Just Joking

What a title – I know, it’s crap, total rubbish, Bullsh..t but small businesses are often tempted to be less than honest (tell porkies) and I wanted to collect some of the most frequently used ” economies of the truth” and put them into a list.

What you do with the list is up to you. You could:

• 1.   Use it as guide to what not to do.
• 2.  Use for ideas of things to do ( Naughty)
• 3.   Read and Smile

I hope that you enjoy reading it and send me any of your own porkies to add to the list. So here we go:

1. The Wildly Optimistic Headline

Yes I’m sure that you’ve seen them promising the earth in almost no time at all and for a small charge.

I should know about these I’ve bought a few.

I don’t know if you have ever done this. They are sometimes free.

The most common is the promise that you can earn treble your current income by working 2 hours per day.

I’m not for one minute saying that nobody will manage this but I’m sure that I never have.

And it’s not for lack of trying.

Wouldn’t be refreshing to find a realistic promise, but then no one would go for honest and ordinary.

I know I’ve tried it

2 “The Cheque’s in the Post”

This is an evergreen. I cant’ begin to remember how many times I’ve heard it.

If you’ve never used this one then I’m afraid that the time has almost passed.

With electronic banking and people asking for your card details whilst they are on the phone there’s no escape.

In all my years in business I’ve only been seriously strung along by this line  once and that was resolved through the small claims court.

Unbelievably that customer was a solicitor so your in good company with this one.

 

3 ” Our Purpose Built Offices”

Or the kitchen table as it is more often known. The biggest porky pie mine appears to be in the area of how big and how experienced a fairly young (new)  company is.

How often has the above been used to describe a rented shed or corner of a room.

I can remember when I started out about 17 years ago. I had finished my first job and was looking for the next.

Amongst my “irons in the fire” was a tender for Local Government work.

I had arranged for them to come and take a look at my premises on the following Wednesday. Looking round the offices I had all the equipment and procedures that they could want to see but then it dawned on me that there was no completed work.

The place looked empty.

After all I was supposed to be busy.

So I called a friend of mine who was in the same business and asked if I could borrow some “completed” work.

After he stopped laughing he agreed to sort some out for me.

With the visit due on Wednesday I went over to my mates on Tuesday morning.

I arrived back at my offices just after lunch to find a note stuck through the door.

It was from the people from the council due to arrive the next day. They apologised if they had the day wrong but they had found no one in.

I felt sick. the note said they would get in touch.

A day later I got a fax ( remember those) telling me that we had been unsuccessful in our application because the place looked empty and they were expecting to see more signs of activity.

Ah well. The best laid plans of mice and men.

Perhaps honesty is the best policy.

It couldn’t have been much worse in this case.

4. An Impressive prestigious address

This goes hand in hand with number 3.

I have come across this one on many occasions. Have you found people with a really upmarket prestigious address such as say Harley Street for the medical profession.

When you investigate you find that they are in a small backstreet address in the suburbs.

This is often achieved  by employing a virtual office located in an area that will impress prospective customer.

I had one client who’s city-centre address in Manchester was just a mail and answering service through which, I must say, she carried out her business faultlessly.

She herself had moved to Australia.

On holiday to start with but then she stayed using the UK work to keep her going until she was established down under.

So if you want to impress – this is just the job.

5. “All our staff sign a Confidentiality Agreement”

Off course they do.

And if you are the only employee in the business, then, there’s only you to blab about anything confidential that comes your way.

This is one I would never mislead people about as there can be legal comebacks.

Over recent years the importance of confidentiality has grown.

Online fraud has become a daily occurrence so this can not be cheated on.

SME’s are now encouraged to take out Cyber Insurance to protect them.

The only alternative is to make people work in the dark with ear plugs ( I’ve worked for few companies like that).

 

6. ” We’ve got more work than we know what to do with”

Often heard at networking meetings in response to the question ” how are things going”

It’s a pride thing.

But if you did have more than enough work why would you get out of bed in the freezing cold at six in the morning to go to networking group.

I mean, come on now.

You’re there because you need work.

Listen out for it . There’s a lot about.

 

7. How long have you been in business ?

I don’t know about you but I’ve been in business for 17 years.

Yes that’s honestly.

But I’ve seen many people, the younger me included, trying to give the impression that they had been established for years.

There’s no great shame in being a young company but it amounts to alack of confidence on the part of the customer.

I would recommend telling the truth and backing it up with good references.

So obviously go out of your way to get good comments about you from every customer.

8. Awards

This one only occurred to me a few days ago.

I was browsing through competitors websites, looking for ideas worth pinching, when I noticed that one of them had won an award.

I was impressed. There was an official looking award sticker you know the sort, very ornate with the name of the organisation at the bottom and the winner of the gold award for service written at the top.

Well I never they won something.

As I thought about it I was even more taken aback. I had never won an award, in fact I’d never even heard of the award and it was in my industry.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not accusing anyone of inventing bogus achievements.

But I could easily claim to win an award, one for which I was the only entrant, where I was also the judge a jury and  Yes I could just simply make it up.

What a dishonest and despicable thing to do I thought to myself as I headed to the local trophy shop.

You know one of those places that sell cups and plaques for darts, snooker, pool football and all other types of competitions.

Having got my self a shield or cup or something I could get my brother in law to put on a suite ( that would be worth a trophy in itself) and have my photo taken in the lobby of a hotel, when it’s quiet, with him presenting it to me and shaking my hand.

Voila – a big photo on my website, that would really impress.

Now I’m not saying that my competitor was up to such skullduggery but you never know. I bet someone is.

So if you ever see me in a photo, being awarded a prestigious blogging trophy (that has a man throwing darts on top of it) keep schtum.

P.S.    I just had a thought –  If I ever win a real bonafide award no one’s going to believe it now anyway.

Having read this post your probably thinking “there’s not much chance of that happening”.

Please – If you have any other porkies please tell use.

Use the comments Box

Here’s some much needed help on how to get back on your feet after becoming redundant.

Check out what you can do to get earning again.

 

It’s Not all Doom and Gloom

 

At the risk of sounding like an old Blues singer
I woke up this morning and what was on the news.
Redundancy.
This time it’s the steel industry, again.
Thousands of jobs may be going.
The personal misery that this often causes is beyond calculation.
It’s not just a matter of one person in a family out of work, as if that’s not bad enough, it can be whole families.
Tragically older workers may not work again.
Whole areas can be devastated, not just those in the immediate industry declaring redundancy but many of the small businesses that support them.

I don’t want to dwell on this so.
Enough of doom and gloom, there can be another side to the story.
Light at the end of the tunnel.
If you have been made redundant or fear that you might, please read on.

 

Who am I to Talk

I wouldn’t blame you if you’re thinking “what does he know about redundancy?”
Sat there writing a blog
Well to share a little of my history with you.
I have been made redundant on three separate occasions at different stages of my life and career.
It didn’t start off too well.

I served a four-year apprenticeship, at the end of this I was “ a skilled man”.
Two weeks before I was due to be presented with my indentures (apprenticeship papers) I was ushered into the area managers office and told that the company had no openings for a skilled man.
I was redundant for the first time.
The good news was that I could have as much time off, as I wanted to attend interviews and look for work. Oh! Woopee doo.
Twenty years old and redundant.

Not my Fault

“ It’s not your fault” I was told “ it’s just that we are cutting back and there are no jobs”
Like everyone before me and since I “had to understand” that it was the job that was redundant and not me.
It sure as hell didn’t feel that way. I was devastated.
I was industrial scrap before I’d even got started.
So off I went looking for another job.
I don’t want bore you with the whole story it’s enough to say that it all turned out OK but it’s a feeling that is never forgotten.

Another Redundant Situation

This was the first but certainly not the last.
There was a second about 10 years later.
And then again years after that, last but not least, there was another redundancy.

In 1998 – number three struck.
I had worked ridiculously hard to set up an operation in the North of England for a Southern based company.
The outfit that I worked for had become uneasy because my operation employed more people than the head office. To make matters worse we were in a sector of the industry that was outside their core business.
I knew that there was unease within the directors but I was really shocked when, whilst attending a course at the head office ( Woking) I was invited to dinner by the Managing Director.
With no idea what would be next, off I toddled to the Chinese restaurant at the appointed time.
Over lunch and some polite conversation the MD eventually got round to the point of it all.
The powers that be, mainly he himself had decided to sell the business as a going concern, lock, stock and barrel.
More than this he had decided that he knew the ideal buyer, and this I didn’t see coming.
It was me.

An offer I could Refuse

The package included a building, on a long lease, intended for a much larger, multi-disciplined business.
For a whole shed load of reasons I declined and once more was looking redundancy right in eye.
This time though I had months before a buyer could be found and things signed si I decided to set up my own business.
Never again would anyone make me redundant, other than me.
That was sixteen years ago. During this time my “little” enterprise had provided for me and my family. I’ve learnt lot’s and been able to help others to get the best out of their start-ups or existing Small Businesses.
But that was me. What about you?

What to do and when to do it

I’m not qualified to advise anyone on how to fight redundancy I’d leave that to others with specialist knowledge. I advise on how to survive it.
The first rule is to anticipate it.
No burying of heads in sand.
If it doesn’t happen – great, but if it does be ready.
Much as you love your fellow work-mates you must try to look after yourself first of all.
If you go down with the ship you won’t be able to help anyone.
First of all do the usual things, prepare a CV, visit the job centre, register yourself with on-line agencies and take any help that’s offered.

Plan B – Plan a business start-up

Wow ! there’s a hell of a step for someone that’s been in full employment possibly for years.
But we have to face it. If you are part of a large redundancy, one big enough to hit the whole of the area where you work, then, there will be possibly hundreds of people applying for every job.
Don’t get me wrong still try but have a Plan B ready.
Quite often in large redundancies older employees simply don’t find work for years or possibly never.

But no matter what your age or training.
This is 2016 though, and we don’t accept that there is no work and neither should you.

A lifetime of experience

Yes you have experience, possibly training or skills that you can sell.
Even if you don’t think that you have there are still at least two choices.
Firstly to turn a hobby into a business or secondly to get training in a skill that will sell and then go for it.
I can’t possibly go into all the ins and outs of choosing a business and setting one up, in this articl,e but I have other articles and if that fails the web is full of useful advice.
I would rather concentrate on the redundancy situation than general business start-up.
It may be that you are a keen gardener and could turn that into a job. Maybe you are a welder and with a small investment in equipment you could go solo.
There are a few things that I would like to share with you so here goes.

Where to set-up

If you are in a redundancy which affects a large number of people (such as the closure of a steel works) you will have to find customers away from the area of the closure.
In your immediate vicinity people will be holding on to money for as long as possible and who can blame them.
You may have to look several miles away to find any success.
For this you will need transport and a license to drive may become vital.
Having said that I know of one guy who set-up as a gardener using his customers tools and travelling on the bus but sooner or later he had get some wheels.
Remember wherever you live there will be an area of potential customers, with money, within travelling distance.

If not there’s always the internet wheregood money can be erned but beware there be dragons.

If it looks too good  to be true – it usually is

I’m sure you’ve seen lots of adverts on the internet where you do virtually ( no pun intended) nothing and £3,000 or more per month just rolls in.
Please do not be tempted to spend your precious redundancy money on these schemes.
There are many unscrupulous guru’s and experts out there just waiting to relieve you of your cash.
As we both know if it was that easy they would pay people to do it and take the profit.
I’m sure you can spot a scam but hard times can make even the most level-headed of us act irrationally.

If you smell a rat try typing the name of the scheme or the person pushing it followed by the word SCAM.

It’s amazing what turns up.

Head Up

Years ago I had a rugby coach who drummed it into us that we must keep our heads up.
It was good advice.
You are a valuable person who will get through this situation.
I can’t begin to count the number of times that I have seen people’s heads literally go down and then they lost.
Mental attitude is nine-tenths of the battle.
You are not beaten until you give up.
Until you stop trying
And you can’t give up with your head held high.

So lift it and carry on.

You can’t do everything but you can do something

I understand that the idea of working for yourself is daunting for many people especially if you have had a regular pay packet for years.
It’s a different mentality.
You may be young or not so young, I have no way of knowing.
It doesn’t matter.
I started my first business when I was fifty and it has provided for me ever since.
I have recently started a new, internet based business and I am sixty-six years old.
So if you are saying to yourself “I’m too old, not clever enough, have no money, have too many bills, don’t know where to start”.

Shelve it.
Your as good as the next guy.
Turn this situation into the start of something not the end.

What else can I tell you

If you have any comments or questions you can either – leave a comment or send an email.

I will always try to answer personally or in a blog post.
I will be writing about starting a business as part of the blog but if you get in touch I’ll try and help.
I have been where you are or fear you maybe.

All the facts on Working from Home

To get all the information in the format of a colourfull infographic iether:

• click on the image show here or
• Click here to download a PDF version

The information includes

How many work from home

Insurance

Vehicles

Startups

Types of Home Business

and Much More

 

 

A Bit of Background

No two business network organisations are the same.

Before you part with an appreciable amount of money and commit hours of your valuable time, make sure that you join the right one.

In 16 years of owning my own business I‘ve done a lot of networking. Some of it good and highly lucrative and some of it a complete waste of time.

I’ve been a member of 4Networking, BNI, and a few others including some local independent groups.

So why am I writing about 4Networking ( 4N from now on).

I want to point out the difference between 4N and most of the other Business Networking oragnisations and what it can do for your small business.

Although most of the other offerings may differ slightly from each other they pretty much follow the same basic pattern. This pattern was set originally by BNI ( Business Networks International) the brain child of American businessman Ivan Misner.

The UK have the rather flamboyant Brad Burton to thank for 4N, who now have about 320 groups in the UK with, in my estimation, about 8,000 active members.

I have seen claims of up to 50,000 but that’s simply silly and would be over 1,500 members per group (big room required here).

What do you expect to get out of a Business Network?

I imagine that you, like almost everyone else that I’ve ever spoken to would say the same thing “ new customers” with social interaction coming home firmly in second place.
We should never lose sight of this in everything that we look at.
I’m sure you’d agree that only a very sad person would want to pay over £ 1,000 per year and get up early in the morning. Then scraping ice off the windscreen of their car and traveling, often a many miles, would sit through a two hour meeting just to make a few “friends”.
We could do that by walking down to the pub.
And you don’t have to get up early.
No I’m sure you’ll agree with me we do it for money. The hope of finding fresh customers handed to us by our new found friends.
The friendship is nice and you can certainly learn a lot by just listening.
But, the ultimate aim of everyone at a business network meeting is come away with sales leads.

How is 4 Networking Different

There are several ways in which the network differs from most others, principally:

No compulsory attendance – most of 4N’s competitors insist on attendance, by you or your stand-in, every single week. This is a big ask for a one man band or a small outfit with only one person who is prepared to stand up  and represent your business. 4N have no such requirement.

A relaxed friendly atmosphere – this is definitely true but it would also be claimed by the other networking organisations. I think, however, that the lack of pressure to produce results does bring about an atmosphere which is far more relaxed.

More than one person per group in the same business – Exclusive rights are favoured by many members who are in highly contested businesses. It is not uncommon for professions such as IFAs to find themselves competing with two or three others at the same meeting.

No compulsion to bring referrals – BNI and some others insist on the public handing over of referrals as a feature of every meeting. And it’s woe betide anyone who arrives empty-handed. The 4N policy of successful business being based on friendship is intended to render this unnecessary.

Lastly – the 4N passport which enables the holder to visit as many groups as they wish.This can be used to great effect but just turning up once or twice a whole host of different venues is not likely to bring you the type of relationships that bring business.

There we have it.
All good stuff.
Who could possibly have any problems?
Well I know that Brad’s a lot bigger and younger than I am, but I have.
Let’s take a look at these one by one.

No Compulsory Attendance

When I first started networking with BMI I was a one man band and getting to a meeting every single week, without exception ( well you were actually allowed two no-shows per year) was a nightmare.
This puts a lot of would-be BNI’ers off and the combination of bi-weekly meetings ( if that’s the right expression ) and no penalties for failing to make it would have been most welcome.
But there is a downside.
Like me I suppose you can be a bit lazy and might miss a few meetings this can result in low attendances.
Half empty meetings are a big turn off for networkers. This is, however, alleviated by visiting members from nearby groups using their “passports”.
The effect of missing bums on seats will vary from one group to another and is due to the efforts of the organisers and the dedication of members.
Remembering that dedication is direct proportional to new business received.

More than one person from each type of business

I know I missed the friendly welcome but it really didn’t warrant much comment.
All networking groups have friendly members and some not so friendly.
My experience with 4N is that the more relaxed atmosphere due to the lack of enforced pressure makes for a more welcoming atmosphere.
So what about having more than one person from each Business type.
If you want to join a BNI chapter (that’s BNI speak for group) then you can only do so if no one else din that group does what you do.

 

 

Membership is exclusive.

Only one Accountant, one Solicitor, one Finacial Advisor and so on.
4N believe that we can all attend the same group irrespective of how many others there are looking for the same type of business.
This has never bothered me largely because there has never been anyone, doing the same work as I do, at the same meeting.
I have, though, talked to many people such as IFA’s who were thoroughly brassed off with going to meetings and finding another three IFA’s peddling similar wares.
This is a serious consideration if you are in a business niche which is heavily patronised at business network meetings.
After all if you attended a meeting and you wanted an IFA which would you chose?
It’s ok 4N saying you can compete but your chance of getting the groups IFA business is far less than if you were the only one.

No Compulsory Referrals

Just to clarify a referral is a lead, usually written on a small form, containing the name of a contact, their business name, their contact details and what you could do for them.
In the BNI model you are expected to bring some referrals virtually every week.
They are presented by you to the recipient ( and vice versa ) in front of the group as part of the meeting.
4N have dispensed with this.
I have to be honest and say this is a real sticky one. Many people really object to the authoritarian approach of BNI and find it almost impossible to come up with a continuous stream of referrals week after week.
I, personally, agree with this but have found over years that without an element of compulsion referrals are often few and far between.
We all need a kick up the backside from time to time.
This lack of prospects often contributes to a high turnover in members and even worse a short life of many groups.

The 4n Passport

The freedom to visit any group in the whole of the organisation is bestowed on members by the “passport”.
If you want to tour your area and visit all the groups within reach, you can.
I have even known a couple of guys who started with a new business and set out to visit every single 4N group in the UK.
That is a huge planning and motoring operation. A bit like going on tour as a rock star, only not as much fun.
I can’ tell you whether or not it was a success because I haven’t seen him since, seriously.
So if you’re out there Tony, and you know who I mean, I hope it went well.
I think that you will hit a problem with this and that is, in order to get business from the people you meet they have to get to know you.
For this reason you will have to go to each group several times. I will concede that there are some products that will sell as a result of a single visit.
But not many.
Even the 4N idea of business through friendship implies getting to know people reasonably well.

Conclusion

If you are looking to chose a business network organisation to join the choice is simple.
If you want the best chance of big returns on your investment you must be prepared to make a lot of effort.
You must attend virtually every week, find and bring referrals most weeks or else. And if you want to be the only person in your line of business, then, try BNI.
If on the other hand you want a more relaxed way of networking, with less pressure.
And the ability to miss the odd meeting or visit lots of other groups.
And you don’t mind there being others present who are in direct competition with you then 4N could be just the job.
As for me personally I found BNI too demanding for my circumstances.
So that only left me with one choice, or a local independent group.
Who knows!

Want to Know More

If you want to know all the ins and outs of Networking and how to get the best from it I can highly recommend a book by master Networker Will Kintish.
Will is one of the most experience specialist trainer in Business Networking and his book Business Networking – The Survival Guide: How to make networking less about stress and more about success ( by the way if you use this link we will get a small commission if you purchase the book and this helps us to keep the site a free one)

This is a great guide to everything from the invitation to a networking event to improving your performance and maximising your gains.
I have met Will on many occasions and can vouch for his ability to work a room and to teach others to do it, no matter how shy or self conscious they may be.
I have never forgotten watching as he gave a talk on networking where he asked everyone in the audience to say their name once. During the talk that lasted half an hour he went to most of the 35 people in the room and started to talk to them by name.
For someone who has to really try to remember names it impressed the hell out of me.
Enough of this if you want to know more give it a try.

CAUTION

I would advise that anyone trying out 4N only take out a six month or pay as you go membership.
In the area where I live I have noticed a worrying tendency for some 4N groups to open and close within a short space of time.
On two occasions I have joined a group only to find it was wound up long before my membership ran out.
I know that 4N would say that you can use your passport to attend other groups, but not everyone wants a forty mile round trip first thing in the morning.
So beware.
Of course it’s up to you.

Many marketers tend to zone in exclusively on their customers’ digital journeys while failing to attribute their

business’ inbound calls, missing out on valuable opportunities to take credit for sales.
However, mobile search has become so good at generating phone calls that BIA/Kelsey has predicted that mobile search will generate 73bn calls to businesses in 2018, up from 30bn in 2013.
Further to that, when you consider that telephone calls convert 10-12 times more than clicks, it’s no wonder that traffic and other traditional metrics are becoming increasingly irrelevant to marketers.
Here are six key reasons why calls are more important to your business than clicks.

1. Mobile search is more common

Smartphones offer ease of use and immediacy. It’s therefore no wonder that Google announced in May that mobile searches have now surpassed desktop in 10 countries, including the US and Japan.
What’s important about this is that Google also discovered 71% of mobile searchers routinely make phone calls to businesses directly from their search engine results pages, which in itself should change the marketing goals of your campaigns.

2. Inbound calls reveal a wealth of useful information

Call tracking allows you to attribute offline sales to every inbound lead, so you can more accurately measures the impact of your banner ads, email marketing and PPC campaigns.
Marketers can use software to track phone calls to drill down into data and identify a whole array of areas that can be optimised.
For example, from their phone call conversations, marketers can discover areas that need tailoring in terms of messaging and buying experience, as well as their customers’ most asked questions and objections.
As well as providing demographic details about customers, call tracking software gives a 360˚ view of buyers’ path to purchase because the unique technology is able to track a visitor’s interactions with your site right up until they call you.

3. Phone calls generate local businesses’ best leads

According to BIA/Kelsey’s ongoing Local Commerce Monitor study, small-business advertisers say time and time again that a phone call is the most valuable type of new business lead.
According to Invoca, 61% of businesses rate their incoming phone calls as an excellent source of leads, ahead of any other inbound lead source. BIA/Kelsey has found similar figures of 64-86% amongst local marketers citing calls as their best leads, whose other sources include clicks, traffic, form fill-outs, social media leads and even footfall in-store.
More importantly, the type of business you run determines the importance of phone calls. For example, services or high-end products tend to benefit the most from telephone calls, whereas retail businesses with bricks-and-mortar stores rely less heavily on them.

4. Calls generate more revenue than clicks

Convirza’s data shows that the larger the purchasing decision – particularly when it comes to high-value items or when choosing a new service – the more important calls are to a business.
While of course the web produces more leads – sometimes up to 95% of them, no less – Convirza’s own research discovered that phone calls produced 25% of the overall revenue.
This means that with less work needed, marketers would need far fewer phone calls to convert to produce the same amount of revenue as web leads.

5. Callers turn into customers 10-12x more often than clickers do

Research from Marketing Sherpa and Hubspot indicates that form fill-out leads only convert to customers about 2% of the time, in contrast to the 25-40% of inbound phone calls to local businesses that turn into customers.
That means that calls turn into customers 10-12 times more frequently than web leads do.
Interestingly, Google has stated that pay-per-call mobile AdWords campaigns have 6-8% higher conversion rates than pay-per-click campaigns. They also say that including urgent phrases such as ‘Call Now’ or ‘Call us today’ in mobile ad copy improves conversion rates.

6. Calls come lower in the sales funnel

While the conversion process can take weeks or months with web leads, phone calls are much closer to the point of sale in the marketing funnel.
Across the marketing world the percentage of converting web leads is 2%, meaning 98% are dropping out within three months of them first hearing about your product or service. This leaves marketers spending a lot of money to generate a lot of leads that won’t convert.
Phone calls, on the other hand, have a 31% conversion rate across a range of industries, resulting in revenue often within minutes rather than months; if someone calls, they are ready to buy.

Conclusion

When you consider the impact of phone calls in the buying cycle, it becomes difficult to ignore the importance of generating and tracking them.
While clicks will help you to generate calls, it is turning your attention to generating more phone calls that will quickly and easily bring higher quality leads into your business.

 

 

Guest Post by:   Natalia Selby

Currently looks after marketing at call tracking software company, Mediahawk. With over 10 years of experience in analytics, content management and eCommerce, Natalia knows how to help businesses get the most from their online marketing, and how to effectively integrate offline marketing.

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Danger Chasm Ahead

It is vital that we all know how to avoid bankruptcy here we look at simple ways to avoid the potential trap.

Ok! I’ll explain that heading soon. First of all – in 2014 the Bank of England said that over 50% of business start-ups fail within the first five years. So it’s important to avoid bankruptcy in you Small Business.

Many make it past the ” start-up” phase only to falter when trying to grow.

So it’s vital that you know how to stop your small business growth ending in bankruptcy.

Before we look at that I’d like to ask an important question.

Does a Bigger Business Bring Larger Profits?

This is not a question that ever bothered me when I started my own business.

But it has many times since.

I had the idea that I’d get the turnover as large as I could and there it would stop.

This was just so wrong.

A very small business with one or a handful of people is often more profitable than a larger enterprise.

How come ? I’ll tackle that a little later. In the meantime:

What do you want your business to be

I’ve al;ready told you what I thought I wanted, ” as big as it gets” but did I really.

Having left the commercial rat race to be free of the stresses (fool) and live the lifestyle did I really want to return to a life of meetings, HR problems, chasing the sales force and everything that goes with a larger enterprise ?

No I didn’t.

In that case I should have realised that what I wanted to do was to maximise my profits whilst staying at a manageable and enjoyable size.

To do this I would have to understand what hapens to profits when businesses grow; and I did’t.

If like me you don’t really have a firn grip on this you could be heading for a financial disaster.

The Profit vs Employees statistics.

That’s a nice graph, but whats it trying to say?

I few years ago I worked with a friend of mine who owned a cleaning business.

Like many people including myself and quite possibly you, he quickly started off with himself and quite quickly took on another person to help.

Between the two of them they made more profit than the owner had done alone.

So, naturally, he took on another and another until he had five staff.

At this point something strange started to happen he found himself no longer doing revenue producing work, in his case cleaning. He was spending his time organising the others.

Time melted away as he did the wages, checked the hours worked, ordered more material and delivered them to the site for the staff to use.

How to Avoid Bankruptcy

His solution was simple. Hire someone else as a supervisor and give someone responsibility ( part-time ) for wages, attendance etc.

Now he had one and a half people who were necessary but not directly increasing the money coming in.

Just as I had been he was now worse off than when he had just three people. This isn’t exactly progress.

He had two choices go back to a three-man business or take on more staff until their additional profits covered the cost of the people looking after all of them.

As you and I know the second policy will take some time. How long will depend on the type of business and the number of staff involved.

One thing is for sure, it’s going to cost!

And so will downsizing.

A Mountain to climb

Growing a business is just like climbing a mountain.

All goes well putting one step after another, then, a crevasse.

When I did my first business plan I only planned for the startup and didn’t consider the inevitable growing pains.

So how do you cope with the sudden great gap to traverse?

The first answer is an old favourite:

Plan for it

I can’t remember how many small businesses I’ve known who have ended up stuck at this point.

The simple answer is that once your start-up business plan has become outdated I would have a sit down and decide exactly where you want to go.

If you are really turned on this could be a part of your start-up plan.

There is no point growing and growing when you would be happier with a smaller and more profitable business.

If you decide to grow then we must plan for it. From this plan you will be able to predict how much money will be needed and for how long in order to cross the chasm.

Take a Running Jump

Sorry that’s not a personal comment. I simply mean financially.

It’s definitely a time to talk it through with your accountant and ensure that you will have enough finance to clear the chasm.

It may be that you will have to find a source of finance, or, like me you may be able to save enough in the run up to this stage of expansion to see you safely across.

Bank of England figures show that more than half of business start-ups do not survive the first five years. Starting is not the big hurdle but growth is.

Stop your Growth ending in bankruptcy

What more can I say other than Plan. With banks so reluctant to lend there has never been a time when planning for growth was more important.

Be certain that it’s what you want.

There’s no shame in being a happy , healthy and prosperous Very small business or even a sole trader.

If being up there with the big boys is for you then make sure that you have a sound expansion plan and the finance to support it.

If you fall off the mountain it’s a long way to the bottom and it hurts.

Are you Going for Growth or Incresing profits with the staff that you already have? – Please let us know.

If you found the post interesting please LIKE it.

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The Big Question

I recently received the following ,which is typical of many that I get, so I decided I would answer it as a blog post so that you may also benefit from my ideas on thieds most request subject.

Unfortunately I cannot go into a large amount of detail but I will be starting a short course, in the near future, that will guide small business owners through the necessary steps in detail.

To get notification of the start of this course and ensure that you get an early bird discount should you decide to join us, please fill in the “ newsletter form”.

Here’s the email

“Hi I’ve been an electrician for 10 years but only became a sole trader 4 years ago. I never advertise but always have work which is good however I work late nights and weekends to make ends meet and could really do with some advise as to where I can grow my business by getting bigger job opportunities and earn more money but without having to work evenings and weekends any help would be much appreciated Thanks Richard”

What is really needed

When I work with businesses such as Richards the first thing that I try to find out is “ what do you really need to get the required result” – sounds pretty simple.

Would 3 ways to find new customers  come in handy ?

Sure it would.

The most immediate action is to work faster by employing technology and also add more value with additional sales. This last one is similar to the extended warranty that every retailer tries to add to their sale, although it could be a physical item.

These are both dependant on the service that you offer and will warrant a post to themselves in the future but there’s no substitute for more, better paid work.

More Work, Better Paid Work

Ok then I think Richard is already part of the way there and the answer lies in “ finding larger value job opportunities and earning more money without working evenings and weekends” To do this you will need two things

•  Better Paid work
• A larger pool of prospective work to choose from

Let’s take a look at these in turn.

Better Paid Work

Again we can break this down into two areas

• Identifying and Specialising in the highest paid type of work

• Having enough potential work to be able to pick and chose – Cherry Picking

The ability to Cherry Pick is the result of having a larger prospect pool as we mentioned earlier, so we can leave that for now and concentrate on the first method.

1. Become a Specialist

I understand that you may find this a little frightening especially if you are short of prospects because it will reduce your potential clients even more. That’s why the two techniques MUST go hand in hand.

Taking the example of Richard, as an electrician there are many types of work that you will be asked to quote for.

By studying your previous customers, and with a track record over 4 years there should be enough to go on, list the type of work with it’s total value and profitability.

Now it’s time to be a bit more creative.

Also think of any type of work, that you would like to be doing but have not been able to find.

By now I imagine you are a bit unsure as to how any of this will work, so let’s answer that one first.

How does it pay to specialise ?

Later on we are going to look at finding these valuable customers but why limit our choice. Again there are two reasons:

• We cannot TARGET a market or market sector if it is too wide. We will need to go where our best prospects are, and for that we must define them. People wanting electricians can be large businesses, house builders, owners of old houses, people who just want an extra socket. Where you go to find the most profitable of these will differ completely and so you have to target them to find them.

• Just imagine if you were looking for animals, you could look anywhere. If you are looking for Elephants then your local park would be a complete waste of time.

• If you specialise you attract your target customer. If someone wanted an electrician to wire a refurbished shop they would not be impressed if you or your web site are showing them ten different types of electrical work of which only one is a shop.

• Just imagine how they would react to see your advert showing before and after pictures of all types of retail outlet, the lighting and specialist equipment you have installed and the references from satisfied shop owners that they can relate to.

When you have decided on your target market write down in as few words as possible exactly what it is and refer to this when you are doing any work that involves prospecting. It really helps to keep you on course.

2. Becoming a Big Fish with a Big pool of Prospects

If you have more than one specialisation that you want to target, don’t worry.

Just pick the best one and promote that first you can always add more later, especially as your business grows.

There are lots of different ways to find the type of clients that you want and I can’t get through them all here. Instead I will just touch on a couple and those only briefly.

For step by step instructions and guides I’m afraid that a full course would be necessary and even then some areas may require a course to themselves.

So here are the first two prospect gathering techniques that spring to mind. I know, you’re probably saying I’ve done that or not that again but please check this out there is doing the right thing and there’s doing it right.

3. Getting a website that works

I know “ not websites again”.

I’m afraid that 40% of small businesses still don’t have a website and no one knows how many have a website that is doing them little or no good at all.

It’s a fact that today people chose products and services via the internet and they expect impressive pictures where they are applicable .

No matter how you feel about it a good website is vital, even people who you have met face to face or have been recommended need to see what you can do.

By the way there is no age limit to this type of buying. My Aunty who lives in Cornwall, who is 86 years old, wanted a dry-stone wall building in front of her house. She looked at three different companies. Who won? The one with the best and most varied pictures showing how good their work was and how well they cleaned up after themselves.

It’s as simple as that.

So if you have a site check it out and make sure that it’s doing the job that it should be. It’s finding New Customers !

Website Check Out:

• Does your website target the specialist market that you have chosen ?

• Is it full of references, especially important for a service company ( start collecting now) ?

•  Is it full of pictures of your work, before and after, with an explanation of what the client wanted and how you met it. ?

• Has your website been registered with all appropriate directories ?

• Is your site linked to your social media pages i.e. linkedin,facebook, twitter etc ?

• Is it Helping you to Find New Customers

So that’s a quick look at the first method and on to the second.

You can find someone to put together a website for a reasonable price but make sure that they can give you a simple way to add pictures and customer recommendations yourself. If you have to contact your website builder every time you want to add things it is quite likely that it won’t happen.

Making your own website

If you are internet savvy you can always make your own website. There are some packages that do most of the work for you.

All you have to do is just add the words and the pictures. The benefit is that you can make changes whenever you want. The drawback is, it’s something else that you have to do, so I’d think carefully first.

There are several companies who supply these “out of the box” sites. Personally I have always found 1 & 1 to be a simple system to use and it can be added to whenever your requirements change. They can provide everything from a good URL to a ready made site where you only have to add some wording and choose your pics and your away.

Why not give tham a look, Ive used them myself and still have a few sites with them.

 

4. Business Networking to Grow your Client Base

The second method that I wanted to mention will take a little more personal effort but could bring some excellent results dependant on the nature of business you have and the type of client that you’re looking for.

Certainly for Richard Networking could pay big dividends.

Most importantly chose the right Networking organisation for your needs. No two are exactly the same.

If you want to target smaller more local businesses the I would recommend 4 Networking who’s easy going undemanding style is more suited to those trying networking for the first time.

Generally speaking I have found that if you are looking more toward the corporate client world and don’t mind the rigors of a quite disciplined organisation then BNI (Business Network International).

These comment s are very generalised and the only way to find out is to try different ones. With most networks you can visit a couple of times for free or just for the cost of breakfast which should give you a feel for the suitability.

I have known many small businesses that have lived for years on the referrals that they get from going to networking events.

One last Point – within any network the type of contacts to be made may vary greatly depending upon which branch, chapter or group you visit. City centre meetings have a tendency to attract more financial and professional businesses than do their more rural counterparts.

For more information on Network Marketing try my FREE e-book just Click here

Are you a business with less than ten staff ?

 

 

The you are a MICRO – BUSINESS

Set Up and Grow provides answers to the questions facing MicoB’s.

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What are the Biggest Problems that you face ? If it’s how to find new customers or anything else we’d love to know.

Please tell us about it or comment on the article using the form Below:

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The first secret

” Get Some Enthusiasm”!

Am I trying to say that you are dull, uninteresting or tired of your job –  no, nor am I selling motivation but how you feel about your business and yourself is one of the most important things in becoming a successful small business owner.

I love having my own business, I always have. Even on days when there has been no work and the banks were on my back I loved what I did.

Since I started my business sixteen years ago I have never attempted to return to ” normal” employment. Hell I’m unemployable and proud of it.

So what? you’re probably thinking. Well this is your greatest advantage over most of the competition. You care about your business, about the quality of your product or service, in fact about everything to do with your enterprise.

So make sure that everyone sees it – customers, prospects, competitors everyone that you talk business with.

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve sat in a networking breakfast and listened to a tired accountant ( sorry boys and girls but accountants always cop for it) drag himself through a boring dirge about how he can do your Vat return PAYE etc etc.

When we leave what do we remember, not much and nothing good. So why not stand up for your business tell people you are simply the happiest, accountant that loves his job and can give you a service that you will love – that would be different.

Then tell them a story. Collect short stories that illustrate what you can do for people make them entertaining, funny if possible or even tragic – pull the heart-strings.

OK so that’s a bit tongue in cheek but how many times do yo think customers and prospects are faced by some sales person, fresh from a bollocking for not hitting his target, who exudes bored perseverance.

If you can’t beat that then you’d best get filling in the application forms or at the very least look for some new products.

Second Secret

When it’s Sunny sit in the garden

As an entrepreneur you no doubt work longer than most ” employed” people so when you can put some fun back into it.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy ( or girl). Looking back I can remember years of never leaving the office day in and day out. looking out of my tiny window at the sun and people walking by in summer clothes wishing I was with them.  But I wouldn’t move, it never entered my head.

Why? well it wasn’t because I had to be there it was more of a guilt thing. If I was there then I must be working. Most importantly I was seen to be there. Now – who cares.

How many beautiful sunny days did I miss, days that could have been spent doing paperwork, planning or making phone calls all form the quiet beauty of my garden.

When this eventually caught up with me I actually started to love doing this work and as for the jobs that had to be done in the office, I live in the UK there are more than enough rainy days for that.

So make sure that you take advantage of your position when you can the effect on morale will be enormous leading back to more enthusiasm for point number one.

Third Secret

Get Some Help

It doesn’t matter what you are doing resist the temptation to find out for yourself how to do it and then do it yourself.

If you can’t afford someone with all the expertise at least pay for a good ” how to guide”. I have often saved a lot of money by getting things done this way.

As I have mentioned before in a report a couple of years ago 800,000 micro-businesses ( less than 9 employed ) had taken no advice in the preceding 3 years out of approximately 4 million i.e nearly a quarter.

I also suspect that many who hadn’t had advice didn’t want to admit it.

It has a really negative effect for instance although a survey of 10,000 UK microb’s showed that 81% had some sort of website, 80 % of these were, regrettably, not suitable for purpose.

Keep Up

As Usain Bolt is always telling us. Everything changes quickly now and those who don’t change with it get left behind.

When it comes to confidence building there is nothing more destructive than feeling left behind.

There are many online and offline mentors, coaches and advisors to choose from plus a sea of How-To guides to save your precious time.

When chosing one of these my first piece of advice would be to find one that suits your business. If you find yourself talking to coach who specialises in major corporation executives when you single-handedly run a micro business you probably won’t understand a word he says.

So to cut this short story even shorter ” Stay motivated, treat yourself and get help when you need it” three secrets to being a successful small business or micro business owner.

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Who said ” tax doesn’t have to be taxing”

Not content with forcing Small Businesses to take on the added difficulties of the real-time tax initiative ( or lack thereof ) and the prospect of a considerable increase in the minimum wage funded entirely by the small business owner they have another little earner.

You pay  them to fix problems that they created

Now there is a lesson in here for all of us. This is something we could all add to our business model and here’s hoe it goes.

HMRC force me to do returns by a set date using their software called the “Basic PAYE Tools” then they break it by introducing an upgrade.

They didn’t tell me about it or that  I could not submit anything until I downloaded and installed the new version. When I tried to do my tax I couldn’t so I called the number ( via a land line ) recommended by them.

Little did I know that I was being charged for this.

Expensive wait

On my first attempt I waited 18 minutes but had to hang up to attend to something in the office. I was repeatedly assured that they were sorry that I was in a queue, but they were not as sorry as I was.

My next attempt took a wait of 35 minutes and by the time they insisted on talking me through the installation of the new software the total time came to 43min.

Then some weeks after I received the phone bill and I had been charged £2.30 for the first call and £ 4.36 for the second. Oh yes they were both Plus VAT.

Avoid HMRC help lines at all costs.

Now I’m no accountant but I think that charging me to wait because they can’t answer their phones in a reasonable time is Robbery and it’s carried out under the threat of late submission penalties.

My point in writing this little article is twofold. Firstly I want everyone to be aware that these charges are in place and unavoidable.

Secondly I feel a whole lot better now that I’ve got that off my chest.

If any representative of HMRC would like to reply to this article please call my special help line number.

We do apologise that all our operators are busy but we will speak to you just as soon as you’ve run up a bill. While you are waiting here is a recording of a till ringing up cash.

Seriously though – thanks for joining me in my little rant – I would really like to read any comments that you may have or similar experiences.