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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 243
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| Thought for the week: "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph." Shirley Temple |
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In this week's issue:
A light-hearted look at 2007
Merry Christmas and best wishes to all our subscribers from the EnterQuest team.
This bumper edition of EnterQuest serves as a bit of a recap on 2007. Rather than send out a bulletin full of tips that probably won't be acted on until after the New Year, we're reporting this week on the top trends of 2007, and popular tools and websites we've featured.
So was 2007 good for business? Was it bad for business? What were our favourite moments, websites and trends and what did we give a big thumbs down to? Here's our good/bad run-down of the year:
Best and worst retail moments of the year
Worst: High streets suffered from lack of shoppers
Throughout 2007 the high street continually appeared to suffer whenever new retail figures were revealed. The poor excuse we had for a summer didn't help matters - few people felt the need to buy barbecues, parasols and the like when it didn't stop raining all bleeping summer.
Best: A boom in e-retail
Conversely, it's been a good year for e-retailers. Deloitte's Annual Christmas Retail Survey revealed that three-quarters of consumers will use the Internet to do their Christmas shopping.
A similar report from Forrester revealed that in the UK a whopping £35 billion was to be spent online in the run-up to this festive season.
Surprisingly, the credit crunch has not caused consumers to rein in their festive spending.
Most pointless name change of the year
We reported this time last year that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) would be abolished if Gordon Brown became Prime Minister. And in June this year it was, but only in name - as it was re-named the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (or BERR as it abbreviates itself to).
Still, we suppose BERR is an improvement on Tony Blair's failed 2005 attempt to change the DTI to the Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry (DPEI). That was just plain dippy.
Washout of the year
Er, the summer. June and July saw severe floods throughout England and Wales. The Government has been accused of doing little to help the businesses that became victims of the floods. The Association of British Insurers called for the Government to review its flood defences after the summer floods subsided, and the Government was criticised by the Audit Commission for the way it handed out money to local authorities. Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) offered tax assistance to businesses affected by the floods.
Websites of the year
Here's a run-down of some of the most clicked-on websites by our readers that we've featured in the bulletin over the past year.
Downloadable e-book from David Parrish
A book aimed at creative businesses has been made freely available online. You can download 'T-Shirts and Suits, A Guide to the Business of Creativity', by business guru David Parrish, in an interactive PDF format from the author's website and the Merseyside ACME website. The book, which aims to help readers make the most of their creative abilities and combine them with good practice, can be copied, distributed, printed and posted on your own website - so long as you don't amend it, claim it is your own work or sell it.
Free business promotion templates and information
A PR agency is offering business owners free information and templates to help them promote their businesses more successfully. PR Basics offers free press release templates and action plans, as well as a questionnaire that tests confidence in dealing with PR tasks.
ExcelTip website
This ExcelTip website lists hints, tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Excel programs. It lists tips by category and by version, and includes hints for the latest version, Excel 2007.
Tips on writing for the web
If you're thinking of writing copy for your website (or any marketing materials for that matter), you should read Jakob Nielsen's pages on web writing. Nielsen discusses how people read web pages and provides hints and tips for writing easy-to-digest content.
Tips for freelancers
Freelance UK has come up with a list of ten handy tips for successful freelancing. The tips range from keeping an eye on the competition and having contracts in place to encourage repeat business and minimising cash flow problems.
Health and Safety for Beginners website
The Health and Safety for Beginners website pulls together information, advice and articles on health and safety and is aimed at people new to the subject. Its content is all written by professionals and students studying health and safety. You can also log on to the site's forums to discuss health and safety issues.
Best Government website (in our opinion)
The EnterQuest team are fans of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) website. The site is easy to read, has useful guides and tools, and is full of practical information on copyright, designs, patents and trade marks. The UK-IPO replaced the Patent Office, which we rated highly last year.
Simple Spark
There are some bright sparks at Simple Spark. The Simple Spark online catalogue is packed with Web 2.0 applications and widgets, some of which can be of use to small business owners. Some save time, some jazz up a website or blog, and some are just plain fun. Check out the office tab on the right-hand side of the web page to learn about some of the more useful applications.
Top ten ... security predictions for 2008
This article from Symantec's Infosec Today outlines the top ten security trends of 2007, along with predictions for 2008. According to Symantec, we can expect advanced web threats and more sophisticated spam attacks in 2008. The top ten security trends look like this:
1) Data breaches
2) The introduction of Vista, which led to hackers finding holes in the new system
3) Record levels of spam
4) The availability of professional malware/phishing kits
5) Levels of phishing still high
6) Exploitation of trusted brands
7) Malicious bots and botnets
8) Web plug-in vulnerabilities with the likes of ActiveX
9) Auction-style systems for selling vulnerability
10) Virtual machine security implications
Food trends for 2008
Analyst Mintel has released its 2008 predictions for the food sector. The CEE-Food Industry.com website reports that junk-free and old-fashioned foods look set to hit the shelves big-time next year.
Eight important consumer trends for 2008
Here's a run-down of Trendwatching's consumer predictions for 2008.
1) Status spheres (a variety of lifestyles, activities and persuasions, which can be mixed and matched by consumers)
2) Premiumization (of everything and anything)
3) Snack culture (capitalising on consumer desire for gratification)
4) Online oxygen (demand for online access and the popularity of the likes of Web 2.0)
5) Eco-iconic (summarising the shift of eco-items from being undesirable to iconic and desirable)
6) Brand butlers (convenient and practical services from well-known brands that consumers know and trust)
7) Make It Yourself (comments on consumer desires to design and customise digital and physical goods and products)
8) Crowd mining (the evolution of crowd-based business concepts)
Top ten ... business ideas of 2007
From downloads and purchases from our various websites and other services over the last year, these are the top ten business ideas that people like you and other EnterQuest readers are starting up, or hoping to start up.
1) Coffee Shop
2) Children's Day Nursery
3) Recruitment Agency
4) Children's Indoor Play Area
5) Smoothie and Juice Bar
6) Delicatessen
7) Domiciliary Care Agency
8) Micro-brewery
9) Sandwich Shop
10) Beauty Therapist
Niche business ideas
Here's a summary of some of the niche business ideas, trends and opportunities we've reported on this year:
Food and drink - The food and drink sector remains an ever-popular market for enterprising people to enter. Here are some of the more niche ideas we've included in EnterQuest:
Design-it-yourself - This trend has been a market opportunity of notable interest in 2007, and one that looks set to continue in 2008. Couture and bespoke designs can be created at the click of a mouse on some websites. Here are some of the design-it-yourself trends we've reported on so far:
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Dress couture. Style Shake allows fashionistas to design their own dresses.
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The Inmod design studio, based in the US, enables customers to design their own bedding.
Eco-friendly services - More and more consumers are cottoning on to the concept of being eco-friendly. Here's a summary of some of 2007's eco-business ideas.
Top ten ... business productivity tips for 2007
To finish with this year, we couldn't leave you without pointing you in the direction of a few helpful hints and tips for your business. This top ten list from the terinea weblog is aimed at business owners and might inspire you to think about how to take your business forward in 2008, as 2007 draws to a close.
There will be no EnterQuest bulletin next week, as the team take a festive break, so your next bulletin will be in the New Year.
Happy Christmas everyone.
Visit www.enterprisequest.com to access all back issues of the EnterQuest bulletin. If you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
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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. |
