RESOURCE CENTRE

Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 18 January 2005

In this week's issue:

• common excuses for failure, and steps you can take to avoid it
• gift vouchers for small businesses
• self-assessment - some tips to keep the taxman happy
• getting an RSS feed onto your website
  

Weekly stir

Common excuses for failure, and steps you can take to avoid it

One of the biggest problems with starting a new business, or a new project or venture in an existing business, is that other people (and sometimes even you, yourself) will expect the idea to fail.

People will go out of their way to tell you that your idea won't work, and you may unfortunately end up agreeing with them, making excuses to convince yourself that you will fail, and hence avoiding the opportunity to give your idea or venture a try.

Does any of this sound familiar? Have you heard or made any of the following excuses yourself?

• You aren't educated enough.
• You're too young.
• You're too old.
• You haven't got the guts.
• You don't have enough money.
• You don't have enough time.
• You haven't got the credibility.
• You haven't got what it takes.
• There's no demand.
• There's too much competition.
• You haven't got the talent.
• You couldn't handle the pressure.
• You couldn't handle the responsibility.
• You're too disorganised.

These are all common and widespread prejudices or excuses that other people or even you will make for not pursuing your idea. But there's not a single valid reason why any of these excuses should be true.

A famous example of this was when an American entrepreneur called Fred Smith decided he would start up an overnight express courier service. Everyone told him he was crazy and would fail. "There's no market", "You'll never find enough reliable couriers", "If there was a market for it someone else would already have done it" were just some of the things he was told. But he went ahead and did it anyway, and now everyone all over the world uses his service - Federal Express.

People will tell you that your idea is daft, but if you do your research, stick to what you believe in, think outside of the boundaries that are set by others, and take calculated, measured risks, then you can put yourself on the road to making your idea happen.

To get you on the right track, here is a ten-step action plan that could help you on your quest for success.

And then see if your idea is really all that daft, after all.

If you thought that gift vouchers were just used by big businesses like cinema chains, department stores and high-street clothes multiples, you could be missing a marketing trick.

There's no reason why any business - no matter how small - can't develop and offer gift vouchers to customers.

• A couple of hours of research will tell you that vouchers are not just used in certain sectors, like books or CDs. All manner of businesses have gift voucher schemes these days, whether they're selling furniture, wine, pet food or mobile phones.
  
  
• In fact, you don't even have to be selling a product - plenty of service-related businesses, from hairdressers to life coaches, now offer gift vouchers to win back old customers and attract new ones.
  
  
• Gift vouchers are a convenient option for people who need to buy a present for someone but don't know what to get. So by offering vouchers, you're helping your customers solve a problem.
  
  
• Selling a gift voucher guarantees a future sale for your business - and research shows that people redeeming their gift vouchers often buy other items, too.

So, what are you waiting for? Here are six practical tips on introducing gift vouchers to your business.

Find out more about using gift vouchers in Chapter 7 of the UK Small Business Marketing Bible, where you can also find hundreds of tips, techniques and tactics that will help increase sales for any small business in any sector.

Legal tip

Self-assessment - some tips to keep the taxman happy

Do you know the potential penalty for failing to submit your completed self-assessment tax form and payment for the tax due for the 2003-2004 financial year?

a) £100
b) £250
c) £500
d) £1,000

The self-assessment deadline is looming, and in view of the number of sole operators who missed last year's deadline (around a million), we thought we'd offer a quick reminder of the basic rules, and some pointers to websites that will help you find more information.

• The deadline for the completed form and the payment is 31 January, and this applies to all self-employed people and company directors.
  
  
• Although many people still prefer writing out their tax return by hand, it may be simpler and faster to complete the form online. Last year the Inland Revenue site got pretty busy just before 31 January, so to avoid frustration, try at least a few days beforehand. And don't forget you'll need a PIN number, which can take up to seven days to arrive.
  
  
• The Inland Revenue offers a full set of guidelines on completing the forms, including what to do if you run more than one business and how to calculate your allowable expenses.
  
  
• The guidelines are changing for the coming financial year (2004-2005). Although these won't be relevant until you're completing your tax return before the 31 January 2006 deadline, the new rules are worth knowing about all the same.
  
  
• There are plenty of other tips and advice around as the deadline looms closer - try this list of dos and don'ts from accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers.

And the answer to our quiz above? The correct answer is a) - you could be fined £100 by the Inland Revenue if you miss the 31 January deadline.

The Red Tape BUSTER offers plenty more advice on tax and self-assessment, as well as hundreds of fact sheets, scenarios, and FAQs.

IT tip

Getting an RSS feed onto your website

Last week, we focused on taking advantage of the large number of RSS feeds available, all designed to make it easier to catch up on news and additions to websites. We also mentioned that it's useful to publish an RSS feed on your website, as you can easily let people know about new products and the latest developments in your business.

However, actually publishing an RSS feed involves a little more effort. There are a number of different approaches you can take.

• The hardest approach is to create your own RSS feed in a format called XML, and load the files to your own site as you would with any HTML file. If you're familiar with HTML, this will cost you nothing, and will allow you to learn how to write and edit XML yourself. Check out this useful guide to making a simple XML file.
  
  
• The most expensive way to arrange an RSS feed is to hire a programmer to make one for you. You'll get a good design, but on the other hand you won't know what to do if things go wrong later and you may end up learning how to create your own feed by hand as a result.
  
  
• The least expensive, and possibly the easiest, way to publish in RSS is to use one of the free websites that do most of the work for you. The RSS Channel Editor, for example, is provided by the University of Bath, and will create basic XML files for you, which you will then need to upload to your website. It will allow you to add a headline, some written content, links, and various other features to your story.
  
  
• Once you've created your XML file, it will display well in the news feed format we explained last week, but you'll need to convert it if you also want it to display on your website. The University of Bath have thought of that too, and offer a form where you can input the filename of your XML file and create a small amount of code which will display what you've written nicely on your website.

New business idea

Here is this week's idea:

• Food Writer

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.

The Oxford English Dictionary has added several new words and phrases for 2005. Can you guess which of the following made the grade?

a) congestion charge
b) e-learning
c) spyware
d) supersize

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

Did you know?

Cellery, Skulls and more problems for Microsoft

It's been a busy old week for IT scams and viruses. A new worm, dubbed Cellery-A, is on the loose - it spreads across computer networks by posing as a Tetris game, and affects users of Windows. Anti-virus firm TrendMicro have got further advice and removal instructions on their website. Meanwhile, Microsoft's released three new patches for security holes in several versions of Windows - two of them are said to be 'critical', so anyone who may be affected needs to download the patches as soon as possible.

A new version of the Skulls virus is targeting smartphone users - anyone infected runs the risk of losing all their mobile data. And eBay has been at the centre of a phishing scam this week after a number of users were tricked into revealing login details and passwords by rogue e-mails pretending to be from eBay itself. eBay has cleared this up now (you can read more about it from a recent article in the Times) but the swindle underlines the importance for anyone buying or selling online of being on the lookout for phishers.

Worth a visit

Our old friends the DTI have teamed up with the Patent Office to develop this surprisingly useful tool, which is designed for small businesses and costs just £19.99. It's dubbed the 'innovation logbook', and it enables you to record the progress of your inventions as they go through the various processes involved with protecting them (such as applying for a patent or registering a design). The idea is that by having everything recorded systematically in one place, it will be easier to prove that you own the invention and created it on a certain date if a dispute does arise.

Find out more about the logbook at:
http://www.innovationlogbook.gov.uk

While we're on the subject, the Patent Office has a very good offshoot website that explains things like copyright law and how trade marks work in plain English. Honestly.
http://www.the-key.biz

Training guide for entrepreneurs

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has launched a new guide to help small business owners find the right training provider to meet their individual needs. You can use the free online tool to search for certain types of training, or for specific providers in your area.

To access the guide, go to:
http://www.lsc.gov.uk/national/employer/goodtraining.htm

Worth a read

Packed with more than 500 tips, ideas and strategies for making money, this book is ideal for anyone who's keen to make a bit of extra cash by turning a hobby into something profitable, but needs inspiration on how to go about it. Separate chapters look at making money by selling things, by using your creative skills and by doing extra work out of hours, and pros and cons are listed for each idea. There's even guidance on the tax implications of each strategy. Check out: