The Business Expert

So your website is not bringing in enough business!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:15:00 +0000

This is one of the most common issues that I come across on a daily basis.

But when I have examined the client’s websites I usually highlight several shortcomings.

The website is not being listed on the main search engines ie google.

The content is all about the company and its products/services and not about why the visitor should do business with them.

When the business is questioned they may know how many hits the site has per month but not whether they are unique visitors, what they looked at, where they entered the website, and more importantly why they left.

Often the website has not been properly search engine optimised (SEO).
And even more importantly the website is not integrated into the business operations.

The good news is that in-spite of what I hear regularly ie businesses being mislead or even worse ripped off there is help available and in some cases the business owner can handle this themselves.

I have recently formed an association with a colleague who is a leading expert in this field and even better he has written an excellent paperback book that is vital reading by way of a guide to developing a website that really brings in the business and produced a self help DVD course that ensures that the website statistical information needed to ensure maximum success is produced by your website.

Below are the two low cost products that I am recommending to every client with a website.
Simply click the link to find out more and place an order today!!

statsfaceslap!'>Discover 26 Critical Statistics.
Discover how to measure 26 absolutely critical statistics that can optimise online marketing results by up to hundreds of percent... guaranteed!

The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy
22 Powerful Web Strategies any and every real business can use to blast their sales through every record they've ever witnessed... and dominate their market within just weeks or months. 208 page paperback book. Click on the advertisement shown at the top of the profile panel on the right

For more information about how we could help you grow your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068

E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Website: http://www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk/

Raising Finance during the ‘Credit Crunch’

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Raising finance for a small business is always a challenge banks tend to be risk averse at the best of times so the current economic situation just increases the challenge.

But the problem is not insurmountable but like all business issues preparation is the key.

Firstly the directors or owner have to identify the best form of finance, then before approaching the source of finance a good business case must be prepared, specifically a tailored business plan. Just dusting off an existing business plan, (if one exists) is not enough. With over fifteen years experience of these situations I know that the business plan that you write for a risk averse banker is totally different to one that is required by a Business Angel (or private equity investor). But more of that to come in a latter post!

Identify the correct form of finance is critical; otherwise you will just be wasting time and effort.

Listed below are the most common forms of finance, however if you can’t find a suitable method detailed below then please contact me for more specific solutions.

Raising Finance

Loans, Factoring, outside investors, Business Angels and Venture Capital are all means of financing a business but the starting point should be using savings or borrowing from family & friends, (but make sure that there is an agreement drawn up to protect all parties).

Banks
The most common source of funding is the bank, however businesses often utilise the bank products and services in the wrong way.
For instance if a business has an agreed overdraft limit of £5,000 but the business constantly operates their account with the overdraft fluctuating from £3,500 to £5,000 but it never drops below £3,500.
The business should consider changing the £3,500 debt into a commercial loan and then change the overdraft to cover the fluctuating debt of £1,500. This could save money in interest charges.

Other Ways to Fund Cashflow.

Firstly can the terms of trade with your suppliers be extended? Often businesses are paying on Pro-forma. Once some trading history has been built up it is usually possible to agree improved terms ie 30 days or longer.

Just simply taking longer to pay your supplier can damage your relationship or even affect your credit history and rating when you try to get other products or services on account.

Invoice Discounting
This is also known as ‘factoring.’ The finance company inspect your books and agree to pay a percentage of the value of invoices that you send to your regular clients at the time you issue them and pay most of the rest of the value when they get paid.
They can either run your debtor book for you chasing the payments or you can chase payments. Obviously in the first case it relives you from that time consuming and some times uncomfortable chore but the cost are higher and you may feel that your clients might not like someone with whom they do not have a business relationship chasing them form money.

Asset Based Lending
This is a similar form of financing and the finance company agree to provide you with a percentage of the value of your sales even before you invoice, this is especially helpful to businesses who do not invoice until the end of the project. This allows manufacturing businesses or other industries like builders to fund the cost of materials and labour or other processes which extend the time before the business gets paid. The finance company inspect your books and agree to pay you a percentage of the value of the sales. Debts can be secured against stock, machinery, premises, invoices and even brands

Click here to get our finance options table

Other options include outside investors, Business Angels or Venture Capital.

Click here to get our Guide to Equity Finance:- Business Angels or Venture Capital.

For more information about how we could help you source finance to fund your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Legal Structures for Businesses

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:18:00 +0000

Sorry that I have not posted anything for a while but I have been concentrating on building another online venture which you will soon hear about. Recently whilst talking to a lot of start-up businesses it became evident that deciding on the structure was an issue.

Here is some guidance and more will follow for social enterprises in another post.

Legal Structure Guide

Before starting a business one of the first steps is to decide on the type of business structure, will you be a sole trader, partnership, limited company etc.

Sole Trader
Becoming a sole trader is easiest way to set up in business
Setting up a business as a sole trader is quick and easy and involves virtually none of the form-filling associated with forming and running a limited company. Sole traders make their all of their own business decisions and don’t have to answer to anyone else.
However, the downside of this is that sole traders are personally responsible for any losses the business makes.
If fact many owners are unaware that your own possessions — including your home — could be at risk if you can’t pay your debts. And you may also find it more difficult to get finance to fund your business.
Once you’re operational, you must keep a record of the business’s income and outgoings.
Despite the name, you don’t have to be completely on your own; a sole trader can take on employees.
Although sole traders are often taxed as self-employed, this isn’t automatically the case even though you’ll be working for yourself. If you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs within three months of starting up

Actions.

It’s a good idea to seek help from a business adviser or solicitor when deciding the best legal form for your business

If you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs. Contact 08459 15 45 15; www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup

Partnership
Forming a partnership allows two or more people to establish a business together, sharing profits, management burdens — and risks.
A partnership will allow you to share the responsibility of managing a business. And joining forces with other people may mean you often have more money to invest in the business.
Partners also share personal responsibility for business debts.
They put their own possessions on the line, including their homes, if things go wrong. If one partner can’t pay their share of any debts, the other partners become jointly responsible for it.
Remember that a partner could make business decisions or enter into binding contracts without the consent of other partners. It’s therefore vital to draw up a partnership agreement, setting out how the partnership will be run and how any proceeds will be split, (it’s best to use a solicitor for this). This will help to prevent disputes.
Partners are often taxed as self-employed but this isn’t always the case. If you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs within three months of starting up (see below).

Actions

It’s a good idea to ask a solicitor to help you set up a partnership agreement

If you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs. Contact 08459 15 45 15; www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup

Limited liability partnership
A limited liability partnership, or LLP, is a newer form of business and shares many of the features of a normal partnership, but it also offers reduced personal responsibility for business debts.
Members of an LLP are protected from personal responsibility for business debts. Their liability is limited to the amount of money they have invested in the business and to any personal guarantees they have given to raise finance.
As with a traditional partnership, you share management responsibilities and potentially have more money to invest in the business.

But forming an LLP is more expensive and complicated than setting up a partnership. You have to send a registration document (Form LLP2) to Companies House and pay a fee (currently £20, or £50 for same-day service).

A solicitor or company formation agent can help you set up an LLP. An LLP also brings a number of extra running costs. For example, you have to make financial information about your business publicly available by sending a copy of its annual accounts to Companies House. You must also submit an annual return giving key details of the LLP and its members.

Also LLP’s have to have their accounts audited. But those with a turnover of less than £5.6m and a balance sheet total of less than £2.8m are normally exempt.
Again it’s essential that you have a partnership agreement drawn up setting out how the LLP will be run and how profits will be shared.
Members of limited liability partnerships are often taxed as self-employed but this isn’t always the case.

One restriction is that you can’t form an LLP if your business will be a charity or not for-profit organisation.

If you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs within three months of starting up.

Action

It’s vital that you ask a solicitor to help you draw up a partnership agreement

Again if you are self-employed, you must register with HM Revenue & Customs.
Contact 08459 15 45 15; www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup

You can get Form LLP2 from Companies House. Contact 0870 33 33 636; www.companieshouse.gov.uk

For more information read:
Limited Liability Partnerships— Formation and Names (GBLLP1).
Contact 0870 33 33 636; www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Check for changes in the law as regulations, figures and sums of money may have changed since publication.

Limited company
A limited company can offer reduced responsibility for business debts — but it brings a range of extra legal duties too.
Private companies are limited by shares that generally protect the individual from personal responsibility for business debts. But your personal risk will be restricted to how much you invest in the business and any financial guarantees you have given in order to obtain financing.

However, if the company fails and you have not carried out your duties as a company director, you could be liable to pay the company’s debts or be disqualified from acting as a director in another company. You can raise money for the business by allowing individuals or other businesses to subscribe for shares in the company.

You can also give employees the opportunity to own a share in the business.
Alternatively, the company may seek loans from banks or other lenders, although lenders will usually want personal guarantees for the loan from you.
Setting up a limited company may also bring marketing advantages if it adds to the perceived credibility of your business, also organisations offering contracts will often only contract with Limited companies.

Although Limited companies pay corporation tax on their profits, you as a director will also be taxed as an employee of the company in the same way as anyone else who works for you.

There are extra administrative costs associated with setting up a limited company. The company must submit annual accounts and tax returns to HM Revenue & Customs — on top of any returns you must send on your own behalf.
A set of accounts also has to be sent to Companies House, this will make financial information about your business publicly available. You must also send Companies House annual returns giving certain details on the company and its directors and shareholders.
Some Limited companies must also have their accounts audited. But most small companies with a turnover of less than £5.6m and a balance sheet total of less than £2.8m are exempt.

To set up a limited company, you will need to create a memorandum of association and articles of association, which have to cover issues such as who will be running your business, what it will do and where it will be based. These documents, along with the standard registration documents (Forms 10 and 12), must be forwarded to Companies House before you can start trading.
(Currently the registration process costs £20, or £50 for a same-day service).

Company formation agents can handle the process for you, registering your company electronically with Companies House (for a fee). You can register a company yourself, but it’s worth taking advice from a solicitor, an accountant or a formation agent to make sure you get it right first time. The introduction of electronic incorporation allows formation agents and other intermediaries to register a company with Companies House very quickly and at a competitive cost. contact me for a recommended low cost on line formation service

This guide covers only covers regulations, it’s also recommended that you also obtain general business advice

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Lost Out On a Deal Recently?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Just the other day, yet another customer said to me, “I just lost a big contract on price again; perhaps I should reduce my prices when I quote.”

That’s just plain wrong!

What has happened is the customer was not convinced that they were getting anything better or extra for the higher price quoted.

People buy differences and perceived value, don’t believe me?

If you know a bit about cars here’s an analogy.

In the UK there are on the many cars on the market, 3 of them are:

The Audi A3
The Volkswagen Golf
The Skoda Fabia

The Audi is the highest price vehicle and the Skoda the lowest and the Golf sits at the middle price band.

The Audi is predominately bought by the young professionals or those aspiring to that image.

The Golf is most often bought by those people who want good reliable, stylish vehicles, which hold their value at a reasonable cost.

The Skoda’s market is often retired or middle aged people who want a vehicle that is reliable and budget priced.

If everyone was only interested in price we would all be driving a Skoda.

What people buy is the difference between your product/service and the competitors. If you don’t convince them of the additional value added benefits of your proposition then the decision will be made on price. That probably means they will not buy from you unless you drop your price.

There goes your profit margin…, and interestingly enough, the people who buy on price usually show no loyalty in the long run, (and take longer to pay). If you gain business on price, then you are likely to loose it on price.

Remember there is always someone selling a cheaper and more inferior product or service than you and that sort of customer are his rightful prey.

Don’t ever apologise for being more expensive, be proud!

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me or visit my website today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Getting Closer to Your Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:41:00 +0000

One powerful source of help in developing your business is often forgotten, your existing customers.

I said recently that you should understand what influencing them, i.e their market trends, how their needs are changing, how they feel about you as a supplier and what makes them tick.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen businesses that take their best and biggest customers for granted. The first time they know that the clients needs have changed or are disenchanted with them as a supplier is when they stop doing business with them.

Help is at hand, there is a powerful tool that allows any business that has internet access to carry out electronic surveys.

Check out Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com which is a user friendly website that has interactive tools to help design produce and manage online surveys.

The good news is there is no initial charge to sign up. If you only want to produce simple surveys and will only receive up to a maximum 100 responses per survey then the cost is zero.

Even if you upgrade to the next level allowing more functionality and up to 1000 responses per survey the cost is only $19.95 per month.

The top grade option with all the optional extras and unlimited responses is only $200 per year (less than £100).

Just think about all that information and customer knowledge and what you can do with it, for a start you will be ahead of your competitors.

Unless they read this blog of course………

Happy surveying!

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Free Help for Businesses!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:20:00 +0000

I knew that would get your attention!

As a business owner you are probably as suspicious as me when you see something for free but sometimes there isn't a catch or you just need to go in with you eyes open.

One of my clients showed me a letter from a Local newspaper group inviting her to a free workshop about getting the best out of advertising. Of course we know that the aim is to get you to book advertising with their publications. But hey you don't have to place any business with them if you don't want to.

This is an example of the sort of help that can supplement other advice or training.

Other sources like the free research that I mentioned that other day can be really valuable.

But don't forget to use the other advice and tips from Web-Blogs like the one you are reading now. I will be shortly launching some more services on line much of which will be free so watch this space.

I would also like to recommend two other Websites/Web-blogs that I visit on a daily basis.

Check out Ed Rivis website http://www.edrivis.com .
Also the other person who has a great blog is Jim Sansi, http://www.thekaizenbusiness.com .

Remember 'Knowledge is Power' and this what will give you the edge over your competition.

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

2008 Downturn or Not

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:57:00 +0000

In the last few couple of weeks I have been working with clients and helping them to make sense of the scare stories in the UK press about the impact of the sub-prime crisis and what some pundits are saying about the prospects for economy.
I have just issued an article to a number of newspapers and business publications and the media. If you would like a copy of the full article, click here. Here is a taster of what I have written.

Of course I have already said that I don’t believe what some panicking journalists are implying ie crashes, recession etc.

But you should as a sensible business owner, take account of what’s happening and plan accordingly.

Here are the actions that you should take now!

Firstly plan your sales and growth realistically
Do a thorough review of your costs and overheads, (not a quick ‘back of the cigarette packet’ estimate).

Save costs and overheads but not at the cost of business, for example in a downturn a lot of businesses first reaction is to slash marketing dramatically but that can be counterproductive.

Manage your finances using good Cashflow and Profit & Loss forecasts and credit management records.

This business maxim is still true today, ‘Turnover is vanity, Profit is sanity, and Cash is reality’. Think Profit and Cash not turnover.

Do you have a big overdraft? Reduce this by converting the proportion of it that is constant to a commercial loan, it can save lots of money.

Are you reliant on one or two big customers? If so, could you tie them into a longer term contract or if you are a service business, into a maintenance contract.

What are you spending money on, are you getting the best deal?
Get three quotes for everything, ask for fixed price quotes from your service suppliers that includes your accountant etc.

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Website Tips 3

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:17:00 +0000

Once you have designed your website you should check out how it is viewed by Google (the most used search engine) and compare it with the best competitors in your industry.

Using the search, site:www.yourwebsite.com/co.uk in Google, how many pages does Google know that exist on your website?

How many pages do your competitors have listed?

Using the search, link:www.yourwebsite.com/co.uk in Google, how many pages does Google know that link on your website?

How many links do your competitors have listed?

If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

More Website Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:59:00 +0000

Following on from my last post here are a few more tips to help ensure that you start your website off on the right track.

Good practice is to have the menu down the left hand side.
Do not have too many levels of information for each heading on your menu i.e. any element should be only 3 clicks of the mouse in.

Use lots of white space on the page too busy and it won’t get read.

As for page content, the page should have at least 120 words of content on it

Use bullet points and summaries.

More to come in later posts.

If you require more individual help in growing your business contact me via email or telephone

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

More Website Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:59:00 +0000

Websites Some Basic Steps Before You Start

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:55:00 +0000

A lot of businesses that I help have a website but in many cases they have spent money before asking themselves some basic questions. This preparation ensures that the website does what it should ie attract visitors and gain business.

So here are some questions to get you started:

Why do you have/want a website?
What is your websites call to action?
Who are your potential website visitors?
Who might buy your products or services or be interested in your website information?

Now having established the basics how do you arrive at the right keywords for the search engines to find your website? They can then form part of the copy in your pages.

Which search terms (phrases) do you think are important to your target market?

Now put them in priority order.

Use the overture tool to see how often those terms were searched under.

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

You can also check using the Google Keyword Tool

https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=64886&hl=en_GB

You should now be on the right track to see what words will be effective.

More website tips to come.

If you require more individual help in growing your business check out my website or contact me via email or telephone

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Knowledge is Power!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:58:00 +0000

When I start working with clients one of the early pieces of work I do is to ask them is to provide me with what they know about their market, the size, growth, trends and what they understand about their competitors.

Guess what in many cases if they do have anything written down its out of date, often it’s in their head or is just gut feelings. So I always build a small amount of research time into the project proposal.

But the worst thing is that up until now these clients business management or business planning (if they do any) is based on this lack of knowledge.

When I talk to businesses in the first place the comments I get are:

We don’t need all that, we just want more sales
Well we don’t have time for research.
We don’t need/can’t afford a marketing manager.
We don’t have anyone with that expertise in house
We can’t afford to pay someone like you to carry out research

Let’s take the first comment

Trying to plan or run a business without research is crazy. To use an example that’s like driving a car blindfold down the fast lane of the motorway without any idea of your destination, that would be a pretty stupid thing to do.
For instance if the long term trends in your market means that its going to change radically you need to know about it.

Secondly time invested now can pay dividends and prevent expensive mistake or more importantly the knowledge gained can give you the edge over your competition.

Lastly costs money or time spent should be seen as an investment not a cost.

If you are a start up business and really have no money you can do it yourself for free.

You don’t have to spend a large amount of money. I don’t buy market research reports for instance. In the UK we have the library’s service and most counties have a least one which is designated as the County Business Library.

I am a great fan of these facilities. For instance they hold copies of Keynote Market Research Reports. These are major pieces of market research that have been funded by big businesses/organisations and you can view them for free either in hard copy, (or on the computer in my County library).
I spend a lot of time there making notes and you can take some limited photocopies.
I could of course examine Keynote reports via the Keynote Website but you can only see the executive summary to get the rest costs sometimes thousands of pounds, but why would I want to do that?

Of course you can also use the internet and do some free research.

So no more excuses, let your competitors stay in blissful ignorance and steel a march on them.

Do it today!

For more information about how simple techniques could help your business e-mail me today!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Successful Business Bucks the Trend

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:28:00 +0000

Earlier this week I had a review meeting with a client that I started working with just 12 months ago. The small independent business operates in the home improvement retail sector.

The business owner had hit the classic growth plateau, the business had been running 5 years was doing OK, but the owner was running around like mad and missing time with his family. He wanted to grow the business further but was unable to see how this could happen.

After carrying out a free diagnostic I identified that the business could grow with the right growth and development strategy but that he also needed to work on the business and not in the business. Also the business needed to work smarter not harder.

I worked with the owner to put together the clear vision, strategy and tactics to grow the business and rethink how the business operated. This was then translated into a robust business plan containing SMART objectives and accurate financial forecasts so that we could accurately measure costs and sales. The forecasts also allowed us to track the impact of strategy and tactics.

We also repositioned the business to concentrate on the higher net wealth clients and to turn away the lower value business to the big chains that were in the usual aggressive price war. The secret was to avoid competing on price and spending lots of time producing design layouts for business that would not be closed or if won would be on lower margins.

We projected a reasonable growth of 20% and to retain a good gross profit margin.

So how did this approach pan out?

We just examined his final end of year results he achieved 68% growth and exceeded the targeted good gross profit margin by 1%. The changes we made has meant that he is now able to take an extra day a week off, plus several breaks. He is relaxed, happy and is now looking at planned expansion funded out of profit. He now gets a very large proportion of business from recommendations and is spending a lot less on advertising.

The business is expected to hit the five year growth target that we set at least 1 year earlier.

Meanwhile his competitors both the small independents like him and the large national chains are all struggling even harder and fighting over low profit business.

To quote a character from the TV programme 'The A Team,' " I love it when a plan comes together," (and so do my clients)!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068

E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Company Website’s, Some Basic Preparation

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:39:00 +0000

With regularity I meet clients who believe that if they set up a great website it will bring in lots of sales and solve all of their problems.

The problem is that before you launch a website you need to start much further back.

Why do you need the website, what is it going to do?

Is it a just a sales brochure website?
Will customers want to order from it via an e-mail?
Is a full e-commerce site what’s needed and if so how will your customers pay, and what payment/credit cards will you accept and what’s the cost?

But more importantly often the website is built in isolation from the rest of the business.

Have you got the ability to handle a large increase in sales admin, dispatch and delivery wise? What about returns?

Can your suppliers handle the increase in sales have you got back up suppliers? If it all takes off as you hope can you cash flow the big increase in sales? More businesses fail through running out of cash as they expand than you would believe.

Does the website conform to the legal requirement’s, in the UK under trading law websites must have certain information in place.

Four vital elements that must be on every the website are:

Terms and Conditions, (accessible form every page)
The VAT registration number
The details of the company registered office.
If you are a Limited Company you must also show the Company Registration Number.
Lastly you can’t just show a non geographic phone number i.e. 0800, 0845, 0870 etc. you must also prominently show a normal non geographic phone number

All of these are requirements under UK law. If your website does not comply it is recommended that these compliance issues should be addressed with some urgency. After all you don’t want to Trading Standards Officers giving you a hard time

More to follow!
Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Pareto the Last Word!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:16:00 +0000

I have shown several ways to use this simple tool on the top 20% of your customer base and previously even suggested that you sack a few customers from the 80%, but what do you do with the rest of the 80%.

Profile the customers in the top 20%, what are their characteristics? What are the common aspects?

Now examine the remaining group and profile them are there any customers with the same or closely similar characteristics? Group them together.

Now target this group as your secondary targets and try to covert them to add to your top 20%.

Any customers that are left over now should also be contacted but not as regularly or intensively as the others.

From now on any prospective customers that you find should be profiled in the same way.

Also you now know the profile and characteristics of customers who you should advertise to and hopefully the marketing messages that will attract them.

Remember the golden rule is to apply effort where it will have the most effect!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Maximising Your Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:13:00 +0000

Remember that Pareto Principle (aka "the 80/20 Rule")?

Well here’s another use of this powerful technique

I said before that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers and you should concentrate the first wave of marketing effort on this 20%.

Firstly are you contacting them regularly or like a lot of businesses I meet are you being complacent?
Set up a regular contact schedule for this year.

What other products or services could you be selling to them after all the hardest and most expensive part has been done you have acquired them as a customer. Very often this group are not fully aware or have forgotten what else you can do for them.

Ask them why they do business with you and how you could improve the service further, you want them to tell you if there are problems not your competitors. Don’t assume all is well just because they are buying.

Apply these principles today and watch your sales grow, and don’t forget it hasn’t cost you anything to get this new potential business so it’s more profitable when you cost the sale against new potential customer sales for the same product or service.

If you want to hear other ways to grow your business then contact me today!

More later.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

‘Sacking a few customers,’ Using the Pareto Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:18:00 +0000

Yesterday I mentioned the Pareto Principle (aka "the 80/20 Rule")

Today I am going to talk about one exercise using this rule; I call it ‘sacking a few customers’.

What am I crazy? No I am deadly serious

When I start on a business growth project a large proportion of the clients that I work with are wasting vast amounts of money, valuable time and resources chasing and doing business with customers and products that bring I low levels of profit.

The big lesson is that I can pretty well guarantee that 20% of the profitable business comes from 20% of their customers.
But all of the marketing effort and activity is mostly aimed at the 100%.

This is what I call scattergun marketing.
If you were a hunter would you just go out into the fields with a big gun and blast away at the bushes and hope that you hit something?

Of course not if you were sensible you would go out with your snipers rifle go to the watering hole at feeding time and making sure that you were upwind of your prey you would use one shot to hit your selected prey.

So why not apply that principle to your business.

Firstly you need to have good information about who purchases what products and services and at what price, (do you have varying levels of discount?).

Then see who is giving you the best profit, often it’s not the customers who buy the most?

Now you know who to target and who not to, (are there some customers that you can’t change to become the 20% most profitable within the 80%? If so why are you dealing with them in the long term?

Does anyone have a problem with this logic? It works for most of my clients, so why don’t you take advantage of this powerful technique.

Remember it’s all in the numbers!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

It’s all in the numbers!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:59:00 +0000

If you are reviewing the performance of your business or trying to grow it there is one simple tool that can be applied to any business in a number of ways.

It’s called the Pareto Principle (aka "the 80/20 Rule")

80% of your business will come from 20 % of your customers.
80% of your profit will come from 20% of your products/services.
80% of your problems comes form 20% of your customers.(they are often the 20% of customers who are problem payers.

So the trick is to apply effort where it will have the most effect!

More of this in a later post.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Gift Horses and the Charity Sector

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:12:00 +0000

As someone with several years expertise in what is now termed the third sector I was asked to run some workshops at an event just before the holidays for a group of charities. The delegates were establishing or had already set up trading arms to generate income.

The main problems faced by many UK charities are donor fatigue, (there are just so many charities competing for our donations), and reductions in funding form sources such as Local Authorities.

This wide spread set of challenges has resulted in the need to generate income form other sources, the only problem with that is the Charity Commission rules governing limits on trading activities.

So how do these organisations who are often small overcome this barrier, well the answer is to establish businesses that create income and then feed a large proportion of the income back to the charity.

When setting up these businesses the choices for charities are often a not for profit limited company, a company limited by guarantee, or latterly the new Community Interest Company.

Over the past few years I have though noticed a few challenges for the charities as they establish these businesses because they lack business skills or experience:

A lack of understanding of the market place that they are entering.
Under costing their products or services.
Because they are charities they don’t think that they can charge normal prices.
Poor business planning.
Poor business skills.
Poor financial and management controls.
Entrepreneurial drive and awareness.
Naivety so they are ripped off by suppliers and customers, (especially if they are supplying the public sector).

These organisations often believe that bringing in someone form the outside will be expensive but so is failure or loss of potential income.

Much of my work in this sector is at subsidised cost there are also networks of self help organisations who call in people like me to deliver training to groups of delegates and charge low attendance fees and in many cases free places. Sadly often organisations don’t take up these places at events or even turn up on the day especially if it’s free.

So today’s plea is don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and grab any help you can get!

For more information about available help contact me today.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Looking forward to 2008?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:28:00 +0000

As tomorrow, 1st January is a UK holiday, I am posting this entry a little early so Happy New Year!

The beginning of a new year is a good time to be thinking about what could be coming and anticipating what it means for the small and medium size business.

First of all just before Christmas we had all that gloom about the expected poor times for retailers but not unexpectedly suddenly the shops filled up just after some big price reductions. You see the UK consumer is getting used to a pattern hold off with your purchases and bingo just see those last minute reductions!

So perhaps there may be a lesson for the retail sectors i.e. don’t panic and slash your prices too early.

The move to buying via the internet also had an effect with another dramatic increase in gift buying on line.

My 2008 tip to ‘e-tailors’ in the UK though is to make sure that you look at your delivery systems especially if you have used the Royal Mail up until now people are going to be wary of doing business with anyone who relies on them. We all have seen the long lines of people trying to find out if their gifts were held up at the parcels depots. Customers will long remember being let down and especially if their kids were missing some of the presents that they were expecting.

Now onto the money, the UK fall out from the sub-prime lending crisis has had an effect on all lending especially to businesses.
I am not joining the recession bandwagon but expect a slowing of the economy as people sit back and take stock, reducing their debts.

The coming year is likely to be one where banks are more cautious. What this means for the small and medium business is the bank will keep a closer eye on your overdraft and borrowing. Requests for increases in overdrafts or additional lending will be looked at more critically so your business plan will need to be bullet proof especially the numbers, (bank mangers will try to break your projections and see if the lending proposal is still viable).

My network of senior people at the banks are telling me that they will be examining their client lists (portfolios in banker speak) and looking out for clients who could be struggling as the lending gets tighter.

The UK Bank Base Rate is I believe likely to drop 3-4 times this year by a quarter of a point each time.

If your business is affected by the housing market then I am predicting a gradual slowing of the market (no big crashes just more sensible pricing of houses resulting in a smaller increase in values). This I believe means that coupled with the introduction of the Home Information Pack (HIP) people are less likely to move as readily as in the last few years. This could mean that they will spend money on improving what they have already so opportunities there then!

The commercial property market is a different matter, there seems to be a lot of empty property available at the moment and the market feel is that the increases in value that have been gained are at risk. In the short term we could even see recent gains wiped out.

Do remember though that property is a longer term investment; so don’t panic.

So what should you be doing this coming year?

1 Examine all costs and overheads trim where you can.

2 Revisit your business plan now and see what effect a slight slowdown would have for your business forecasts. If you haven’t got a business plan then how do you expect to anticipate and be ready for what comes?

3 Examine your business finances if your overdraft is fairly consistently in the red then covert some of it to a commercial loan (it’s safer and cheaper).

4 If you are selling on line make sure that you revisit your delivery carriers

5 Someone’s losses are another one's potential gains look for opportunities resulting from the economic picture.

6 I am being biased here, but get someone in from the outside to look at your business to carry out a business diagnostic many of us don’t charge for that. If any consultancy or mentoring needs are identified see them as an investment not a cost. If the consultant/mentor knows what they are doing they will save you many times what they cost and or increase your profits.

Lastly I am not predicting a recession in the UK just some sensible and timely belt tightening.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Good Practice for a Successful Business

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:50:00 +0000

This year again I have helped many businesses, some whom were on the road to success and needed help to step up to the next phase of growth, but also a lot that were in trouble.

Of the successful ones that I helped to grow significantly there were a number of elements that were common:

We ensured that they researched their marketplace.
We developed a good USP.
They had been set up with sufficient capital investment at the start and ensured enough finance to fund the growth.
Marketing effort was fully controlled and measured.
We also established good financial and business controls.

Lastly and very importantly they got outside advice and guidance, listened and implemented the suggestions and techniques.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
The Counting House
14 Walford Place
Chelmsford
Essex
CM2 6PG

Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

David & Goliath, or a Case Stranger than Fiction!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:06:00 +0000

Sometimes I am asked to deal with a problem that everyone else has turned down i.e. ‘the lost cause,’ often these are the most satisfying and on the face of it challenging projects.

The strangest one last year was the owners of an ostrich farm based in the heart of a residential commuter area who wanted to build a family home on the site. Sounds reasonable one would think especially as the couple and their children in their twenties had been living in a mobile home on the site for ten years.

The couple had established a farm business which predominately was based on a breeding flock of some 40 female ostriches – they also had incubation and hatching facilities developed in the last few years so that they could sell young ostrich chicks and eggs.

The local Borough Council planning committee had turned down their application for an agricultural workers dwelling earlier that year, despite a Council Officer’s recommendation for approval. Although their agricultural consultant provided additional information – mainly financial and related data during the course of the previous year this did not change the elected Councillors minds, although Officers maintained their recommendation for approval throughout.

There was considerable local opposition to the business from neighbours, including the local Residents Association; it was believed that their representations had strongly influenced Councillors to go against their Officer’s advice. One or two Councillors in particular had been very vocal in their objection to the business – and it was believed to have clouded their judgement in their interpretation of the relevant Government criteria against which the business should be judged in a democratic society.

As the case had been refused a Local Council planning appeal it was now going to a Planning Public Inquiry within the next 6 weeks and they needed to get an argument ready for the planning application appeal and issue evidence to the Inspectorate quickly.

In agricultural dwelling cases there are two tests that the Government requires to be met before an agricultural tied dwelling can be built – the functional and financial tests.

There was no disagreement between the parties that the daily welfare needs of the ostriches meant the functional test was met. Furthermore, the financial test breaks down into a number of component parts as follows:-

“The unit and the agricultural activity concerned must have been established for at least three years” – the Council accept this test was met.

“The business must have been profitable for at least one of these last three years” – the Council accept this test was met.
“That the unit and the agricultural activity are currently financially sound” – again, the Council accept that this was met.

The fourth test is that the business must have a reasonable prospect of remaining so, i.e. profitable/viable/sound.

The stumbling point that was the key to the problem was the fourth test. It was this test that the Council and more especially the objectors did not accept as satisfied, and did not accept on the basis of the information that had been provided, including markets for the ostrich meat etc. that the business is likely to remain viable into the future.
So having met with the couple and their agricultural consultant at the farm I identified that the chair of the residents association happened to own the house next to the farm, also she had a long term happy relationship with the council officers and councillors and had a strong weight of local support.
I recognised that the solution was to the problem was to produce a business viability report to support the application the report needed to be heavily based around undeniable market research that proved a long term growth market for both the ostrich meat and the eggs.

The Council produced no professional evidence or other analysis to show that the market for ostrich products is likely to fail but argued that despite the reasonable past performance a large supermarket had tried to sell ostrich meat as a pilot and it had withdrawn the products due to poor sales.

The report that I produced within a week included an analysis on the likely future prospects for ostrich products within the UK- low fat, high protein, locally grown meats – sold at farmers’ markets and other specialist outlets and proved that the prospects for the business were excellent. Our key argument was that the meat produced should be marketed through what is now a vibrant farmer’s market sector where a large and growingly informed public are making food choices based on health, the environment and the wish to try new things. All of this market information was gathered using the internet.

So what was the result? The public enquiry was held and evidence was heard from the Council, the objectors and the owner’s team.

The chair of the enquiry then arrived at the decision to approve the application allowing the building of the house. The chair spoke a great length about how the decision had been swayed by the viability report’s evidence and the argument about the potential market and the change in public tastes and buying choices.

The lessons here are:

The devil is in the detail, good market research no matter how simply collected is always critical for any business situation.

Remember if you make sure that you have the right ammunition in your slingshot, then you too can fell a giant with a single shot.

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Why Don't Businesses Seek Help Until Too Late?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:52:00 +0000

As a business consultant probably 20% of the businesses that I have referred to me are seriously under performing or are in big trouble.

So why is that?

Well a mixture of reasons:

The ostrich syndrome, "its too painful to deal with so I'll ignore it."
The miracle wisher "if we could only get a big order it will all come right."
The change resister, (they ignore what's changing around them), and in any case, "we have always done it this way."
Ignoring the obvious, "I know we should not have reallied on one big customer for 80% of our sales, but we got on so well with them."
Ignorance, "We don't have time to keep monthly management accounts."

Often they only time many of these cases really see any figure is the end of year accounts from their accountant and even then they don't understand them.

But the two biggest reasons these businesses don't get help are:
They are too embarrassed or feel a loss of pride.
Or the old chestnut, "I don't need to pay someone else to come in and tell me what I already know."

Be honest, with yourself, If any of this sound s familiar then get help quickly, often if the businesses that failed got advice earlier on they could have been rescued.

Alan Briggs
Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd
Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Is The Customer King?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:35:00 +0000

For those of us who have been around the business world for more years that we want to admit to, the phrase ‘The Customer is King’ is a familiar cry.

Unfortunately on a daily basis I seem to be falling over suppliers, shops and businesses that have forgotten this vital rule.

My wife tells me that I am the world worst customer, I guess thats true if that means I only give one second chance to get it right to suppliers and shops.

In many cases these are businesses that are quality accredited. They have great systems to register complaints, customer service people by the drove and lots of quality policies and procedures. The trouble is that if all this forgets that at the centre of it all should be one aim, satisfying the customer, then it’s all just been a paper exercise.

Several things should be remembered:

Customers will often remember and recommend the supplier’s who go the extra mile to put right a mistake or redress a problem quickly and without fuss, (probably more so than the suppliers who have not caused them a problem).

Quality service is not expensive, but lost business and reputation is.

At the end of the day it’s the customer who pays for the wages of everyone they deal with!

Alan Briggs

Dynamic Business Strategies Ltd

The Counting House
14 Walford Place
Chelmsford
Essex
England
CM2 6PG

Tel: 07917 446068
E-Mail: alanb@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk
Website: www.dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk

Succession Planning for Smaller Businesses

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Briggs) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:24:00 +0000

Any business owner, especially those in a family business, will tell you how hard it was to establish their businesses, then build it and make it successful, let alone having to worry about how they might ever leave them!

But those who are trapped in their business know is not a happy place to be. Unfortunately too many owner-managers find themselves completely shackled to their businesses because they didn’t plan ahead. Once a business is up-and-running successfully, there should be no more important an issue to address than Succession Planning, with as long a time-scale for its execution as you can possibly manage.

Clarification - Exit Strategies versus Succession Planning

Those owners who have had to raise funds to buy or develop their business may have been asked by their accountants, ‘what about your exit strategy’? If they have ever approached business angels or venture capitalists, they most certainly will have!

But, ‘exit strategies’ are not the same as ‘succession plans’. Exit strategies tend to focus specifically on how the owners may optimise the capital value of the investment in their business through an eventual sale. Of course you may not want to sell your business when the time comes to move on from your executive duties. Or you may have family members or loyal colleagues already identified to whom you want to pass the business on to. Whatever the choice, you will still need to plan for your succession.

An exit strategy without a succession plan is rather like a car with no engine: worth no more than scrap value. Neither will take you very far…

Why plan for your succession?

Here are three stories that will make you shiver – feel relaxed. Names have been changed to protect identities, but these are real people in real situations!

Alan set up a perfect business 20 years ago. Time came for Alan to move on, but he had made just one big mistake. No bank was willing to support an outside buyer because none believed his company was independent of him. Alan had no succession plan.

Alan’s business had been established for some years. Alan had found a highly profitable niche market that served a captive, long-term, customer base. His business model was sound. His company’s products carried no ‘big ticket’ purchase prices and therefore did not require main Board approvals. Even better, his products were only bought by large, financially secure customers whose main concern was faultless delivery.

Alan’s company had some great long-term contracts (which external funders will always look for), with many more prospective clients to develop (and funders love that too!), the business had a solid reputation which would support further growth - with proven potential for any new owner. Any investors would now be really excited!

Alan had a new wife and wanted to sell and go round the world with his new wife. He had three senior managers, all excellent at their jobs, but they were on ‘second careers’, working part-time for the fun of it. Not one of his senior managers was committed to staying with the business should he sell it.

Some ten years later, Alan has still not managed to find a buyer for his company. He is running a very profitable business, with part-time senior managers and still with no succession plan in place.

Alan’s his wife isn’t happy with him spending so much time on his business but he can’t find anyone who might run his business better than him.

And maybe he never will!

Liz was very different from Alan.

She established a business more than 15 years ago at the age of 50, within five years she realised she recognised that she needed a much larger infrastructure around to take the business to the next level and beyond, preferably with people young enough to take over from her in due course. So she set out to do just that.

First Liz first expanded the team recruiting younger people, which included her two oldest children as recently-qualified professionals.
However as the team developed, Liz found they didn’t always appreciate the difference between being an ‘expert’ in their professions and the vastly different management challenges of running a demanding business. Several said privately that what Liz did in actually running the business, was ‘self-evident’ and ‘trivial’ - compared to their own tactical but highly specialist contributions.
To make things worse (as many of my clients report in these situations!), Liz felt increasingly under-valued as the business founder. But, she persevered with her longer-term plans.

She then recruited some outside help for her business in the shape of a Non-Executive Director, and they drew up a strategic plan and devised long-term management development and mentoring for her next generation of managers. This was a challenging time for them all. But Liz’s visionary succession plans paid off in spades.

Seven years later, Liz began to sell her shares in the business to her management team in small parcels as they developed. She then passed on the post of MD to her eldest son and became Non-Executive Chairman.In the last three years, her business now has a hugely capable executive board comprising her two children and three other professionals, the business has grown more than threefold - and profits have quintupled. All her team have become very wealthy through her enlightened generosity. Alan would be deeply jealous!

Sometimes though, succession planning has nothing to do with your existing Team, or your own family.

Neil established a company based on his own academic research, and quickly gathered 4 more researchers like him to invest in his business idea. Of course building their business took a while because, unlike Alan and Liz, none was sure if there was a market for their ideas.

Happily, Neil and his colleagues did find a market. He also found that most of his founding investors didn’t want the tedium of business management, but they very much enjoyed contributing technically.

Neil’s had planned ahead of course – and considered not just how to commercialise the opportunities they had found, but how to develop them as a ‘real business’.

After recruiting brining in a consultant to guide him and to offer broader business mentoring, the first thing Neil did was to create a detailed succession planning strategy, to find some carefully-selected senior managers to fill the management gaps that were identified and start to devolve responsibilities in a smooth and planned way.

Less than eight years on, Neil sold his business and is a multi-millionaire. He has also made his original shareholders and senior managers millionaires.

The Moral

The lesson to be learned here is that every business and especially family businesses need to plan for succession or you will find the future that you had in mind doesn’t turn out as expected.

Contact us today on 07917 446068 or e-mail info@dynamicbusinessstrategies.co.uk for a free business diagnostic and plan for the brighter, richer future that you want and deserve.