RESOURCE CENTRE

Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 2 June 2005

In this week's issue:

• six start up tips to avoid like the plague
  
• giving your website a call to action
  
• finding a way through the financial promotions maze
  
• the way to WAP
  
• the UK Trade & Investment website reviewed
  
  

Small business answers

If you have any questions about your business idea, are lacking some basic data about your target market, or simply need help tracking down a grant, subsidy or other source of business support in your local area, then send an e-mail with your query to the EnterQuest information team and we'll do our best to help.

Send your question to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.

Weekly stir

Six start up tips to avoid like the plague

Once you start your own business, it's amazing how many people are willing to give you the benefit of their advice and wisdom, either from a professional who will charge you for it, or from your well-meaning mates down the pub. Which, of course, is absolutely great.

But it's also amazing how much complete drivel is written or spoken by people purporting to be experts in the small business field. And that's across all forms of advice from all corners of the business support world, including so-called no-nonsense publications produced by the Government and other agencies, or online providers and publishers who appear out of nowhere and are suddenly willing to give you the magic small business formula they've had hidden away all these years.

Here's our quick guide to six of the most common pieces of cr*p business start up advice you'll be told that you should ignore at all costs. And by the way, this stuff really is what you'll hear or read.

1) Your business plan will identify where your business will be in three (or five) years time.

Now just think about this for a second. You're expected to produce a document that will state where you're going to end up in 36 or even 60 months' time. Do you realise how long that is? Most businesses die in half that time anyway. There's no problem with you visualising what your business might be doing in three, four or five years' time, but don't waste your time writing about it in a plan.

Instead think about the next 12 months, concentrating on what you can realistically achieve, and more importantly on how you will do it and get there. Success is based on the journey and the path you will take, not on a dream destination. Certainly think about where you want to get to, but spend your time planning the route.

2) People who dream of success will achieve it.

This is a bit like the business plan advice above. If you dream it enough, it will happen. Really? A bit like dreaming that Bill Gates will call you up and tell you your idea is so fantastic he wants to buy it. Or that you'll get picked to play football for England, or maybe win the National Lottery?

It's just not going to happen.

It's not dreams you need, it's ambition. And it's about getting your finger out and spending every minute of every day available to you researching how you're going to achieve it.

3) Your idea will probably succeed.

If someone you describe your business idea or plan to tells you that your idea will probably succeed, be very wary of this advice. How do they know that it will succeed? Are you just being told this to avoid upsetting you? Get a second, third and fourth opinion and if they all say they think it will succeed maybe you can begin to take more notice of the reactions you're getting to your idea.

Never act on the first piece of advice you get. Always get more opinions.

4) Your idea will probably fail.

As above, always get more than one opinion. In fact, plenty of people will happily tell you your idea won't work, often because they don't want it to, or just don't believe you are capable of doing it. Don't be put off by people who are negative about your business idea, just make sure you seek more advice and opinions, and refine your idea based on the feedback you're getting.

5) If you find the right product you'll find success.

This is the all time classic humdinger of rubbish business advice. Find the right product, eh? OK, but exactly who are you going to sell it to, and how do you know they want to buy it?

Success is based first and foremost on finding a market. An untapped, unexploited, or under-serviced market that you can gain a slice of with the right offering at the right price.

Find your market first, then select the product or service that will meet its needs.

6) Just go for it.

This is also a dangerous one. Being encouraged to hurtle head first into the deep end without any foundation for the advice you are being given.

If this is happening to you, then the best thing you can do is test your idea or concept before you take too big a plunge.

In fact, you should test your idea, then test it again, and then test it again after that.

Like we mentioned at the beginning of this week's bulletin, we've heard all sorts of BS advice, read it or witnessed it too many times over too many years.

So we'll just carry on telling you it as we see it.

If you've got any examples of either good or bad advice that you've received personally and would like to share this with us, then please e-mail us at enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.

Marketing tip

Giving your website a call to action

When people surf the web, more often than not, they're looking for something specific, and they want to find it quickly, with a minimum of diversions and distractions.

This means that no matter how attractively presented or well written the content on your website may be, if it waffles, doesn't get to the point or doesn't make it clear what people can get from your business, you've wasted your time.

The way in which people "read" information on web pages - that is, by scanning it - doesn't lend itself to paragraphs of lengthy detail. Instead you should aim to produce web pages that are immediately clear and informative, with key points emphasised in subheadings or bold text and - most importantly - include a call to action.

Even though calls to action are most relevant to websites with e-commerce facilities - the call to action being "buy here, now" - every business site should have a clear and persuasive call to the visitor to do something immediately actionable. This could be:

• To subscribe to a free newsletter
  
• To register their details
  
• To ask about a special offer or product
  
• To buy something over the phone
  
• To come and visit your shop

Consider the core purpose of your business. If you are a shoe retailer, your core goal is to get new customers to buy your shoes. Now consider how well your website works towards achieving this goal. Be honest. Does it spend more time lovingly describing the handstitched Italian leather you import specially when making your shoes than it does telling people, in simple terms, how they can buy from you?

To make this a bit easier, write down three key things that you want your website to achieve or to allow visitors to do, whether these are to subscribe, register, ask, visit or buy.

Now consider your homepage. How obvious are each of these three things when visitors first land on it? Do visitors know without a doubt what you want them to do within ten seconds of starting to read your page?

If this isn't the case, you can change things with a few simple language tweaks. Active, punchy, action-oriented words and phrases are the best way to highlight a call to action. Try some of the following as a starting point:

• Buy now!
  
• Call us now free of charge
  
• Sign up here for your FREE newsletter
  
• Register now to receive a special discount

More information about creating an effective business website is included in Chapter 30 of the UK Small Business Marketing Bible, where you can also find hundreds of tips, tactics and techniques for increasing sales no matter what sector you're in.

Legal tip

Finding a way through the financial promotions maze

The legal situation for businesses involved in providing finance to customers can be complicated, not least because several different Government agencies are responsible for enforcing the various rules. Advertising financial products is a case in point: it's affected by what the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) say in their guidelines and codes of practice.

This week's tip isn't going to explain all the rules, but it will cover the basic framework for financial advertising and promotions and point you in the direction of the relevant Government bodies.

The rules affecting the whole financial industry are found in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. For the specific issue of advertising financial products, the Act is complemented by the Financial Promotion Order 2001. These both make for a riveting read, but unless you've got a lot of spare time on your hands you probably won't want to tackle them whole. Instead, the guidance documents issued by the relevant bodies will be more useful.

• The FSA's Conduct of Business (COB) guides focusing on financial promotions are a good place to start. They explain the sort of claims you're allowed to make about financial products, the rules on cold-calling and telephone sales, how to sell legally over the Internet, and the records you must keep.
  

• The ASA's Code of Advertising Practice (the CAP Code) covers the marketing of financial products which are not covered by the FSA. The Code deals with the language you can use in your advertisements, explains the things you must include (such as pointing out that the value of investments can go down as well as up), and sets out the essential points of your contract with potential customers.

• Ofcom (the telecoms watchdog) also has its own rules on broadcast advertising made for radio and television. Rule 10.17 of its Code deals with financial promotions, and it's explained in a further appendix here.
  
  

However, because every business is unique, it can be tricky deciding which rules apply. The FSA offers a telephone and e-mail helpline you can contact for clarification.

The UK Red Tape BUSTER also provides up-to-date news on the latest legislation, as well as hundreds of legal factsheets, scenarios and frequently asked questions for small businesses.

IT tip

The way to WAP

What's the good of WAP? Or to put it another way, what can WAP do for a new or growing business? As you might expect, this section will be full of three-letter acronyms, so let's get the most important one out of the way first: WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol, and is a computer language used by gadgets such as mobile phones and laptops so that they can communicate via the Internet without using the usual dial-up or broadband connections.

Here are some suggestions of ways you could use WAP in your business.

• One of the most obvious ways is through mobile phones. WAP in a mobile phone is particularly useful for business owners who need to be out and about but still want to send and receive e-mails or access information on the Internet. If you have a sales team visiting clients, if you're in a trade such as plumbing or building and you move around from job to job, or if you're planning any kind of business trip, WAP can be a lifeline.
  
  
• WAP can also be used with a laptop or PC. Information you have on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) which uses WAP can be downloaded at the end of the day, meaning that you can make new documents and spreadsheets while you're out of the office, save them, then transfer them when you get home.
  
  
• If your business has a website, it can be converted to WAP to provide access to the growing number of people using WAP devices such as phones or PDAs. This means creating a new version of the web pages you already have by using WML (WAP markup language). WML is similar to HTML but is specifically designed to produce small web pages for mobile phones and PDAs.
  
  

In short, then, WAP gives you the opportunity to access the Internet even if your business involves travelling around a lot, and it could help you attract the small but growing band of WAP users who surf the web when they're out of the office. If this sounds like the sort of thing your business could be interested in taking advantage of, the following are links which explain the possibilities in more depth.

• For news, Network Computing is one of the best sites to keep an eye on.
  
  
• There are examples of WAP in action for PDAs here.
  
  
• And the WAP and WML tutorial is a starting point for understanding the official WAP standards, and is useful if you are thinking of providing a WML version of your website.
  

New business idea

Here is this week's idea:

• Pet Clothes Designer

Just one word

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 what 'illusive' means?

a) clear and concise
b) difficult to find or grasp
c) deceptive or misleading
d) a good example of something

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

Website review

The UK Trade & Investment website (www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk)

A source of help and information for UK businesses looking to export and overseas firms hoping to sell to or relocate in the UK, this week we're looking at UK Trade & Investment's website.

• Navigation - the homepage is clearly signposted in terms of where different users of the site might need to go, and it's easy to find the newsroom. They've also helpfully included ten different language options on the homepage for overseas users of the site.
  
  
  

• Accessibility - despite the wealth of language options, there's not much in the way of choices for users with disabilities or browsers other than Internet Explorer. As with so many of the Government websites we've looked at, this just isn't comprehensive enough.
  
  
  
  
• Content - you've got to register before you can access some of the practical information on the site. However, the snapshot sector overviews of dozens of different market sectors are a useful resource for any business, as are the country overviews.
  
  
  
  
• Relevance - the newsroom hasn't been updated since the end of March this year for export or trade-related stories - the only fresh news on the site is corporate news about UK Trade & Investment itself. The dull newsroom lets this interesting and useful site down.
  
  

Only half marks for UK Trade & Investment - a bit of time spent updating the newsroom with fresh, engaging stories and providing some more thoughtful accessibility options would see this score rise by a few points.

Our rating - 10/20

Did you know?

'Hostile profiling' is new attack trend

Anti-spam solutions firm Blue Security is warning businesses about a new trend in spamming and phishing attacks, known as 'hostile profiling'. This basically involves attackers exploiting websites that use e-mail addresses as a way to identify users. By analysing the websites you visit, they can build up a detailed profile of you in terms of your hobbies, political views, buying preferences and even health information. This information is then used for targeted spam and phishing attacks. Blue Security found that most websites are vulnerable to this type of attack.

Surplus stock costs retailers dearly, says eBay

A recent survey by online auctioneer eBay found that 49% of small retail businesses are regularly being forced to sell at a discount due to over-ordering on stock. eBay reckons that the average business is losing £3,700 a year by being forced to discount in this way. UK eBay recently launched a business registration facility to help firms sell excess stock on the site.

Worth a visit

Business Start Up

Taking place at Birmingham's NEC arena on 3-4 June, the Business Start Up exhibition is aimed at anyone thinking of setting up their own business, as well as those already running a small firm. We'll be exhibiting on stand 518, so we hope you will pop along for a chat. We'll also be presenting a seminar on the crucial small business topic of finding information about your target market.

Second-hand goods the safe way

Want Don't Want is a great resource for businesses looking to buy or sell second-hand office furniture and equipment. Items are categorised (for example, desks, chairs, computers and phones) and listed according to their location. The people behind the website act as an intermediary, giving honest advice on the condition of the items and securing payment on behalf of sellers, which helps eliminate some of the risks involved with buying used goods.

All you need to know about direct mail

The Direct Mail Information Service (DMIS) has published a comprehensive guide to direct mail. It covers how to set direct mail apart from your competitors, budgeting for the costs involved, planning a successful mailshot campaign, common questions, myths and pitfalls, and how to measure response rates.

Worth a read

Whether you're an established business, have just started up or are simply thinking about running your own business, this practical manual is jam-packed with hundreds of sensible, easy to implement ideas for making your venture a success. Topics covered include money management, marketing, using technology and excelling at customer service. The book also contains step-by-step guidance on putting the ideas into practice, as well as inspiring real-life case studies about existing entrepreneurs. Check out:

If you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com

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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.