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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 159

Thought for the week: "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Woody Allen

• More 'stealth' tips for increasing your prices
• Building your brand
• Understanding the new age discrimination rules
• E-mail on the move
• The Chartered Institute of Taxation website reviewed

If you have any questions about your business idea or target market, or need help tracking down a grant, subsidy or 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.

To access over 800 factsheets, guides and small business reports, go to www.scavenger.net.

More 'stealth' tips for increasing your prices

Quite often in the small business world, the difference between a winning and a losing product is how you price it. Sales tests have shown time and again that price is one of the most compelling factors that determine the success or failure of a product's sales, or even of the business itself.

There are a lot of myths floating around out there about pricing a small business' products and services, and some fly directly in the face of popular thinking on this subject and some of the advice you may be getting from a third party.

Some of the myths that lead to failure include the following:

• Assuming that price is the most important buying criteria for consumers.

This is total poppycock - consumers are generally a much more shrewd and informed bunch than that, and know exactly what the meaning of value is.

• Needing to slightly under-price your product or service in a highly competitive market.

Hasn't anyone heard of differentiation? There are loads of ways to do this as well.

• To price your product or service, just take its cost and then mark it up with your profit margin.

Well, since most businesses don't even know what their costs are, how can they mark up their prices properly?

• When sales are slow, just drop your price and they will increase.

Unless of course you realise that people put a high value on quality as well as on price, and when you lower your prices you are lowering their perception of your quality.

Myths like these and commercial ignorance generally are a lethal combination when it comes to pricing and competing in the marketplace.

One pricing strategy that can be used and successfully applied to the advantage of small businesses in many different sectors is that of increasing your prices - but without actually increasing your prices at all.

Here are nine tips for ways that you can increase your sales revenue without publicly announcing that you've increased your prices.

1. Decrease the level of discounts you're currently offering customers.

2. Increase your minimum order volumes so that customers have to reach a higher threshold before they qualify for discounts.

3. Increase your delivery charge and start charging for any additional special services related to delivery.

4. Charge your customers for any engineering and installation services that you previously included as standard.

5. Raise prices to cover for overtime or additional time needed to deliver rushed or very short notice orders.

6. Start aggressively collecting and charging interest on overdue accounts from the last few months.

7. Begin to shift your overall product sales mix towards higher profit margin products and services, and start phasing out your lower margin items. If you don't know what your margins currently are, you'd better damn well find out fast.

8. Begin to write stiffer penalty clauses into all of your contracts. Think about it - your suppliers will almost certainly be doing this to you, so there's no reason why you can't be commercially more hard-nosed as well.

9. Find ways to decrease some of the physical features or characteristics of your product, but continue to charge the same prices.

To conclude this week's stir on pricing, there's one thing you should take on board and remember above everything else.

Unless you're an exception and have a significant cost advantage that is impossible to match, never, ever try to compete solely on price. Never. Got that?

Finally, you can find out more about pricing myths and how to raise your prices by reading Chapter 17 of the UK Small Business Marketing Bible, which is packed hundreds of tips about promoting your business and finding new customers.

Building your brand

Having a recognisable 'brand' is important for small firms. You don't have to have a household name product; having a brand simply means that your product or service is instantly identifiable in your customers' minds.

Think about what your business values are and how you can communicate them to your customers. Remember, every dealing you have with them will reinforce their opinion of your business - from the way you answer the phone to your business logo on an invoice.

You need to make sure that customers know:

• Who you are - look at everything from your name and logo to your stationery. Does it 'fit' together? Are your signs, packaging and leaflets in a uniform style?

• What your values are - do they match your customers' values? How are they different to your competitors'? Ensure your advertising matches your core values - and those of your customers. Think about the old Co-operative Bank adverts, which appealed to people from an ethical perspective, making it a brand 'with a conscience'.

• That they can trust you - your reputation will grow over time. Consistency is key. It's no good e-mailing a client once to say an item is out of stock, then forgetting to do so if the same thing happens when they place another order.

You can see how Kellogg's does its branding by reading this Times 100 article, and pick up further tips at the Trust Net website. Finally, O2's Loyalty Report demonstrates what having a recognisable brand can do for your business.

And you can check out our helpful factsheet to find out more about the practical considerations of creating a logo for your business.

Understanding the new age discrimination rules

Age Positive week, which celebrates age diversity at work, is taking place this week in advance of new regulations that will be introduced in October to outlaw age discrimination at work.

The new legislation will make provision for age-related employment equality, in line with similar regulations protecting rights in relation to sex, race, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Further advice can be obtained from the Acas website, but here's a quick guide to what the new rules will mean in practice:

• Redundancy policies must not discriminate against older workers (either directly or indirectly).

• Employers will not be able to force people to retire below the age of 65 unless it can be justified.

• Currently workers have no unfair dismissal rights after the normal retirement age for their job, or 65 if there isn't one. Once the regulations are in force, older workers will have the same rights to both statutory redundancy pay and unfair dismissal as younger workers.

• Employers will not be allowed to impose a lower age limit when recruiting unless there is real justification, and this will protect younger workers from discrimination too.

• Workers who feel they have been harassed or discriminated against because of their age will be able to bring proceedings at an Employment Tribunal.

Check out the Directgov site for more details about the new rules, and you can also read our practical factsheet about existing equal opportunities regulations.

E-mail on the move

If you're constantly on the go and don't spend all day chained to your computer, you may well have thought about 'wireless e-mail' or, as the techies call it, 'push e-mail'.

In the UK, BlackBerry is probably the best known. In a nutshell, it forwards copies of your e-mails to your mobile phone. You can read and reply to messages, and use the contacts and calendar sections you'd find on your normal e-mail application.

BlackBerry is trying to win more business from small firms and is now allowing single users to download the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software for free. But you must have a BlackBerry hardware device with a PIN to access the free software.

However, Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company behind BlackBerry, also licenses its software to mobile phone manufacturers, so not everyone who uses its wireless e-mail service has to have one of its devices.

RIM may be the best known provider, but there are other enterprises doing similar - and sometimes more complex - things with 'push e-mail'. Here are a few examples:

• SEVEN

• Intellisync, which is owned by Nokia.

• iPass

• Good Technology

• Visto

• OpenHand

• Microsoft, which is now getting in on the act.

If you're thinking about getting your first wireless e-mail device, it's probably best to check out the leading mobile phone networks, such as O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile, to see what deals they are offering.

It's forecast that around 80% of mobile phones will have wireless e-mail technology embedded within the next two years. Obviously, as the market expands, prices will fall.

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

Here is this week's idea:

• Edible Glasses Manufacturer

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 'anodyne' means?

a) confusing or muddled
b) insipid, bland or dull
c) dynamic or vibrant
d) provocative or inflammatory

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (www.tax.org.uk) This organisation is a professional body for tax advisers that also provides specialised tax-related advice for businesses. But how user-friendly and accessible is its website?

Navigation and presentation - a very basic-looking homepage means that the site, at first glance, lacks the authoritative appearance that you'd expect of a professional association. But it contains news, which keeps things fresh, and the tools for navigating through the site are clearly presented and easy to use.

Accessibility - there's comprehensive and well-written guidance for registering as a user of the site, which gives you access to more info, and the site features a clever tool to help you check whether you can accept its cookies. But there are no access keys or options to view the site in text-only format, and no foreign language translations.

Content and usefulness - the employers' section of the site is confusing - you'd hope that it would contain practical guidance and information for businesses about different aspects of tax, but this opportunity has been missed in favour of plugging the Institute's tax adviser service. A lot more practical information is available if you register, including specific guidance for small firms - but it's a shame more of it isn't readily accessible.

Relevance - the site offers a free tax newsletter, but many of the news releases featured on the site are somewhat dry and relate to the activities of the Institute itself. However, there are some gems, such as a plain English article about the tax implications of the Civil Partnerships Act.

Half marks for this site - the score would be higher if it provided more free information and guidance to encourage people to register with the site.

Our rating - 10/20

Copying Sugar isn't very sweet

Sir Alan Sugar's leadership style on BBC reality TV show 'The Apprentice' has been criticised by a top psychologist. Professor Graham Jones, from performance development consultancy Lane4, is worried that other entrepreneurs will copy the millionaire businessman's abrasive style. He reckons good leaders "encourage and inspire" staff, rather than bullying them. Nearly 19 million working days are lost every year due to bullying, accounting for around 10% of firms' annual profits. Professor Jones says Sir Alan's style should be seen as entertainment, not a master class in leadership for entrepreneurs.

Tax deadline is looming for employers

Businesses with fewer than 50 staff will receive £250 off their tax bill if they file their Employer's Annual Return online. Small businesses do not have to file their return electronically but firms with more than 50 staff are now required to do so. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is reminding businesses that the return, which consists of a P35 and P14 for each member of staff, must be received online by 19 May. It is also warning that returns containing errors will be rejected.

Hunting for trends on the web

Trendhunter is a website dedicated to chronicling the latest - and most bizarre - trends out there. It's split into different categories, such as business, technology, art and design, fashion and lifestyle. The site, which is linked to Trend Hunter magazine, gathers the strangest new products about to hit the market, and includes a forum where you can swap ideas with other trend hunters, sign up for a weekly newsletter, and use the jargon-buster to help you decipher those oh-so-modern terms you'll find on the website.

A winning new referral resource

More firms are using the concept of 'referral rewards' to attract new customers. A new site has been set up to help referral givers and seekers find each other. Referrers post information about the offer on the MutualWin site, and visitors then search the available offers by category or location. Once they've found something that appeals, they contact the referrer by e-mail and arrange to split the proceeds. Anything can be listed on the site, and there's a discussion board to make the whole thing even more interactive.

Free software legality health check

To help firms ensure that they're within the law, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is offering a free online health check and a number of software auditing tools which you can use to check your software is legal. It's a good idea to do this, as the BSA is also offering to doubled the reward it pays staff who shop their employers to £20,000 until the end of June - and you certainly don't want that to happen to you.

This book promises to teach you techniques to sell yourself in different situations - from interviews and sales pitches to meeting and networking with new people. It explains self-coaching techniques to boost your confidence, many of which can be applied immediately. Relaxation, visualisation and affirmation that you're the best are among the book's key lessons. Check out:

You Selling You, by Steve Miller

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.