I see a lot of businesses that are very busy but they just aren’t making any money. Let me give you a recent example of a small telemarketing company that carries out business to business marketing.
This story is a classic story of a couple of guys who had worked in the industry for many years deciding to set themselves up independently. They rented an office, recruited a few telesales staff and set about building the business.
Year: 2008
Be healthy,wealthy and wise
In a competitive world where costs are key to success, employee retention plays a vital part. Long serving employees save on recruitment costs and the training of new staff. Due to the public perception of the state of the NHS, an employee benefit package that contains Private Medical Insurance can be more attractive to new and existing employees.
Peparing your business for sale
Any item for sale benefits from quality presentation, whether it be a bottle of perfume or a three piece lounge suite. Businesses are no different. An owner manager who allows him or herself time to gift wrap their company and put on a big bow for good measure will reap substantial rewards.
Undertaking the “wrapping and packing” takes time – anything up to three years – but it is time that is so so well spent.
Profile: Brian Jokat
Canary Wharf is synonymous with men and women in suits, business and sky scrappers. And unless it is an evening in the pub after a hard day’s work, fun is not necessarily the word that springs into mind when one thinks about the business district which has over 80,000 workers and the tallest building in Britain – One Canada Square. But in the cold winter days, the site is totally transformed. Laugh, fun and, for some, a lot of skills are on show at the ice rink in the centre of it all. The businessman behind such enterprise is the Canadian Brian Jokat.
Profile: James Caan
James Caan is not a man to let the grass grow under his feet. By the age of 40 he was a self-made millionaire, having created and sold two executive headhunting firms.
But rather than sailing off into the sunset with G&T in hand, Caan has since graduated from the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School, become a mentor for MBA students at London Business School, and set up a private equity firm, which currently has four companies in its investment portfolio. Oh, and become the latest dragon on Dragon’s Den, where on top of filming obligations, he has already taken three entrepreneurial charges under his wing.
The secrets of survival
So the decision has been made to go it alone. Casting the master-servant relationship aside after years of promising to do so has finally arrived and the world is now your oyster.
Launching a small business is tough, with the line between success and failure being extremely fine.
However, there are a few simple questions and rules, which, if followed through, may make the difference between deciding to throw in the towel before you get your feet wet or wading into the murky depths of small business ownership.
The future of networking
Increasingly, businesses have been looking to ‘word of mouth’ marketing to find clients with the growth of networking groups providing opportunities for companies to spread the word and get referrals.
Times move on and with the growth of online social networking opening people’s eyes to the power of the internet, companies are looking to see how the increasing number of ‘social’ business networks can be used for marketing and sales purposes.
Team building with a difference
IF you’re tired of your staff singing the blues help is at hand with a unique team building experience to improve working attitudes.
Orchard Studios, based in the stunning Cheshire countryside, is opening its doors to businesses across the country and offering a fantastic day of team building with a difference.
As well as being an innovative, inspiring and highly motivational experience, a day at Orchard Studios will cost you only a fraction of the cost of most corporate events – and best of all, it’s great fun and it works.
Supporting the ‘business oscars’
Tenon, the accountancy and business advisery firm is sponsoring The Tenon Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit in the 2008 National Business Awards for the second year running.
Tenon, who has just announced its sponsorship of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in The National Business Awards for Scotland, has more than 1900 staff in 44 offices and is a leading adviser to entrepreneurs nationwide.
Surviving the Downturn
When doom, gloom and despondency reigns in business, the inevitable response is always to make cuts. No surprise here. The media resound with everyday stories of staff cuts, budget cuts and training and development cuts. And yet, at the same time, there is an astounding growth in job advertising for ‘business development’ executives of multiple shapes and sizes. It’s a stereotypical and oh-so predictable response to tough times ahead.
The cost of taking free fuel rises
Changes to the company car tax free fuel benefit for the 2008/09 tax year make the cost of the benefit-in-kind increasingly marginal.
BT opens up wireless internet access for UK businesses
UK businesses of all sizes can now turn their premises into wireless broadband (Wi-Fi) hotspots, expanding the range of services they offer to customers and visitors, and potentially creating a new revenue stream, thanks to the latest initiative from BT Business Total Broadband.
Business Owners Starting to Feel Credit Crunch
Research by a leading social entrepreneur networking website has revealed that nearly 40% of small business owners and social entrepreneurs have experienced cash flow problems in the last few months as a result of the worsening economic situation.
Retailers fight against an ever increasing card crime threat
Credit card fraud protection specialist, The 3rd Man, says that ‘card not present’ crime in the UK is far higher than official statistics suggest and is getting worse. Over £500 million of fraud was attempted during 2007.
This alarming figure shows that the appetite among fraudsters around the world to use the Internet for crime among UK retailers has far from diminished, and comes at a time when retailers need every penny of revenue they can get to cope with the effects of the global credit crunch.
Who tops out the entrepreneur poll?
Demonstrating that money cannot buy you everything, Richard Branson has topped a poll of business heroes as voted for by business owners themselves, beating the world’s third richest man, Bill Gates, into 2nd position.
