RESOURCE CENTRE

But then he went on to ask the people in his captivated audience for their views and ideas about what a dynamic business culture should be and what government can do to encourage and inspire entrepreneurs to start and grow more enterprises.

Is he kidding? Well, obviously not, and he clearly hasn't looked across the pond at how they do it before now.

The answer's not only staring him in the face, it's biting him on the nose and gnawing away at his nasal cavity.

Just leave us alone. That's what we need. No more intervention, no more red tape, no more EU employment directives and regulations, no more grants that 90% of entrepreneurs can't access, and no more genetically modified civil servants masquerading as business "experts" deciding what the next hair-brained business support initiative is going to be.

Leave entrepreneurs and enterprises to get on with it themselves. If a new business needs support pre and post start up, then other businesses and entrepreneurs will find a way of supporting them. Market forces and all that, Gordon.

And if the Government really wants to do something to help, then let's get back to the days of having dedicated independent local enterprise agencies, with one on every high street in the country, operating as either "voluntary" or truly private sector businesses who have the skills and experience to train and pass on their know-how to budding entrepreneurs and business owners. The rest can be left to the hundreds of libraries, colleges, local chambers and professional individuals to fill in the gaps.

You can also scrap the irrelevant DTI, the department for stating the obvious about business, diverting the £billions of taxpayers' money the country will save directly into the regions, and also provide some real tax incentives for start ups and those high-growth enterprises that can genuinely generate wealth and jobs for years to come.

Enough said.

The UK's demographics are changing. The birth rate is falling and people are living longer, and these factors are combining to suggest that the most important consumer group of the future will be the over 50s market. Office of National Statistics (ONS) demographers predict that within 20 years, one in five of the population will be over 65.

It's essential that today's small businesses learn how to advertise and sell to older consumers if they are to have a successful future in the UK's ageing consumer marketplace. It's also going to be important to build these strategies into your long-term marketing plan.

Promoting and selling your products and services to a 50 year-old is very different from reaching a 25 year-old prospect. The books and newspapers they read, TV shows they watch and way they use the Internet are very different. Not only that, but they have diverse needs and perceive the benefits and value of the products and services available to them in very different ways.

The key to any effective marketing strategy is to pinpoint EXACTLY the group of consumers you wish to target, and to get to know them as well as you can before structuring your sales pitch around the particular problems and needs that they have.

Another crucial aspect of selling successfully to older consumers is to make sure they trust you. Generally these consumers are more worldly-wise, more disillusioned with constant advertisements, and less likely to respond to a vague or unconvincing offer than their eager twentysomething counterparts. They want the facts, the figures and the proof of how your product or service is going to help them, without any sales 'fluff' or unnecessary information.

Here are a few more tips and tricks to bear in mind when devising a marketing plan that targets 50+ consumers:

• Don't patronise or talk down to your prospects. They'll appreciate a frank, honest, fact-filled sales pitch a lot more than a 100-mile-an-hour ramble about how great your business is.
• Mind your manners - it sounds obvious, but polite requests and frequent thank yous, careful listening and promptness when keeping appointments or returning phone calls goes a long way with this consumer group.
• Make your promotional literature easy to read and user-friendly, and your website as universally accessible as you can.
• Don't make the mistake of thinking that all consumers over the age of 50 fall into the same category. Do your research and break them down into several consumer profiles - for example, grandparents, early-retired couples and affluent, working older people represent three very different groups.

Discover how to promote your business on a shoestring Would you like to attract more new customers, sell more to existing customers, and bring back your customers more often - no matter what product or service you sell? Click here to find out how The UK Small Business Marketing Bible can help you double your sales

Legal

Choosing your business name

On the face of it, choosing a name for your business is simple. You decide you're going to trade as something like Scrumptious Sandwiches and then you go ahead and start making sandwiches. Easy. But if there's already another company out there called Scrummy Sandwiches you may hit problems, and could even be accused of benefiting unlawfully from somebody else's goodwill.

Basically, the law says that if a business has goodwill (i.e. if it's any sort of going concern), and if the public are likely to be confused by the similarity between names with the result that the business loses out, then you will have to think up a different name.

So it's a good idea to check out the competition carefully before naming your company. Companies House won't register a company with an identical name, but it will be worth checking trade directories and searching the Internet to make sure there are no businesses out there with a similar name.

But what if you're the owner of Sparkling Auto Cleaners, and somebody else opens a business down the road called Sparkle Auto Cleaners, stealing your customers and confusing people who try to find you in the Yellow Pages? If the problem can't be settled amicably, you may want to take legal steps (a euphemism for talking to a solicitor). If you can show your business is suffering because of Sparkle, you're likely have a pretty good case.

IT

De-junking your PC

A few weeks ago, we discussed the importance of keeping your e-mail inbox clear of a backlog of junk. But it's important to remember that your temporary Internet files - the place in your computer where information, cookies and so on from previous websites you've visited - can also clog up your hard drive.

There's an easy way to make sure your stash of unnecessary files is emptied every day, without you even having to give it a second thought. Simply open Internet Explorer and select 'tools' from the toolbar at the top of the page. Choose 'Internet options', and then click on the 'advanced' tab. Scroll down to almost the end of the list, and then check the box that reads 'Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed'.

Click here for more tips like this, as well as free tutorials and details of training courses for those wishing to improve their existing Internet skills.

You can also check out the Good Small Business Guide, which we've written in partnership with Bloomsbury. It's packed with practical advice, and contains a directory with hundreds more useful resources for anyone thinking of starting, or already running, a small business.

Do you know what the word 'skimming' means?

a) deducting annual depreciation against your yearly takings
b) reducing your outgoings and making staff cutbacks to save money
c) charging a temporarily high price for a new product to cover costs
d) avoiding or postponing dealing with a difficult issue

Answer at the end of Bulletin.

According to a report by filtering company MessageLab, spam now accounts for almost 70% of e-mails worldwide. A particular problem for e-mail providers and spam filters is 'spoofing', whereby spammers forge legitimate e-mail addresses in order to get their messages through. Yahoo.com has proposed a new technology to combat this. DomainKeys works by embedding outgoing messages with an encrypted digital code that enables the receiver to verify exactly which server it was sent from, and whether the message has been altered or hijacked in transit.

Most people have never heard of RSS. However, this little-known facility now exists on the majority of websites, and works by condensing the key information contained within websites, weblogs and so on, making it easier for you to absorb a lot of information quickly. RSS strips the sites of all their fancy graphics, ads, banners and general rubbish, and provides you with a glimpse of exactly what you were looking for, without you having to trawl through endless pages to find it. It also lets you read dozens of sites on a single page, by scanning their text content at a glance rather than taking the time to upload the complex pictures. You can even set up our own RSS feed, to keep an eye on an auction on eBay, for example.

Click here to check out the RSS readers available free, and try this for yourself.

Read a step-by-step guide to using RSS here.

Boost your market research resources by using this website, which contains an extensive list of UK trade magazines and journals for dozens of different sectors. The site is aimed at publishing professionals, but it's a great resource for businesses to find trade publications for their sector that they never knew existed. You can search by industry, publication title, keyword or geographic location to find the most relevant one for your business, and some offer free subscriptions.

We've discussed recently the impact that malicious software, including spyware and adware, is having on small businesses all over the world. It can cause the speed of your PC to drop by up to 40%, as well as hijacking your browser, generating thousands of infuriating pop-up ads, and posing a risk to your security by tracking your every online move. This site offers a free scan to check whether you've been infected.

And you can get an explanation of how spyware works, as well as tips on avoiding it, by clicking here.

Every business should make a point of visiting this excellent website. The Information Commissioner's site tells you everything you need to know about complying with data protection legislation, which affects any business that keeps records of its staff, suppliers or customers. Easy as pie to use, packed full of practical guidance and news, and with a comprehensive section specially designed for small businesses, this is a must-visit to help you understand this complex set of laws.

We've discussed plenty of IT security threats recently, but it's also important to make sure you protect your business, whatever its size, against crimes such as burglary and vandalism. This website provides a business security guide, complete with crime awareness tips and a free, print-and-keep security self-assessment checklist.

No, it's nothing to do with improving your ability to answer maths questions. The iQ Boot Camp is for anyone wanting to develop or improve their business website, and will give you both the inspiration and the technical ability to make your site easier to use, better at promoting your business, and more pleasing to visitors. It also covers how to write for the web, and how to develop your own e-newsletter. It's happening in London between 28 June and 9 July, but each workshop is limited to 12 spaces, so book early.

This book is full of indispensable advice for any small business thinking of developing or improving its website. It focuses on the importance of your homepage design, and contains practical guidelines and checklists of features and usability functions that you must include, as well as a systematic critique of the 50 most popular homepages on the web.