for them. However, they have become an invaluable business tool due to their size – they are easier to work from than a smartphone but easier and quicker to use than a laptop.

Plug-in hard drives
These are a cost-effective and convenient way both to make sure you always have copies of any files you need, as well as allowing you to carry large amounts of data without using up all the space on the hard drive of your whatever computing device you are using, which can slow them down.

Ultrabook
Ultrabooks are yet another alternative to a standard laptop for those who still want to use a proper keypad rather than a touchscreen. They are very light, thin devices that are easy to transport but still have plenty of memory and are good to work from.

Pocket scanners
This will let you make copies of any documents you need and import them onto your laptop, smartphone or tablet. This will do the job of a photocopier and fax machine without the time and energy involved in using these.

Mini-projectors
If you are going to a meeting where you need to make a presentation and have visual aids you need to use, mini-projectors are roughly the size of a standard camera and can project images onto any surface to help you get across the vision and ideas you want.

Cloud storage service
Being able to send and receive large files is often crucial to business, so using a storage service such as Dropbox will let you access any files you need without having to store them on a device.

1. Relax (for now)
Yes, thatâ€s right, relax. Business energy tariffs are fixed price – that means that you carry on paying the same prices until your contract ends, even if the energy suppliers announce price rises. What you do need to do is make sure that you know when your contract is due to end, so you can make sure that youâ€re ready to take evasive action and dodge an increase in your bills.

2. Shop around
About three months before your energy contract is due to end, start looking around for a new deal. It might sound like a long time, but you need to give quite a lot of notice to make sure your energy supplier doesnâ€t sign you up to a new 12 month contract. An energy broker (like uSwitchforBusiness) will be able to get you quotes from lots of different energy suppliers, so you can rest assured that the contract you choose is a good deal. (And there are still good deals to be had, we promise.)

3. Think long-term
If youâ€re really worried about how your business will cope with rising energy prices, you could sign up for a longer contract. Most businesses opt for one year contracts, but you can get contracts that fix your prices for as long as five years. There is a catch – the longer the contract, the higher the price tends to be, but then again, the longer the contract, the more prices are likely to rise and the more youâ€ll save by having locked-in your prices.

4. Be efficient
If energy prices are rising, one of the very best things you can do to make sure you donâ€t pay more is use less energy. Most businesses have a few bad habits when it comes to energy – leaving monitors on overnight, one member of staff tuning the heating on and the other opening a window etc – and taking steps to change them can make a difference to your bills. You can also think about bigger steps like new lighting, insulation or more efficient equipment and machinery.

So donâ€t let rising prices get you down – there are things you can do to make sure your business doesnâ€t suffer.

One of the best things that a business can do to increase revenue is to expand its business overseas. Not only does the business receive export loans and documentary credits, the business also taps into other economies which gives a greater chance for increased revenue. The trick is to find the proper outlet for the businesses’ export services so that there is the least amount of risk while still gaining the greatest amount of profit. The countries that receive some of the greatest amount of exports from the United States are Canada, Greater China, and Western Europe. These trades are numerous and do not leave a lot of room for new businesses or new trade opportunities. This is why business owners must search for other economic outlets overseas.

There is one such place that has been having increased economic growth: the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has been swiftly scaling up the economic scale and they are looking for further ways to increase the country’s revenue. According to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade, from 1994 to 2004 the UAE has seen a 98 per cent increase in exports from their country, less than half of which comes from oil and gas products. During that time period they also saw an increase of imports go up by 133 per cent. These increases in trade show just how much of the UAE is growing and how important the import products are to the UAE. This rapid increase in the amount of imports and exports has shown that the UAE is not only growing faster than bigger countries like the United States, they also have a greater trade confidence as well since they are less likely to bail on whatever trade opportunities they have agreed to.

No matter what business it is or what product a business is selling, export services can allow for a greatly increased revenue that cannot be found anywhere else. While certain places like Canada and Western Europe are popular and receive a number of trade exports from the United States, there are many other trade opportunities in other places. This is especially true in places like the UAE where they have had a great increase in their economy and they are looking for even more chances to trade to continue their upward growth. Whatever the business strategy is, export services can often cause a massive growth for businesses and once that trade is established, the revenue will just keep coming in and provide more opportunities for growth where none were present before.

While youâ€re doing your investigating you may well come across UK self invested personal pensions and find yourself wondering what the difference between a SIPP and a standard or regular pension is. Well, itâ€s no different to a regular pension plan in terms of tax relief, contributions and eligibility; the main difference is that a SIPP gives you a lot more control and flexibility with regards to your investments and is a good option for people who take an interest in the stock markets and are not risk averse.

With a conventional personal pension plan, you generally pay an insurance company to look after your investments for you and they make all the decisions about how your money is invested and what stocks and shares they are invested in. You have very little control over your pension and probably wonâ€t think about it at all until it matures. The money comes out of your account once a month and everything is taken care of for you. This is ideal if you donâ€t want to have to think about it, and really have no interest or understanding of how the stock market works.

If on the other hand you would prefer to have more freedom over what you invest in and would like to hold these investments directly, then a self invested personal pension could be the better option for you. You have control over your investment strategy and can either look after your portfolio yourself or you can choose your own fund manager or stock broker to manage it for you.

A SIPP allows you to invest in a whole range of enterprises, including shares, unit trusts, investments trusts, gilts, commercial property (though not private property) and insurance company funds. You can usually invest from as little as £50 per month or transfer a lump sum from another pension plan in order to set your SIPP up. Bear in mind that if you make frequent new investments or transactions your administration costs might be higher than with a conventional pension plan. And you wonâ€t be able to draw down on your SIPP until you are 50, so itâ€s a good idea to weigh up the pros and cons before you decide if a SIPP is for you.

Well, the good news is, if you run a business in the Manchester area and are looking for somewhere to relocate to, it wonâ€t be long before you can look at offices to rent at Manchester Airport.

The new Airport City development got under way at the beginning of 2012 and the exciting plans for this seminal project in the UK include over 2 million ft2 of quality office space, which will be ideal for multi-nationals as well as local businesses looking for spacious offices in a brand new development.

The advantages of renting office space at Manchester airport are obvious for global companies who want to have a presence in this part of the UK. With the airport literally on the doorstep, hopping on a plane to head to meetings in European cities like Brussels, Berlin or Paris has never been easier. You could easily be there and back in the same day, stepping out of the terminal building and heading back to the office if needs be. Trans-Atlantic flights will also be so much more convenient for anyone who has to visit a head office in New York or any other part of the US.

However, itâ€s not just big global companies who will benefit from renting office space when this fantastic project is completed. The developers are hoping to attract local entrepreneurs and young business people who are keen to become part of the lifeblood of Airport City.

The development has lots to offer employees of any business planning to relocate there, with restaurants, shops and coffee shops all part of the plan along with lots of green space. So lunch times will be a pleasant break from the office and there will be plenty of choice when it comes to deciding what to eat – all important considerations when youâ€re thinking of the overall welfare of your team.

So, if youâ€re considering a move to state of the art new offices at some point in the future, consider Airport City.

With the development of the Airport City concept, however, all this is about to change. Airports will no longer be places you travel through but actual destinations in themselves. Manchester Airport is the first UK airport to meet all the development criteria for the new airport model and as the prototype for the UK it is an exciting time for the airport and the city itself. Development opportunities at Manchester Airport will include hotels, warehouses, manufacturing space and office space as well as retail and leisure facilities and it is anticipated that the development will add to the cityâ€s existing reputation as an excellent destination for both business and pleasure, while offering great returns on investment.

Airport City will be built over the next 15 years and will be completed phase by phase with work already underway on the main site link road and infrastructure. Manchester airport development opportunities will provide employment for the local population and help to further regenerate the economy of the city and surrounding area.

As well as providing excellent opportunities during the development phase, the retail, warehouse, leisure and office space (which will be available to rent on completion) is being designed to appeal to both global business enterprises as well as local entrepreneurs and others interested in becoming a part of this innovative and exciting new development.

It is expected that Airport City will add to the city of Manchesterâ€s overall appeal as an excellent location for international business as well as offering some fantastic leisure and retail facilities for people living in the area. Plans for restaurants, shops, coffee shops and lots of green space will ensure that itâ€s an exciting place to be whether you are heading off on holidays or just doing a bit of shopping at the weekend.

If you are unlucky enough to have a serious accident at work that causes long-term damage which affects your ability to earn a living then no matter how well you get on with your boss, if you think the accident happened as a result of their negligence, you may have to make some difficult decisions. Nobody wants to engender bad feeling, but at the end of the day, you have to take care of your future.

The first thing you must do if something does go wrong is report the accident to your health and safety officer. Not all companies will have one, but even if you do not work in a large plant or factory there will almost certainly be someone to report to such as your line-manager. It is their responsibility to log the accident in the company ‘accident book†and find out the details of what happened. This is mostly for your benefit as it should be an accurate report of exactly what happened. If the accident is very serious then of course your immediate priority is to get medical treatment, but try and remember as much of the details as you can and ask your work colleagues for their account of events as well. The more people who have a clear idea of how the accident happened the easier it will be for you to make a successful claim for compensation.

As soon as you are in a fit state to discuss the accident, itâ€s a good idea to get yourself some legal representation. In most cases you will be dealing with your employerâ€s insurance company rather than your employer himself, and as everyone knows, insurance companies do not like paying out unless they absolutely have to. Without the help of accident compensation solicitors you will probably find it very difficult to deal successfully with your claim. Let the professionals take care of things for you so you can focus on getting well again and getting back to work if at all possible.

Borrowing from the bank

In the current economic climate this is becoming more and more difficult with banks being reluctant to lend money to small businesses. This creates a difficult position in the UK. We need small businesses to continue to grow to improve the economy, but banks wonâ€t lend this money due to the state of the economy. In their reluctance to agree to traditional forms of lending, including overdrafts, the banks are creating a vacuum into which non-traditional forms of finance are moving. The biggest of these being invoice finance.

Invoice finance

Those unpaid invoices on your sales ledger have value. The best way to look at them is debts that your customers have agreed to pay. Through invoice finance youâ€ll be forwarded an agreed percentage of the value of your outstanding sales ledger. This means that instead of waiting for weeks or months to get paid, youâ€ll get much quicker access to your money. Once the invoices are paid, youâ€ll receive the remaining percentage minus a small agreed fee.

Invoice finance takes two forms; debt factoring and invoice discounting. Factoring is a flexible funding and collections service whereby the invoice finance provider will act as your credit department and chase the outstanding invoices for you. If you release cash through invoice factoring this will leave you free to focus on the day to day running of your business safe in the knowledge you have the finance to keep moving forward. Invoice discounting enables you to manage your sales ledger, so your clients are never aware of you using the service.

Is this a good option for my business?

Every business is different. The best option for your enterprise may not necessarily suit a business in another sector. It is, however, always important to look into all your available options. If you fail to secure funding from the bank it can feel like the end of the road; but itâ€s therefore imperative you make yourself aware of the more flexible asset based finance available to you. Not every solution may suit you, but itâ€s always essential you understand your options.

If youâ€re not hugely fussy about the quality of your print run outs and youâ€re only going to be using the printer now and again, then an inkjet printer will probably do the job nicely. Inkjet printers are pretty cheap these days and with a little bit of internet hunting you should be able to pick up a good one for less than £100.

On the other hand if you need sharp, good quality run outs and your printer is going to get a lot of use then take a look at the range of colour laser printers UK available at the moment. Colour laser printers used to be a good deal more expensive than their inkjet counterparts, but these days they are a lot more affordable and manufacturers are now producing a range of inexpensive colour laser printers for home as well as office use.

The main advantage of a colour laser printer is the quality of the run out, but another key benefit is the processing speed. Nearly all laser printers can print at a much faster rate than inkjet printers with even the cheapest models printing an average of 20 sheets per minute, while more expensive laser printers have a print out speed of about 50 sheets per minute. In a busy office with lots of people waiting to get their documents together for presentations etc print out speed really becomes an issue. Thereâ€s nothing worse than getting stuck in the queue waiting for one single A4 sheet when the person in front of you is printing out what looks like a novel.

Another big plus for colour laser printers is that lots of models can print onto other materials as well, and some have postcard and business card printing options which makes them ideal for small businesses. However before you try printing onto anything other than regular printer paper just make sure that it wonâ€t damage the printer. Read the manual or check the spec online to make sure you can print onto things like card or acetate as well.

With that in mind, you need to put adequate safeguards in place. Here are four tips to do just that.

Secure your cash flow

Once up and running you need to think about your cash flow. A full order book doesnâ€t necessarily add up to money in the bank – the valuable capital you need to keep your business growing and evolving. At this stage itâ€s worth investigating your options, to release your existing cash flow.

One of the best ways to do this is to unlock capital with Aldermore Invoice Finance. Choosing a solution such as this, you can receive up to 90% of your unpaid invoices immediately, receiving the rest (minus a small admin fee) when your client pays the invoice. There are also options whereby theyâ€ll control your sales ledger (factoring) or you contact your clients yourself to secure the funds (invoice discounting). This will protect you against bad debt, giving you the comfort to know you can readily access those funds tied up in invoices, as well as much cheaper and more flexible than an bank overdraft.

Secure appropriate insurance

All businesses need insurance. For example, if you provide services or advice to clients itâ€s imperative that you are covered by professional indemnity insurance, as this will protect you against any claim that you were negligent in the advice or services provided.

Once your small business starts to expand and you have a requirement for employees, itâ€s integral to have employers†liability insurance. This is required by law to cover all duties of health and safety towards your members of staff.

Ensure you have IT protection

All businesses operating online are susceptible to attack, making it vital that you protect your company data and that of your clients. You can do this by password protecting systems, configure and review internal and external firewalls, install comprehensive anti-virus protection, and physically protect your workstations and equipment from potential theft or misuse.

Comply with legislation

All small business owners need to be aware of their obligations under the Data Protection Act. If you are processing customer data, youâ€re obliged to inform the Data Commissioner, as well as keeping it encrypted, providing customers with the data you hold on them if requested to do so, and complying with obligations in relation to using the data for marketing purposes. Ensuring you comply with the Act is a quick and easy process, but failure to do so can result in a substantial fine. You wouldnâ€t want your business to fall apart due to a simple administrative error.

Every internet user is given an IP address – a reference code for the internet – and different types of broadband package offer different types of IP address to customers. Some deals include a dynamic IP address, which means that your IP address frequently changes. This is fine for surfing the internet, uploading or downloading files and both sending or receiving emails, which will suit most lone entrepreneurs down to the ground. However, if your business needs to allow customers to connect to any online service that you operate on-site, the best business broadband package for you will provide a static IP address.

There are currently quite a few Internet Service Providers on the market. Some deliver access through your telephone line, although the best business broadband providers tend to offer connections via fibre-optic cables, which are usually much faster at streaming data than normal telephone wires. Some packages will also include mobile access, which is a great choice if you need to keep working wherever you are. Mobile internet uses the 3G network to gain access, which is fast enough to let you manage your emails when youâ€re not on-site.

Before choosing the right package for you, itâ€s a good idea to look around the internet for feedback on the speed and reliability of each ISP. Many providers offer fixed-term deals with discounted rates, and while these look appealing at first, you can find yourself tied to a package that doesnâ€t quite deliver on what it promised. A good provider will offer a fast, stable internet connection, and will also deal with problems quickly and efficiently. This will make sure that access problems interrupt your business as little as possible, giving you the peace of mind you need to keep your company growing healthily.

Manchester United

Old Trafford is the biggest Premier League stadium with a wealth of history and heritage. Holding over 70,000 spectators the atmosphere will be electric, the on-pitch action will be of the highest quality and the hospitality area adorned with the history of one of the most famous football teams in the world.

Wimbledon

Itâ€s one of the summerâ€s top events. The All England Club becomes the countryâ€s fixation for two weeks every July and whilst itâ€s great to watch the action unfold from Henman Hill, thereâ€s nothing quite like enjoying your strawberries and cream and glass of champagne in one of the corporate entertainment areas.

The Football World Cup

It only comes around every four years. The opportunity to see the worldâ€s top stars scrap it out for the biggest prize in football. With the competition finishing its tour around the continents in 2014, you couldnâ€t find a better venue for the next competition – Brazil. England for some may be the home of football, but the Brazilians have done so much for the modern game. Theyâ€ll be corporate entertainment in world-famous stadiums, a Samba atmosphere and maybe even some time for some football on the beach.

Monaco Grand Prix

Any form of corporate hospitality should have an element of luxury, but thereâ€s little more luxurious and spectacular than a corporate hospitality package at the Monaco Grand Prix. You can soak up the atmosphere in one of the worldâ€s most picturesque locations as the planetâ€s top drivers push themselves to the limit on Formula 1â€s most iconic track. The party afterwards wonâ€t be too bad either.

Super Bowl

In the US they donâ€t come much bigger than the Super Bowl. The action will be enthralling, whilst the half-time show is talked about the world over. Being there is an experience of a lifetime.

The Ryder Cup

Corporate entertainment and golf go hand in hand, with no event bigger than the Ryder Cup. Whether held in Europe or the United States you can be sure the action will be world class and the corporate hospitality not too far behind.

Not all claims are upheld, but expenses and management time will still be incurred either way. As the potential costs could be high many professional services, like solicitors and lawyers, must have PI insurance in order to practice.

Many other professionals also choose to have PI insurance cover, including architects, advertising agencies and recruitment agencies. They do so because they recognise the reality that they are vulnerable to potential claims by unhappy clients and could therefore benefit from having the cushion of this type cover in place. You can find it online from companies like Endsleigh.

All businesses carry some risk, but with professional services sometimes itâ€s not immediately evident to either the business or the client that anything has gone wrong. For this reason itâ€s important to maintain your PI cover once started as there may be a significant time lag between the events which lead to a claim and the actual claim being made.

As with all types of insurance, support can only be given while the policy is valid, and so maintaining cover is a vital aspect in ensuring that your business is sufficiently protected. Every business plans to give the best possible advice, do a great job and keep their clients happy, of course. The unexpected can and does happen though, and it is these unfortunate, unplanned events that PI insurance cover provides for.   

Auto enrolment means that any staff members who arenâ€t already enrolled in a pension scheme will automatically be enrolled either in a companyâ€s incumbent occupational/stakeholder scheme, or the NEST government approved scheme which has been introduced to fill the gaps.

The new initiative will bring the pension question to the forefront of everyoneâ€s mind and instead of shirking the question which we may have done in the past, we will actively start seeking out companies which offer the best pension.

Here is where one of the major opportunities of auto enrolment lies.  A forward thinking company needs to recognise how important a good pension scheme is set to be when it comes to attracting the most skilled and loyal staff and then keeping them.  This process is the absolute key to a growing business. Companies like nowpensions.com can help you integrate this.

Any good manager will be aware of the need to incentivise a productive workforce – in the past this may have been through company cars, bonuses or basic pay; now though, pensions will gently creep up peopleâ€s list of priorities, particularly after a big government advertising campaign set to launch in September.

Whether companies use the NEST scheme with a decent employer contribution or they adopt a more high profile stakeholder/occupational type scheme, the new legislation should be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat.  The transition to auto enrolment should in all circumstances be relatively smooth, particularly with the right advice and furthermore the rollout is set linger over 5 years.

The shock that comes with receiving a gas or electricity bill thatâ€s higher than expected can take you aback, but itâ€s possible that you can avoid a repeat scenario, and all it takes is a quick phone call to the business savings experts at Make It Cheaper. What they can do for you is find you the best possible deal for your energy supply, as they do for the thousands of customers who come their way every week. To give you an idea of how successful they are, in 2011, they saved their customers a combined £88m on their energy bills.

One such customer was Jan Frost, the owner of Screenbase, a Kingswood-based company who specialise in office screen systems. They helped Jan find a better deal with a different supplier after she explained her dissatisfaction with her previous one. “I found that Make it Cheaper were very knowledgeable when I talked to them on the phone. They were also very friendly and helpful”, said Jan enthusiastically.

Among the problems that Jan experienced with her previous supplier included erratic billing, where she would receive a reasonable energy bill one month and then be faced with a much more expensive one the next and a future price hike which would have made it almost impossible for her to continue getting her energy from them. Meanwhile, with her new supplier, she stands to make a saving of £500 per year and she managed to arrange a fixed price tariff with them, meaning that Screenbase pay the same rate over the next 18 months.

As the story of Screenbase shows, itâ€s easier to make savings on your energy bill than you might think, despite the rise in the cost of gas and electricity. The money saved might make you wonder what else you can save money on in the near future.

Business plan + marketing plan

Even the most simple of enterprises needs a business plan, setting out how your business will operate and grow, importantly defining what you are selling, who to and why. This may all seem startlingly obvious but it is surprising how many seemingly good ideas fall down because of lack of demand or customer engagement. Whatever the business proposition it must be unique or special enough to create customer demand. The basis of any good marketing plan is defining the ‘customer need†you are targeting with your product or service (and of course the competitive landscape). Do your research, define your target audience, then think about your marketing plan.

So whatâ€s in it for your customer?

Make sure you communicate a clear proposition to the customer and keep their needs in mind. Whereâ€s the benefit? What value will this deliver to them? Who else is selling to them and why are we different? Keep content and marketing messages clear and to the point and answer those needs.

Targeting

Set down key characteristics of your target audience, demographics are key and will help you determine how best to communicate with them. Gender, age, profession, location, lifestyle are just some of the important factors you need to consider when positioning your product or service. Twitter can be a hugely successful profile raising tool, but only if your target audience are using it.

Getting started does not necessarily mean big budgets and big websites.

So many people invest heavily in developing expensive websites or big products before they have started engaging with potential customers. Of course, sometimes this is core to your business, if it is a web based company, for example. But as a general rule, start talking to customers as soon as possible. Always manage your costs carefully and minimise your risks, start small if you can to test your business concept and grow in proportion with your customer base and incoming finances.

Marketing mailings

Using direct marketing is a great way to launch your business and stay in contact with your target customers. Think about whether your customer would respond well to email, hard copy or a mixture of both. However, keep it targeted and carefully controlled. You will need a direct marketing mailing list and use a specialist company to help you gather the right data for your marketing efforts. This is where your customer research and demographics will prove useful.

Show me results!

Marketing results can be difficult to measure but always ensure you use tracking tools in email marketing software and where possible, keep things controlled. Use tools such as Google Analytics to help you monitor visitors to websites and blogs. Donâ€t embark on expensive advertising or logos unless you really need to. If you do, make sure you research your customer base and product positioning thoroughly before committing.

Best Western, Britain largest group of independently owned hotels, has undertaken a study of 3,000 British employees, investigating this issue.

It seems there will always be the obvious concerns like tiredness and stress, but something more alarming was highlighted in this study; the huge amount of time and money lost by workers claiming back for trips in the interest of their employers.

The survey found that UK employees lose an average of £409.32 a year, a third of their monthly expenses, through not claiming back or loosing receipts, with hotel and train travel costs cited as the worst offenders!

It appears that employees are also spending far too much time filling in long, boring expenses forms and getting signatures that the now take up 23 days of the average persons life to complete. Just think what you could do in that time and with all that cash over the years. Itâ€s a holiday of a lifetime, a brand new car or even a deposit on a house.

So what can employers do about this?  Well, as a result of the findings Best Western has launched a free, simple, effective solution; their new Best Western Business Account. It is a way of paying for train tickets and hotels (including in hotel expenses) to keep all travel related costs organised and manageable in one account.

It works a bit like a joint bank account shared by a large household.  Numerous cardholders undertaking trips, can use the account to cover all expenses.  Spending can be easily monitored by the account holder/CEO, as reports (including detailed breakdowns of all transactions) are sent to the employer at regular intervals through an online billing system. Plus, all information is presented clearly and coherently to reduce time spent gathering and organising financial information.

As you can imagine, the Best Western business account saves time, stress and worry (the elimination of the need for receipts is particularly freeing).

Whatâ€s more, the account is free to set up and there is no monthly fee or minimum usage criteria, (itâ€s easy to trial).  There is no contractual tie and the agreement can be easily terminated at any point, with 2 weeks notice.

Simon Green on behalf of Best Western Hotels

Do you have want it takes to be a budding entrepreneur? Inspiration for an original business idea can come from anywhere and at any time. The source for that idea may be triggered by something you have seen, heard, or read. Suddenly, you have a Eureka moment. You have come up with a solution that no one else has thought of to a problem.

Or perhaps you invent a service or a product that people don’t even know they need yet. But then do you park that idea at the back of your mind and it doesn’t see the light of day? Now may be a good time to dust down that idea and think about making that dream of yours to start your own business a reality.

Orange is offering one budding entrepreneur based in the UK who has an innovative and original business idea the chance to win up to £200,000 worth of support, advice and investment in the Orange’s Different Business Competition.

The panel of judges includes some of the UK's most successful business leaders who are waiting for you to tell them about your innovative new idea. And who knows, you could be running your own business in the near future. For full details about the Orange’s Different Business Competition and what the panel of judges will be looking for visit Win Your Business. 

The Prize • business planning advice and mentoring from Kingston Smith • mobile communications devices and plans from Orange • marketing consultancy from Publicis Chemistry • legal advice from Lewis Silkin • investment capital.

Orange provides support to all types and sizes of businesses around the country. Launched in 1994, Orange’s history has been punctuated with having great ideas and doing things differently, such as the first mobile company to charge by the second or offering 2 for 1 cinema tickets.

Sponsored Post

For more information about professional liability insurance please visit www.markeluk.com.

Of the many customised promotional items available, there are certain ones that seem to become more popular year after year. These include pens and other writing implements, followed closely by shirts, calendars, bags, headwear, office accessories, mugs and even food. Before taking a decision on what to buy, it is also important to consider the way that promotional products relate to your business. Acting as an indicator of brand abilities, it is important to focus on this aspect.

Firstly, name your target market. For example, you would only give promotional USB flash drives to people that are computer literate. It transcends these simple links, however; demographics to consider include age, income, gender, race, religion and personal interests.

Next, plan your budget. Once you know your audience, decide how much you are going to spend. Bear in mind that the more of a certain item you buy, the cheaper it gets per unit. Customised printing is available on pretty much any object these days, from a simple pen to a full car.

Still, you can’t afford to buy low-quality goods. It’s simply not appropriate to get low-grade promotional items in favour of more of them, because they reflect what you are as a company. If a bag rips apart, or a T-shirt becomes unthreaded after one wash, you can reflect terribly on your company. Pens are the best example to demonstrate the importance of quality; people will simply throw them in the bin if they donâ€t work. Bear in mind that the longer they are used, the longer they stay on desks or are shared between people. A telephone number and website address will constantly be displayed to any number of people, so lifespan is probably the most important facet of any investment.

As a sign of the times, 76 per cent of clients are now transferring project risks to their consultants state the MCA. Their research suggests that risks faced when delivering consulting and outsourcing projects over the past two years have increased, placing the financial security and company reputations of consultancies in danger. With difficult business conditions also being experienced across the pond, it follows that business consultants operating far and wide should be prepared.

While some businesses in the UK are required by law to protect themselves from a level of risk by taking out Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) and meet minimum levels of cover, this is not always the case. PII protects management consultants against potential claims of neglect, error or omission from clients. It also covers the cost of making a legal defence and paying compensation for such claims. Through PII management consultants can cover their business against errors – alleged or actual, which have occurred due to negligence, breach of duty or civil liability; however it does not cover deliberate errors.

So, in order to protect your business from the potential impact of rising risks, consider your insurance options and take time to speak to experts and find tailored indemnity & liability insurance for management consultants to meet your needs. Established specialists such as Markel will be happy to guide you through your options and help you decide on your level of protection. Be aware however; under-insuring in this area in the current climate could potentially mean losing the financial security of your business.

However, there are a number of common mistakes businesses tend to make with how they grow and use their data – all of which are easily avoided:

Assuming there are an infinite number of prospects for any business

Itâ€s simply not realistic to think you can go to a number of data providers and grow an ever-increasing list of prospects that will serve to deliver consistently for you business. And unfortunately, you canâ€t create prospects from nothing. Businesses need to understand the overall universe of prospects and the segments within it that will every be likely to buy their products. This ensure that resources are targeted to get best return – and anything else is just wasted time, budget, and effort.

Not treating data as strategic

Every business should be constantly nurturing its prospects. So many will focus too much on the response, instead of focusing on the reasons behind the non-response. A ‘no†now doesnâ€t mean a ‘no†in 4 months time. There is definitely room for businesses to understand their prospects better, rather than simply replicating their previous tactics and hoping for the best. Yes, what worked before may well work again, but you wont know why and this approach can also result in missing new potential prospects, who may be interested in your product.

Assuming all databases are complete, fully populated and correct

Just because a record is on a database, that doesnâ€t mean itâ€s complete – or accurate. There is a lot of work to be done by data owners to ensure that their databases are fully representative of the sectors they seek to cover, and to ensure that every record has accurate and complete classification information that ultimately means they can be selected. Businesses need to invest in infilling any missing information, and focus on how they can create this information. This is only going to become more of a challenge, as businesses are tasked with running global campaigns.

Thinking that price doesnâ€t matter

It does. Data isnâ€t a commodity, and we need to start paying attention to the benefits that come with paying a premium; it gets the right message to the right people at the right time. Those that say price doesnâ€t matter, and go with the lowest cost option, are fooling themselves with a false economy, and at worst could lose their job after the campaign bombs.

Not asking their data suppliers the right questions

When businesses do this, the whole campaign is at stake. If a business is having trouble knowing the right questions to ask, then itâ€s important to use experts to procure the data for them, and ask questions such as where the data is sourced. It is imperative that the business gets under the skin of the data, so to speak. Not all data is the same, and shouldnâ€t be taken at face value.

Failing to set expectations internally with colleagues and superiors is one of the most common mistakes businesses make. Over-promising results in confusion across the board, and more often than not, disappointment in the results. Using open and honest communication, and transparency when sourcing data, is imperative.

Muddle and fudge or strong and stable?

But what matters to small businesses now is whether a new government based on consensus and coalition is going to be ‘strong and stable’ or the living embodiment of ‘muddle and fudge’.

Although a Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition is an unlikely pairing, here are five reasons the result of this hung parliament could be good news for UK SMEs.

1. No Tax On Jobs

Labour’s planned 1% National Insurance hike has been widely condemned by businesses large and small as a tax on jobs. The Lib Dems recognise this and say they’ll get rid of the rise in due course. The Tories are committed to scrapping it.

As part of any Con-Lib pact, I’d bet a nail is hammered firmly into the coffin of any NI rise, which should benefit jobs and business in general.

2. Vince Cable & Cuts

The Lib Dem shadow Chancellor has consistently talked sense and proven a sharp mind when it comes to the economic turmoil of the last couple of years.

To have his influence at the heart of a new government would be valuable. I think most small businesses would welcome Vince Cable as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, providing a counter-balance and gravitas to George Osborne as Chancellor. [Edit: Vince Cable become Business Secretary announced on 12 May – good news.]

While everyone recognises painful cuts in public spending and tax rises are on their way to deal with the deficit, there are conflicting views about time-scales.

The Tories want to introduce £6bn of cuts this financial year, the Lib Dems would delay until 2011-12. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) and Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, both warn against rapid cuts before sustainable growth is secured.

[Edit: £6 billion cuts remains in the new Con Lib Dem agreement.  But as a commenter below notes and following comments by Mervyn King on 12 May, the economy seems to be growing enough to accommodate these cuts. ]

What’s at stake here? The threat of a double-dip recession which will harm all small businesses.

Although the Greek/Euro economic crisis could dictate events, the markets may find a considered, balanced plan for the economy delivered by a Lib Dem backed Conservative government more appealing, than anything one party might pursue alone.  An economic war cabinet, if you like.

3. Co-opetition

In an increasingly networked business world, the idea of co-opetition and partnership has gained a lot of ground over recent years, particularly in the world of web startups.

More and more businesses recognise strong leadership doesn’t preclude developing mutually beneficial partnerships.

Working with competitors isn’t such a strange idea in business. It shouldn’t be in politics either.

This hung parliament is an opportunity for government to catch up with progressive business.

4. Green Tech

Environmental policy is an area where Tories and Lib Dems are closely aligned. Both talk about a low carbon economy and investment in renewable energy. Together they have an approach which is arguably more progressive than the Labour alternative.

This should be good news for Green Tech businesses – an area of the startup economy which is increasingly important and offers the UK an opportunity to become a global leader.

5. Red Tape Reduction

As some of you will know, I’m sceptical of Ken Clarke’s new broom to sweep away red tape.

However Vince Cable has long espoused the idea of ‘sunset clauses’ i.e. legislation that has a shelf-life and then disappears off the statute book.

I believe this could have the single biggest positive impact on reducing legislation for small businesses.

A Tory commitment, combined with a very practical Lib Dem solution, could finally mean we see some sharp, rather than blunt scissors snipping away at the confusing tangle of red tape.

[Picture credit: Andy Beez licenced from Flickr]

In reality, very few companies are successfully exploiting the channel to promote their business, and many of those have big budgets. So why and how should an SME or start-up think about Facebook as a marketing channel?

Forming a Facebook fan page is often viewed as a fantastic way to engage with the public, and if you do it right it can be hugely successful.

Coffee chain Starbucks has more than 5.5 million members on its Facebook fan page, and is by far and away the most successful brand on Facebook. But for small businesses the challenge is that much harder as they donâ€t enjoy the same level of brand awareness. For example, more than three quarters (77 per cent) of Facebook fan pages have less than 1,000 members.

Why do it?

So why should small businesses form a Facebook fan page? Creating a Facebook page provides the opportunity to directly interact with potential and existing customers. 400 million users – and growing – simply cannot be ignored. Some of these people will be in your local area and they may be searching for your product or service.

As well as a way to sell and generate brand awareness, Facebook groups provide a free way to carry out market research – you can poll your fans, gauge their reaction to ideas before you implement them.

Content is Key

The clincher when it comes to attracting and retaining Facebook fans is what you offer them. There is an infinite amount of interest groups that Facebook users can join, so you need to make yours stand out from the herd. Most groups probably fail to reach 1,000 members because they fail to offer compelling content and, worst of all, do not interact.

So, think of video, audio, blogs and other interesting content that would appeal to your target audience. You can then use tools such as ping.fm to syndicate that content with minimal manual input your end. Have a look at car hire firm Zipcarâ€s Facebook page to see how innovative content has helped a small business generate a following of nearly 30,000.

Most of all, itâ€s a community, so INTERACT!

How promote it?

Once youâ€re clear on what you want to achieve from your Facebook page, what content youâ€re going to offer, whoâ€s going to manage it and how often youâ€ll be updating content and interacting with customers, you need to think about how to attract people to your page in the first place.

Start small – friends, friends of friends, customers. Provide links on your homepage to click through to your Facebook page, offer discounts and other benefits exclusive to Facebook group members. Your popularity will spread virally, so donâ€t expect Rome to be built in a day.

Assess where you are after one month, two months etc and think about how you could better promote the site if youâ€re not hitting numbers.

For more on the subject of Facebook pages, listen to this podcast from RunMarketing.co.uk with social media consultancy, Fresh Egg.

Born in Camden, Charlie left school at 15 with no qualifications, but a passion for boxing.

'The way we run the business isnâ€t rocket science itâ€s common sense. The only problem is that common sense ainâ€t that common,' says Charlie Mullins

Until the age of 21 he was a talented amateur boxer who represented London and clearly demonstrated the determination, discipline and attention to detail which have become some of the hallmarks of the success of Pimlico Plumbers which he founded in the basement of an estate agent back in 1979.

Charlie’s plumbing career started after he left school when he gained City and Guilds qualifications and become an apprentice. Indeed apprenticeships and the issue of youth unemployment remain an issue he’s passionate about.

By 1986 Pimlico Plumbers reached the magic £1 million turnover mark and has been growing ever since. With turnover now at £15 million the business employs more than 155 people and carries out over 1,200 jobs a week.

When asked why he thinks the business has been so successful, Charlie makes it clear that obsessive focus on customers has been key as well as a determination to create a service that’s professional and counter to the negative experiences many have of tradesman.

As he says:

There are far too many cowboys and shoddy tradesmen out there. I believe that we have set new standards and raised the publicâ€s perception of the trade.

And Charlie has certainly done himself and his business no harm by making the most of media opportunities. He’s appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, and is a regular commentator on small business issues online and in the national press.

To hear from the man himself and pick his brains on what it takes to grow a business, don’t forget you can still get free tickets to Thrive! London on Thursday 25th February. Click here and enter the discount code ‘smallbizpod’.

You should think of good quality data as providing the building blocks upon which vital insight can be derived. This in turn can be converted into better customer relationship strategies, and ultimately this is what will encourage business growth.

So, put it like that and Iâ€m sure youâ€re coming round to my point of view; data really should be at the very heart of communications with its target market. But as with many things, saying it and doing it are very different things.

One obstacle many SMEs will have to overcome is getting data and marketing to work closer together. There needs to be a common language between the marketing and data departments.

Too often the insight obtained from the data doesnâ€t get carried through to the marketing strategy, and so doesnâ€t work hard enough or generate the true ROI it should.

There are numerous ways that marketing can benefit from having a closer relationship with the data department.

Data segmentation, for example according to personality type, enables a business with the tools to create tailored, well-targeted marketing communications that resonate with customers, delivers better results, longer relationships and more even more efficient use of time. All of which contribute to profitability and a healthy bottom line.

Even as there are hopeful murmurs about the worst of the recession being behind us, every company is looking for ways to “recession-proof” their business. So now more than ever, marketing has to demonstrate real measurable ROI and the ability to deliver the message to the right people.

So start using your data to not only create a tailored message, but also pin point exactly when in the customer journey the message will have the most impact.

Most SMEs are working in a highly competitive and increasingly saturated market place, making it harder to stand out from the competition. There are no quick fix solutions here. Price cuts simply donâ€t generate long term cut through.

So getting communications right is vital; it is the primary way for a business to differentiate between themselves and the competition. Data and marketing working closely together is not just a ‘nice to have†but an absolute ‘must have†for your business to stay ahead.

"The best entrepreneurs believe their start-ups are deeply meaningful and rewarding endeavours." Marc Benioff, founder & ceo of salesforce.com

But it wasn’t always that way.  Certainly not when Marc Benioff, the one time Apple programmer and Oracle hot shot, decided to quit his job working closely with Larry Ellison to create his own startup.

A little over a decade later and salesforce.com is a billion dollar business listed on the New York Stock Exchange and widely acknowledged as having blazed a trail for the cloud computing revolution.

When I got the chance to put some questions to Marc, I was most interested to hear what he had to say about his own entrepreneurial journey.

1. You literally dreamt up the idea for salesforce.com during a sabbatical of quite a spiritual nature. Are startups spiritual endeavours for entrepreneurs?

Everyone comes to their entrepreneurial epiphany in their own way. I think the best ones are spiritual endeavours in that they come from a place of deep thought and passion. The best entrepreneurs believe their start-ups are deeply meaningful and rewarding endeavours.

If youâ€ve ever read studies or seen the statistics on entrepreneurship, you see that indicators of entrepreneurial spirit do not include perfect grades, or certain scores on standardised tests, or Ivy League degrees (in fact many great entrepreneurs did not even complete college.)

Iâ€m not against any of those factors – thereâ€s significant merit to each of those achievements – but thereâ€s one success factor thatâ€s greater than all of the above combined. Itâ€s passion.

Thatâ€s the pivotal ingredient that drives any entrepreneur as starting a company involves tapping into oneâ€s entire being. Start-ups also require faith. Like any zealot, an entrepreneur must demonstrate unwavering conviction, especially in the toughest times.

2. How does a business maintain that startup fervour as it grows and in your case becomes a public listed company?

Itâ€s a challenge to retain start-up energy as a company evolves, especially as it becomes public and has different responsibilities. Weâ€ve had to make enormous changes—financial changes, leadership changes, organisational changes—to prepare to be the company we are today.

Weâ€ve tapped people from larger companies whose experience we needed. Other talent, people who have been with us from the earliest days, have moved on.

Thereâ€s a part of me that misses how I once interviewed every hire, knew everyoneâ€s name, and drove golf balls down empty halls with the team. But the other part of me appreciates that those halls are no longer empty, that weâ€ve built something beyond my greatest expectations together, and weâ€ve stayed true to who we are as a company.

Companies must change as they evolve. Itâ€s the only way.

When it comes to fervour, or energy, or passion, though, I donâ€t think weâ€ve had to make sacrifices.

The culture we built—specifically our 1-1-1 integrated philanthropy model and our V2MOM management system—allows us to achieve quarter over quarter growth and allows us to stay aligned with our roots.

Even with nearly 4,000 people (compared to four people 10 years ago), we havenâ€t lost excitement or determination because each of us is doing more than a job: we are changing a industry and we are contributing to making a difference in the world.

3. You’ve been called the PT Barnum of the IT industry. Are the best leaders also showmen?

I have? I suppose Iâ€ve been called a lot of things.

The best leaders do have a persona that fits with the companyâ€s story and bolsters its brand. I donâ€t really think this is showmanship because it never works if itâ€s fake—the “character” must be heartfelt and authentic. You have to believe in what you are doing and believe what you are saying.

P.T. Barnum believed that his circus was “the greatest show on earth.” And, he worked tirelessly to make it happen. Iâ€ve believed in the End of Software for more than 10 years. I wasnâ€t wearing fatigues my first day—that persona evolved over time—but Iâ€ve always been ready step forward and fight for our mission.

Sure, 10 years ago, five years ago, some people said that it was all grandstanding. They said the statement was bold, but look around, the end of software is actually here. Now, every major analyst firm sees cloud computing expanding its share of the overall IT market.

We used to be alone (and it was challenging work to gain acceptance for this new idea), but now there is a robust marketplace of cloud applications and now cloud platforms.

Customers today see a choice. Itâ€s incredible to consider whatâ€s happened in such a short period of time, yet I know that we are just beginning to prove how far cloud computing can go.

4. The War on Software has been a powerful, defining differentiator for salesforce.com. Where do you find your next revolution, your next hook to set you apart and avoid becoming the new establishment?

It’s a good question. Staying relevant is key. When you’re telling your story, you better have a modern story to tell. If I were still saying the same thing I was saying 10 years ago, it would not be that interesting.

The next new frontier is collaboration. Much as we once learned from consumer sites such as Amazon.com and eBay, weâ€ve all learned a tremendous amount from the latest consumer development, the rise of social networking.

Businesses are beginning to take notice. Executives are watching these new services and asking, “Why do I know more about strangers on Facebook than my own employees? Why is it so easy to follow Ashton Kutcher on Twitter, but I can’t follow a key deal? Why can a picture tell me that I have been tagged, but a document in my company can’t tell me it has been updated?”

There is a very compelling immediacy to services like Facebook and Twitter. One look and you know whatâ€s going on in your whole world. I think thatâ€s exactly what we want from our business technology today.

Consumer services have outpaced enterprise technology, and businesses arenâ€t going to wait for the traditional software companies to catch up.

The consumerisation of IT and the growing influence of social networking are going to be major trends that continue to unfold over the next few years. Customers want new functionality, but they donâ€t want the traditional complexity that has marred products in the past.

5. Who has been your greater influence, MC Hammer or Steve Jobs and why?

Theyâ€ve played different roles. There have been other influences too: Ammachi; Billy Graham; Larry Ellison; Colin Powell.

When I think about building a business, I try to learn from some of the best people, regardless of the industry. These people have shared innovative ideas and inspired new thinking that has helped us become one of the fastest-growing companies in the technology industry.

Iâ€ve been inspired by what Steve Jobs was doing since I was in college. I spent a summer writing some of the first native assembly language for the Macintosh. I loved working at Apple, and the fruit smoothies in the fridge, the pirate flag on the roof, and then seeing Steve Jobs walk around and motivate the developers.

Apple was always doing something different. Itâ€s not by accident that its products look like nothing else out there. Their dedication to innovation (and delivery of it) is what inspires customer excitement and loyalty.

When we started salesforce.com in a rented apartment I put a picture of the Dalai Lama over the fireplace and another of Albert Einstein on the wall. Both were part of Appleâ€s “Think Different” campaign.

I had the opportunity to meet MC Hammer once we already started salesforce.com. He came into the office and taught us about how the music industry uses “street teams” to market new songs. They actually get young people organised in local communities and get them out there generating excitement.

The street team concept was something we were able to directly pick up and use at salesforce.com. We went on tour and created a programme that allowed us to extend our message and get customers out and selling for us on a local level. The inclusion of customers in marketing has become a key part of our brand.

6. You talk about hiring the very best, but you’ve also taken pride in moulding raw talent. What % of new hires don’t work out and has DNA/attitude proved to be a more successful measure than aptitude?

Really, you need both attitude and aptitude. That said, early on we saw that many of the individuals that demonstrated raw talent (but didnâ€t have much related experience) were better than the more seasoned people we hired. (This was also because many of the people in our industry had been brainwashed by the client-server model and that clashed with our culture.)

The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.

These are the people who will make the biggest contributions because they really care about making something better. We value a desire to change the world via technology and an interest in giving back to the community.

Just as universities look for candidates with diverse experiences on their resumes, with a commitment to giving back, and with a point of view, we look for well-rounded people who possess impressive skills and who can easily adapt and who have a desire to do something meaningful.

7. Should entrepreneurs build philanthropy into their businesses from the start?

Absolutely. The easiest way to build an integrated philanthropy programme is to do it from the very beginning.

When we first started salesforce.com, my co-founders and I set aside one percent of our equity, one percent of paid employee time, and one percent of our product earmarked for a separate non-profit foundation. As our company grew, so would the contributions made by our foundation.

We call this the 1-1-1 Model and it has become an integral part of our culture and company.

New hires experience how it works during their first week on the job. The orientation programme includes a chance to help replant a forgotten park, paint a school, or help deliver services to San Franciscoâ€s homeless.

We give employees paid time off each year to volunteer supporting the charities of their choice. It has had a powerful effect, with more 165,000 hours donated so far.

Because this model is embedded in our company DNA, and because it continues to be wholeheartedly embraced by our employees, weâ€ve been able to maintain our commitment in this challenging environment.

We just raised our matching gift programme from $500 to $1000 per employee, per year. Employees are excited about that and weâ€re excited to show that as a company we care about whatâ€s important to them and we want to help them make a difference.

When we started with our 1-1-1 model 10 years ago, people asked me, “Why are you doing this?” Now they ask, “Can you help me do it at my company, too?” Google has adopted part of our model and the potential of its programme is astounding.

Other companies, iRobot, LiveOps, and BlueWolf, all incorporate parts of the model. Just last night, I received an email from Bradley Whitchurch, the CEO of Seal Shield, who implemented our 1-1-1 model for 2010. I canâ€t wait to see what they achieve.

In the future, I think that shareholders will pressure companies to articulate their corporate social responsibility programmes. Economic recoveries are historically times of robust small business formation. (I know this first hand!).

Entrepreneurs must seize the opportunity in front of them and understand the role that innovation, creativity, and altruism will play in securing a brighter future. It is my hope that every small business will think about adopting our model or consider creating a similar one of its own. Itâ€s best to start from the beginning, but itâ€s never too late.

8. Personally, how have you dealt with your darkest hours as an entrepreneur?

Weâ€ve been very fortunate, but of course there have been some dark moments. Itâ€s necessary to work past the moment, though, and understand the bigger picture. I also canâ€t underestimate the importance of family and friends, who provide tremendous support.

In general, pioneering a new idea does bring with it a number of challenges and critics, and at times, it invites a certain amount of doubt. However, I always believed that this idea would work. It was better for customers. And even if it wasnâ€t yet accepted, it made common sense.

That belief helped me maintain my optimism. So did some of the lessons I learned from Larry Ellison and my time at Oracle. Even in Oracleâ€s darkest days, Larryâ€s resolve never faltered. He said, “think of it as you want it, not as it is.” Always thinking ahead to the future has allowed me to stay focused on our vision—and what we believed was most important.

9. You said you were in danger of becoming an Oracle ‘lifer’. Are you now an entrepreneurial ‘lifer’?

Yes, I suppose that might be my fate, though luckily this time thereâ€s no danger! I enjoyed my time at Oracle and I learned a lot from the very best, but I knew that I was an entrepreneur and destined to do something different. I started my first company when I was 15 and Iâ€ve always loved building something from nothing, and finding a new and better way to do things. I hope Iâ€m fortunate enough to spend the rest of my life doing that.

*********************

Marc Benioff’s book Behind the Cloud tells the salesforce.com story, with plenty of practical advice on execution, strategy and scaling a business. Well worth a read for any budding entrepreneur with big ideas.

A challenge for the largest of online retailers, but one which Gareth, a seasoned online entrepreneur who has circumnavigated ups and downs way more treacherous than a bit of wintry weather, was clearly dealing with adeptly.

And it’s been a good year for Tree2MyDoor. Seasonal sales are up 25% in 2009 and as an Ambassador for Enterprise UK, Gareth’s personal and business profile continue to rise.

The Startup Spark

But Christmas isn’t just a typically seasonal peak time for his business, it’s the anniversary of the idea that prompted the Tree2MyDoor founder to quit his marketing job and begin his entrepreneurial journey.

Living in London back in 2000, missing his parents in Northern Ireland, Gareth wanted to send them something special and lasting for Christmas rather than the last minute booze and flowers.

What better gift, he thought, than two beautiful fruit trees they could plant, see grow and flourish year-on-year.

Turning to the internet for a quick and easy way to order them, Gareth rapidly realised nobody was offering such a service, which planted a seed in his mind.

Anyone For A Christmas Tree?

Gareth Mitchell's festive startup is now a flourshing business

A year or so later, Gareth was living in Manchester and decided to sell Christmas trees online and via a big leafleting campaign. He thought it would be the perfect way to pull in some cash to bootstrap the launch of Trees2MyDoor, having set up an early e-commerce site with a friend.

In fact, the idea went pear shaped like the fruit surrounding the partridge in the seasonal song.

Having blown his savings, he returned to a cold Manchester flat, stuffed with unsold firs, boxes, leaflets and the detritus of a poorly planned business opportunity and went to sleep.

As Gareth says:

I just thought Oh, what have I done? So I ended up leaving everything. Slept on it, got up the next morning and then said, right time to pull your socks up Mr Mitchell.

Doing It Right

For the next 10 months, Gareth planned, sought advice from business organisations and secured start-up funding including a loan from the Prince’s Trust.

Version two of Trees2MyDoor.com rapidly began to take off and the company has now developed strong relationships with tree suppliers, designed patent-pending packaging and has an e-commerce strategy that’s delivering upwards of 30,000 unique visitors a month, with an 8% conversion rate to sale at peak periods.

I asked Gareth how he’d achieved this:

We turned our back on copy that didn’t make any sense, keyword stuffing and so on, focusing on clear, well written content about what we had to offer. From there we also began to get lots of links from the press and other websites.  The resulting PR and profile has been really worthwhile.

Socialising E-Commerce

The Tree2MyDoor.com approach is a natural one online and off.  Traffic has been built by developing quality content to attract in-bound links and an eagle-eyed focus on the flow of the site based on analysis of behaviour as visitors reach certain pages.

Common sense perhaps, but plans to develop content specialising on practical advice about trees, and developing an online community of customers sharing tips, photos and video, highlight an evolving online strategy and a deep-seated environmental ethic:

Hopefully, we’ll enable loads more trees to be planted and get those people into the mindset of doing a little bit more to focus on the importance of trees.  We’d like to be a gateway to empower people to become more involved in improving their environment.

A worthy goal indeed.  Encouraging individuals to change what they do and get involved in a practical way with environmental issues as a result of a much loved gift makes a lot sense.

But it’s also a sign of how online businesses are adapting to become more than ‘just another home-based shopping cart’ idea.

Increasingly online e-commerce brands are looking to add valuable niche content, adapt to a more social web, and build in campaigns or beliefs that will mark them out.

Tree2MyDoor is doing that and, in my opinion, it’s very much a trend we’ll see more of in 2010.

So, what does Twitter mean for you as a small business? What are the best practice guidelines?

Twitter in a Nutshell

Twitter, if youâ€re not familiar with it, is a service embraced by companies, individuals and celebrities which allows users to enter 140 characters of text with which to communicate, share information and chat publicly and privately.

The idea is to build up a following among users that interest you, and for companies of all sizes Twitter presents the opportunity to interact with existing and potential customers.

Itâ€s also effectively a real-time search engine, with live updates on an infinite range of subjects, so typing a keyword in the search box will enable you to see what Twitter users – or ‘Tweeple†around the world are saying about your brand, industry or geography.

Twitter presents challenges to small businesses as well as opportunities, so if youâ€re planning to use Twitter for your business, itâ€s best to do it properly or not at all.

From the outset itâ€s vital to remember that if youâ€re tweeting as a company itâ€s harder to gather a following. Also, be sure to make sure you have objectives clearly marked out. What do you want to achieve via Twitter? How and when are you going to measure it?

The Pros & Things To Do

Twitter enables you to see who in the world is talking about your product, industry or company and interact with them. You can build up a network of potential customers and partners, and promote your news, products, services and offers. Here are some practical tips on how your business could use Twitter

• Make sure a real person is representing your business and don’t be too salesy in your profile or in your tweeting. Twitter’s about developing relationships online, like you would do for your business offline.
• Leaving the default Twitter image is, again, impersonal and wonâ€t encourage a follow back. Itâ€s also best to use a photo of you or one of your team as opposed to a logo.
• Remember if you use Twitter as a sales tool youâ€ll turn people off and prompt an unfollowing. Use the three Es – engage, entertain, enlighten. Marketing is about conversations nowadays.
• Try using Tweetdeck to manage your tweets and to search for people to follow or “trend”. If using multiple Twitter accounts, Hootsuite is a great tool.
• Never outsource Twitter to a third party, such as a PR firm or freelancer – you need to be authentic and tweet in your own voice.
• Log on in spates during the day. It can become both addictive and a frustrating distraction as you get sucked into conversations. Be disciplined.
• Use hashtags before keywords to help them be found more easily when others search for the topic or trend youâ€re tweeting about.
• Play around with Twitter using a personal account before committing your company to the service. This will help you familiarise yourself with the platform and the way people use it.

The Cons & Things To Avoid

• Never tweet in anger. It may be tempting if you see something infuriating that you want to respond to, but remember that whatever you type will be available online forever, even if you delete your comment, some traces can remain.
• Donâ€t set an auto-follow thank you message. This is an option available to you to say “thanks for following” and add your message to all new followers, but this is seen as impersonal and defeats the object of Twitter as an open dialogue.
• Put a policy in place to avoid any off-piste clumsiness from your staff. As with all things social media common sense is a prime currency. If youâ€ve got employees talking about where theyâ€ve been for new business or what they really think of a customer then youâ€ve got some fires to fight.
• Although Twitter could help you discover comments about your brand that you may not like, it also presents you with the opportunity to engage positively with the people making those comments. This is the essence of marketing in the Web 2.0 era – itâ€s no longer a monologue, itâ€s a dialogue between brands and consumers.

Twitter Impact Measurement

Once youâ€ve got Twitter up and running you want to know what people are saying about you. Not everyone will use the @ prefix when referring to your name or brand, so if you want to know what people are saying about your company – or industry – log onto sites like Addictomatic or Ubervu, enter your keyword, and youâ€ll see exactly who is saying what on a number of platforms, such as news and blog sites.

If youâ€ve embedded Google Analytics and are tracking your traffic, then you should be able to see what percentage comes from Twitter.

Even if itâ€s not substantial, itâ€s something which could lead to sales and partnership building, so Twitter is often worth the time investment. Try it on a personal level first before committing your brand to the service.

For more on using Twitter and social media for small business in general you might be interested in a podcast I recently recorded with Jenni Lloyd of social media agency NixonMcInnes.

If you’re using Twitter for your small business, do feel free to leave a comment to share any advice or tips you’ve learned that others might find useful when starting out.

The diagram represented why blogging was good for business, by poking a hole in the membrane that separates a company’s internal conversation about its products and services from what’s being said in the real world.

Hugh MacLeod the porous membrane

If you’ve not read Hugh’s post on the subject, I’d highly recommend it.

Hugh’s point is that if a business’s internal conversation about its products and services is very different to what its customers are saying out in the wild, there’ll be trouble.  Customers and businesses need to be closely aligned – talking to each other.

Since 2005 the conversational, ‘social’ aspects of the web have arguably become its most potent meme and evolution of recent years.

Thousands of companies large and small, from computer giant Dell to Herefordshire-based organic gardening retailers Wiggly Wigglers, have embraced social media as a way of conversing with their customers.

Salesforce.com – control or conversation?

Unsurprising then that last month in San Francisco the ‘software is dead’, CRM revolutionary, Marc Benioff should unveil a ‘social’ layer to Salesforce.com in the form of Chatter.

Salesforce.com Chatter - a Facebook for business

Put simply Chatter is a Facebook and Twitter for behind the firewalled garden of business. A way to let staff, projects and even business processes talk to each other in real time. A business life-stream behind a thick skin.

More porous, however, is Salesforce’s Service Cloud 2 which is where the real ‘social’ action is.

It helps businesses to absorb knowledge and conversations on Facebook, Twitter and other online communities about their brands, products or services, attempting to make customer service more responsive and informed.

So far so conversational, but interaction with the customer or the consumer very much remains in control of the business. It’s all about managing customer relationships, not about letting customers manage their relationship with your business.

Power to the People

And here’s where the next revolution could take place. Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) is CRM flipped to give customers power and more importantly possession over their own digital data, identity and friends.

Espoused by Cluetrain author Doc Searls and others, VRM is initially a little hard to get your head around in terms of how it might work in practice. But a good summary can be found at London-based VRM Hub.

To take one practical example, imagine you as a customer having control of all the data relating to all the purchases you’ve ever made online, whether at Amazon or eBay or Ryan Air. Add to this a complete record of your search history for particular products or services.

This is valuable data and it’s your data. A digital footprint of your own interests, habits and online behaviour. Data many a business would find incredibly useful in terms of really understanding what you wanted from them.

If customers were in control of this information, they could selectively turn access to it on or off for certain brands they were interested in, depending on their personal privacy preferences.

They’d be in control of the relationship with the vendor. In return for allowing access to this data they might receive special offers or information they really valued.

Gone would be the broken model of poorly targeted, patronising advertising – replaced instead by a more mature exchange between equals.

Open, free and commercial?

One of the issues with VRM is where and how individuals would store their online activity data, like e-commerce transaction history and then technically how, if they chose to, would they release access to it.

This is where one could see a company like Salesforce.com creating a new customer-centric, cloud-based service. A VRM platform free to individuals, derived from yet to be agreed open standards.

As long as it ensured complete privacy and portability combined with rock solid guarantees that individuals retained ownership of their data, such a platform could become a practical way of allowing customers to manage their relationship with brands.

Why would Salesforce.com want to do this and do it for free? Because such a service would add value to what it already offers brands in terms of letting them better understand and engage with customers.

VRM might sound like sci-fi – a concept developing in some far off geek galaxy.

But for companies large and small, it may well prove to be at the centre of a much more sophisticated, grown-up and efficient way of doing business on the web.

Pull these elements together and you have an image your business is giving to the outside world – your brand.

When your company image doesnâ€t accurately reflect your business DNA you should seriously consider a rebrand!

This can occur for a number of reasons but a key one is your business may have changed significantly since the original design was created. Major developments can affect your brand such as mergers, the launch of new services or even downsizing.

Generally speaking in these instances it’s immediately obvious that the existing brand needs to be reinvigorated or a new one developed. However, there is a less obvious, but more common reason for your brand becoming dated.

In my experience many businesses tend to invest very little time in its constant development.

Instead they only update it when prompted by a key business change (such as my examples above). If there isnâ€t a business critical reason to evaluate and update the brand, it’s rarely given priority. You really must incorporate an ongoing, regular update into your marketing strategy though.

One issue that I hear frequently from companies is that brand development is expensive and not a priority so they shy away from it.

This will only have a longer-term negative effect on the businesses. The longer you leave it the more dated it will become. Consequently you will be left with a much larger, more expensive project when you finally face up to addressing it!

So how can you keep the costs of developing a brand right down?

1. Often the most subtle of changes can make all the difference. For example, frequently adding new copy on to a website or the introduction of a slight change of colour scheme. This approach will help drive more traffic to your site, keep your messaging and image up-to-date and help ensure your brand continues to evolve. Apply this technique across all of your marketing materials and it will help you avoid the cost of a complete rebrand too!
2. If you do need a complete rebrand I strongly advise you to invite at least 3 design agencies to quote for the project. This applies even if you already use a trusted designer. Informing your incumbent designer that you’re putting the work out to tender may well encourage them to provide you with a more favourable quote! You might even find that this process introduces you to a new agency or consultant with a fresh perspective on your brand.
3. When you have selected your chosen designer or agency invest the time with them to brief them properly on your requirements. If possible, plan your envisaged design needs out for the forthcoming quarter and share those too. You can then work with your appointed agency to develop the core marketing materials that you’re likely to need for the immediate future. This will help identify possible work that can be designed for a number of projects. For example if you plan on focusing your direct marketing on an email based campaign but are targeting a number of different audiences, your designer can prepare one master email template for you, all you have to do is change the copy for each different market. The result is a lower cost of design!
4. Spend time with your designer, consider them a genuine extension to your team, brief them properly and ensure they have a thorough understanding of your business. Do this and you should find they’re better equipped to offer advice to you and develop a brand that is right for your business objectives, audiences and most importantly your budget!