Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 181
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| Thought for the week: "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." Confucius |
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In this week's issue:
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 and location to the EnterQuest
information team and we'll do our best to help.
Send
your question to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
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To
access over 800 factsheets, guides and small business reports, go
to www.scavenger.net. |
A great place to start up and run a business
One of the key choices faced by a new business owner is exactly where to locate their fledgling enterprise.
Traditional advice will point you to a fairly limited range of premises choices, which will vary in attraction and relevance depending on the type of venture you're aiming to start. These will include:
- at home
- in a business incubator
- in a managed workspace unit
- in commercial premises
Starting at home has its attractions, but also many distractions and hazards. Starting in incubator units or managed workspace can be at low or reasonable cost and commitment, but may not be ideal for your plans at the very earliest stages, and unless you're starting a retail shop, café, pub etc, renting commercial premises will be a step out of reach for most new ventures.
But what about having a place to locate your enterprise before you even start trading, while you're still doing all the planning, preparation and research, and your only business assets are those in your head and in your mobile phone's SIM memory?
And what if this place was so ideal that when you begin trading for real, you can also base yourself there, for a little while at least, totally free of charge?
Does such a place exist? This can't be real, can it?
Yes indeed - and there's at least one based in just about every town and city around the UK, and most of them are open every Monday to Friday, and possibly Saturday as well.
But not only that, in these widely available locations, you'll also usually have the advantage of the following:
- Someone knowledgeable on-hand to give you advice and help you to research and plan the start up of your venture.
- Access to an Internet PC and databases to help you with finding suppliers and analysing your competitors.
- A desk to sit at where you can prepare your business plan and get all your ideas sorted out.
- A wealth of market reports to read, both in hard copy and online, to help you thoroughly research your market.
- Often a place to grab a cup of tea or coffee and have initial meetings with key business contacts.
- A range of trade publications, magazines and newspapers to help you understand your sector and develop your marketing plan.
- Occasional seminars and workshops covering key business skills needed by new entrepreneurs.
- If you can't physically get in to these places, you can usually get access to their resources online.
OK, then, so where are these secret, totally under-publicised locations that are a great place to locate yourself before you start trading?
Your local public library.
Every city and major UK town will have a business section based in the main library, and often out in branches as well. Libraries also employ staff whose specific purpose is to help people like you who are thinking of starting or are already up and running in business.
Now while we may be pushing it a little bit to suggest that you should go into your library every single day, for weeks on end, and stick its address on your business cards, you could do a lot worse and give yourself a flying start by taking advantage of this very useful and under-utilised public service.
To find your nearest business library and whether it has a business section, go to the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) website - it offers a regional directory of the UK's libraries. You can also find your local library by visiting the Directgov site.
Why not also check out our practical guide to public library business information services, to find out what other facilities and support you can get from your local library?
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And for hundreds of practical tips and techniques about finding new customers, increasing sales and growing your business, check out the UK Small Business Marketing Bible. |
Price marking of goods tip
Retailers who sell products to consumers are bound by the Price Marking Order 2004.
This means that the selling price and unit price (for example, 50p per 100g) must be provided to consumers in print, and displayed in shops, catalogues and online. Detailed information can be obtained from this Trading Standards leaflet (for Scotland see this leaflet), but the legislation requires that:
- Prices have to be displayed close by the goods, either on the items themselves, on a ticket nearby or grouped with other prices in a catalogue.
- VAT should be included in the price shown and must be unambiguous, but postage and packing, or delivery charges, can be shown separately.
- All information must be legible and clearly visible, bearing in mind the requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to make information 'reasonably accessible' to customers with disabilities.
- Items displayed in shop windows also have to follow these guidelines, with the exception of jewellery, precious metals or watches with a selling price of more than £3,000. These need not show the price in close proximity to the item, although it must still be available elsewhere to customers.
- Unit prices must be given when items are sold loose from bulk, as in the case of fruit and vegetables. This also applies to items required by the Weights and Measures Act 1985 to be marked with an indication of quantity, such as goods sold in jars and tins.
For more practical tips on consumer legislation, see our useful factsheet.
Coffee-drinking nations
Our profile on starting up a coffee shop is continually one of our top-selling factsheets, proving that coffee shops are still among the UK's most popular business ideas.
The British Coffee Association reckons that in the UK we get through 70 million cups of the stuff every day - but we're nowhere near top of the list internationally. Here are the top ten coffee-drinking nations in terms of cups consumed per person, according to the International Coffee Organisation:
1) Finland (1,686 cups per capita)
2) Denmark (1,374 cups per capita)
3) Norway (1,372 cups per capita)
4) Belgium (1,354 cups per capita)
5) Sweden (1,249 cups per capita)
6) Austria (1,065 cups per capita)
7) Switzerland (1,017 cups per capita)
8) Germany (988 cups per capita)
9) Netherlands (915 cups per capita)
10) France (831 cups per capita)
While the UK doesn't feature in this top ten list, it's worth noting that we're also among the world's biggest tea drinkers - fifth on the top ten list, to be precise, putting away 994 cups each every year.
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
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 the word 'lampoon' means?
a) to criticise or complain
b) to parody or make fun of
c) to overreact or lose your temper
d) to make a mistake or gaffe
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Food businesses will soon be publicly scored
If you run a restaurant, café or coffee shop, you could soon find that your previously private hygiene reports are available for all to see. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is testing a new scheme in London, where the public can go online to look at restaurant hygiene ratings, from April next year. The pilot project - known as 'Scores on the Doors' - will be extended to Scotland and the Midlands after that. Businesses will be given star ratings out of five for issues such as food hygiene and handling.
eBay has an Express new service
eBay is offering a new opportunity to retailers just in time for the Christmas rush. The new service - eBay Express - works just like an ordinary online store. Customers order new goods, which can be returned, and there is a guaranteed delivery date. Retailers that want to join the scheme will be vetted before they're allowed on board - the idea is that customers will feel less wary about security issues if they can be reassured that the stores are genuine, established businesses.
Idiots' guide to accounting software - and it's free
Software developer Access Accounting has produced a free 'Accounting Software for Dummies' guide to help businesses cut through the jargon associated with choosing an accounting system. The book provides up-to-date info about the essential elements of choosing and implementing accounting software, covering issues such as pitfalls to avoid, creating a checklist to help you select the right package, and making sure you get value for money. You need to register your details on the site, and then you'll be sent a free copy of the book.
The PC World Business Directory
Containing listings for all your IT and technical needs, PC World's business directory includes everything from finding and comparing web designers and web hosting providers to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and search engine marketing programmes. The directory aims to help business owners make informed decisions by comparing lots of different providers in one place.
This is a comprehensive resource explaining employment law in laymen's terms, and is intended for use in England, Wales and Scotland. Topics covered include recruiting staff, wages, terms of employment, maternity and parental rights, discrimination and dismissal. The book includes practical templates, sample forms, contracts, letters and notices, and process flowcharts to help first-time employers. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
Lampoon means to parody, satirise or otherwise make fun of, usually in a bitter or barbed way.
The Dilbert books lampoon the typical office workplace. |
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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. |
