RESOURCE CENTRE

Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 8 December 2004

In this week's issue:

• five more myths about starting a business
• preparing effective presentations
• unfair contract terms: what they are and what they mean for you
• how to get low-cost IT training
  

Weekly stir

Five more myths about starting a business

As a publisher and adviser to new and aspiring small business owners, we've either read or heard just about every bit of advice there is about what will or won't make a small business either fail or succeed.

And some of it makes us positively cringe. What's even worse is that much of what gets said has become widely believed or accepted, while in reality what's really happening is that there are too many unnecessary small business myths knocking around, on which budding entrepreneurs have to make a decision about whether or not to start up.

Here are five of those myths that we've also attempted to dispel:

1. Only new or original business ideas will succeed

Why? This is complete bunkum. Think about this. What specific advantage does an original business idea have? If there's no demand or market for an original idea in the first place then it will be doomed before it even gets started, just like any other idea.

The vast majority of small business start ups are not based on new or original ideas, but are tried and tested concepts where someone has found a gap in the market for that service locally or further afield.

Based on evidence of downloads and usage of the start up information we publish, the most popular small business ideas in the UK last year were coffee shops, sandwich shops, hairdressers, beauty therapists, gardeners, consultants, web designers, photographers, childminders and other enterprises like this.

And what's original about any of these?

2. You'll fail if you don't start up with a business plan

This is probably the most widely spread myth about starting up. No kidding, if you don't write a business plan you're doomed to failure. Yet the fact is that the majority of new firms start up without a formal or written plan, and usually only produce one to raise finance, rather than to genuinely provide the direction and road map to show where the business is headed.

Of those that fail, lack of planning may have contributed to their downfall, but not as much as lack of market research and failure to find a market for the product or service. And then there are businesses that just weren't effective enough at their sales and marketing.

Plenty of start ups go on to succeed without a written plan to begin with. The key is to do your market research, find a market that's hungry and willing to pay for your service, and then work out the best way to reach that market.

Then you can jot down a three or four-page plan describing how you will do it.

3. Most businesses fail inside three years, so you probably will too

OK, the statistics can't be ignored, but that doesn't mean that you will definitely be a failure. There have also been many surveys showing that start ups who make the best use of professional advisers, or who have an experienced mentor or coach involved, are statistically more likely to succeed than fail. The same applies to home-based businesses, which also have a higher survival rate, mainly due to the lower overhead costs associated with running a venture from home.

So get professional advice and mentoring where you can, and if possible start up from home, to begin with at least.

4. Your business adviser will always be right

Our regular readers will be familiar with our views on this one. Now just think about this. You've been talking to an adviser, maybe an accountant or at a Business Link. He tells you that he thinks your idea is great and will definitely work, or maybe he suggests that it has little chance of success at all.

Whatever the adviser's point of view, who's to say that he is right? If you base your decisions on the first piece of advice you get, you could be getting too narrow a view on things. Make sure you get a second and third opinion about your ideas to get a more balanced range of views before you commit yourself or make crucial decisions.

5. Small businesses need plenty of luck to survive

It's astonishing how many times we hear this. Small businesses "need to be lucky" or "need to be in the right place at the right time". Not so.

Successful small businesses don't need luck, they generate it. They achieve this through hard graft, thorough preparation, tons of research, and testing things out over and over again.

Successful business owners get lucky because they become good at finding out how to be in the right place at the right time, how to make their service stand out from the rest, and how to get themselves noticed.

It simply doesn't happen the other way round. Luck does not find you by itself.

So to sum all of this up, to give yourself the best chance of succeeding, make sure you do plenty of research, stick to what you're good at, get advice from as many professionals, friends or other small business owners as you can, and always keep an open mind.

Being able to deliver sales or marketing presentations is a valuable skill for small business owners. The ability to prepare an effective presentation will help you when pitching for new business, putting forward your case for funding, and briefing your team.

Here are six practical tips for how you can prepare the content of your presentation, and make sure you are confident when you deliver it.

1. Set yourself objectives. Before you begin writing your presentation, you need to be clear about what you hope to achieve from it. Why are you giving the talk, and what do you want your audience to get out of it?
   
   
2. Consider using aids. Sometimes, a spoken presentation alone won't be enough to communicate your marketing message. Consider whether visual or audio aids would help make your message clearer. Outlining the key points using PowerPoint slides on your laptop (see this article from Computer Tips for advice on creating a PowerPoint presentation) can help lodge your message in the minds of your audience, as well as providing a prompt to remind you of the order you planned to follow.
   
   
3. Know your audience. Before you start preparing the content of your presentation, think about who is going to be listening to it. This will help you determine its tone. For example, a pitch for business to the MD of another firm will be very different in style to an informal product demonstration to new customers.
   
   
4. Break your presentation into manageable chunks. Once you've decided how long your presentation will be, divide the time into units and allocate sections or topics into these units. This will give you an easy to follow framework and lessen the chances of you getting lost halfway through. It'll also make it easier for your audience to digest your message as a whole.
   
   
5. Don't reel off facts and figures. It's difficult to read a long list of stats and numbers, but it's even harder to listen to and understand one. Consider using graphs or charts to illustrate numerical data, and make copies to pass out before you start so your audience can follow your drift.
   
   
6. Prepare the venue. Make sure the conditions are right in the room where you're going to give your presentation. Are there enough chairs? Is the room is well ventilated, adequately lit and heated? Most importantly of all, is the location quiet? Being interrupted by a ringing phone or unexpected visitor will distract your audience, and may throw you off track.
   

More tips for preparing and giving presentations are available at http://www.presentationbiz.co.uk and http://www.speechtips.com, and you can check out our recommended book this week for even more useful advice.

Find more advice on this subject in the chapter entitled 'Working with customers' in the Good Small Business Guide, a practical, 500+ page manual part authored by us in partnership with publishers Bloomsbury.

In the UK Small Business Marketing Bible you can find hundreds more tips on promoting your business, as well as techniques and tactics that will help increase sales for any small business in any sector.

Legal tip

Unfair contract terms: what they are and what they mean for you

If you're a retailer, or if you provide services to consumers, you must understand and comply with the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. This Act is supplemented by the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Together, they're designed chiefly to protect consumers from unscrupulous traders.

Here's a brief summary of what these laws do.

• Essentially, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 forbids businesses from excluding their liability when they make a contract with a consumer. So a business can't say it's not liable for death or personal injury caused by its products or services, nor can it restrict its liability for loss or damage as a result of negligence.
  
  
• The 1999 Regulations amend and extend the Act by stating that a consumer is not bound by a term included in a contract with a business if that term is unfair. An 'unfair' term is one that diminishes the rights of the consumer in favour of the business, or one that's not expressed in plain and easy to understand language. The Office of Fair Trading provides further explanation of what's meant by fair and unfair.
  
  
• The law also requires businesses to provide goods or services as they were described, and of satisfactory quality. To back this up, the rules forbid traders from adding contract clauses that restrict or exclude this legal requirement.
  
  
• The rules on contract terms don't apply to certain areas such as insurance policies or land transfers, but they do apply to sale goods and even second-hand goods. However, under these circumstances, businesses can effectively limit their liability by pointing out any defects in the product at the time it's sold.
  
  
• To help you understand how the regulations affect you, the Office of Fair Trading has published a number of factsheets offering practical examples.
  
  
• You can also find advice on complying with the law relating to the sale and supply of goods and services from the Trading Standards website.
  
  
• Finally, the DTI has quite a good pair of factsheets on the 1977 Act and 1999 Regulations.

Our Red Tape BUSTER has hundreds more legal tips, as well as FAQs, scenarios and legal checklists essential for small businesses.

How to get low-cost IT training

If you're a new business owner, or thinking about starting up, following a training course in IT can be worthwhile, because it can teach you time-saving computer tricks and give you the confidence to resolve basic computer problems yourself.

There are plenty of courses you can follow in your own time through the web, and there's also likely to be a good selection of training available in your area. Here are some pointers to help you choose a course that's right for you.

• If you're on a tight budget, the Internet is a valuable source of free tutorials and tips on using IT, from basics like understanding how Microsoft Office works to more advanced stuff like formatting content in HTML. You won't get a certificate at the end of it, but you will have benefited from practical, step-by-step expert advice that's completely free. For a selection of free tutorials suitable for all levels of experience check out:
  
  Help With PCs
  Tech Tutorials
  How Stuff Works
  
  
• You can often find free tutorials by using search engines to find advice related to the software or activity you're struggling with. For example, try typing "PowerPoint tips" or "PowerPoint tutorials" into the search box on Google.
  
  
• If you're a complete beginner, online and CD-ROM courses are a popular way of getting to grips with software such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. Learn Direct offers information on courses covering word-processing, spreadsheets, databases and web publishing.
  
  
• Your local college or adult education centre should provide low-cost or even free courses in IT basics, and in some cases may offer relatively advanced training suitable for those with a good grasp of IT already. The Government's Way to Learn website offers a rundown of qualifications available and - more importantly - a searchable database of courses.
  

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

Here is this week's idea:

• Infused Olive Oils

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 which of the following words are actually active trade marks?

a) nylon
b) escalator
c) microchip
d) linoleum

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

Did you know?

TV call-up for mature business owners

Channel 4 is searching for aspiring entrepreneurs aged over 40 who are on the point of setting up their own businesses. Provisionally titled 'Life Begins Again', the series will follow entrepreneurs over the course of a year while they set up their ventures.

For more information, go to:
http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/L/life_begins

New report reveals what's hot in advertising online...

A new report provides a fascinating insight into what format most businesses choose for their online ads, which type of ads have the best click-through rate and what size is most popular for banner ads. The Ad Serving Trend Report has been published by online advertising technology gurus DoubleClick. Although it's based on research from the US, the trends it reveals are interesting and relevant to anyone planning a new web-based marketing campaign.

...and here's an Internet advertising goldmine

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is a great resource for businesses planning to advertise online, or those already doing so. It provides tips and guides on all aspects of online advertising, from setting up banner ads to direct marketing, and also lists regular news and events from other IABs across Europe that are relevant to anyone with an interest in promoting their business on the Internet. Best of all is its Jargon Buster, which lets you read up on the web lingo that any online marketer needs to know.

Check out the site at http://www.iabuk.net and access the Jargon Buster at http://www.iabuk.net/advertising.

This fascinating resource is provided by the BBC. There's a lot of stuff available for free - for example, you can subscribe to a free newsletter, get access to online articles on a range of topics and Government issues, and browse mini journals which contain news features on everything from the law to IT. There are also some subscription services for business owners, including paid access to Government or statistical research, an archive of BBC TV footage and pictures, and a pronunciation database containing around 200,000 words and names.

Get browsing at:
http://www.sourceuk.net/bbccentral/main.html

Google gets Scholarly

This latest offering from Google is another demonstration from the search engine giant that it can provide narrowly tailored search results as well as its more generic offerings. Google Scholar is aimed at academics and students, but it's also an interesting resource if you're researching your target market, as a simple keyword search will throw up any relevant academic articles, theses, papers and technical reports.