Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 22 March 2006
| Thought for the week: "A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder." Thomas Carlyle |
In this week's issue:
Small business answers
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Weekly stir 
Business opportunity blindness, and how to fix it
Some small business owners appear to have a natural, uncanny ability to know exactly where business and market opportunities exist.
Or more precisely, we should say that a few of them do, while everyone else who starts up and runs a new enterprise wouldn't notice an opportunity if it poked them in the eye.
However it's not necessarily just natural ability that's making the opportunity spotters so successful - there's quite a bit more to it than that.
A lot of well-known business 'gurus' will spout off and write about true entrepreneurs being visionaries and born leaders, which may well be true, but in the practical, genuine small business sense this is just management-speak bunkum that belongs in the gurus' textbooks.
Being a visionary is one thing, but turning a vision into reality is something entirely different, and requires a combination of the following additional attributes and abilities:
1) The ability to learn from experiences of failure, and not to repeat them.
2) The ability to spot when past successes can be repeated.
3) The ability to imagine a future opportunity that doesn't exist as if it were real.
The majority of business owners fall down when it comes to one or more, and in some cases all, of these abilities.
They don't learn from their past successes and failures, or they don't have anything relevant to learn from. And they aren't able to project themselves into the future without seeing things exactly as they are now, or as they were in the past when they were making mistakes.
Successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, however, seem to possess the gurus' vision, as they have the ability to draw on their previous failings and triumphs and turn them into positive ideas and actions that will fit into a future opportunity they can see.
In other words, small business owners and managers who continue to fail, or at least fail to spot opportunities, only seem to be able to focus on low points and failings from their past. Whereas business winners tend to be inspired by their mistakes and continually recycle their career high points and previous victories.
This opportunity blindness is unfortunately present in the business owners who are so-called born visionaries and leaders, and this is why their visions of the future for their ventures will as often be bad as they will be good. They are unable to see their past experiences, corrected or used again, and applied to an opportunity in the future.
But what about the opportunities, and how do the people who are not blind to them spot them in the first place?
Well, this is something that you can call 'opportunity discipline'. To see if you've got this, you should ask yourself the following questions, which will help you to decide if an opportunity in your business or market really exists before you start visualising how you will exploit it.
1) In your market, is there a product or service that isn't currently being offered?
2) Is there a niche that currently isn't being filled?
3) What would your target audience want and pay for if it were to become available?
4) What value can you add to your own or someone else's product or service that your customers would want?
5) How can you reposition your business so that it's doing something different from what both you and your competitors are doing at the moment?
6) What trends and forces in your market are likely to change the way in which you and your competitors view your industry?
7) Are there ways that you can offer and deliver your product or service less expensively than you are doing now?
8) What has worked for you most successfully in the past, and are there ways that you could do this again?
9) Are there mistakes you've made or things that have failed in the past that, if corrected, would work in your market now or in the future?
10) Whatever you think the opportunity is or might be in the future, can it make a profit for you over the longer term?
By answering these questions, you will hopefully begin to appreciate whether there is or isn't an opportunity for you to pursue.
And this is a discipline that you should find pretty helpful every time you look at your future vision for your business.
The UK Small Business Marketing Bible is jam-packed with hundreds of cheap, easy to implement ideas and techniques for promoting your business.
Marketing tip
How to submit your site to search engines and directories
It can take up to six months before search engine spiders manage to find and index a new website. You can try to speed up the process by submitting your site to search engines through a simple procedure of typing in its URL to the entry form (see Google's instructions for adding a site as an example).
Submitting your site to listings directories, which are human-edited online catalogues of websites, is another option. Some directories are large and have multiple categories (such as Yahoo!, the Open Directory and Zeal), and others are sector-specific or regional. There are also countless listings websites devoted to specialised topics.
Each directory uses a different method for listing sites, but most follow the same basic principle:
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They have a page listing broad categories such as 'Sports' or 'Shopping'.
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Users click on the heading of their choice, and gradually refine the category that interests them until they reach a page listing relevant sites.
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You submit your homepage URL and write a short summary of your site, usually no more than 25 to 30 words.
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Your submission is reviewed and ranked by an editor, who will decide if your site belongs in that category and that directory. Approval can take some time, and is by no means guaranteed.
The Search Engine Guide offers more tips about submitting your site to directories.
It is important to avoid registering your site with 'link farms'. These directories carry a random selection of links with the sole purpose of improving website rankings. They can harm your reputation, as search engines often blacklist sites connected to link farms. Linking101 has a useful checklist explaining how to spot link farms.
Finally, you can read our comprehensive factsheet about getting listed in search engines and online directories for more practical tips and tricks.
Legal
tip
The tricky business of managing debt
Although late payment legislation provides businesses with some support against unpaid debt, you can still face problems if your customer turns out to be facing bankruptcy or other financial difficulties.
What can a small business do about bad debt? Prevention is better than cure, so here are four ways of reducing your risk:
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If you have time, ask your customers for trade references before deciding on credit terms. Try to obtain two other customer names you can contact to ask how promptly and regularly the customer pays.
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If you're dealing with a sole trader, you can search via the Registry Trust Ltd for County Court Judgments (CCJs) before doing business with them.
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You can search The Insolvency Service website to find out if a limited company or its directors have any previous trading restrictions. For Scotland, go to the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) site, or see Northern Ireland's dedicated Insolvency Service site.
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The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 can be used to give early warning of trouble. It's a mechanism for contracting with a customer to pay on time or face additional interest payments. See the Better Payment Practice Campaign website for more information.
For more details, check out our low-cost factsheet about recovering unpaid debts, which explores your options in more depth.
IT
tip
Privacy online - good for you, and good for your customers
Privacy on the Internet has become a hot topic, as identity theft and intrusive commercial practices such as the use of spyware and adware become increasingly common. So it's worth taking the time to find out how two important features of web browsing and privacy work.
Cookies are small files placed on your computer's hard drive when you visit a website. Many cookies are useful, and none will ever harm your computer, but some are designed to gather information about your surfing habits for commercial purposes. Check out Cookie Central for more information about how cookies work.
You can get rid of cookies by going to 'Tools' in your browser toolbar, then selecting 'Internet Options' and clicking on 'Delete Cookies'. At the same time, you can clear your history (the folder where web pages you've visited are stored), which will free up space on your hard drive.
Of course, this advice is useful for protecting your privacy. But more importantly, the general public is becoming better informed about these things, and it will pay to understand what privacy concerns your customers have when visiting your website.
For more information about privacy and security on the Internet, see the Government's Get Safe Online site.
New business idea
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.
Here is this week's idea:
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.
Do you know the difference between a 'statute' and a 'statutory instrument'? Which of the following words applies to which definition?
a) a legislative Act passed by a regulator
b) a legislative document that contains regulations made under an Act of law
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
PRWeb (www.prweb.com)
The PRWeb service enables any business, regardless of its size, to get its press releases published on the Internet free of charge. But how easy to use and accessible is the site?
- Navigation and presentation - the directory, help menu and instructional information on the homepage is clearly presented and links are easy to follow. Published news is categorised by sector, by country and by date, which makes story searching simple, too. However, the appearance of the homepage is spoiled by an untidy rolling list of confusing business stories and PDF downloads.
 
- Accessibility - foreign language options include French and Spanish, and there's a very good support service that enables users to ask questions about everything from how to use the website to how to write an effective news release, but unfortunately there are no other noticeable accessibility options.
- Content and usefulness - the free services and information on offer are comprehensive and practical, from tips on how to write a news release and common errors to avoid to the news archives themselves, which are useful for researching developments in your business sector.
- Relevance - the PRWeb blog is fresh, practical and topical, enabling users to share tips and advice, as well as featuring sections packed with practical guidance about writing effective news releases. And needless to say, the news on the site is bang up to date, with hundreds of new stories added each day.
A very useful service to enable small firms without a PR budget to get their news releases published. It's particularly impressive that the site offers practical tips and information as well as just the article submission service. Improvements to the design and the addition of extra accessibility options would make for a flawless score.
Our rating - 14/20
Did you know?
Budget 2006 - a whistlestop tour
Gordon Brown's tenth Budget has delivered few surprises for small business owners. Key provisions include a £1,000 rise in the threshold for VAT exemption (from £60,000 to £61,000); measures to cut red tape in the tax system; a freeze on fuel duty but rises to Climate Change Levy from April 2007; the abolition of tax on computers loaned to employees from 6 April; and boosts to Government support schemes that aim to help high-growth businesses. The Treasury has published a micro-site listing the key points, and the BBC also has a useful summary.
Google is launching an online marketplace for retailers
Search engine giant Google has announced plans to create an online market for retailers through its newly developed Google Base service, which is currently in 'beta' (test) format. The service will resemble a 'virtual supermarket' and will provide retailers who have not yet developed e-commerce sites with an opportunity to trade online. The BBC site has a useful article explaining exactly how the marketplace will function.
You can check credit card validity online
If you've ever taken a credit card number from a customer over the phone and then discovered it isn't genuine, this validity checking tool could be helpful. It checks the validity of a card number, although it can't tell you if the card has been stolen.
Worth
a visit
Low-cost PC security checking service
BT has launched a low-cost IT security checking service aimed at small business owners. The PC Security Check can be used by any business that uses broadband (not just customers of BT). It carries out a remote security check over the space of about half an hour, and then provides you with a report on the condition of your PC in security terms, considering firewall protection, spyware and other known security risks. You then get practical advice about what improvements to make. The service costs £50 for one PC and then £25 for any additional PCs.
Practical testing service for web accessibility
Following the launch of a British Standard for web accessibility, as reported in EnterQuest last week, a new service has been set up to help firms ensure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities. The Usability Exchange employs disabled people to carry out testing and give feedback to businesses about their sites. The service costs from £299 (excluding VAT), but the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has praised its value, explaining that "testing by disabled users can uncover 45% more accessibility problems than testing with software alone".
New Start Scotland, Glasgow, 24-25 March
A start up exhibition for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, New Start Scotland will showcase a range of support and information services for business owners. It will also feature a number of practical seminars focusing on issues surrounding starting a business. The EnterQuest Team is delivering a seminar entitled 'Researching your start up idea', and will also be exhibiting on stand B21.
Worth
a read
This newly published book features a practical 'personality test' for your business, enabling you to assess the traits and attributes specific to your venture that may be helping or hindering its progress. The book features solid, achievable and practical suggestions for making your business more resilient, as well as straight-talking tips for tackling flaws and 'personality problems' in your enterprise. Check out:
Just one word answer
Statute applies to definition a) - it means a legislative Act passed by a regulator.
For example, the Employment Act 2002 is a statute.
Statutory instrument applies to definition b) - it refers to a legislative document that contains regulations made under an Act of law.
For example, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 are a statutory instrument made under the Employment Act 2002. |
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Good
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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
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