Advice on growing your small and medium sized business, SME, in the UK. Hiring and managing staff and finance plus marketing all on one website
‘Companies everywhere are recognising that video has become the factor that can provide an edge over the competition’ – the wise words of James Leal-Valias, creative director at iStockphoto, writing for Business Matters a few weeks ago under the title ‘Design for Small Business: Integrating Online into Your Marketing Mix’.
The summer of 2012 is going to be a busy one and you could be forgiven for thinking that the UK will be closed for everyone not involved in the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the Queen’s Jubilee in early June, to ‘back to school’ time in September.
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the largest events the UK has ever seen. From the end of July to the beginning of September, forecasts predict an extra 322,000 visitors to the UK, with a dramatic ‘spike’ in service demand.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s family have helped inspire a new breed of partypreneur research suggests, with the Middleton’s party business reportedly earning them a handsome sum, thousands of Brits have been striving to emulate their success.
Nearly half of UK managers are expecting further redundancies in 2012, and over a third of managers feel insecure in their jobs, with over half surveyed felt that they would be unlikely to get another job if they were to be made redundant. according to the annual end of year research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
This new breed of small British business, dubbed TOTs – Twelve month old, Optimistic and Technologically-minded – by the Henley Business School, could add £360 million to the UK economy and create over 70,000 new jobs over the next 12 months it is claimed.
For many family owned businesses, planning how to leave your business to the next generation can be a daunting task. With most SMEs focussing on immediate successes, plans for the future can often be overlooked or left until the last minute.
Here I discuss the importance of tracking data and gathering information within your business. It then goes on to discuss what data you need and how to use it in order to grow your business.
The UK’s first ever Intellectual Property (IP) Attaché has been appointed and will start work in China on 14 December. The position is an important part of the Government’s plans to strengthen trade relations and unlock the growth potential of UK businesses abroad.
Electricians could be in for a shock as they have moved to the top of the taxman’s targeted campaign list as the Electricians Tax Safe Plan (ETSP) will begin in February 2012 and give an opportunity for electricians and electrical fitters to come forward and declare unpaid tax.
Working 12 hour days, six days a week, becoming an entrepreneur means turning your job into your whole life, but loving every minute. Since its launch in 2009, the PoolMate has positioned itself at the forefront of a wave of innovations in performance-enhancing athletics technology, across over 60 countries. Lisa Irlam, (pictured centre) founder of Swimovate and creator of the PoolMate, discusses her inspirations and challenges and gives practical advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
As we approach the Christmas season, with demands on us from staff parties, client entertaining as well as family and friends many of us will struggle during the day.
The divide between those who are paid significant salaries with generous bonuses and those on more modest incomes (and for some national minimum wage) seems to be getting wider. Recent press articles indicate that senior management salaries have increased up to 75 per cent whilst employees’ salaries are expected to rise less than 3 per cent. It seems hard to understand the rationale and mechanics of this disparity.
Research has revealed that when considering hiring a new member of staff, small businesses across the UK value experience over qualifications. The study also found that interviewers value ‘cleanliness’ more so than ‘politeness’.
Traditional networking is no longer sufficient for SME’s as gone are the days of ‘pressing flesh’ in the hope of reciprocal business months down the line.
