Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 173
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| Thought for the week: "I've learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success." Jack Welch |
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In this week's issue:
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Protecting your data when on the move
Following last week's terror alerts, businesses that rely on frequent air travel have expressed deep concerns about the possibility of damage to vital equipment during flights.
If you use a laptop when you're on the move, chances are a lot of important data is stored on its hard drive. If restrictions on cabin baggage are imposed again, and laptops have to be stored in the hold, this could damage your hard drive due to the low temperatures and the possibility of your laptop getting wet or banged about.
But with some simple preparation, you can keep your business data secure without compromising on travel even in times of heightened security. Here's how:
Back up your data before a trip
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You should make it a standard practice to back up all important data stored on your laptop before making a business trip in order to protect yourself against loss, breakage or theft.
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There are various options for backing up data, including saving it onto a rewritable CD, or plugging a Flash memory card or stick into your computer - see these reviews on DealTime.co.uk for a guide to what's available. There are also various web-based data backup services, which give you the added reassurance of information being stored in a secure environment - see PC World for reviews.
Keep your data secure
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Access to your laptop should be protected by a password. It's good practice to use randomly generated combinations of letters and numbers for passwords, rather than dates of birth or partners' names, as these can be easily guessed. Password Safe is a free download that acts like a lockable notebook. You can use it to store all your passwords, and you only need to remember one to access them.
Have a contingency plan
With improvements in videoconferencing and conference-calling technology, it's possible to rearrange face-to-face meetings at short notice if your chosen mode of transport is suffering from delays or cancellations. Check out Learn the Net's guide to virtual meeting technology for more ideas.
For more tips on coping with the impact of the security alerts on your business, read this free article from Consultant-News.com. And for general tips on business continuity planning, check out our practical factsheet.
Registering for VAT - the basics explained
At the moment, VAT registration isn't compulsory until your business reaches a certain total turnover during the preceding 12 months. The current threshold is £61,000. But there are advantages of registering for VAT voluntarily, including improving the credibility of your business by giving customers and suppliers the impression that your turnover is higher than the VAT threshold.
So here are a few tips on getting started with VAT registration, and some links to resources where you'll be able to find more information.
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There are three different VAT rates, which apply according to the goods and services you buy or sell. For example, VAT is zero-rated for food (in other words, you don't charge VAT on food products). The most common rate in the UK is 17.5% for most other goods and services.
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You can register in writing or online. To register in writing, you'll need to call the National VAT Advice Service (or your local tax office) and ask for the registration form relevant to your business. To find out where to send completed forms, see this list of addresses.
Finally, our factsheet on understanding and registering for VAT also provides step-by-step guidance on the process.
Planning a health and safety risk assessment
It's important to assess and plan how to deal with risks and incidents that might affect your business or your staff. The likelihood of an incident occurring can be controlled by putting practical measures in place to prevent them happening in the first place, or to minimise their impact.
The overriding piece of legislation covering risk assessment is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require all businesses to assess the risks relating to their activities.
Your health and safety risk assessment needs to cover all work activities and hazard areas, including:
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Display screen equipment.
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Manual handling.
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Slipping or tripping hazards.
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Fire hazards, such as flammable materials.
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Chemicals and hazardous substances.
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Moving parts of machinery.
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Working at height.
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Electricity-related hazards, such as poor wiring.
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Dust and fumes.
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Noise.
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Low temperature.
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Ergonomics, such as positioning monitors and keyboards to prevent stresses and strains.
Here's a quick guide to the main issues to be aware of and where you can find out more:
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Before starting the assessment, you should read up on relevant background information, like manufacturers' instructions for equipment or machinery you use, and check your accident and illness records. This will help you to become more aware of potential risk areas.
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Five Steps to Risk Assessment is published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and provides guidance on carrying out a risk assessment of your work activities. It's aimed at the commercial, service and light industrial sectors, providing case studies of typical small firms in those areas.
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The HSE also publishes a short guide to the main health and safety regulations in the UK.
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Officewise is an HSE manual covering how to understand and manage risks in an office environment, explaining the relevant regulations and dispelling some common myths about health and safety at work.
Finally, check out our practical guide to carrying out a health and safety risk assessment for more information.
Recycling your computer
Recycling your old PC might seem like the right thing to do from an ecological point of view, but you may well have been put off by recent scare stories about what fraudsters can do with the information you thought you'd erased.
According to the BBC, Britons' bank account details, harvested from the hard drives of recycled PCs, are being sold in West Africa for less than £20 each.
Fraudsters are able to find bank details on hard drives that have not been wiped with special software designed for the purpose. Simply deleting the files isn't enough.
It isn't just about protecting your details - you should ensure that you've removed all of your customers' names and addresses or you could have problems with data protection issues.
If you still want to recycle your old PC, you can physically remove the hard drive or invest in one of a number of software packages available that will 'cleanse' your computer. They include:
The idea of reusing computers also hit the headlines when Michelle Dewberry, winner of this year's The Apprentice TV show, was put in charge of Sir Alan Sugar's Xenon Green recycling enterprise.
But there are also a growing number of businesses and charities that now take on old computers and recycle them for you:
Finally, recycling your PC will also help you meet the demands of the European Commission's (EC) Directive on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations (WEEE), which comes into force next year and will affect how you dispose of old electronic equipment.
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.
In grammatical terms, do you know what 'portmanteau' means?
a) a word that sounds like its definition, such as 'smash'
b) a word that combines the sounds and meanings of two others, such as 'smog'
c) a pair of words with contradictory meanings, such as 'definitely maybe'
d) a word that reads the same backwards as it does forwards, such as 'civic'
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
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Scottish Enterprise
www.scottish-enterprise.com
This is the overarching business support organisation for firms based in the lowlands of Scotland - but how user-friendly and accessible is its website? |
Navigation
and presentation - the homepage is dominated by a big profile of an upcoming business exhibition, meaning that the lists and directories of Scottish Enterprises's main services are crammed together at the sides of the page. However, navigation is made easy through helpful drop-down lists that you can use to select your specific location or sector.
 
Accessibility - the site can be viewed in text-only format, and there is a page of notes providing guidance on the accessibility options available on the site, as well as assistance for users of different browsers. The only thing missing is some foreign language options.
Content
and usefulness - the site is broken into sections featuring useful guidance and downloadable factsheets on topics such as starting a business, legal issues specific to Scotland, finding premises and recruiting staff. The location-specific parts of the site feature practical explanations of local initiatives and available funding, as well as details of key contacts in the area.
Relevance - the homepage is kept fresh with the addition of rolling news stories, and the site also features news stories specific to different regions. An up to date calendar of business events is also available.
A well-designed site that is packed with an impressive amount of practical guidance for businesses - the downloadable factsheets on key business issues are a particularly useful tool.
Our rating - 15/20
Watch out - there's a fraudster about!
That's the message from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which is warning about a spate of bogus callers visiting firms. The con-artists, who claim to be from Companies House, try to persuade business owners to hand over secure authentication codes for Companies House files. This information can be used to set up fraudulent firms and steal money. The FSB said company identity fraud was on the increase, and warned that its effects can be devastating for small firms.
Microsoft updates are critical
PC users are being urged to install Microsoft's latest security patches as soon as they can. The software giant's most recent update fixes 23 Windows problems that could be exploited by malicious hackers. Seven of these fixes were rated at the highest "critical" level.
Firms are wasting gallons of water
British businesses are wasting enough water to fill the Royal Albert Hall nearly seven times every single day. This surprising statistic comes from the Government's Envirowise, which works with businesses to cut their waste. It also says UK industry actually uses 1.3 billion cubic metres of water every year - three times more than it needs. The majority of the wasted water is literally flushed down the loo and Envirowise says something as simple as putting a bottle in every cistern to stop it filling to the top would make a real difference. The figures were released to mark Water At Work Week, which runs until 18 August.
Talking shop online
Aimed at everyone who has their own shop, IRN Talking Shop is the website of the Independent Retail News (IRN) magazine. It contains industry news, plus information on new products coming on to the market. The business support section of the site includes advice and links to ongoing campaigns, such as those to combat underage sales and bootlegging. Users can also discuss the day's hot topics on the site's bulletin board.
Club for rural businesswomen
WiRE - or Women in Rural Enterprise - is a national business club for rural women entrepreneurs. But you don't have to live in the countryside to take advantage of the website - according to WiRE, "rural is a state of mind not a postcode". The website runs on two levels - as a club that charges a £30 annual fee and gives members access to various services, or as a site that non-members can browse free of charge. There are articles and success stories, and members can use the forum and receive four copies of WiRE magazine annually.
Social bookmarking for style
Stylehive is similar to del.icio.us as it uses social bookmarking technology that allows users to share websites and other online information using self-chosen 'tags'. Stylehive has a specific focus on shopping and fashion, and its contributors make it easy to find the newest products, ideas, designers and trends in the industry. Stylehive can be a good way to market new goods, and is also helpful for keeping right up to the minute with trends and competition.
Negotiating the law surrounding online music and mobile phone music downloads can be something of a minefield for small businesses. Part of the problem is the sheer number of people who have to be kept happy - from the artists to the music publishers and record companies. Birmingham lawyer Andrew Sparrow has produced this book to help businesses find their way through the legal maze. He says there are real opportunities for new ventures connected with music distribution - but you need to be aware of copyright issues. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
A portmanteau is a word that combines the sounds and meanings of two others to create a new word. The best-known example is 'smog'. |
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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. |
