Customer Service Techniques
18/04/2011It's common sense really. We all like to be dealt with in a welcoming and professional manner and undoubtedly that's exactly how you treat your customers already. But when the economy is as challenging as it is at the moment, you really do have to go that extra mile to keep and attract customers.
An impromptu business plan will do (sometimes)!
04/04/2011Something we're quite passionate about is that planning should be easy, especially for small businesses. Detailed business and marketing plans certainly have their place, but if you need to get things done quickly, then a quick plan will do. It's still better than no plan at all.
Starting a Business: our 10 tips to help you start your own business
25/01/2011Continuing our look at starting your own business, here are our 10 top tips for starting a business, based on a reflection of our past five years.
Using Spreadsheets in Small Businesses.
12/01/2011Spreadsheets put a lot of people off because they are seen as "number crunchers" and appear to be complicated. But they are really useful for a small business as they can actually be used for a wide variety of tasks and a spreadsheet is usually included in office software, so there is no need to buy more.
Tips Before you begin...
02/01/2011A new year often makes us think about living our lives in a different way and one of the things we often want to change is the way that we work. Working for yourself can be daunting and many people never get beyond thinking about it. However, if you do your research first you will have a far better idea of whether it can work for you. Here are some pointers:
Free Software for Small Businesses
09/12/2010Last week I was supposed to meet my co-director In York to do some planning for our business. Of course, the weather put paid to that! Instead we spent the day (or most of it) on Skype for free and using Dropbox (for free) and got the work done that way. The only thing we missed was someone to bring us our coffees and lunch! It set me thinking, how much free software is there out there that can make our lives easier?
10 Tips for Surviving the Big Freeze!
02/12/2010So winter's arrived and some of us have been snowed in already! With our apologies to those of you who are really well organised, here are 10 of our ideas on making sure that your company survives the big freeze.
Time Management
22/11/2010I don't know about you, but I'm really struggling with my time management at the moment. Where does it all go? Time, of course, waits for no man/woman/person and, fool that I am, I thought that I'd have more of it as I got older... Wrong!
Data Protection and You - the "Right to be Forgotten"
04/11/2010If we operate small businesses, we all know just how much collecting electronic data makes our lives easier. But how clued up are we on what information we can legally keep about our customers, employees, in other situations (such as buying marketing databases and storing databases on overseas servers) and what we can do with it? We need information about our local Data Protection laws.
SWOT - Doing it Properly
25/10/2010A SWOT analysis is one of the most common diagnostic planning tools used in business. Its four perspectives - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats - provide a framework which is not only easy to follow but also helps provide an overview of your business.
How to Backup your Business Email
11/10/2010If you lost all the information in your email and your browser, how would it affect your business?
Business Start Up - Exploit your Business Plan!
04/10/2010Having taken the time to write your Business Plan, how can you make it work harder for you? You probably wrote it in order to raise finance, but here are some other uses for all your hard work.
The Importance of Holidays
29/08/2010This is a really difficult subject for small businesses, simply because we don't see how we can take holidays when we feel that making money is more important. In fact, it looks as though many small business owners will forego their holiday this year, according to the XLN Business Community website.
Marketing and Finance - most important in a recession?
14/08/2010Having worked with SMEs for a long time (and been one myself) and having seen rather more of recessions than I would have liked, I long ago came to the conclusion that there are two important things in business that you ignore at your peril when things are tough. Marketing and Finance.
E- Service (how to treat your online customers)
06/08/2010Recently we had a hiccup with our software, which failed to recognise that a customer had paid for their plan. We have always been very particular about our customer service process, because we know how we like to be treated ourselves when things go wrong (and with the best of intentions, they do).
Be Prepared!
16/07/2010The recession won't last for ever, so are you prepared for the upturn?
Do you know who your customers are?
09/07/2010I read an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph today that set me thinking - how much do we know about our customers?
Are you backed up?
05/07/2010In a recession, I can understand it when some small companies go under, but what I can't get my head round is when it's because they've lost all their computer records.
Finding the right Finance for you.
22/06/2010It is vital you choose the right financing options for your specific needs. And it might be that a combination of options could work best for you.
Are YOU insured?
16/06/2010BP may be self-insured, but most small businesses can't afford not to take out cover.
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