Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 283

Thought for the week: "Money often costs too much." Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Driving down your costs
• Top tips for saving money on recruitment
• Pitch-finding website for small traders
• Ways to add believability to your marketing
• Microsoft's free hidden software
• Tips for writing effective customer survey questions
• Win one of 33 uni-ball Jetstream high-tech pens

Driving down your costs

Keeping control of costs is essential for any business. As a small business owner it is vital that you review what your costs are and decide where savings can be made - even if they are small. Here are some areas to consider when reviewing your costs and options for saving money:

Travel - shop around for the best deals on hotels, and try to book travel as early as possible to benefit from cheaper train and air tickets. If face-to-face meetings aren't essential consider using audio and web conferencing services.

Communications and IT - with the price of IT and communication equipment falling, don't just stick to your normal supplier. It's worth shopping around to get the best deal. Try getting firms to compete on price, you will often find they will offer a better deal to gain your business.

Utilities - gas and electricity prices are rising, try shopping around and use price comparison sites such as Moneyfacts, or a broker such as Utility Watch UK.

Staff - think carefully before taking on full or part-time staff. Ask yourself if the work required is a full time job or could you consider taking on a contractor or freelancer? They may be more expensive but you only pay for the times you require their services, and you won't be paying for their pension contribution or payroll taxes.

Professional services - market researchers, lawyers, accountants, surveyors, insurance and banking. These tend to be 'inertia' relationships, and if challenged you can either get cheaper alternatives or negotiate better rates.

Office supplies and spares - cut back on spending, often you will have excess supplies of stationery. You might be amazed at how much inventory is sitting in your stationery cupboard already. Also shop around for your stationery - are you using the most cost effective supplier?

Property - review your need for premises. If you're considering moving, don't make any big lock-in commitments, such as taking on a new long-term office lease, until the market is looking up. There are options for short-term leasing which allows you to expand/contract more easily.

Small savings within your business will start to make a difference over a longer term, and if you continue to be savvy with your spending, it will free up money to be spent on growing the business.

This tip is an extract of an article from EnterQuest's sister publication, BETTER business magazine. Subscribers to the magazine can read even more articles to help them run a better business, including:

Do you speak your prospects' language? Richard White discusses how communicating better with our prospects will bring profitable results. (Issue 160)

Get your website noticed! It's all very well having a website - but how many visitors are you getting? If you want your site to be seen, you need to carry out some clever 'e-marketing'. (Issue 158)

How to make your adverts work better. There is no doubt that advertising can work - but only if it's done well. That means getting the maximum impact and paying attention to detail. (Issue 144)

To receive a free copy of BETTER business magazine simply send us your name and address to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com, putting 'EQ magazine offer' in the subject box.

Top tips for saving money on recruitment

By Recruitment21

Anyone who has recruited is aware that it can be time consuming, expensive (on average £4,667 per hire, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and not always successful.

Traditionally there have been two options; advertise in the local or trade press or use a recruitment agency. The former often yields disappointing results and hardly paints your business as progressive (it can also be expensive). The latter usually means very high fees (up to 30% of salary) and having to deal with sales people on commission.

The Internet has changed how people look for jobs (with 80% of jobseekers using it to find work), and as a result hundreds of job boards have sprung up. The problem that employers face is choosing which ones to use (again time consuming), then filtering out those applicants who don't fit the brief - it requires very little effort for anyone to e-mail a CV, regardless of suitability.

Online recruitment agencies have emerged to help clients take advantage of recruiting using the Internet, but without the hassle. They will write your advert, before advertising it across a broad spectrum of job boards (typically up to 200), search online databases (over six million CVs), filter, manually rate and respond to applicants, before sending them over to you on a daily basis. Using technology and their buying power they can do this for a lot less than traditional methods or going direct, typically around the £675 mark.

Recruitment21's top tips for recruiting are:

• Use an online recruitment service, it's much cheaper than doing it yourself or using a traditional agency and saves loads of time.

• Use a broad selection of job boards to ensure the widest audience, including both generalist and specialist boards (eg industry, job function and location specific sites).

• Make use of online CV database services.

• Communicate with applicants throughout the recruitment process.

• Write ad copy tailored to your target audience and job board, and don't forget to sell the role.

Recruitment21 is an effective online recruitment service covering all levels of office and professional staff across the UK.

Recruitment21 are currently offering an introductory 30% off their normal fee, for just £472.50 (plus VAT) until the end of November. Contact them on 0845 474 2121 or visit www.recruitment21.com.

Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.

• Online brand selling and buying. IncSpring enables designers to sell unused brands and logos to business owners looking for a logo or branding concept but don't want to pay expensive design fees. There's also a social networking tool to help site users build up business.

• 'Green' tours. The Cutting-Edge Green Tour is useful for any professional involved in waste awareness and sustainability. The tour is London based and participants travel on public transport and on foot, around innovative sustainable buildings in the capital.

Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.

Do you know the meaning of the word 'scurrilous'?

a) expressing unfair or false criticism at someone
b) to move quickly
c) lacking skill at a particular activity
d) living a simple life

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?

1) The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has changed once again and the changes are effective from 1 October. What is the new hourly rate for workers aged 22 and over?

a) £5.73
b) £5.52
c) £6.03
d) £5.42

2) Provisions of the Companies Act 2006 also come into force on 1 October which introduce a minimum age for company directors. What is the minimum age?

a) 14
b) 16
c) 18
d) 22

3) Research by More Than Business has revealed that running costs for small firms have risen by 10% since last year, on average. But which of the following costs has actually decreased for small firms, according to the report?

a) advertising
b) vehicle repair and maintenance
c) raw materials
d) accountancy and legal services

Answers at the end of the Bulletin.

Pitch-finding website for small traders

Small traders that rely on fairs, outdoor markets, and festivals will find Stallfinder useful for identifying events at which they can market their wares. The site is ideal for businesses involved in food, antiques, crafts, clothing, jewellery and handmade toys.

Ways to add believability to your marketing

Many business owners struggle to write clear marketing copy that doesn't sound over-hyped. These seven tips from marketing consultants Steve Gibson Consulting will help you sharpen up your marketing copy and make it more believable.

Microsoft's free hidden software

As Microsoft points out, one of its best-kept secrets is that it offers quite a lot of software for free. The Startup Zone lists what is available from Microsoft, which will probably be most useful for new businesses that want to set up IT networks or run websites.

Tips for writing effective customer survey questions

Conducting customer surveys on a frequent basis can help you focus on areas of your business that need improvement. If you're looking for help with writing a customer survey, why not check out this article from One Hour Marketing, which contains tips on how to write effective customer survey questions.

Win one of 33 uni-ball Jetstream high-tech pens

EnterQuest has teamed up with JetStream, the hi-tech pen people, to give away 33 superb uni-ball pens.

Jetstream boasts smooth, dependable qualities which uni-ball believes will prove popular with busy executives who need to write as much as possible in a short amount of time. It's ideal for signatures, too - the script will not blur and is guaranteed to stay bold.

The pen also features an ergonomically-designed rubber grip which supports the fingers and absorbs the pressure of a tight grip, making the pen ideal throughout long meetings or conferences.

Uni-ball has 33 Jetstream pens to give away, with three first-prize winners receiving an exclusive accessory set including a briefcase or handbag, plus stylish files to ensure their work life is as orderly and precise as their handwriting! Just answer the following question:

Q. Provisions of which Act have introduced a minimum directorship age of 16?

E-mail your answer, together with your name, address and daytime telephone number, using 'uni-ball competition' as the e-mail subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.

All entries must be received by 31 October. EnterQuest and uni-ball will use the information you provide for their own marketing purposes only and your details will never be shared with any third parties (except to arrange delivery of the prize). Competition rules are available on request.

This book explains in simple terms the basics of building your own website. The CD included in the book contains professional website templates to help you complete up to eight website projects. Check out:

Create Your Own Website, by Scott Mitchell

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Good luck

The EnterQuest Team

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.